Here we are pre-landscaping and with one tiny little boy who's not so tiny anymore. Where did my little boy go?

Best Friends (oh, those were the days when he couldn't go very far fast!!)
G-mama holding him with his cute little horsey feet.
(he was probably thinking, "Man, I look like a sissy!")

Back in the day when my garage was clean. Man, you could eat off the floor, well... Moose could eat off the floor. I think it is currently covered in hot wheels.

Unfortunately the back hasn't been touched much except for adding the deck and putting the road in around the house. We've got a lot of work to do back here. I've been toying with the idea of an English Garden. Dad's really into them and I saw every English Garden in Natchez and St. Francesville this last trip. They really are pretty with all the hedges and fountains. Doing one is really no different than landscaping any yard, you just do a lot of geometical shapes with hedges, add pea-size stone for walkways and add a fountain or some concrete structure/statue. Wall-a English Garden. yeah, if only it were that easy. We saw one house that burned down in the 1800's and they just turned the ruins into an English garden. INCREDIBLE!!!! INCREDIBLE, I say!! They had all these walls standing around with all this ivy, and plants, and flowers growing everywhere. I'll post pictures of it, but really pictures don't do it justice. My little 12 x 12 garden would look pitiful next to this. Yeah, I'll probably just sod it, but I still think fountains are really cool.

Thankfully, the front yard looks much better than this now.

Well, we are 2 days away from me being 33. Wow! I never feel as old as I am. Well, maybe my body does (went to the chiropractor today as a matter of fact because I was limping and my hip felt like it was about to fall off my body) but my mind is somewhere between 13 and 20. Hey, it's all a matter of perspective right? Had a great day today. Got a lot done. Got to take a very sweet and HUGE dog to the vet for a friend from church who is paralized. Precious and I rode up in that big truck just enjoying the beautiful, low humidity, bright and windy day. What a great summer day. Luke took the afternoon off (we've been slow), and went to the zoo with Jack and Courtlynn (she's almost 3). They got to feed the giraffes. How cool is that? Precious and I were just riding around town and Jack was on the phone telling me all about how cool it was to feed the giraffes. Wow. Wish I could have seen that. Tommorrow morning, I've got big plans that revolve around watering all that sod and planting 10 more double knock out roses. Of course, to add adventure I throw Jack and Moose into the mix. Moose just loves the bone meal that I feed the roses. So mostly, it's a day of telling Moose to quit digging up the roses. It's a lot of fun, let me tell you. I think my family is flower/plant crazy. My aunt called me today in complete rapture from the day lily farm telling me i've just got to come out and pick some day lilies. Funny thing is... I probably will. It's a disease. We've all got it. I'd rather be outside watering something or planting something than about anything. And, I use to not be this way. Crazy. Hope you guys have a great Wednesday. Oh, I'm making Luke and J take me to a tea room for lunch Thursday on my birthday. One of life's great pleasures to drag my VERY MANLY husband and son into a very frilly tea room to eat little sandwiches and scones. They don't like the little sandwich part but love the scone part. Tea Rooms are awesome (even my dad loves them but mostly because he like's little food and pastries).

Well, things are going pretty good here. I am neck deep in taxes. 2008 and 2009. Normally, I've had our taxes done by now but this year has been different than past years and it mostly revolves around trying to run a Real Estate Company. It's been good and I'm learning new things, remembering old things and trying different things but it takes time. That's why I've spent a lot of late nights at the office feeling my way through all of this. Thankfully, I married a wonderful man who knows how to take care of our son like a pro. I commented to mom that I think Luke changed more diapers over the years than I ever did. He was extremely hands on and would just go do it without being asked. What can I say... He was a diaper changing fool. It's nice that he's had a job that allows him to be around a lot. Owning your own business has it's ups and downs though... don't get me wrong. There have been times when we've toyed with the idea of "what are we doing? or should we be doing this?" This was mostly 2007 and 2008. Luke's business took a hit before the economy tanked. I've kind of thought he (and the graphic design/advertising/sign business) might be like Real Estate... A leading indicator. I was encouraged Wednesday in a seminar with MoneyTree Coaching when they asked those of us who've been so much busier than last year to raise our hands. Practically the whole room raised their hands. The owner of the company predicted that he feels that Real Estate is about to shoot straight up. Luke has his doubts but it's nice to consider. Well, back to taxes. I'm going to try to post some pictures soon.

Cap and Trade

Glenn Beck reminded us today that they will vote on Cap and Trade this friday. Everyone should call their congressmen, tell their friends, co-workers, etc.... and tell them what is happening and to VOTE NO on Friday. This is an important energy bill that needs to be defeated. Just trying to do my part. Pass the word. WE need to WAKE UP!!!

This is good!

HOW TO INSTALL A HOME SECURITY SYSTEM WHEN ON A BUDGET:

1. Go to a second-hand store and buy a pair of men's used work boots, size 14-16 - or larger.

2. Place them on your front porch, along with several empty beer cans, a copy of Guns & Ammo magazine and several NRA magazines.

3. Put a few giant dog dishes next to the boots and magazines.

4. Leave a note on your door that reads: 'Hey Bubba, Big Jim, Duke and Slim, I went to the gun shop for more ammunition. Back in an hour. Don't mess with the pit bulls - they attacked the mailman this morning and messed him up real bad. I don't think Killer took part in it, but it was hard to tell from all the blood.

P.S. - I locked all four of 'em in the house. Better wait outside.'

INSTALLATION COMPLETE!!!!
Thanks for using the Redneck Security Company

Love him or hate him , he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault , so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Had a great meeting with Riverwood Construction today on some homes they are planning on building at incredible, unbelievable prices. Then headed to Pinson to drop off some flyers, then to Maylene to drop off some more house flyers. Got done around 5:00. Fought traffic all the way back to Bham and the Mellow Mushroom for Gene's 4oth Birthday. Thankfully, Luke and Jack were with me for that last part of the day and we got to burn up together in this HOT HOT HOT, MUGGY Alabama weather. Whew, we are burning up here. Headed to the lake tommorrow to see Moose swim for the first time. I hear he's quite the swimmer. Have a great weekend.

I'm Back

Has it really been almost 2 months since i've blogged? Fire me, I tell you! Fired! Fired! Fired!! Yeah, well.... I do this for free... so back at you!!! You can't fire someone for doing something for free. Well, maybe you can, but I move in random patterns at crazy times, and in various locations and you'll have to catch me first!!!! Bring on the blogging baby!!! (yeah, it's late!)