How's the weather?

The weather this week has been amazing - reaching into the 80s, with a gentle breeze.  Perfect porch-sittin' weather.  You better believe I've taken full advantage, sitting in my plastic Adirondack, drinking Busch Light from a can with a St. George Island coozy my Momma brought back from Florida last year, smoking Marlboro 72s, looking up occasionally from my Christian Romance novel to make sure Finn hasn't slipped his lead again. Lovely Spring afternoons.

The flowering trees are full of flowers, and as I do every Spring, I desperately wish we owned a house with a mature Magnolia.  Oh, I love them so!  I told Jimi that if he ever wanted to get me an awesome birthday gift, a Magnolia or a weeping cherry would be a lovely surprise.  He responded that obviously he can't do it this year, because it wouldn't be much of a surprise.  Whatever.  We do have a Japanese Maple, and an ornamental cherry, and they're both gorgeous, but still...I covet that which I do not have.  At least lots of neighbors have them; I can still enjoy the beauty.


I feel like I have a lot of thoughts and not enough words.  So many things in my head - work, politics, family, friends.  I feel intimidated at the idea of trying to sort it all out, to make sense of this jumble that bangs around.  I have so much to say, I just don't remember how to sit down and let it all pour out. 

Spring 2011: DURING

  It's SO GREEN!!!

 

Our garage needs some TLC.

On their way to the Derby. 

I wish we'd driven closer to the track and found a spot to stop and watch the people.  

There's so much good people watching to be done on Derby Day.  

 Not far from the University of Louisville's campus, there's this memorial statue in the center of an intersection.  It was built in honor of Claudia Wadlington and Riley Lawrence, two little girls who were killed when a driver, fleeing the police, plowed into them as they were crossing the street with Claudia's mother to go get a Happy Meal.  Today the little girls in the statue have their Derby/Easter hats on and a pony to dance with.  

My roses haven't died yet.  In fact, they're blooming beautifully.  

Spring has sprung.

Stuff and Things

I sat out in the front yard yesterday afternoon, my chair positioned just-so, lining my body up directly into the rays of the sun, no shadows anywhere if I sat just right.  I tried to read, but the book I've got right now is some bullshit fluff mystery novel that is poorly written, if not entertaining on a base level - it wasn't enough to keep my eyelids from getting heavy as that warm light beat down on me, so foreign and welcome after weeks of rain and dreary.  Finally, I gave up and put the book down on the arm of my chair (breaking the spine, of course, because that's how I roll), leaned back, closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

I woke probably 20 minutes later, my hands asleep and numb because of the way I'd had them positioned, Finn lying next to me, sniffing the air, watching for interlopers into his yard (squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits - we've got them all).  The world was blue-tinted - that weird off shade that comes from sleeping in the sun, even behind sunglasses.  My skin was warm and tight - when I showered before bed last night, I found I had a new pink tint on my chest, and my freckles are a darker brown.  I think I remember briefly wondering before I drifted off to sleep if I should put on some sunscreen, but I was so comfortable, so warm...

I think Spring is going to be here for good any minute now.  It feels new and sunshiney and bright and promising out there.

We took Finn for a long walk in the park yesterday, too.  I'm starting to really enjoy movement, exercise, and it's a new and welcomed thing.  Not that the scale's moved at all, but that's cool.  It feels good, and I only ever do anything because it feels good anyhow.

Red Hot Chili Peppers on my Pandora Ben Harper Radio station.  I'm not going to give it a thumbs down, either.

Jimi just suggested pumping up the tires on the bikes and going for a ride down Southern Parkway.  OMG, yes, yes, a thousand times YES!  Getting him to walk with me is like pulling teeth, but he went yesterday and didn't make too much noise about it.  We're going to DC in less than 2 weeks, though, and DC?  It's nothing but walking.  Walking here, looking at that, walking there, looking at this.  Spending the next 10 or so days doing some form of physical activity daily is a really good idea; otherwise, I fear there will be trouble.  And by "trouble", I mean we'll get to DC and he'll have a hard time with his hip or his ankle or some such other thing and I'll be super pissed off and I'll want to be a complete bitch to him over it and say mean things but I won't because I love him so I'll sit there instead and not talk at all except to answer in one-syllable words and he'll know I'm pissed off and he'll feel like shit just like if I'd said mean things and I'll feel awful and he'll feel awful and we'll get back home and be like "wow what a great vacation" in a monotone itsucked sort of tone.  No one wants that.  And I'm going to try to find some non-walking things to do up there, too, just in case.

I love the weekends.  I love having all the day to myself, to do whatever my little heart desires, even if that means reading the internet and napping outside and eating quinoa twice in one day.  (Quinoa with walnuts and cranberries?  Holy smokes, yum!  And the fact that it's good for you?  Double yum!)

That's all I've got for now.  Oh, except that it's Sunday again, and that means Comment Love at FTLOB.





So that's pretty awesome.  Happy Sunday, Friends!