2005 PT Cruiser, 15k miles

.. but I would much rather still be on vacation.

 

Quick picture time - I took about 50 and these were some of my favorites.  There was a family friend there that is a photographer - he took about 2000 pictures through the week.  I'm hoping to get my hands on those pictures too.

 

Picture of the view from our hotel room.  The hotel was amazing.. I've never stayed in an "all-inclusive" place before - I would go again in a heartbeat!

 

Another view from the hotel:

 

Here's our main reason for going - my brother, the groom:

 

A.T. (in white) and my Dad to his right

 

Unfortunately, I didn't get any good wedding pictures.  The judge who did the wedding only spoke Spanish - they gave me a copy of the wedding ceremony and asked me to interpret as she was speaking - so I was right up front the whole time. 

 

Mother of the groom, Donna, in pink, Sister, LeAnne, in blue

 

Katie, LeAnne's daughter, was the flower girl.  She played in the sand through the ceremony. :)

 

Mom-Mom (Dad's mother) on the left, Aunt JD and Terry on the right.

I WANT TO LIVE FOREVER

L. B. Abrams

 

iwant

to live forever,

to be bold

in my continuity,

balanced incautiously

on the cusp of each day

reckless with hunger.

            

i want to go sailing

under a bone-knob moon

and be mistaken

for a star:

glowing, pulsing,

not missing the

presence of the

horizon,

or the compass.

 

i want to stand

in a desert

and send my feet

deep down

into the sand

searching for water;

and later that same day,

walk in a forest

mossy, fecund, rich,

and not be tempted

to settle in,

to root.        

 

i want to sit

on the sidewalk

by a busy intersection

in a huge city

on a hot, humid day

when passersby pause

to drop a quarter

or a dollar

or twenty

in my outstretched hand

and i duscuss

philosophy

with a bag lady and a wino.

           

i want to be touched

by a hand

that expects nothing,

that gets lost

in the cool

waxiness

of my soul.

 

i want each day

to splash into

a pool of time,

more quickly than it

evaporates,

but not so quickly

as to be tempted

to hoard it

for tomorrow

My flowers are still alive! 

 

 

K finished up the work on his trailer this weekend.  He added the rails - I think it looks great!

 

I found this guy in my back yard yesterday.. leftover bulbs from the previous owner that continue to bloom:

 

I spent some time at the nursery on the way home from work on Friday.  I picked up another 30 inpatients and spent today digging in the dirt.  I also bought yet another Bougainvillea... someday one of these are actually going to live more than a few weeks for me.  It's another plant that reminds me of home.  My mother loved them, I remember them gracing our backyards as I was growing up:

 

And this looks like the most comfortable cat in the world.. open window and sunshine.  Who could ask for more?

 

I tried all weekend to catch a picture of one of the hummingbirds that have been handing out at the new hummingbird feeder that I put out about a week ago.  I finally caught a non-blurry picture tonight!

 

I love the noise that they make when they are around.  Vrrrrmmmmm.  Like a large bee flying past my head.  There were a few of them hanging around tonight.  This guy wouldn't let anyone else near the feeder, he kept chasing the other ones away.

Also, cute picture of Kendra making herself comfortable in a pile of leaves:

Talk about perfect weather.. sunny, light breeze 70 - 76 degrees.  I spent some time outside this weekend. 

On Saturday, I cleaned out the area around the rose bushes.  I wish I knew more about plants.. the poor roses did not get trimmed last year, this year - they are huge.  They seem to be doing fine without my attention - there are branches that are about 10 feet long - growing straight up.  I neglected to take a picture of them, so you'll just have to imagine what they look like.

I spent this morning cleaning out the "flower" bed in the front of the house - the one closest to the road.  Here's what it looked like before I attacked it:

 

Lots of dead stuff in there.  It was funny when I first started.. one of the thinner pointy plants grows tall flowers and when they dry they rattle with seeds.  The first time I reached into there to pull grass out, I hit one and nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the rattle.  All I could think of was SNAKE!!!!

I figured out what it was and started pulling and trimming.  My part of it's done, now K needs to get out there with the leaf blower and get the leaves out of there.  There's actually rocks under all of that brown.

 

 

The leaves may need to wait until next weekend.  K just ran to the store with our existing leaf blower.. it died today.  Thank goodness for 2 year replacement warranties!!

Here's what Boo did all weekend:

 

The dogs spent the weekend chasing this guy:

 

And this poor guy looked like he was having a bad weekend.  Molting is tough.

 

 

 

I was kind of amazed today when I was listening to NPR on the way home and heard that the B52s have a new album out.  After 16 years!  I don't think I ever bought a B52s album in the past, but I may need to go buy this one.  It sounds so 80ish and fun.  Tin Roof Rusted!

This was actually the second day in a row where I discovered something that I needed to go buy while listening to NPR.  Yesterday they did an interview with the band members REM on the show Fresh Air.  I came home and dug out all of my old REM CDs.  I need to go buy their new one, Accelerate, too.

I guess a trip to Best Buy is needed on my way home tomorrow night. I also need to buy season one of Battlestar Galatica.  I re-watched season 2 and 3 to get ready for the new season that started last week.  But I don't have season one yet.

Hafta have it!

Y'all know I love my trees.  When K talks about maybe cutting one down, I get all upset.  They are beautiful and they keep the house nice and cool in the summer.  But..

We cleaned the porch off on Sunday.  Three days ago.  K took care of the leaves and then I washed down the patio furniture.  Now it's covered again.. and it's not the normal leaves.. it's those darn little wormy like pollen thingies. (technical talk, I know..)

 

 

We got a new neighbor, Sophie, a few months ago.  She's cute as a button and has been trying to find a way to come over and play with Gumbo and Kendra.

 

I was in the back yard a few weeks ago when the neighbor was back there with one of his kids and Sophie.  Even though I had never spoken to them before (I actually think this was the first time I'd seen them outside), I walked up to the fence and asked about their new pup.  He shared her name with me and told me that she was 6 months old.  I told him that if they ever wanted her exercised, to left her come on over and she could play with our dogs.  He just looked at me like I was nuts.

Oh well, maybe she'll make it through the fence one of these days.  :)