February 23, 2011

How Does Your Garden Grow...

Along with the started plants that we bought we also got some stuff that was available only in seed and planted those in the garden.  We planted 7 different kinds of seeds.  The seeds that were to pop up the earliest were the radishes, with an expected time of 4 to 7 days.  I fully expected it to take the full week and was already setting myself up for disappointed failure thinking it would be a miracle if this whole garden thing actually panned out.  I was thinking of it as a learning experience, knowing that I could always try again if something failed to grow.

I think I'm the most optimistic pessimist there is.  Or maybe I'm a pessimistic optimist.  Is there anyway to tell?

Saturday I went out to check on everything, it had been 4 days but I wasn't expecting much, then I saw that there was an extra bit of green that hadn't been there the day before.  The radishes were up!  I HAD RADISHES!!!  I almost ran back to the house to tell mom and grab my camera, I was so excited!  Pretty soon everything was popping up, way sooner then it was supposed to.  


The beets showed up the next day.  They should have popped up between 6 to 8 days but decided to show themselves on day five.  They were very cute, starting as little tiny red shoots before opening up their leaves the following day.  I HAD BEETS!!!


Here are some of the Wax Beans on day two of their entrance.  They emerged on Monday along with the Asparagus beans.  And as with all of our seeds they too were overachievers, showing up a couple days before they were expected.  I HAD BEANS!!!  Three different kinds!


 These are the radishes a week after they first came up.  I took this picture before I thinned them out.  The seedlings that I pulled were transplanted to a planter box so that they could continue to grow.  I have to thin out the beets next.


There are flowers on the tomato plants and they have grown quite a bit in the past week.


These are the cucumber and squash plants.  We have to tilt that lattice so that they can climb it and the veggies will hang through for easy picking.  The squash plant in the middle really likes the spot it is in, it's grown a few inches since it was planted.


These are the Asparagus Beans that were started from seed.  The seeds actually came from a bean that mom got from one of her employees.


Most impressive are the last two seeds to sprout.  Our chives (top picture) and the carrots (bottom picture), both of these seeds had a germination time of 14 to 21 days.  With all of our early sprouters I guess I was expecting them to come a few days early, but since they weren't due to show up for 2 or 3 weeks I was very surprised when 7 days after they were planted I spotted little tiny green shoots poking themselves out of the dirt!    I HAD CHIVES!!!  AND CARROTS!!!



I know these are all just seedlings and it's going to take a little while for them to become fruit bearing plants but it is still very exciting to plant something and watch it grow.  Especially when they keep surprising you day after day.  So how does my garden grow?  Like it's on speed!




 - Today I am grateful for a mom that is just as excited about our garden as I am, and a family that is supportive and doesn't make fun of me when I smile and jump up and down all because of a plant -  

Intruder Alert!

Tuesday evening we finished our garden and gave it a good amount of water before heading inside for the night.  Wednesday and Thursday mornings I went outside to check on it and make sure no critters had tried to get in over night.  I gave the plants water if needed and noticed that some of the lettuces seemed to be perking up a bit.  Not a whole lot was happening but it still made me smile to see this lovely little corner of the yard.

I came out Friday morning to check on everything and something looked different.  It only took me a split second to figure it out.  There had been an INTRUDER!  A mole had run a track right through the middle of our garden!  It twisted and turned and oddly enough seemed to have missed every plant that it burrowed past.  There were no holes anywhere so it seems to have just been passing through.  He hasn't been back since. 

Mole track

Then just this morning, mom says to me in the kitchen "Everything is OK, but there was a raccoon digging in the garden last night"  Another INTRUDER!  I guess this little butthead climbed the fence and dug around in a couple spots.  It didn't dig up any of the seedlings and all the plants were still in the ground but now at least one of them knows that it can make it over the fence and that there is nice loose soil with lots of yummy worms.  Now he will bring his friends and soon I will be the crazy lady in house slippers and a robe running across the yard waving a broom shrieking "Get out of my garden you dirty little thief!"

Raccoon hole

Or we could just put a mesh cover over the top of the garden, maybe we'll try that first.




 - Today I am thankful for the people that read my silly little blog, I don't know who you are but I appreciate it - 

Breaking Ground...

This is going to be a multiple part game of catch-up in the next few posts.  I'm thinking 3 parts but we will see how it ends up.

A week ago Tuesday (AJ's first day of school) after I dropped AJ off at school, mom, Ryan and I headed to Home Depot.  Isn't that where three generations of women go to have a fun day of shopping?  No?  Well we did.  We were there longer then expected and had to head straight to pick up AJ when we were finished.  It was a sight to behold.  Most everything fit into the car except for the 4 pieces of lattice that were strapped to the top of my Pilot.  A half hour drive across town with 4'x8' lattice flapping in the wind.  We made it there with not a problem, we are excellent strapper downers.

When we got home we began our project right away.  We were going to plant a vegetable garden.  Mom already had a small plot dug up where she had planted sweet potatoes last season.  After the freezes a few months ago the plants didn't really make it but she ended up with a few small potatoes at that time, they were very cute.

We decided to extend the area she already had prepared, for our new garden.

Mom's sweet potato plot, mid-deconstruction

Our plants and seeds

As we were digging we ran across quite a few large roots from the tree behind our garden area.  They put up quite a fight but mom and I prevailed in the end.


This tree had been knocked over during one of the hurricanes 5 or 6 years ago.  The tree was about 50 feet tall and just missed the back corner of my moms house when it came down.  We cut the thing up and hauled it away but the root ball has remained and is still sicking up out of the ground.  Since then it has been sending up new tree shoots which are now about 20 feet high and a new, different kind of tree has been growing from the top of the root ball, about 6 feet above ground.




Mom and I cut a few of the tree shoots down before starting our garden and J-rod came out and finished cutting the rest of them down for us.  Taylor and AJ were playing in the yard.  AJ loves it when Jared and Taylor are here.  



After Jared had cut down and hauled away all the branches he gave Taylor and AJ a ride in the trailer...while wearing AJ's baseball helmet.  It was very interesting and definitely picture worthy.  


We finally rid our garden area of invasive roots and got to tilling and turning bags of soil into the sandy dirt that was there.  Mom was working hard and next thing I knew she was squealing in delight...


She turned up this lovely surprise sweet potato.  It was super cool!  We ended up finding a total of 10 sweet potatoes, and a few dismembered ones that were victims of our digging process.  Every time another one was unearthed we would sing out "sweet potato, sweet potato!"  like the 'Hot Potato' song, ok maybe you had to be there.  The first one we found was the biggest one and if the others had stayed in the ground longer they probably would have continued to grow, although we also never would have know they were there so it's better that we dug them up.  I cooked them with dinner that night.  All but two, they looked as though something had already had them for their own dinner.



This one was my favorite.  It looks like a little duckie, or maybe an early Easter Chick.  (Mmmm, Peeps)


AJ helped with the garden, too.  He had his own little shovel and some hand gardening tools.  He is a guy and digging is what guys do.  Getting the area ready to plant didn't take nearly as long as both mom and I expected and it looked so pretty.  When the plot was finished we started planning where everything was going to go.  That took a lot longer then we thought it was going to.  An 8'x8' garden seems like a pretty good size area to get started with and we didn't get that many plants.  Then we remembered that we had a few plants already in the yard in pots.  We also remembered that we had seeds that needed to go in the ground.  Then there were the herbs that also needed to be considered.  Soon our 8'x8' plot was looking a little like our own living situation.  Roomy at first glance but once you get everything in place, it's kinda cramped.  




After a lot of moving a figuring we found a spot for everything and here is our (semi) final product.  Pretty, right?  We think so.


It is our (semi) final product because there are still a few things to do.  All the planting is done but we need to finish the fencing.  There is a temporary fence right now but we need to add a small gate to I can get in easier to check on everything and harvest when the time comes (so excited!).  We also have to tilt one of the pieces of lattice so that the plants next to it can vine up instead of out into the rest of the garden.  Other then that our garden is done and now we wait and watch and tend.  Some of the plants are hybrids, which is most of what you will find unless you are ordering heirloom seeds from a catalog.  Maybe I'll be able to do that next season but for now I'm learning.  Would you like to know what we planted?  Ok, I'll tell you...

The plants:
Four kinds of lettuce - Iceburg, Red Lettuce, Kale and Swiss Chard
Two kinds of tomatoes - Cherry and Early Bush 
Big Bertha Bell Peppers
Red Bell Peppers (I already had this, we left it in a pot)
Habanero Peppers (I already had this)
Sweet Banana Peppers
Cayenne Peppers
Cucumbers
Yellow Squash
Brussels Sprouts
Onions

We also seeded a few things:
Radishes
Beets
Carrots
Green Beans
Wax Beans
Asparagus Beans
Chives 

We left all of the herbs we had in their planter boxes (Rosemary, Culantro, Oregano, Basil) and added the Parsley and Tarragon plants we got.  We also seeded the Chives in a planter box so it was with the rest of the herbs.   





  - Today I am grateful for a big backyard (although borrowed) in Florida where there is lots of sunshine and you can plant just about anything at anytime of the year -


February 18, 2011

Nicknames...

I've always been a bit of a sucker for nicknames. I had tons of them growing up. Some were Andy, Andrew, Dre-San, Dresama, Anna, Eskimo Roach and of course the one that has stuck with me DRE (though some of my family still calls me Andy,it makes me smile). That was just family nicknames then there were dance, school and friend nicknames. Probably a few enemy ones too.

 Jasey and I have a few nicknames for each other. None of them have anything to do with our actual names. If we don't use each others names we are usually calling each other sweetie pie. It started in high school then fazed out for a while but it came back and is sticking, I like it.

 The kids and even the animals have not escaped my name calling, no one is safe.

 Kirby was called PT for a while by AJ. We have no clue where it came from and it was one of those things that was suddenly gone one day and we kind of miss it. Now AJ uses our variations of Kirby's name, it's pretty cute. Kirby has been dubbed Burby, Dirby, Mirby, and Wirby. Though I will occasionally run through the whole alphabet cause it really gets him going and he gets all bouncy and excited. I have also sung Kirby the Name Game song many times. You know what I mean "Kirby, Kirby Bo Birby banana fana foe Firby fee fi mo Mirby, Kirby.". That song. Right now Ryan just calls Kirby 'goggie' and AJ calls him whatever we call him. He is also referred to as doofus on those days when that is the only word that can be used to describe him. His number one nickname is Bur, he responds to that a lot better then he does to Kirby sometimes...doofus.

 AJ, has been babycakes from day one. Marshall sent flowers while we we're still in the hospital and in the card he wrote "now thats a tasty baby!". Tasty baby made me think tasty cakes (I'm not sure why) and from tasty cakes came babycakes. His other main nickname is Pumpkin Head. He was called a tugboat by the doctor after he was born and of course we have called him monster baby many times. As he grew I would call him Destructo Boy due to his ability to completely destroy anything in his path in no time flat. Though i still use it often as he's gotten older babycakes has fallen out of use a bit and in it's place Kiddo seems to be the main nickname. I call him Buddy or Little Buddy a lot also. None of them were planned out, it's funny how nicknames just come into usage and stick. We use his full name a lot more then either one of us anticipated we would. It sounds kind of nice to hear the whole thing. Though it makes me think of when he is older, and that is no good!

 Ryan was given the moniker Chipmunk by Jasey. I never used it much but it is still her main one. I usually call her Girly Girl and we all call her Pretty. We don't just say awe Ryan you are a pretty girl, we actually call her Pretty, as a nickname. She is also called monster baby because, let's face it they were both monster babies! Jasey also uses Ryans full name a lot of the time. It's cute because AJ calls her by her first and middle names now too, just like daddy. She is sometimes referred to as Baby Dunk cause that girl has some booty! She is a climber so she is our monkey and she has such an attitude...I'm sorry should I call it a free spirit? So, she has such a free spirit that she is in the process of getting some not quite baby appropriate nicknames. Oh yeah, garbage disposal is a good one for her too!

 Everyday there is a new one that only sticks for a day or two but it's fun to continue coming up with new ones and marking them down in their baby books. It goes so fast that you can never remember them all. No matter what I call them they will always be my little babies. Babycakes and Pretty Girl the best kids in the world!




 - Today I'm thankful for chubby cheeks and goodnight kisses -

February 16, 2011

Shhhh...

As you all know by now, we are living with my mom.  Our original plan was to clean out both extra rooms mom had and put the kids in one of them.  We focused on one so that we could get moved and rent out our place and of course as things go, the second room has been at a stand still.  Mom works on it when she can, but I think we are all pretty comfortable and it's not a priority.  Well that's how I feel about it anyway.

So if you didn't know or if you didn't quite catch on in the last few sentences, let me clarify.  All four of us are set up in one room right now.  Beds, clothes, computer, just about everything that isn't in storage is in our room.  It has actually worked out rather well.  I think it took the kids a little getting used to, but for the mommy in me it's nice to have them so close.  Aside from a few sick nights, for the most part we all sleep right through the night.

Every once in a while Ryan will cry a little in the middle of the night but will fall back asleep by herself.  Sometimes we find AJ in bed with us half way through the night, most of the time we are both too tired to get up and put him back in his bed.  AJ has learned the hard way that you don't sneak up on mommy.  One time he was standing beside me and woke me up.  I jumped, yelped and kinda yelled at him, it scared him and he almost started crying.  Then there was the first time he tried to sneak into our bed in the morning.  I was still half a sleep and thought he was one of the cats.  I launched him off of the bed realizing as I did it that whatever I had launched was a lot heavier then a cat and looked up in time to see him in midair.  I felt so bad, but he has never snuck up like that on me again.

This past Sunday night the kids brushed their teeth, went potty, put on pjs and gave hugs and kisses all around.  Off to bed like every other night.  They both fell asleep within minutes and an hour or so later Jasey and I head off to bed too.  We check on the kids, cover them up again, give them kisses and fall fast asleep ourselves.

Next thing I know it's 4 in the morning and there is a pudgy little hand covering my mouth.  Just as I am waking up and trying to figure out what is on me, AJ whispers "Mommy, come with me."  I don't freak out and respond sleepily "What's up kiddo?"  The little hand covers my mouth again and he whispers "Shhh, mommy don't talk.  Just come with me, I have to go pee pee."

He didn't say another word and went straight back to bed when he was done.  How did I get to be so lucky?




 - Today I am thankful for nap time -






February 15, 2011

First Day...

AJ, my babycakes, my little buddy, the best kiddo in the world, he's growing up.  It makes me sad.  I already miss the little baby and the cute toddler.  The preschooler snuck up on me and that is passing just as quickly.  Then something happened today that will help this time stick in my head a little bit more.

AJ started school today.


I went a couple weeks ago to get him enrolled for VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) next school year.  A friend's mom (Jenn is my friend and Sue is her mom) runs a VPK program, so we started talking about getting AJ into her program next year.  When I met with her to hand in the VPK papers I asked if she had any spots available now for AJ to get in and as luck would have it one spot had just opened up.  I guess it was meant to happen.  So I went to the school a few days later and met with Sue to fill out more papers and get AJ all signed up.  I took him in for about an hour last Friday so that he could see the room and meet some of the teachers and kids.  He had a good time and didn't want to leave but I promised him we would come back.

AJ has asked for a long time when he could go to school and always wanted to go to school with Daddy on Saturdays.  He would be very upset when we told him that he wasn't able to go with Daddy, it was always very sad.  I know some of it was just that he missed Jasey and wanted to spend time with him, we all do.  So we talked about AJ going to school all weekend and told him he had to eat a good dinner and breakfast and get lots of sleep so that he would be nice and strong for school with his girls and boys.

I think it's so cute that he refers to them as his girls and boys.  Something he started a while ago, all by himself.

This morning we woke up, ate a yummy breakfast, got dressed and headed out for school.  We talked about listening to the teachers and being nice to his boys and girls.  AJ asked me to pick him up and he gave me a big boy hug and a kiss, then barely looked back as he walked through the classroom door.


I know it'll be good for him...and me...and Ryan, too.  He needs time to learn things in a different environment then the one he has become so comfortable with.  He needs to interact with kids his age.  Ryan will now be able to play with something for longer then four seconds before AJ comes running up and says "No, baby" taking her toy away.  She can babble to her hearts content without AJ interrupting or telling her to hush.  She will get the freedom to be herself, the same freedom that AJ had at her age.  I need the time to not constantly have to drag two fighting kids away from each other and I am grateful that I will be able to have one on one time with Ryan just like I did with AJ.  

Honestly though, I felt a little lost as he walked away, this was the first time in almost 4 years that my babycakes wasn't going to be with me.  I certainly wasn't expecting tears, from either one of us.  I guess I just didn't realize how well of a balanced kid he was and even though he is a little boy he is certainly maturing faster then my mind is grasping.  I guess I can take some of the credit for raising him that way but I know it's also just him growing up.

School ends at noon, it's only part time, which is all I wanted anyway.  So, at 12:00 we went to pick him up.  We peaked into the observation room for the last couple minutes of class and they were in circle time learning about birds and their calls.  AJ was listening and sitting nicely, then he went into one of his drama modes and flopped down to the ground, his head on his arm, and stayed there for a minute.  I giggled, but knew that he was tired, it had been a long day for him.  When they were dismissed he came outside where Momah, Ryan and myself were waiting for him.  He said he didn't want to leave and proceeded to pout for the next half hour.  We coaxed a few words out of him but it wasn't until after we got home and put some food in him that he became happy AJ and could tell us a little about his day.

He told us that he met new friends, learned about birds (which, of course, we knew) and used scissors to make a paper lantern for their lantern contest.  Sue had already told me about the lanterns.  As part of learning about the Chinese New Year each kid is making a paper lantern and later in the week they are going to have a Lantern Parade.  I love it and it's something that I couldn't have done with just him and Ryan, it wouldn't have been the same.  I'm still not sure why he called it a contest though.



I thought for sure that he would zonk out and take a little nap but after some quiet time in bed he was running around and joining us outside to play and help in the yard.  He ate a great dinner, played with Ryan, watched a couple of his favorite shows, took a bath and was off to bed without a fight.  All in all, AJ's first day of school was a success.

We shall see how tomorrow goes.




 - Today I am grateful for such easy going kids.  They continue to make me happy and proud -

February 12, 2011

Up In The Air...

We had a plan.  It wasn't set in stone, it was just a faint path that we were headed down.  We had ideas of how long it would take to make it to the end.  We had ideas of what that finish line would look like.  We knew that there would be alternate paths that would take us down different scenic routes but eventually lead towards that same goal.

That path is still there.  It's right in front of us, but as time passes others show themselves.  Now, all around us different questions, opportunities and possibilities are popping up.  We continue to take them in stride and adapt the best we know how.  Even with a few bumps it's been nothing that has completely derailed us and we are still pretty much on track with our original timeline.  

We have been at my moms now for 6 months.  I can't believe that much time has passed, yet, it feels like it's been so much longer.  It's crazy and cluttered but we have all adjusted rather well.  The main factors in our lives are the same but new things have been added while others have been eliminated.

Even as lucky as we are right now and as great as our lives are going there is still that cloud of unknown that continues to float over our heads.  It's not the typical unknown of 'what could happen tomorrow', everyone has that, especially these days.  It's not even trying to make a decision of which path to head down.  It's having absolutely no clue which paths will still be available when the time comes to take that first step.

If all paths are open, do we stick with our original plan even if it's the most treacherous?  Do we take a smoother path to get on our feet again and give ourselves a rest knowing that it will lead us to our original goal a little farther down the road?  If two completely different paths are possibilities, will they both lead to the same finish and if so which is better in the short term, the long term?  If two similar paths present themselves how do we choose between them, what factors will be most important?

Too many questions.  It's really hard to not think about it and quite impossible to ignore.  Opportunities are wonderful, we are grateful for them, but it's frustrating to have so many possibilities and no way to get a grip on them.




 - Today I am thankful for a husband that thinks of our family and wants to make decisions together -

February 07, 2011

mundane details...

I really don't understand the need for some people to report minute by minute accounts of what is going on in the world and their lives.  I get wanting to keep people posted on major events and sharing information that you will be asked about over and over.  I understand sharing an article, news cast or even funny little things that happen during your day.  I've been guilty of these things.  It's nice to randomly hear about little events in peoples lives or read something that you wouldn't have come across that a friend is passionate about.


I don't want to see 14 videos in a row of songs that you think mirror your life, they really don't, you aren't that cool.  I don't want a play by play account of the latest sporting event.  I have no problem with people showing support for there team, Go Team!  But if I care, I'm watching the game.  I don't care about the drama in your life with the 'gurl dat u thot wuz ur BFF'.  What?  I wrote that and I still have trouble figuring out what it says.  If you didn't even blink an eye then please get a dictionary and go back to school.  Soon proper grammar will be just as ancient as hieroglyphics if we allow this text speak, I'm sorry I meant txt spk, crap to continue.  I don't always use the best grammar but I look like a genius compared to those people.




 - Today I am grateful for the ability and freedom to complain, some people aren't so lucky.  -


February 02, 2011

Johnny on the Spot...

...That's what you can call me when it comes to posting on events.  I mean, it's Wednesday and I'm just getting around to posting about my weekend, if that isn't on top of things I don't know what is.  It was one of the most important weekends of the whole year and lifetime for me.  My 5th Wedding Anniversary, a pretty nifty milestone, and my 'Golden' Birthday, turning 31 on the 31st!  (This can also be called a 'Grand', 'Lucky', 'Champagne' or 'Star' Birthday, incase you were wondering).  I'd also like to point out that I am the oldest that a person can ever be to celebrate a 'Lucky' Birthday.  It is fun for me to find things that make me feel special, well more 'special' then I am already.  On a weird, semi-related side note, if I were to share some of the ways I 'connect' things it would all seem very Jim Carrey in The Number 23.  Then someone might try to have me committed and I have a family to raise so I'll just keep all that to myself.

On to my weekend!

The weekend actually didn't end for me until yesterday, when I got my final gift, a haircut!  It had been almost a year since my hair had been even trimmed.  It was pretty long, and still is, but I got enough cut off to make a noticeable difference, especially from the back. The best part is I can still pull it back without a million little flyaway hairs escaping and attacking my face.  It really doesn't take much to make me happy.

Saturday night, after Jasey got home from school, we headed to City Place and had a couple Mojitos before our movie started.  Jasey surprised me with tickets to go see The King's Speech.  I am a sucker for English Royalty, although more historical stuff like Henry the VIII and not so much present day like William and Kate.  It was a great movie and a story I didn't quite know yet.  After the movie we headed out for our dinner reservations.  Along with the movie tickets Jasey planned a dinner date for us at Rocco's Tacos and Tequila Bar.  I had heard about this place a few years ago when it opened up on Clematis and had been wanting to try it ever since.  We got a pitcher of Margaritas with our dinner, ordered another single drink when the pitcher was gone and then two shots of Patron, for dessert I guess.  We were seated right at the front of the restaurant so we had a great view of all the craziness going on at the bar and an even better vantage point for people watching as all the clubbers strolled by on the sidewalks.  There was certainly a lot of entertainment, especially from people that had no clue they were part of it.

Our pitcher of Margaritas!

Happy 5th Anniversary

Sunday morning we got up, piled the kids into the car along with Momah and headed to the zoo.  It was Ryan's first time to the zoo and actually only AJ's second time.  Funny enough, the last time we went to the zoo was two years ago, on my birthday, I see a trend forming here.  It turned out to be a gorgeous day, most of the animals were out and about, the main exception being the leopard, he was sleeping behind a rock.  Ryan walked around for some of it but it was her nap time so she sat in the stroller most of the time.  She was definitely intrigued though because she did not got to sleep until we got in the car a good 4 hours after her normal nap time.  We ate a late lunch at Toojays, I wanted hot crispy fries and they have some of the best.  Both of the kids were asleep before we got home, I relaxed the rest of the night and we watched some Dexter before heading to bed ourselves.  




Monday I got an extra special treat by not having to wake up with the kids.  Jasey was out of bed and had the kids out of the room before I even registered that they were awake.  This in itself is a miracle, I am usually up before the kids, if not and I hear them thats it I'm awake for the day.  But not today!  It was my birthday and I slept in.  When I did wake up I stayed in bed and read my book and sat around in silence for a while, it was wonderful.  I headed to the gym for a little workout and then we took the kids to the park to wear them out a bit so they could rest before we went to dinner.  After mom got home from work we went to On the Boarder and had more tacos and burritos.  Hey it was my weekend (and Jasey's) and I like tacos so that it what I wanted, I would have gone to Moe's instead of Toojays the day before if I hadn't wanted the fries, don't judge.  When we got home I was ushered into my room by AJ so that he and mom could decorate my birthday cake...with sour patch kids and gummy bears! 


That brings us back around to Tuesday when I went and got my hair cut.  It was a wonderful weekend and I hate to see it go.  Though I was pleasantly surprised this morning when Jasey got up with the kids again and next thing I knew it was 8:15.  He's a great husband and I was happy to have one last day of sleeping in to extend my fun weekend just a little bit more.


 - Today I am grateful for the pleasant people and happy faces at the VPK office.  -