Oh to Slack ...

Okay, I'm fired. I really haven't been good about updating, but what can I say? I just lack the motivation. A lot has been going on since June...

Mike and I went to Maine to see his hometown and the rest of the beautiful state. It was a blast - I met his family, saw Acadia National Park, Rangeley State Park, and just about everything in between (or so it seemed).

In addition, we went to Colorado for a long weekend in September ... and forgot to bring the camera charger. So alas, no pictures from that trip, but we wandered all over Estes Park, had dinner with the family, and crashed Grandma's house while they were out of town. :) Thanks Grandma!

Follow that up with another trip in October - this time to Tampa Bay. Mike's college roommate Aaron's parents have a condo in Sarasota and they generously invited us out to visit for Columbus Day. We visited Busch Gardens, rode the BEST roller coaster I have ever been on - hands down.

From there, it's been work, work, and work! I've been made the increment lead for the next six months, which means I live, breath, and eat work (if work could be nutritious), but it's a great chance for me to really get involved at the broadest level. I'm excited for the chance, but nervous - I'm not sure I'm really ready for it.

Mike made it all worth it, though. As an early Halloween gift of sorts, he made me a very, very happy girl when he took me to the park, gifted me the stars, and dropped on a knee for me...

Back in the Game

I got tired of being lazy after I hurt myself last fall. Since I couldn't run for a few months (including the marathon) :( I got into a bad habit of doing nothing. And not just nothing for someone who was up to running 16 miles... I mean nothing to the extent that I only moved off my couch to eat, sleep, and work.

Okay... and play softball. And bowling. So I guess I wasn't that lazy, but it felt like it. Either way - I'm done with the lazy. This week I've been good. Really good! I've been better about not missing a workout than I was even when in training for the marathon. Part of it is that I'm back to my baby runs of a mile or two (and can I just say, that only running a mile is AWESOME!) so it doesn't take long, but a bigger part is that I just feel better.

I've been starting off slower, combining my running with swimming (which I still suck fantastically at-just for the record), lifting weights to build the strength to prevent injury, and well, I feel awesome not being lazy. It's super. Add that to the softball, bowling, and now golf (yup - I've taken up golf. Golf! Don't worry - I suck at that too, but I'm okay with it.) and it makes for a busy, active, and all around happier week for Erin! Yay!

So all that to say, hooray for getting off the couch. It's awesome. Except the persistent elbow pain that I have. I think bowling gave me tennis elbow. Lame. Needless to say, I'm just pretending it doesn't exist and playing through it. After all, it's only an elbow!

Gardening 101

I've been working on my master garden plan for a really, really long time. But up until a few weeks ago it wasn't anything more than several weedy starter beds with one shrub and a new orange tree. It all started with removing the unfortunately huge cottonwood tree from one side of the yard...

Before

Thanks to Mike and his super-de-duper generous birthday present of a truck-load of plants for the garden it finally is starting to take shape!

After

Now ... please ignore the unfortunately large dead grass patches. Along with the tree went the large root that stretched almost across the yard... and most of the grass went with that. I'm trying to get my master plan drawing converted to digital (not so easy without a scanner), but I'll try to walk you through it with the creative use of chairs. :)


The red(ish) chairs in the middle are where I plan to have a small pergola with a wood swing. It will sit on a blue-slate paver-pad with a matching walkway that will cover some of the dead ground that is in the front. The beige chair is eventually going to be a (very) small water feature. I'm still debating between a waterfall-pond combo (again - very small) or just a small pot-fountain water feature of some sort. That part is still in work.

So anyway - that's the back yard these days... It's all still in work and I'll have about twice as many plants in this bed by the time I'm done, but it's finally starting to take shape! Here's a slideshow of more pictures of the current flower bed.

And for his sake - Mike's the best. He even walked around the garden store when he didn't want to. How super, huh? ;)

Doggie Regret...

For all you parents out there, I'm sure there were moments where you said deep down, "What was I thinking?" Tonight was my night. Pad came in with pink on her paws... I thought she'd scratched one of the other girls, maybe herself. I wasn't sure. She's dumb like that sometimes.

So as the responsible parent that I think that I am (but clearly am not as this story will go to show), I inspect them all for cuts and scrapes, find no apparently bleeders, clean her up a bit and let her go along on her merry way.

Tra la la, tra la laaa... Along her way she went. Straight to the large white rattling toy in the back yard. How sweet. She's so happy... I wish Lillie would play with things like ... wait. Rattling toy? Babe, when did we get Pad a rattling toy??

PAAAD!!! DROP IT!

Awww... crap. That rattling toy was definitely a 500 count bottle of ibuprofen with the lid off. Little red pills were scattered everywhere. Pad ran one way, Calli (Mike's dog) ran another, and Lillie looked at me like, "what Mom? We always eat stuff like that!" I thought I'd caught them right as the lid came off, so we kept them on close watch.

Watch, watch, watch, watch... Watch Pad walk ... wait ... why is she walking straight towards ... oh! That was a wall.

Awwwwwwww... double crap! So I called my emergency-pet-guru, Moose (thanks, Moose!), to get directions to the pet hospital, packed everyone in the car (after catching Cal puking her guts out around the corner), and off to the hospital we went.

So here we are, $1400 poorer and wiser with one puppy given a clean bill of health and two puppies in the hospital getting fluids and observation for the night.

Stupid dogs. Seriously? What was I thinking?

***Update***
So the cost ended up more in the $1200 range, even after an extra half day stay and more IV fluids at the regular vet, and while yes - I've looked into pet insurance several times, it's not nearly as cost effective or beneficial as people health insurance. The premiums are higher and the returns not nearly as great. But I'm looking again...

Ahhhh... Vacation

This weekend, I took a much desired post-flight vacation to Texas wine country. It was all I could hope for... Relaxing, rejuvenating, and fun! Mike did a great job planning a weekend with winery visits, tasty food, and a cute little B&B that had homemade bread and deer at your doorstep.

But I must say, the best parts of the weekend had nothing to do with the house, the dinners, the wine, or the town. It was the stars and the hiking this afternoon. It's been months since I've seen more than the absolute brightest stars in the sky (the Big Dipper is a luxury to spot in Houston) and this weekend you could see the Milky Way standing out like a highway across the dark. It was phenomenal! The night sky is what started me in the job I do and it was so invigorating to see it again.

The hiking was also a welcome blast from the past. I haven't been hiking since before I left Colorado to move down here full time... All told, hiking Enchanted Rock wouldn't rank as one of the most incredible hikes of all time, but it definitely reminded me about all I miss from CO. I'll be going back soon. For sure.

So all told - good times had by all. It was a lot of fun to get to spend time with Mike, hang out, and relax again. I can't wait until next time ...

And I'm going to be working on posting more frequently. I've been busy with work and trying to get my backyard into a less than mud-hole condition after removing the giant cottonwood tree. I'll probably start reverting to "Garden Blog"-esque posts, but I'll try to stick around better from now on...