Ooooffff, I'm dually preoccupied with moving into the Vic. St. space and the planned float/camp trip. If all goes well, me & the Eclipse Glasses fellas will start moving in this weekend. Me & KMHD have agreed to be the official cheerleaders. We will set up the grill and make homemade strawberry ice cream. Hopefully, I can scope out a little corner of the building and see what needs to be done. I'll have to have a discussion with Zach & Co. What should I start referring it to? VicSt? Victor? TBA.

I've also been thinking about the float trip. It's been awhile since I've gone, so I have to remember things like wet shoes, dry bags, and NO GLASS. Too, we'll have to reduce the amount of gear by over half to fit in the canoe. I wish we had a doggie to sit in the middle!

It's only Tuesday!

This camping trip was fantastic!  I came home relaxed, not ragged.  Zach met us; it is always so great to have company.  My favorite part was when we had a fried chicken dinner.  Like so:

Woods view:

Awesome people:

Close to midnight, we saw some um...glow worms, for lack of a better term.  ATM first noticed them in the corner of his eye.  He took a flashlight over to the tiny light source and discovered that it was a larvae-lookin' worm thing.  It was the size of a maggot.  The light it produced was as bright as an LED light!  Of course we marveled at this for a good solid 10 minutes.  I wonder where we can even begin to find out what kind of insect (?) it is.

I've got some "big ticket" plans up ye olde sleeve:  a potential Buffalo River float/camping trip with pals AND the moving into the Victory St. space!  I actually need to talk with Zach about details, but I'm hoping to secure a tiny corner of the building that I can use and maintain.  I would love to have potlucks, cookouts, a herb garden, a biergarten, and maybe do something like produce real soap.  And possibly play music?  We'll see!

Yogurt-dill biscuits I made for camping:

Happy Earth Day? (a.k.a. How I learned to love the Mom)

When I was younger, celebrating Earth Day was awesome and something to look forward to. We'd do things like make paper, pick up garbage, learn about compost, reduce/reuse/recycle, and raise money for whales or the rain forest. Nowadays, no one gives a shit. (Pardon) Well, not that I'm aware of. Me & KMHD got "scared straight" about the environment in grade school. It really sunk in (and has since stayed) with us because we went home and immediately hounded our parents to start a recycling program at home, walked & biked more, and became vegetarian. With the exception of being strictly vegetarian, I still do those things, but we've upped the ante. There are things my household does to try to save money and not be wasteful. Instead of just turning off unused lights, we unplug appliances and cellphone chargers that aren't being used. I'm still unsure about those spiral lightbulbs, even though we have switched over to them. We always use reusable shopping bags and not just at the grocery store. Some stores give tiny little discounts for using reusables, so eventually they will pay for themselves. Obvs, we recycle & reuse, but we actually try to reduce by not buying junk that will only be Goodwill-bound later. I try to "vote with my dollars" by not shopping at places like the Dollar Tree and buying local as often as possible. Me and ATM live in a house that is less than a thousand square feet, which is perfect for two. You won't believe how much it helps with heating/cooling bills. And it's less to clean. I've learned that quality is an important factor in choosing certain products; if it costs a bit more, than there's a likeliness that whoever made it is getting compensated properly or the product is longer-lasting, etc. The best gifts to give are perishables! Don't gift candles or lotions, et al. Unless you know exact preferred scents and brands or whatever, you'll probably miss your mark, right? I guess my point is, this is not fly-by-night or a trend or phase that we are going through, this is a part of our lifestyle. Me, ATM & KMHD have worked hard to incorporate these tiny things into our daily lives. When we have the responsibility of homeownership, we'll probably take it further with solar panels and rain collecters, among other things. Some days, I don't know why I care so much; some days, I wish I wasn't burdened with the knowledge of how wasteful people are because I actually suffer a little anxiety about it. I just want to shake people and ask them to care about something just a little. I cannot even think about shrinking forests or endangered animals or I will get hysterical.

I guess everyday should be Earth Day, but this is THE day to really get your green, blue & brown on, amirite? How can one celebrate this holiday w/o making a wasteful mess anyway?


I love this lot:

One Night In Bangkok

(Apologies if that awful song is now stuck in yr head, hee.)

I'd say the Thai potluck was a success.  There was a curry, sauteed noodles, spicy curry noodle soup & a fried banana dessert, amongst other things.  Y-U-M-G!  Seth made Thai-inspired bread; it had cilantro, chilies, coconut milk and spices.  Delicious and creative!  I'm thinking of making our little gang "customer reward cards", but for potlucks.  Say you go to 10 potlucks and then you get a free ____________.  Well, I don't know what, but it would just be fun to be a member in a potluck group.  Too, I have a star-shaped hole puncher.  It's so silly, so it's naturally up my alley.  The next potluck is going to be brunch, I think.  

I got to introduce my Nintendo DS to my friends.  Thanks to the photo-merge feature, we got to have ugly kids. Here's Collin & Rett's baby:

Rett & Zach's baby looks like Rett & Zach:

KMHD & Collin's baby:

Collin & Zach's baby:

Keiko proposed that some ladies get together and craft.  I'm all for it!  Our first project is to make an apron, which is PERFECT.  I'm envisioning us going to the fabric store and giggling and being the coolest people in the land.  Hopefully, one of the crafting projects we do is make soaps.  I've got some really cool soap molds that look like sushi and origami paper cranes.  

The rain insured that we stayed in and got things done.  Just check out our new photo project!

SOLO helped, natch.

I went to the cul-de-sac by Collin's house to take pictures and pick flowers -- nothin' but red clovers and bachelor buttons!  And bees!  And ladybugs!

ATM haircut:

Friday, I'm in ____________.

Yesterday evening, me & KMHD went to Hot Springs and dined at Rolando's. Then we engaged in some retail therapy. She scored a Le Creuset French oven & I scored a Le Sportsac weekend bag designed by Stella McCartney; both items were purchased at massive discount prices. In order to justify the big bucks spent, we will henceforth refer to these items as investments. I don't know what I'm doing spending all of this cash, we're trying to save some to buy a house!

This evening we are having a Thai potluck @ Collin's. I've got this great spicy curry noodle soup AND this fried banana dessert thing that I will be sharing with the people. There has got to be photos, I know. It will be so good to see friends! It's been a minute.

We have no plans this weekend as our plans to hang out with my mum fell through. I think we're gonna do something crazy like hang around the house and do things there. The bummer part about this weekend is all of the rain we're supposed to have. But, maybe it'll make for some proper Saturday sleeping-in.

Word on the street is that the space on Victory Street is a go. I guess I need to speak with the fellas to see if there is still room for me on the lease and in the building. I hope so, I need a hefty project. I want to learn how to make real soap (anyone else want in on this venture?), bake, and have dinner parties as our house is too little. I have flirted with the idea of playing music again, too. Hee.

[Yay, the boss just left for the day!]

Since I last posted, KMHD bought a new car , my cousin (from Fort Smith) stayed @ our home, we had a cookout, I dutifully paid my taxes, we had a life/death issue with Hot Dog the cat, we went camping for the first time this season, I randomly bought myself a Nintendo DS (FUN!), I was administered more dentistry, ATM's grandmother passed away, so we went to Mississippi for four days and three nights. While there, we also celebrated his brother's birthday AND Easter, but before we left (N)LR, I celebrated KMHD's birthday with prezzies & strawberry cupcakes. Did I forget anything?

I think it's safe to say that I'm "going through something" a.k.a. "getting over winter" right now. But, I'm feelin' a major turnaround and I blame the newly arrived baseball season. Opening day means a lot more to me than just baseball (Sorry, JhnMrk!) -- it's spring spring and camping season also begins. 75% of the food we eat will be grilled. Hanging out on the porch will increase 100%. Being outside becomes our #1 objective. Basically, we get to enjoy a few weeks of the best weather Arkansas has to offer and I plan on taking full advantage.

Today is Day Two of my return to work. It's been alright -- yesterday, we were so busy, I just delved right into the work bits, which is the kick in the rear that I need. I hate sitting here staring at piles on my desk.

We've been w/o the work car for a couple of days now. ATM's co-worker needed to use it to go to Atlanta for some conference. He's been dropping me off at the courthouse and I've been walking over to KMHD's office for lunch. I usually just walk home.

This evening, we're taking a 'wild hair' jaunt to Hot Springs to eat @ Rolando's and maybe do a bit of retail therapy. Really looking forward to this!

The Hot Dog, being forced posed:

Freestyle:


We saw a Caddo dance exhibition on 3/28 @ that Historic Arkansas Museum:


ATM's mum & nephew:


This is our niece, Charlie:


I fed a baby for the first time!


ATM & his nephew:


Karla & Daniel & Cade. And Zooey. And KB, in the back ground.