I am all for guerrilla gardening.

I have guerrilla gardened. I will guerrilla garden again and encourage others to do so. Make the world a beautiful place please!

But guerrilla composting?

This weekend, my compost bin went missing.

Who steals a compost bin?

I can understand (but not condone!) stealing a garbage can. I would rather someone steal my garbage can and USE it, than see bags of trash casually tossed over the fence. But composting requires a certain degree of commitment. What strikes someone to suddenly take up composting?

Compost is known as black gold to gardeners, but to make your own requires time and patience. You have to put the right things into the bin, and make sure it isn't too dry or too wet. You have to stir it up from time to time. My bin happened to be empty, as I had moved it for the Atco guys when they were moving my gas meter earlier this year. I dumped it all into a new flower bed, and left the bin empty in it's new location. I have always kept it just outside my garage, where it was easy to dump in grass clippings or other yard waste, so it's not like it was a new addition to the yard. I've had it for 8 years. It didn't cost a lot, maybe $40 when I bought it, so I really don't care about the expense. I'm just baffled as to why someone thought to take it.

So to whomever stole my composter - I hope you are a gardener, and that the black gold that will eventually come out will make your plants happy.

Signed and sealed!

We officially have the means to start this project. Finally! I took the final papers into the bank today.

Gulp.

I don't know if this means more or less sleep for me now, but at least we can go ahead. Hopefully by this time next fall we will have this completely done. A year? Well, we plan on doing a lot of the work ourselves, so I think a year is realistic.

First project - new furnace. Right now I don't even have a mid-efficiency furnace. It's no efficiency! I think there are some grants available from the government that mean we may get some money back - always a good thing!

Look for before and after pics!

This is going to be a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

To sleep, perchance to dream...

OK, it's a quote from Hamlet that really isn't talking about sleep or dreaming, but man, I could use a decent night's sleep!

There is nothing more annoying than a neighbor with a car alarm. Oh wait, there is. How about a neighbor with a car alarm that not only has a siren, but flashing lights that shine into your bedroom? Even more annoying was that the alarm went off not once, but twice last night, and each time it took the turkey 15 minutes to come outside and shut the darn thing off.

Did I mention I have been having trouble sleeping? No? Well I am. Just call me Sleepless and longing for Seattle.

I honestly wish there was a way for me to remove my brain before going to bed, because I can't stop my mind from racing as I am trying to fall asleep.

The problem - all the stuff I have to do.

1- Try and get both of us to the bank to finally sign off on the loan papers so we can begin the chaos at home.

2- Begin the chaos at home!

3- Make list after list and try to cross a few things off these lists.

What kind of stuff is on the lists? Well, a little bit of everything. I need to sort through our laundry and storage room to make room for the things that need to live there while we gut and reno the basement. The laundry area will be the last spot we redo, so it's the holding area for things like bins of baby clothes, Bryan's comic collection (why he still needs these is beyond me, but it's a guy thing...) Christmas decorations, tools and renovations things, and of course, the washer and dryer.

After this is done, then I need to arrange to get some items into the garage to donate to charity, install some temporary track lighting so we can actually see what we are doing while renovating (with the intent of moving the track lighting into the furnace or laundry rooms once we are done), demo a wall so that I can show the furnace guys where I want an additional heating duct (in what will be our master bedroom), call said furnace guys to get an estimate on replacing our ancient furnace and water heater with something that doesn't require owning my own natural gas well, call electrician to replace main electrical panel in the house and so on and so on.

This doesn't include the fun I need to have in arranging for a car tune up, windshield replacement and detailing before we do the car swap with my folks. Oh yeah, must call insurance company to ask about rates for the Tribute, and to see what (if any) additional coverage I will need as we do the work on the basement.

So this, and about a million other things have me anxious and worried and unable to sleep.

And if that car alarm goes off again tonight, I may have to consider how well I can swing a rubber mallet. Just kidding. I think.

I want to push a button.

Enjoy!

Fashion Don't

(Click on picture to view the outfit in it's full glory. Please excuse the linty carpet.)

Lily was helping sort through her clothes yesterday, and created this lovely ensemble. For the record, the socks (on her feet), pants and shirt are a matching outfit. The monster socks (as mitts) and purple skirt were her additions. At one point there were bunny ears involved, but Lily thought they were a bit much.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Three years ago today, we walked down the aisle and shared a special day with our family and friends.

I love you more than you know.

Carrie

Special Treat! Special Treat!

Lily doesn't get candy very often. When she does, we call it a 'special treat' and give her one (yes, only one) jelly bean or jujube. She's thrilled, and Mom and Dad get to have the rest. It's a good deal for all.

Tonight, at my mom and dad's, Lily slid off the bed after a diaper change. Usually she wants to do one of the following:

1 - steal the remote for the ceiling fan.
2 - steal the remote for the TV
3 - steal the cordless phone

So she can "Push a button"

Her favorite sentence right now is "I want to push a button" And does she ever! Mom's buttons? Nope. She's a good kid, but she really can't resist a button. The dishwasher, the microwave, elevators, handicapped power-assist doors, the dashboard of my dad's new car, my computer, the TV, phones - you name it, if it has a button, she HAS to push it.

So when she slid off the bed, I just figured that she was stealing some kind of device with buttons. I headed out to the hall, and called after her to follow me. She streaked out of the room yelling "Special treat! Special treat!"

My mom asked what she had, at which point both of us started chasing her as neither of us had given her a "Special treat" Lily thought this was really funny, and ran faster. After we tackled her, I pried open her sticky fingers to find her so-called special treat. The turkey had stolen Tums from my dad's bedside table. Berry flavored, pink Tums. Actually they do taste pretty good - they helped me through the nasty heartburn stage of pregnancy. That aside, they were definitely NOT a special treat. Luckily, she only ate one, and since they are only calcium carbonate, they won't do her any harm. My dad has a habit of leaving the Tums in a tidy little pile on his nightstand. (Any other medication is up and out of reach - none of us even thought to make sure these were out of reach because the big bottle is locked in a cupboard.) Indy, our last dog, acquired a taste for them, and would regularly help himself to the 'special treats' that dad left out. Not sure if the Molly-dog does the same. Yet another thing to teach Lily - that she can't help herself to things, and that only Mom & Dad or Buppa & Lala can give her things to eat. Impulse control is such a hard thing to teach and must be so hard for her to learn right now.

She was fine, and we all learned a lesson. Oh, and the button? She didn't steal the phone or the remotes. Perhaps she is learning some impulse control after all.

That's my girl!