This & That

until thursday of this week i had no hard plans… it was so amazing. i ended up at the taste of syracuse last night with KW, where she spotted and took a picture with Arinze Onuaku, and kris joseph. of course the camera on my phone is so shitty, it looks like this.. but it’s the idea that matters. :)  the little italian lady that had her pic taken first with him was incredulous while telling me how handsome they both were… it was funny.

i was also convinced to go to see bon jovi last night. i’m not hard to convince once the wine comes out. so KW, MK and 2 yet to be named people have lawn seats at SPAC this july 11th. i’ll be glad to see bon jovi, but apparently it’s on KWs LIST.. so glad i could assist is crossing that off for her.

today i woke up in the 9s, bought some concert tickets, went to the movies to see “meet me at the greek”, was disappointed by said movie, had lunch, watched some DVRd shows, and now i’m computing.. it’s been a perfect day. i should be doing my laundry, picking up and grocery shopping, but i’m not. haha.

i’ve been so touched by the comments, private emails and phone calls i’ve received as a result of my last post. thank you.. blogging is like therapy. :)

since i last posted i also booked a flight to portland in october. this is the first time i’ve been able to use my frequent flyer miles, it was so exciting! and only cost $35 out of pocket. woooooot!

KW has volunteered to help me build a retaining wall.. who else wants to volunteer?   it takes a village. :)

I’m watching jillians new show “losing it” partly because nothing much is on tv right now, and partly because I love those weight loss shows. As I watch the mother talk about how she had a son that lived a month and a day. He was on a respirator and just didn’t make it. As I watch this I can’t even see the tv through the tears that are pouring out of my eyes.

As the family talks about their son that died and how the babies funeral was the first funeral the father had ever attended, it makes me think about the first funeral I ever attended. More importantly, it reminds me of the regret I have have for not going to see my grandfather in the hospital when he knew he wasn’t going to make it. He requested that the family all come in from out of town…. I didn’t go to the hospital with the rest of them, I worked at Harveys instead. I was so afraid… then he died, and I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.

The wedding weekend that just past gave my sisters and brother in laws and I a chance to talk about our grandparents and dying… it was confirmed that my dying grandfather inquired about my whereabouts that day. :( that just makes me feel worse.

in the hopes that he reads my blog…. here’s an open letter to my papa:

Papa,
I’m sorry I didn’t come see you in the hospital at the end. I was too scared and didn’t want to cry. I think about you often, especially when my nieces are visiting mom and dad at your house. I imagine you answering the door and feigning surprise that we were visiting, and exclaiming that you would have gotten a hotel room if you had known we were coming.

I remember you watching either the stock ticker or “the home box” while smoking at the table next to the bay window.

I still laugh when I recall your extremely short temper, and you getting angry with us when we rolled down the windows when you were smoking in the car in winter. You went the extra step to roll down ALL the windows and even turn on the air conditioning.

To this day I think I picked up my spacial relations and packing ability from your wood stackng lessons. What did you use all that wood for each year anyway?

So, again, I am very sorry I didn’t get a chance to see you a final time, but I probably wouldn’t have been able to say goodbye anyway.

I’m confident ill be seeing you again some day.

I loved you and I miss you, papa.

Becky.

today, i worked like a dog.. i am sore in places i didn’t know i had. thankfully mike came over midday to drop off the proper tools, and cath came over mid afternoon to help me finish off the job. thank god for cath, or i’d be living in a hoopty house.

we probably planted 40 feet of IVY… say prayers i can keep it alive, cause if this soreness is for naught, i will be pretty upset.

cath, helping so graciously.

while we were slaving away 4 or 5 of my neighbors/people walking by stopped to say “happy memorial day” to us.. you would have thought we were wearing fatigues. it made me feel a little unpatriotic for not even considering saying the same to random strangers on the street..

my goal by the fourth of july is to get a flag to hang in my flag post.

i’m looking forward to work tomorrow. having traveled late last week, i am feeling behind the 8 ball.

BUT, what i am most looking forward to is not having travel plans until the end of june. ahhhhhhhh, heavenly.

with no plans this weekend, and most of saturday taken up with sleeping… i felt obligated to at least mow my lawn this morning.. so obligated that i was out mowing at 745. probably to the chagrin of my neighbors. :)

after mowing, i felt obligated to plant the $40 worth of plants cath bought for me yesterday at the farmers market..

while i was in the garden i decided to take the clippers to the flowerless daffodil and tulip stalks.. i know its controversial, but i couldn’t take the clutter and needed to rake those bed out, shiiiiiit.

so when that was all done, i fed KWs dog, and then cath, KM and i went to some guys house and pointed to plants in his garden and he dug them up for us, then charged us next to nothing for them..

i got some daisy/looking plant, one of the plants i had last year that’s leaves are a real bright green with red in the middle, and some ivy.. :) i am most thrilled about the ivy..

the best part about the ivy is that cath said when she dropped off KM, she noticed that KMs vacant neighbors yard is overflowing with ivy.. she stole a TON for me.. i am going to be hooked up. i was going to try to tackle the ivy project today, but i am sore in places i didn’t know existed.

in addition to planting, i peat mossed, top soiled and mulched my two beds. i also dug up around my clematis and peat mossed the hell out of it. tomorrow i will top soil/mulch it.. i hope this will help it to grow. my clematis is pitiful right now, while cath’s is flourishing. shiiiiit. i did notice that the soil around my light post is all roots underneath and i even dug up some grubs. :( wah wahhhh.

here are some pictures of my 2010 gardens.

these are the things i’ve learned about gardening..

1. cath is unhealthily excited about plants.
2. top soil smells like manure.. i hope that smell comes out of my trunk.
3. building a retaining wall is totally within the scope of a DIYers ability.. lets see if it’s within mine.
4. the people at HOME DEPOT were so helpful today i bet they were looking for a tip when they loaded my 6 bags of topsoil/peat/mulch in my cart and then my car. ooops.
5. gardening makes you sore as hell.
6. you’re supposed to water fuschia plants twice a day if you don’t want them to die.
7. you’re supposed to water all the rest of your plants everyday. what?!

tomorrow, the IVY.. maybe cath will help me..

this really long weekend was spent celebrating my cousin’s wedding. it was a glorious affair. not the most traditional affair, but it had all the best parts, and it was so kristina.. it was elegant and had some quirky touches. it was perfect..

it was also a great chance to have the most of the family in one place.. all the hunt babies were there, and a lot of family from colorado.

i took a lot of pictures.. they can be found

here (sailboating trip/crab feast)
and here (wedding day photos)

sunday was spent at the Tumas farm.. it was a beautiful place, and the gourmet food we ate all weekend was unbelievable.

here is a little taste of the dancing that happened..