Tomatoes and Babies and Car Shows, Oh My!

Hello Again!

I really need to be more consistent about my posts. I'm currently on a once-a-month schedule, which is not so good. I apologize, but the truth is that since I started my new position at work, I simply don't have as much time to blog during working hours. Not that I should be doing that anyway, but hey.

I promised to keep you up-to-date on my Topsy Turvy tomato plants. They are doing great, and I have REAL TOMATOES growing! Check it out:

It's gotten pretty huge, right? And here is a close-up of some of the tomatoes that are growing:

They have actually gotten even bigger than that since I took the pictures. I'll have to take a couple more this weekend.

So what else is new? WELL, I'm happy and elated to announce that my first niece entered the world on May 4th, 2010. She was obviously anxious to meet us all, because she came 6 weeks early, weighing in at just 4lb 0oz and 17 inches long. Little Savannah is such a bright light in all our lives. She's the first grandbaby in the family, and she's as precious as she can be!

Work has kept me super-busy for the last few months. I consider that a good thing, as I was quite bored in my previous position. I've been doing a bit of traveling here and there, and learning all kinds of new things. It's been great.

The Big Car Show was 2 weeks ago, and it went great. My husband had his car ready just in the nick of time, and the weather was perfect all weekend. Not a drop of rain until we were ready to leave on Sunday. We got to spend time with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and my nephew. My nephew, Benjamin, is now 9 months old and cute as a button. He had is own car for the car show - one of those ones he sits on, and you push him around. Everyone agreed he had the best ride of anyone at the car show. Ha! Here is a recent pic of my hubby's GTO.

The Hubby also hit a big milestone in the last couple weeks - he turned the big 3-0. We had a party for him over the weekend.

We haven't done any home projects recently, as hubby had been busy preparing for the car show. This weekend, I hope to do some landscaping - I will let you know how it goes!

Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco - Book Review

Please Stop Laughing at Me: One Woman's Inspirational Story by Jodee Blanco


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I love a memoir, so I was anxious to read "Please Stop Laughing at Me". The book has two great simultaneous messages, one for the bully and one for the victim. The Bully reading this book may be enlightened as to how his/her behavior is affecting their victim. The Victim reading this book may realize there is hope, and there is a bigger life out there beyond high school.

I only gave this book three stars. I began to feel that the author was talking a little too highly of herself, which made the book less believable. It's not that I think her claims are false - they are probably all sadly very true. But had she been a bit more humble and honest about her own faults, it may have given a stronger message. She talks about being "different", but she doesn't say exactly how she is different, or why she is shunned by her fellow students. Nor does she offer advice to others on how to deal with bullying if they find themselves in that situation.

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Spring Flowers!

Hello Folks!

I hope everyone is having the same beautiful weather we've had this weekend. It's been WONDERFUL. Hubby spent the majority of the weekend working on his car. Actually, he spent all day Saturday underneath his car, yelling and cursing because he couldn't get a couple dowels out of the block of the engine. (If you understand what that means, more power to you.) He ended up going to Lowe's at 8:30 last night to buy a welder, and proudly came out of the garage about 10:00pm with both dowels (to which he'd welded threaded rods) in his hands. He has been in a MUCH better mood today. I haven't heard any noise coming from the garage all day, except for the noise of the air compressor.

So during all of this, I decided to start planting flowers. I'm pretty confident that Old Man Winter has departed for the year, so I took a trip to the nursery this afternoon to get started on my favorite Spring activity: planting flowers. Now, just to clarify, my idea of "planting flowers" is that I go buy them, and watch my husband plant them. That is FUN. However, my husband has spent the good part of the last 2 months under his car (a '69 GTO, by the way), putting in a new transmission, among other projects. The Big Car Show is in May in Ocean City, MD, and for the 2nd year in a row, he has taken on Big Project at the last minute. (Last year, he installed a new rear suspension or brakes, or both, or something.)

So needless to say, I bought lots of plants and had to come home and plant them myself. Not quite as much fun, but still rewarding. Assuming they do not die. So here are some photos of the things that are blooming in my yard right now. Some were bought today, others were planted last year.

This is the "Cheddar Pink" Dianthus that I bought and planted today. Sort of a grassy plant with pinkish/purplish blooms.

 This here is one of my winter pansies that I planted last fall. It'll probably be getting too warm for it soon.

 One of two Bleeding Hearts - this one is unique in color, sort of a lime green foliage.

 Closeup of the Bleeding Heart blooms. So pretty!

 This one is called Diamond Frost. Planted this weekend.

 Bleeding Heart #2, planted last year.

Bugs Eye View of the blooms. 

And finally, this is my Topsy Turvey tomato plant! I'll keep you updated on how this thing works - I've never grown a vegetable in my life, so if this works, I'll be amazed!

"Julie and Julia "by Julie Powell - Book Review

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Funniest book I've read in a long time! I love a memoir, and this was no exception. Julie Powell will have you laughing out loud at every turn of the page.

At 29 years old, Julie is feeling the stress of a dead-end secretarial job, and the tick-tock of her biological clock - a clock that doesn't seem to have a snooze button. She needs a distraction. So she decides to make every recipe from Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" within the next year. As she puts it, "365 days, 536 recipes". She finds her inner chef, and also finds herself.

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Have you missed me?

Hey, Blog World! Didja miss me?

I am so very sorry that I haven't been updating. Life just got busy, and I have no other excuse than that. As a quick update:

My brother, and his wife Mandy are expecting their first baby! My little niece is due to arrive in June! Everyone is so excited, as she will be the first baby in our family. I cannot wait to meet her!

Also keeping me busy is my new job - as of January 1st, I was promoted to Assistant Project Manager, and my responsibilities have been keeping me VERY busy. I have no time to blog anymore! LOL. I usually did my blogging first thing in the morning, before things got too crazy at work, but now, things are crazy before I even get to my desk. Its good, though - I prefer to be busy over bored, and I was definitely bored with my old position.

On the home front, I've done a couple minor projects. We installed a built-in desk in our library and placed a stationery laptop there. Its quite useful, as we use it to pay our bills, and its especially convenient for guests who want to use the internet. I also FINALLY painted our master bathroom, something I've been wanting to do for 3 years. We were holding out to do a full remodel, but I simply could not stand to look at the hideous navy blue wall any longer. I will try to do a post for each project soon with pics.

Lastly, I decided to put The Things Girls Love on an indefinite hiatus, and begin posting all of my book reviews here. You may notice I've already posted one!

Hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for sticking around while I disappeared on you, and also to those of you who checked in on me. Happy Spring!

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold - Book Review

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This book grips you at the beginning, and you have to know: how could a woman murder her own mother? But the back story was weak, and the ending was terrible. I loved The Lovely Bones, and expected more out of this. But all I found it to be was disturbing.

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Soooo Sorry....

I am a horrible, horrible blogger. I have been MIA for weeks, and there's no excuse other than the fact that the holidays have kept me busy. Last week was the perfect opportunity for me to catch up on my blogging, because I was at home on vacation all  week long. But I just never got around to it. So I'm sorry everyone! Thank you for not abandoning me while I abandoned you.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and an amazing New Years! I have to say, mine were both wonderful. We spent a few days in Lynchburg with my family before Christmas and stayed until Christmas morning. Then we made our way to New Jersey, with a pit stop in Richmond to unload, reload, feed the cat, and exchange our "big" gifts to each other. He got me a North Face jacket (LOVE!) and I got him an Erector Spykee robot. We spent a couple nights in New Jersey, and were back home late on Sunday night. Although were exhausted from all the traveling, we managed to stay up long enough to exchange the rest of our gifts with each other.

Scott had to go back to work on Tuesday, but I was fortunate to have the entire week off. I did some shopping, cleaning, cooking, and organizing. I still haven't taken down Christmas decorations, but that was by choice - I don't want to! We plan to do it this coming weekend. One more week of the Christmas tree. :-)

I've also spent plenty of time playing the Wii, which hasn't gotten much use since last winter. We've played so much Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Super Mario Bros this week. It's been fun!

We are trying to decide what our next project will be. Could be hardwood floors in the Library and Dining Room, or it may be a built-in fridge in kitchen (which would open a huge can of worms!). Once we decide, I will let you all know and keep you up-to-date.