Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Randomness...
Note: This new blog template is temporary. I apologize if it's difficult to read. One trick that might help is highlighting the text with your cursor. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.
"Lazy days of summer" ...what?! This summer has been so much busier than I anticipated and it's all been good, but it's sure keeps me hopping. I could barely move on Monday morning because I had actually taken time to relax on the weekend, and I've noticed that when I stop moving all exhaustion catches up to me. Carrie keeps telling me that I just have to say "no", but it's so hard to say "no" to things I want to do. So to catch you up to speed on my life here and now, I give you a random post of randomness, with a few pictures that I took very quickly in between showers.
These are a few of my favorite things...
One of my favorite things is a freshly mowed lawn. It's been so hot here lately that we haven't mowed everything the last number of weeks, so this was the first time in three weeks that everything's been mowed at the same time. I spent a total of 9 hours on the tractor yesterday and today - which I think is actually record time for me to get my part all mowed. Now that I think about it I wonder if I missed something...hmmm...
Ahhh... so satisfying.
Freshly washed bed sheets that have been dried on the clothesline are also up there on my list of favorite things, just for the record.
My new job...
For the last year or so my faculty supervisor has been asking me to do some research assistant work for him and I've finally given in. He's currently in the process of revising one of his books ("Spiritual caregiving in the hospital" by Schipani and Bueckert) so I've been helping with that and also serving as a sounding board for his next project.
Growing like a weed...
...but fortunately the weeds aren't growing at quite the same rate that they were earlier, though my garden does need to be weeded again.
On Monday alone I picked 46 cucumbers from my 3 little plants. One of my friends called and asked if I had extra cucumbers - what a lifesaver!
Tomatoes are starting to ripen so I'll be up to my ears in tomatoes in about a week. I'm waiting for my roommate to return so she can help me can them, but I'm peeling, seeding, and freezing them so that they're ready to go for canning. Last weekend we had a thunderstorm roll through here with high winds and it did quite a number on the plants - all but one of my 10 plants was lying down. I spent an hour-and-a-half yesterday evening re-staking all my tomatoes. We had another thunderstorm today and all of them stayed standing. I took these pics about 2 hours after the storm. I love that the ground here is so sandy - 2 hours after a heavy rain I can walk in the garden mud-free.
The watermelons are growing by leaps and bounds, and the spaghetti squash too - each day I can see a difference. My zucchini plants aren't producing as much as last year, which is actually quite the blessing. The corn will be ready to be picked within the next few days as well.
(Compare these pics to July 3rd's post)
Wildlife sightings on campus...
Last summer we had a family of wild turkeys, a mother and 3 babies, living with us on campus. This summer we have a mother with 7 babies. I usually see them out and about at least a couple of times a day.
We've also been seeing skunks wandering around in the middle of the day - a little strange. There's one that likes to hang out in a bush right near the main building. One day Cara and I were weeding not 3 feet away from the bush and when we stood up after we were done out wandered the skunk. Too close for comfort, I say.
And today when I was mowing I scared a possum out of it's hiding place. That's the first time in my life I've seen a live possum, and I wouldn't mind if it was the last time. They are ugly!
Canning has begun...
I've made 13 jars of mom's dill pickles and 7 jars of zucchini relish thus far. I've started begging people to take my cucumbers because there are only so many pickles I can make and only so many that two people can eat.
Moonlighting...
One of the professors here at AMBS spends his summers renovating houses and when he asked the maintenance supervisor for a recommendation, my name and Cara's name came up. So we've been over there painting when we've had a few extra hours in the evenings.
At long last, scrapbooking...
It's been a whole year since I've really gotten down to scrapbooking. This past weekend was dedicated to organizing my photos and letting the creativity flow. I actually just finished scrapbooking my pictures from August 2009 so I'm only 1 year behind now. It was my goal to get all caught up again this summer but I kind of doubt that will happen.
The countdown is on...
Only 17 more sleeps until I leave for Manitoba to go and get Carrie! This is the longest we've gone without seeing each other in our 8 years of roommate-ship. Definitely miss her.
Road trip...
This weekend I'm heading out to Virginia with two of my friends to help one of them move. Apparently something is also being planned for my birthday as part of the trip, but I have no idea what's up. I guess we'll see...
Well, that's a bit of what I've been up to. There's more that I could write but I'm going to try and be responsible and get to bed at a decent hour this evening. 6:50 am has been coming too early the last few mornings. Good night.
"Lazy days of summer" ...what?! This summer has been so much busier than I anticipated and it's all been good, but it's sure keeps me hopping. I could barely move on Monday morning because I had actually taken time to relax on the weekend, and I've noticed that when I stop moving all exhaustion catches up to me. Carrie keeps telling me that I just have to say "no", but it's so hard to say "no" to things I want to do. So to catch you up to speed on my life here and now, I give you a random post of randomness, with a few pictures that I took very quickly in between showers.
These are a few of my favorite things...
One of my favorite things is a freshly mowed lawn. It's been so hot here lately that we haven't mowed everything the last number of weeks, so this was the first time in three weeks that everything's been mowed at the same time. I spent a total of 9 hours on the tractor yesterday and today - which I think is actually record time for me to get my part all mowed. Now that I think about it I wonder if I missed something...hmmm...
Ahhh... so satisfying.
Freshly washed bed sheets that have been dried on the clothesline are also up there on my list of favorite things, just for the record.
My new job...
For the last year or so my faculty supervisor has been asking me to do some research assistant work for him and I've finally given in. He's currently in the process of revising one of his books ("Spiritual caregiving in the hospital" by Schipani and Bueckert) so I've been helping with that and also serving as a sounding board for his next project.
Growing like a weed...
...but fortunately the weeds aren't growing at quite the same rate that they were earlier, though my garden does need to be weeded again.
On Monday alone I picked 46 cucumbers from my 3 little plants. One of my friends called and asked if I had extra cucumbers - what a lifesaver!
Tomatoes are starting to ripen so I'll be up to my ears in tomatoes in about a week. I'm waiting for my roommate to return so she can help me can them, but I'm peeling, seeding, and freezing them so that they're ready to go for canning. Last weekend we had a thunderstorm roll through here with high winds and it did quite a number on the plants - all but one of my 10 plants was lying down. I spent an hour-and-a-half yesterday evening re-staking all my tomatoes. We had another thunderstorm today and all of them stayed standing. I took these pics about 2 hours after the storm. I love that the ground here is so sandy - 2 hours after a heavy rain I can walk in the garden mud-free.
The watermelons are growing by leaps and bounds, and the spaghetti squash too - each day I can see a difference. My zucchini plants aren't producing as much as last year, which is actually quite the blessing. The corn will be ready to be picked within the next few days as well.
(Compare these pics to July 3rd's post)
Wildlife sightings on campus...
Last summer we had a family of wild turkeys, a mother and 3 babies, living with us on campus. This summer we have a mother with 7 babies. I usually see them out and about at least a couple of times a day.
We've also been seeing skunks wandering around in the middle of the day - a little strange. There's one that likes to hang out in a bush right near the main building. One day Cara and I were weeding not 3 feet away from the bush and when we stood up after we were done out wandered the skunk. Too close for comfort, I say.
And today when I was mowing I scared a possum out of it's hiding place. That's the first time in my life I've seen a live possum, and I wouldn't mind if it was the last time. They are ugly!
Canning has begun...
I've made 13 jars of mom's dill pickles and 7 jars of zucchini relish thus far. I've started begging people to take my cucumbers because there are only so many pickles I can make and only so many that two people can eat.
Moonlighting...
One of the professors here at AMBS spends his summers renovating houses and when he asked the maintenance supervisor for a recommendation, my name and Cara's name came up. So we've been over there painting when we've had a few extra hours in the evenings.
At long last, scrapbooking...
It's been a whole year since I've really gotten down to scrapbooking. This past weekend was dedicated to organizing my photos and letting the creativity flow. I actually just finished scrapbooking my pictures from August 2009 so I'm only 1 year behind now. It was my goal to get all caught up again this summer but I kind of doubt that will happen.
The countdown is on...
Only 17 more sleeps until I leave for Manitoba to go and get Carrie! This is the longest we've gone without seeing each other in our 8 years of roommate-ship. Definitely miss her.
Road trip...
This weekend I'm heading out to Virginia with two of my friends to help one of them move. Apparently something is also being planned for my birthday as part of the trip, but I have no idea what's up. I guess we'll see...
Well, that's a bit of what I've been up to. There's more that I could write but I'm going to try and be responsible and get to bed at a decent hour this evening. 6:50 am has been coming too early the last few mornings. Good night.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
The women in purple...
I was just organizing my photos so that I can get down to some scrapbooking when I came across these from our grad photo shoot! We had the t-shirts made as surprise grad gifts for Cara and Joanne, our two graduates.
Next weekend Andrea and I are helping Joanne move to Virginia. Our group is breaking up *sniff sniff* But looking forward to the road trip none-the-less.
Next weekend Andrea and I are helping Joanne move to Virginia. Our group is breaking up *sniff sniff* But looking forward to the road trip none-the-less.
Monday, July 12, 2010
The anatomy of a toilet...
Sometimes I wonder why I don't have to pay tuition to work on summer crew for all the learning I do :-)
Today's lesson - The Anatomy of a Toilet - Removal and Installation 101
So, the bolt was stuck. Cara started rocking the entire toilet until - SNAP - the stool broke right off it's base. So out came the hammer and we took care of that stubborn bolt. (and Don laughed at us when we left the shop with a hammer in hand, on our way to remove a toilet)
Bye bye potty.
We had to carry the toilet out an apartment, down a flight of stairs, and outside to the golf cart. We were about 2 steps down the stairs when the water that was left in the bowl poured out and soaked the stairs. Cara and I started laughing so hard we could barely keep our grip.
Unfortunately we did not come up with this pose on our own. This is a classic summer crew scene, though usually it involves parading around campus with someone perched on the throne. We didn't actually ride the loo this time because its broken base made it quite unsteady.
Behold, the new throne!
Installed by yours truly, the gals of summer crew.
Yeah, we were pretty proud of ourselves.
Today's lesson - The Anatomy of a Toilet - Removal and Installation 101
So, the bolt was stuck. Cara started rocking the entire toilet until - SNAP - the stool broke right off it's base. So out came the hammer and we took care of that stubborn bolt. (and Don laughed at us when we left the shop with a hammer in hand, on our way to remove a toilet)
Bye bye potty.
We had to carry the toilet out an apartment, down a flight of stairs, and outside to the golf cart. We were about 2 steps down the stairs when the water that was left in the bowl poured out and soaked the stairs. Cara and I started laughing so hard we could barely keep our grip.
Unfortunately we did not come up with this pose on our own. This is a classic summer crew scene, though usually it involves parading around campus with someone perched on the throne. We didn't actually ride the loo this time because its broken base made it quite unsteady.
Behold, the new throne!
Installed by yours truly, the gals of summer crew.
Yeah, we were pretty proud of ourselves.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Picture this...
I wished I had had a camera with me today, or better yet a photographer follow me around. However, since I'm not famous enough to have paparazzi stocking me I'll have to recount this adventure as best I can.
It seems to be law that the downpour will always start when you are furthest away from the shop. The first downpour this morning was no biggie - I was out weeding when it started to rain so I took off across the yard on the golf cart and sought shelter. I was wet but not too soaked.
Then this afternoon I was over at Narnia house trimming tree branches when it started to drizzle. I quickly finished trimming the branches and was gathering them all up in a pile when the skies opened up big time. I abandoned my branches, jumped on the little white golf cart, and put the pedal to the metal, flying across the lawn and parking lot. When I got the shop I tried to open the garage door with the opener but the battery was obviously dead. So there I was sitting in my golf cart in front of the closed shop door in the pouring rain, trying in vain to get the door to open with the opener. I finally jumped off the cart and opened the door, and drove in. Shelter at last. But by that time I was thoroughly soaked.
So I stood, dripping, in the shop watching the rain fall. When it let up a bit I thought, Well, I'm already soaked. Might as well go and finish what I started. So my cart and I ventured back out in the now gentle rain. I gathered up the branches that I had trimmed back at Narnia house and headed for the burn pile. Now here's the thing - some large equipment was working out by the burn pile and had created quite the mud pit. I, however, was unaware of the situation and so as I came around the corner and saw the mud pit which lay before me I had to do some quick thinking and in haste thought, I need to go as fast as I can through the mud so I don't get stuck. Full speed ahead (which on a golf cart isn't all that fast but can feel fast to one sitting on it while off-roading) I sped past the bulldozer that was working and through the mud. I did not, however, anticipate the fact that I would have to turn in the mud pit to make the corner so I cranked the steering wheel with my one hand while hanging on to my load of branches with the other and turned at the last second - and the back end of the golf cart totally drifted. I dodged a couple more mud puddles and made it to the burn pile. After dropping off my load and headed back to the shop.
Of course, I am soaked from head to toe at this point - which included my wide-brimmed hat. What happens to a wide-brimmed hat when it gets wet? It droops. What happens when wide-brimmed hat droops? Alicia can't see. So as I drove back to the shop with only partial visibility I did not see the gigantic puddle that had formed on the parking lot and I hit it smack in the middle. Water sprayed everywhere - and I have to admit it would have been a pretty awesome picture! If anyone saw me do it they probably thought that crazy maintenance woman hit the puddle on purpose. But I swear I didn't ;-)
And so ended another day at the office.
It seems to be law that the downpour will always start when you are furthest away from the shop. The first downpour this morning was no biggie - I was out weeding when it started to rain so I took off across the yard on the golf cart and sought shelter. I was wet but not too soaked.
Then this afternoon I was over at Narnia house trimming tree branches when it started to drizzle. I quickly finished trimming the branches and was gathering them all up in a pile when the skies opened up big time. I abandoned my branches, jumped on the little white golf cart, and put the pedal to the metal, flying across the lawn and parking lot. When I got the shop I tried to open the garage door with the opener but the battery was obviously dead. So there I was sitting in my golf cart in front of the closed shop door in the pouring rain, trying in vain to get the door to open with the opener. I finally jumped off the cart and opened the door, and drove in. Shelter at last. But by that time I was thoroughly soaked.
So I stood, dripping, in the shop watching the rain fall. When it let up a bit I thought, Well, I'm already soaked. Might as well go and finish what I started. So my cart and I ventured back out in the now gentle rain. I gathered up the branches that I had trimmed back at Narnia house and headed for the burn pile. Now here's the thing - some large equipment was working out by the burn pile and had created quite the mud pit. I, however, was unaware of the situation and so as I came around the corner and saw the mud pit which lay before me I had to do some quick thinking and in haste thought, I need to go as fast as I can through the mud so I don't get stuck. Full speed ahead (which on a golf cart isn't all that fast but can feel fast to one sitting on it while off-roading) I sped past the bulldozer that was working and through the mud. I did not, however, anticipate the fact that I would have to turn in the mud pit to make the corner so I cranked the steering wheel with my one hand while hanging on to my load of branches with the other and turned at the last second - and the back end of the golf cart totally drifted. I dodged a couple more mud puddles and made it to the burn pile. After dropping off my load and headed back to the shop.
Of course, I am soaked from head to toe at this point - which included my wide-brimmed hat. What happens to a wide-brimmed hat when it gets wet? It droops. What happens when wide-brimmed hat droops? Alicia can't see. So as I drove back to the shop with only partial visibility I did not see the gigantic puddle that had formed on the parking lot and I hit it smack in the middle. Water sprayed everywhere - and I have to admit it would have been a pretty awesome picture! If anyone saw me do it they probably thought that crazy maintenance woman hit the puddle on purpose. But I swear I didn't ;-)
And so ended another day at the office.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Wide load...
Today Cara and I took it upon ourselves to move the play structure:
Stay tuned for further adventures of Cara and Alicia on summer crew...
Stay tuned for further adventures of Cara and Alicia on summer crew...
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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