Post 11

Post 11: A place I'd like to visit!

I really don't like to be around a lot of people, so it might surprise some people to find out that a place I'd like to visit is Tokyo, Japan.

I just think it is a really cool place to go. Plus I hear the Japanese people are really nice...AND I think it would just HAVE to be the best sushi ever!

I don't know when I'll go or if I will ever make it there...I guess I will have plenty of years to try to learn the Japanese language.

For now, I will just look at these pictures in awe!

What a cool place!

Attention any gardeners!

About 2 years ago Matt told me that he wanted to start a compost pile. He told me to collect anything organic for the pile. So, slowly for the past 2 years, non-shalantly we have started a little pile in the corner of our backyard. (can you see the avocado peels that have yet to decompose?). Anyway, recently much to my surprise our compost pile began to grow, um, SOMETHING!

I have never had a garden, and had intended to start one this year-but we never got around to it. So, this is my new little accidental garden. I think with all the rain this year-these little fellas were able to grow.

The problem is.....I have no idea what I am growing! So-if there are any of you experts out there who know what this is. Please share!

I was sort of thinking pumpkins, or cucumber, or maybe squash. We have put literally every single fruit and vegetable in this pile.

Whatever is growing-there are quite a few of them!

Heart shaped leaves. They are a little dirty due to the recent windstorm.

They have these long whispy tendrils and stems with prickles.

Now I can't believe I am sharing this picture. BUT for all of you smart-alecs out there who say I am just growing weeds in my compost pile...here are my REAL weeds in the corner and they look NOTHING like my compost surprise.

I thought since I was snapping shots, I would share what Matt has been up to. He wants to make a patio that would come right out of our basement-so he is digging up the dirt. He has spent many hours a day on this little project. Check out his progress!

Here is the other side of the steps. A shot from afar. I can't wait to see what it will look like when he is done. The plan is to expand the deck that comes out from upstairs and it will serve as shelter for the bottom patio. It will be a nice cool place to hang out in the summer.

I have not abandoned the journey: Post 10

Life has been a bit busier lately-but I have not forgotten my blog-nor the 30 "day", er "post" quest. I have been giving it a lot of thought and as with most of these posts I am putting my own spin on it.

Post 10: Bullet your entire day. (First the REAL one, then my IDEAL one).

*Alarm goes off at 445 am. I am bitter everyday about having to get up at this insane hour, I snooze until 5 am. I groggily and slowly get myself somewhat presentable.
*530 another alarm goes off telling me I got 10 minutes to leave, I start moving faster-I throw together some fruits and veggies to snack on along with my iced water and head out, I love my 5 minute drive.
*545 am I arrive at work-I tell everyone "hello" in my nicest "I am not a morning person" voice. Luckily 2/3rds of my team work remotely from home and they don't see how crabby I am as I just instant message them a cheerful "Good morning, today is gonna be great" first thing.
*The day flies by and I am busy all day answering questions, solving problems, taking an occassional supervisor call, I attend lots of meetings (ugh) and I do some coaching with my team members, listening to calls and helping to make my team the best they can be (oh crap is it 12 already?) my team leaves at 12 and I never get as much done as I wish that I could (double ugh.)
*12 should be lunchtime instead there is almost always a meeting...and after that I spend the rest of my day trying frantically to document what I did all day and try to get some other busywork done. (crap is it 3 already, I shoulda left at 230)! I still haven't eaten lunch.
*Panic attack at 3 pm because I am late and I didn't get HALF as much done as I wanted to, I more frantically try to finish anything CRUCIAL before it is time to leave.
*ACTUALLY leave closer to 400 pm and thank goodness again that I am only 5 minutes from home. I stop at the neighbors to get Laurens. We visit for a minute-I love the Middleton family, they are lifesavers.
*430pm leave the Middletons to get Jamie-RIGHT when traffic is getting bad. I test Lauren on her spelling and have her do her 20 minutes of reading IN the car after she tells me about her day, I enjoy the slim one-on-one time we get.
*500 get to my parents house. Jamie is happy to see me and so is my parent's dog-Frank. I love to see my parents everyday and that Jamie gets to spend so much time with them. I visit with them for a while and then about 6pm we finally make our way out the door.
*630pm we are on the way home, I debate for a minute what to do about dinner and decide that McDonalds sounds good, I am STARVING.
*7pm we are home, we watch a bit of TV, as we hurry and eat, then hurry and clean up and hurry and get everyone bathed. Hurry and do some laundry and hurry and get ready for bed, clothes laid out (crap-how is it 9pm already?!)
*10pm get in bed RIGHT as Matt is walking through the door...we try to visit for a few minutes while trying to herd the children back into their bedrooms-why is their routine like a 25 step process?
*12am FINALLY crash-fall asleep after playing on the computer for a few minutes, er, an hour. CRAP midnight sure comes quickly!

Okay, that is my REALITY on most days and that kinda sucks, so here is my ideal day!

*445am my alarm goes off, I am wide awake and totally ready to rock the day. I have plenty of time to get ready appropriately and to pack a nice healthy lunch.
*530am I leave for work and arrive early. The day is super productive and I get everything I want to get done accomplished. My team does really well and they are all happy and there is NO drama and no unproductive meetings.
*12pm with most of my work done I eat lunch with my bestie Melissa
*I spend the rest of the afternoon getting ahead on my work and leave at 215 = 8 hours only.
*I come home and change into workout clothes and hurry and check my e-mail and Facebook.
*300 I head out the door and WALK to get Lauren from school with my neighbor April Middleton.
*345 Lauren and I arrive home and head out to get Jamie-traffic this hour is much better.
*415 arrive at my mom and dad's. We visit for a while.
*500 arrive at home and the kids and I do homework and housework casually along with a bit more working out. I fix a nice healthy dinner that tastes good and that the kids like.
*700 bath time, story time, and even some playing time. I have some time to work on some jewelry or craft, or even blog.
*900 kids in bed easily and happily (in their clean rooms-it is MY ideal I can dream big).
*905 Matt comes home and we get some quality time
*1000 I am in bed asleep, happy and content

That doesn't sound too hard!?! I wonder why I fail to make that happen everyday..... Well, I will make a new goal to work towards the ideal. :)