Work in Progress

I'm working on transferring my blog to wordpress.  I've decided it's time to take the plunge into a more up to date blog host.  It doesn't appear as though blogger.com is going to update the infrastructure backside of things so I've already started the transfer.  I want more options that are less cartoon like.

I exported all of my blog posts, including the ones you can't see from the blog from WAY back.  Everything is getting categorized, tagged, a few things deleted.  This blog will remain primary for a while.  It will take some time before I make the final switch.  You will know it when you see it!

Today was a busy-ish one...

I have paint for the guest room and it's taped up and ready for a day of painting tomorrow.

And we went bed shopping!!  3-4 weeks and we'll have a Sleep Number!

I think for now though, I'm going to tear myself away from the computer and grab a snack and head to bed.  My second book of the year is a great one!!!

1 of 14

I finished my first book of 2014.  I needed a break from Truman and had a gift card to Barnes & Noble.  I wandered the store for a good hour on Tuesday and came home with three books that I had never even heard of before.  I didn't pick them based on cover but by the descriptions and reviews.  
                           

Sweet Expectations, it turns out, is the 2nd book in the Union Street Bakery series.  I didn't know that but after finding out, I didn't think I was missing anything from the storyline.  In fact, after I read the summary from the first book, I was glad that I hadn't read it because it sounds like it would be more drama and less bakery.  I'm not rushing off to find it, at least.  I probably would read a sequel to this one if one is written though.  

I love stories set in bakeries.  I think I've read all of Joanne Fluke's "Hannah Swenson's" bakery series.  Sweet Expectations was a sweet book.  HA!  See what I did there?!   There were many things about the writing that irked me... including the many references to disheveled people "looking like they were hit by trucks" and the continuous reference to the unborn baby as "the kid."  I enjoyed the history sleuthing even if it was all very generic in explanation.  Jenna and Walter's story was sweet and well constructed.  The ending was entirely predictable.  The million references to "the kid" being a girl pretty much guaranteed it was going to be a boy.

Anywho, it was a fast read.  I had it finished in just over a day.  It was kind of nice to get back into reading.  Truman is a very dense and fact filled book so it was nice to read some fluff.  I'll be starting my next book just as soon as I get out of the shower and head to bed.

Gardening Plans

My hatred of winter and all things cold has me daydreaming a lot about warmer weather and gardening.  This will be our first full gardening season in the new house.  We were far too busy unpacking and planning a wedding last year for me to do much more than growing a few pots full of flowers.

I'm pretty sure my first attempt at vegetable gardening will be a flop as I have very little experience.  I've helped my mom with a garden a few times and had a few plants on the patio at the condo but that's about it.

Pinterest is a dangerous place to spend time when planning a garden.  It seems like everything is "easy" and I know that's not the case.  I'm trying to narrow down my list of things to try because I know I can't grow everything and have a huge garden right out of the gate, especially considering the area that will become our garden is still fully landscaped from last year.  I'm thinking of using containers and a few small raised beds to test out areas of the backyard, side yard, and even front yard to grow some things.  So far I've got this much figured out...

Sweet potatoes - Everything I've read about sweet potatoes is they need a very long, hot growing season.  I'm going to attempt to grow some in containers along the back fence.

Carrots - I'm going to use my old cold frame and some round pots to grow carrots.

Tomatoes - I'm thinking a small raised bed that will hold about three plants would work well for the back corner.  There are a few pathetic perennial plants back there that could easily be dug out to make room for a raised bed.

Peppers - A matching raised bed would also work for pepper plants.  I'd like to do red, orange, and yellow peppers because these are the kind I buy the most at the store.

Sugar snap peas - I have a few extra window box planters that I didn't use last year.  I was thinking of using these to grow snap peas up a trellis.

Lettuce - Lettuce likes shade apparently so I'm going to try growing some along the north side of the house.  I'm not sure if I'll grow it containers or in one of the beds along the side of the house.

Just those things alone will probably keep me plenty occupied when I'm not mowing the yard.  I'm going to use some gift cards to buy some big containers and soil.  I'm not sure if I'll try starting seeds indoors for the tomatoes and peppers.

For now, I think I'll just work on getting my containers gathered.  I'm thinking whiskey barrels and galvanized containers.

Anywho... I'll keep browsing the internet and coming up with grand plans for spring and summer.

• Lots of scrapbooking this weekend.  I finished my San Francisco trip, started and completed my Idaho turkey hunting trip, and did a few other pages of random photos.  I don't have any more photos from bigger trips so I think I'll plug away on some of the smaller trips and events before I take on any bigger project.

• I've binge watched Friends all weekend.  It's been fun to laugh at random things.  I wish all of my friends lived nearby so I could see them everyday.  I'd like to think we would have just as much random hilarity as the Friends gang.

• I hadn't been on the bike since last Friday.  So I got back on this afternoon for an easy ride.  I covered 15 miles in an hour while watching last night's NCIS: LA episode.  It was a piece of cake and went by pretty easily.

• Even though I had an extra day off this weekend, I do not want to go to work tomorrow.  Dreading it.  Seriously, I'm over this crap.  OVER it.

My weekend ...

Long ride Tuesday

30 miles!

Long ride - long day.

I've emptied and cleaned the blue room. Next step is to paint it. Maybe next weekend if I can pick a paint color.

I also managed to get ALL of my laundry done. And make a healthy dinner after grocery shopping.

Project Life and other randomness

Project Life Week Two (weeks are Weds-Tues, which kind of work wells with my schedule)






Still working my way through Truman.

Hit my longest training ride yet of 2 hours, 28 miles.

I've kept on top of healthy eating all week. Taco lettuce wraps tonight! I've been good about taking an apple and a banana as a snack each day.

Weekend plans: empty the blue room for carpet cleaning and painting, take down outdoor Christmas lights, go somewhere (suggestions?) to practice using my d7100.

Resolutions in progress...

First, Project Life...




Second, moving towards 2014 miles with dog walks and cycling...






Since the 1st, I've moved 93.81 miles or an average of 7.81 miles.  That's above the daily average to reach my goal so it's good I'm slowly working up a credit line for any lazy days ahead!

Third, I'm taking slow junks out of the gigantic Truman biography I started before Christmas.  It's over 1100 pages so even though I started it before the new year, whenever I get it finished, I'm totally counting it towards by 14 book total.  I'm only at page 450 or something.

Fourth, I've been a master of healthy eating lately.  Lots of veggies and lean meats.  And bottles and bottles of water.  I've gone 19 days without a latte.  I'm down six pounds and am ready to see that number going higher.

I still have some work to do on the whole cleaning something everyday.  By the time I get home from work, cycle and shower, I'm wiped.  I have managed to pack a little Christmas stuff each day though.  And I did pass along about ten empty boxes to someone from work who needed them for moving.

The next two days are overtime/on-call free so I'm hoping to get a lot done around here.  More scrapbooking, all of the Christmas stuff put away, more cycling, and some clutter purging.  And if the wind ever stops blowing, I'm going to take down the outdoor Christmas lights.  So much to do.  For now though, I must eat.

Yesterday was a beautiful one.  Winter and I are getting along okay at the moment.  And I type this after spending a half hour shoveling the driveway too.  Odd.


My weekend has finally arrived.  Sort of.  I'm on-call tomorrow but I'm hoping for a quiet day so I can catch up on things around the house.  And start undecorating too, I suppose.  Blah.  So much work.

First up, dumping my phone.  I have over a 1,000 pictures on it and it's starting to slow down.  Time to start fresh again.

The dog walking streak continues!! Six days and counting. It was a cold one out there the past two days. Today we had to walk in the road because I couldn't find the sidewalk and didn't want to trip on anything.

Four days in a row! Brink and I are a speed walking duo first thing in the morning.



I hope Spring comes early this early. So cold.

Morning coffee date

It's like he knows my plan is to finish this cup of coffee and get dressed for our walk. I can hear the wind whipping and the wind chime clanging out on the patio. It was darker than dark but now it's turning gray. It's shaping up to be a gloomy sunrise.

I'd usually talk myself out of it. But it's day three. Oh, and it's the first day of the year. And I kind of have a few goals to accomplish this year and bailing on my very first task that helps me accomplish them is kind of a bad omen I think.

So even though he's now perfectly plopped on my feet to keep them warm, I'll taking a few more swigs and head upstairs to change.