phew

We survived the move!

And we even got our internet set up. Aren't you relieved?

There are a couple more car loads of things to bring back, but we'll be doing that today and tomorrow.

The unpacking is going fairly well. The boxes aren't so overwhelming anymore, and a lot of the furniture is likely in place. Tonight's big adventure will be putting together the new futon.

Having season one of Community show up on Thursday has made a big difference, I think. We love that show!!

In the Challenges column, we have realized that one downfall of having a dog that lived her entire life thus far in an apartment is that she will only potty on a leash, or inside. That has led to some unpleasantries. We're doing whatever we can think of to teach her, and hoping she'll figure it out soon. (She'd better!)

Nevertheless, it feels good to be 'home' again.

Happy Rotting Stuff!

Being the crazed hippie creation care advocate that I am, I have long considered composting as a 'thing to do' at home. I never bit the bullet, though, for a few reasons:

1. When I first heard of composting, it involved worms. Couldn't get over that.
2. When I then leanred about non-wormy composting, I wanted to try it! But I was living in Richmond, with no money, thinking I would probably be moving soon. So I decided to delay the decision until more money and more permanence allowed.
3. When we moved, thereby acquiring semi-permanence as well as more money, we were living in an apartment complex. Composting was outlawed. LAME.

Which brings me to now....

I have my Top Three Reasons Why Our New Rental House Is Awesome (back yard; room to entertain; close enough to work to downsize a car) and I have my list of smaller reasons to look forward to being in the house. Having a yard will be nice. There's a cute little sunroom that will be great. Line-drying clothing will be easier. I can tinker with a garden. I can tinker with growing flowers! I can do all those goofy little housewifey things I like to do.

AND. I can compost.

So the price tag on compost bins is a little high. I'm looking at startup costs maybe around $100. Suckzorz.

EXCEPT!

So this next part is a little bit of a detour. There's kind of a weird hedgey thing running along the back fence, overgrown with some kind of viney thing that I don't recognize. There might be much pruning and whacking of weeds when we move in. It's particularly jungle-y behind the garage.

Which is why I never noticed something before:

A COMPOST BIN!

It is completely overgrown and has all kinds of who-knows-what growing up and reaching out of all its lids and drawers and openings... but it is THERE. And now, it is MINE.

The only composting start-up cost I'll have will be factored in manual labor. Because there will be some labor involved in getting this thing in working order.

In fact, it's so overgrown I can't really even tell what kind of bin it is. It's tall, and probably black, and I'm guessing it's probably one of these or maybe one of these. Extricating it from the jungle will be tough, and I'm guessing it will weigh a whole freaking lot. But that's what we have husbands for, right?

I can't wait to get it cleaned up and start composting.

Once I figure out how to start composting, that is....

What's the weirdest thing you ever got excited over?

have a lovely day!

Check out this video for a fun dose of goofy 90s wardrobe and bad 90s music videos. Have a lovely day, everyone!

When I was in high school, I loved the song Lovely Day by a CCM group called Out of Eden. One summer I spent a week or two in Florida for a ballet intensive, and every day on the way to the studio my group of friends listened to this song. It brings back good memories and I'll still listen to it every now and then.

Today I'm thankful for:

I'm linking up with Company Girl Coffee this morning. Come play along!

1. Being able to work part-time. Brian makes enough to support both of us, and this is kind of a big deal to me. My part-time income is completely voluntary and it helps make our life a little easier. I'm not sure I'm cut out for full-time office work, as we've learned over the past three years. I'm so grateful to have a husband who provides enough for us. I'm not sure I tell him this enough. 

2. NOT living near forest fires. Tornadoes are scary, but they're here and gone in a flash. You know whether you were hit or not, pretty much immediately. Hurricanes are scary too, but you generally get lots of warning, and they can be tracked. Forest fires don't work that way. They move slowly and are difficult to monitor. You might not know for days or weeks whether your house survived. We see and smell the smoke from the nearby Boulder County forest fires, but the fire isn't a threat to our home. I hear stories every day from people who have lost their homes, who don't know if their houses are even standing, and who don't know what is going to happen to their family when they can access their property and learn the damage.

3. The chilly mornings and evenings. Midday here is still a little swampy and miserable, but the mornings and evenings are nice and chilly. I love old sweatshirts, and there is now a place for them in my wardrobe again. Another thing I love: walking on the cold, dew-covered grass in the morning. My Grandovie used to fuss at me for going around barefoot when it was chilly (for the love of Pete, you'll catch your death of cold) and she bought me I-don't-know-how-many slippers. But to no avail. I'm still that girl who won't wear slippers in the morning.



What's ringing your thankfulness bell this morning?

Time keeps on slipping

I've mentioned here that we're moving, right? In something like 10 days.

We've hardly begun to pack!!

And I am kind of freaking out a little bit. Just not enough to start packing.

I think the dogs know something is going on. They've both been extra-neurotic lately.

Lord help us all.

Assume Love - a blog reco

Do y'all know the Assume Love blog written by Patty Newbold?

Her posts are a leetle sporadic (sound familiar?) but the concept and content are both great - no filler, which is awesome. I read her most recent post and got motivated to share.

The name of the blog, Assume Love, is the gist of Patty's relationship advice too. When your spouse does something you just can't understand or rationalize, assume that his (in my case) motivation is love, and go from there to look for your answers.

She has three 'tools' to help you have a happier marriage when there's conflict or hurt: assume love when upset, expect love when in need, and find third alternatives when you disagree.

Today's post gives a real example of how to use these three tools. Sometimes it can be easy to 'learn the tools' without actually learning how to use them. Having examples makes it easier to remember how to incorporate the tools in your own life. At least, it's helpful to me!

So if you're like me and still trying to figure out this whole 'marriage' thing, now is a good day to go check out Assume Love by Patty Newbold.

One Book, One Denver

A couple of months ago I was getting to know my library's redone web page, and I stumbled across something called One Book, One Denver.

According to the DPL website,

One Book, One Denver is Mayor Hickenlooper's citywide book club created to build community and stimulate people to read.

(Yes, our mayor's name is Hickenlooper. Watch out, he's running for gub'ner!)

So what happens is, the mayor sets out three books, and then there's a popular vote done on the library website. The choice is chosen but kept secret for a couple of months, while people add their names to the Holds list. I think something like 1100 people put the OBOD on hold this year, sheesh!

The choices this year were:

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Fine Just the Way It Is by Annie Proulx
• The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

It's probably a surprise to no one that The Help was chosen. It's the book with all the buzz, at least from what I can tell. I read it about a month ago (it was great!) and Brian started it, but he wasn't able to finish before it was due back. So now he has at least 3 more weeks to get through it. 

In the next few days I'm going to look at the schedule of events and see what discussion groups and activities I might want to check out. I'm from the south (though not as deep as Mississippi, where the book takes place) and now living in a place where race, at least the black/white perspective, doesn't seem to be much of an 'issue' on the list of top issues. 

Aside: did I ever tell you about the time Chapel Hill was considering changing the name of the main street from Airport Blvd. (which had local historical significance that was meaningful to longtime residents) to MLKJ Blvd.? The opponents gave their arguments, which had a lot to do with the financial hit to business, which needed HELP, and suggested more appropriate, more meaningful, less costly ways ($50k to get the street signs changed, for starters) to celebrate/honor Dr. King. The local NAACP leader then got up and said, pointing fingers, that they were all racist. "You a racist, and you a racist, and you a racist." I'll never forget that moment Even in supposedly-enlightened, progressive Chapel Hill, North Carolina, community leaders will point their fingers and call each other racist. 

To contrast, the apparent lack (at least from my very limited perspective - my circles right now are still very small) of 'blacks vs. whites' mentality out here is startling to someone who grew up surrounded by that mentality. I'm really curious about the Wild West's take on racial reconciliation, the theme of the book. It really is a different world in the South. Could everyman Coloradans have anything meaningful to contribute to the discussion? I'll find out soon enough, I guess. (I wonder how many times I'll hear someone refer to 'those people' and what kinds of Southerner stereotypes I might hear about.)

Does your city do something like this? Have you ever gone to 'discussion groups' for a massive reading effort? What's the most troubling thing you can remember happening in your community?

book-ular housekeeping, part 2

Some more book-related housekeeping on this here little blog of mine.

Back last November I told you, the world, that I was taking part in the TBR challenge. 

I made this proclamation, and promptly forgot. Until now.

So of the 24 books (12 picks and 12 alternates) I said I was going to read this year, I have read...





....drumroll please...





THREE.

(You thought I was going to say zero, right?)


One book is on the original list, and two are alternates.

Oops.

The calendar says I am probably not going to be able to finish nine of the remaining 12 books and still get everything else done that I need to get done this year, so I am going to pretend this little challenge thing never happened.

Hey, at least I'm reading something!