a cool photography site

Okay, time for some shameless advertising. It's for a friend of mine who's a photographer. She does amazing work-- so if you're in Utah and need a photographer, check out this website: www.nicholev.com.

I love her eye for light and the interesting photo shoot sites she picks. As an added bonus, she and I shared an office cubicle in the basement of the JKHB during our MA program. Kinda like junior high locker buddies. Assuming I ever get married, she's doing my photos. Not that I'm making an announcement or anything.

Spring is here!

Here are the first few crocuses in my flowerbeds. I took this picture a couple of weeks ago, before the daffodils and hyacinths had woken up. The flowerbed looks much better than this now-- gotta take more pictures. I'm just happy that the flowers are finally starting to bloom.

Yesterday morning I went to put something in the mailbox for pick-up and saw a dog mess in my front yard. THAT has never happened before. Since I was cleaning up that, I figured I'd clean up all the messes in the back yard while I was at it. (The neighbors' FIVE dogs apparently think my yard is theirs-- or at least their toilet.) Announcement to the blogosphere: I am PUTTING UP A FENCE very soon! I'm tired of dog messes and I'm tired of a Doberman thinking it needs to come into my yard and bark at me for disturbing its territory. Uh, excuse me, who's alpha here? That would be me.

Anyhow, so I also cleaned up all the random branches that had blown down onto the lawn. I wanted to clean up flowerbeds, but I ran out of time. It just felt so good to be outside, and it felt even better getting things cleaned up. I feel like this past week a part of me has come out of hibernation. I understand better this year why Easter and spring go together. Growing up in California where there is either rain or no rain but the temperature doesn't really change, I didn't appreciate spring properly. Now every year I'm hungry for spring. I need to see the greening grass and the buds on the trees. Spring= hope, and hope connects with Christ's resurrection. I suppose Christ could have chosen to be resurrected at any point in the year, but I think it's significant that he chose spring, when the world is waking up again after cold and darkness.

Craft time is closed

Thanks for your responses-- I've got my five people to make crafts for now. Be watching your mailboxes/front porches. You never know when a surprise might come . . .

Craft time is still open!

Just FYI, there are still two more spots open for those who want me to make something for them (see the entry "Time for some creativity" below). It looks like there are already five people who responded, but two of those responses are from me responding back to people who commented. If you don't want to post the entry on your blog-- or you don't even have a blog-- that's okay. I can make things for three people, but five would be a lot more fun. Come on, respond already!!

kitty camo

Can you spot the kitty? Take your time . . .

So a month or so ago I got really tired of the forest green curtains that were framing the outside of my tub. They made my bathroom too dark. Off to Bed, Bath, & Beyond for a new outer shower curtain. Little did I know that replacing the curtain would turn the bathtub into an exciting adventure land for my cats.

My cats-- especially Britomart, who's in the pictures above-- LOVE water. Ever since they were kittens they've always wanted to be near the shower when it's on because they like the steam. They also like to drink out of the dripping faucet when it's not in use. They've also always liked to hide, or at least think they're hiding.

Up goes the new shower curtain, in go the cats to check it out. Somehow having a bit of fabric to hide behind equals excitement. The cats have been going NUTS with this-- sometimes they bat each other from opposite sides of the curtain (which is bad, because the curtains are sheer and my cats' feet have claws on the ends), sometimes they peer out as if they're hiding in bushes, but mostly they just like to pretend I can't see them.

You can't see them either, right?

Springtime is Demolition Time

It's been almost half a year since I did my last major home improvement project, so time to start again! Here's the current wallpaper in my upstairs bathroom. I've been wanting to tear it down since I bought the house two years ago. A whole panel was coming loose above the tub, so I figured the glue couldn't be adhering that well anymore.

So yesterday I started removing wallpaper. This time it's in the original part of the house, so the walls are plaster. Unfortunately, some of the plaster crumbled off with the wallpaper . . .

Got some repair to do before I can paint . . .

Note also the linoleum. Once I paint, that lineoleum's getting covered over with something less 1970's pseudo-Aztec. The toilet's getting replaced, too. And maybe the light fixture over the sink, if I'm feeling brave and my electrician's schedule is free.

So . . . anyone up for a visit?

The Courageous Spectacled Spatula

Yes, for all of you who were wondering, this is who I am when I'm not hiding behind my mild-mannered college professor identity. I'm not entirely sure how my spatula is considered a weapon, but maybe I slap villains silly and then slide them up off the pavement and into jail. I've always wanted to be the Exfoliator, but that option didn't come up on the website where I created this. Here's the link for all you wannabe superheros out there: www.cpbintegrated.com/theherofactory. It's worth visiting the site just to hear the music.

And yes, capes are dangerous for superheros, but I thought it was very dramatic . . . Play with the site and share who your true superhero self is!

By the way: two Christmases ago, I had the following conversation with my nephew Joseph (who LOVES superheros), age 9 at the time:

"Is Ian your sidekick?" (Ian is Joseph's younger brother)

"Yes."

"What's his superhero name?"

"Carcinogen."

"Wow, that's pretty scary."