I also did this. If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I love me some sand messages.

On Saturday, the boys went fishing while the girls stayed at the cottage and hit the beach. It was warm, but breezy – a perfect day for lounging by the surf. I slathered on sunscreen but still managed to get burned wicked back on the tops of my feet. Ugh, they still hurt. Anyway, we had a blast, and it was a nice relaxing little mini-getaway. There are lots more pics, and you can see a slide show here.

Aside from that, not too much is going on. I haven’t knit a stitch in quite a while, but I really need to get back on it. Mike’s mom told me last week that the big show in November is definitely on, so I need to get some stuff ready. I am thinking mittens to start with because I can knock them out so fast. I also have a great idea for some ornaments I want to do. They’re not knit, but I think they’re going to be really sweet. I guess I need to get a plan and make some lists.

I’ve been spending most of my time reading. After seeing Eclipse, I got sucked into reading the Twilight Saga again. This time around I read Twilight and Midnight Sun together – a chapter of one, then the matching chapter of the other. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them that way. It was so much easier to compare & contrast the two perspectives while each was still fresh in my mind. I burned through those and also New Moon, and now I’m a little more than halfway through Eclipse. After I finish these, I might need to take a break while I get a jump on some crafty goodness.

I’m stoked for the beer fest this weekend! It’s going to be totally sweet. I’m so looking forward to it because I heart beer and road trips. I also heart Zingermann’s, and I am pretty sure we will have lunch there. Woot! I need to get some fun road trip activities planned. I’m thinking Mad Libs for sure, but I’m open to suggestions, so if you have any, let’s hear them!

We are planning a multi-pronged attack angaint the criiters. First, we bought a squirrel dome that will go over the feeder to keep fat critters off of it. We are also going to lube the pole with vegetable oil or maybe Vaseline so tiny paws will have a hard time scaling it. We also mixed cayenne pepper in with the bird seed. I read online that squirrels hate cayenne, but that birds can’t taste it. We are going to get our new (hopefully) squirrel-proof feeder set up this weekend. I’ll keep you posted on the results.

Everything else has been pretty good. George was gone camping last weekend, so Mike & I had the house to ourselves, and didn’t really do a whole lot. On Saturday my mom & I went out garage sale scouting, and my big find was a beer drinking board game called Chug-A-Lug from the early 80’s. The box cover photo is priceless and it even says “Beverages Not Included” just so there’s no confusion. I’m pretty sure this was a steal for 50 cents. Can’t wait to give it a whirl soon. We also went to Milham Park for the big craft show. Truthfully, it was a little disappointing. I didn’t see too much of interest, and all I bought was some fudge and some jerky for Mike.

We did have Crappy Movie Sunday, and this week we watched Twilight. It turned into a spirited debate of why Twilight’s vamps aren’t “real” vamps because Stepenie Meyer didn’t go along with the established vampire lore. The dudes are just really mad that Edward glitters in the sun and they don’t. Dawn & I tried to stand behind the actual story and the books (not necessarily the movie, which we know is crap), but the dudes are adamant that Twilight is lame and all vamps are made way lamer because of it’s existence. Or something. Jacob didn’t even take his shirt off in this movie, so I don’t know why the boys were feeling so threatened anyway. PS – can’t wait for Eclipse! It looks like it might actually be good! Dawn & I are going to see it next weekend in an effort to avoid the (other) screaming fangirls. We really want to be the only screaming fangirls, and that just won’t be possible on opening weekend.

Another exciting thing that’s going on is that I am going to garden. I have zero experience, but I asked a lot of questions and I think I have everything I need. So tomorrow is the big day & I will actually be planting things in the ground and hoping like hell that they survive more than a week. For those interested, I will be planting orange & yellow Celosia in the front window box, pink & white Astilbe in the large planter at the corner of the backyard, and hot pink Impatiens for the window boxes on the shed. Mike even got me a wheelbarrow to haul my soil and tools around the yard. So I own a wheelbarrow and I am going to plant things. I am so hoping this doesn’t turn out badly. I have a long list of things I want to accomplish tomorrow and they all relate to the outdoors, which is typically not my thing. Wish me luck, dudes.

Yesterday was Mike & I’s 6th wedding anniversary. We went out for dinner at this place down the street called Zooroona. It’s a Middle Eastern restaraunt and the atmosphere was so cool. But it didn’t hold a candle to the food – it was AMAZING. If you dig Middle Eastern food at all, this is the place to go. We ended up getting a 2 person sampler platter and we were very happy with everything we got. I usually don’t care for lamb, but the lamb & beef kebab turned out to be my very favorite thing that we got. We had a great time together and a great meal. After dinner we just ran around and shopped a little. We had a fun date and a stellar anniversary.

Today was Crappy Movie Sunday, natch, and this week we watched Tank Girl. I had seen a little of it years ago, but stopped watching because it was terrible. I was lured in by being promised that Ice-T was in it. I am a big fan of the T. But, wow, even T couldn’t save this trainwreck of a film. Not only was I sad that he was involved in such a disgrace, but he was a Mangaroo on top of that!!

Ok, as for TV, I’m plugging away at Lost, but season 5 is really tough for me. I really think this is the worst part of the show so far. I really don’t think it bodes well that every season I have thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse, and yet I am shocked to find that it has. I’m still hopeful for a great payoff in the end, but I’m really not holding my breath. Mike & I are still watching Buffy too, and we are about a third of the way through season 3. We still have a LONG way to go, but we are really enjoying it. I’m considering watching Dark Shadows on Netflix, too, but there are SO MANY episodes! I’m not sure I’m ready for the time commitment it will take. A season is about 40 episodes, and there are 20 seasons!! I’m still mulling this one over, I don’t know if I can handle all that. Anyone seen it? If you have an opinion about it either way, I’d love to hear it. And I’m talking about the original BTW, from 1966, not the 80s redo.

Friday afternoon we went to Noah’s school for a music program. It was very cool. They sang a song about a bull and acted out different parts with song and they played intruments, and they had a fun little parade. It was really awesome, and we were very impressed by the kid’s music skills. Here’s some pictures.

On Saturday, we took my mom out for a mother’s day dinner. She picked Red Lobster, so we took her there. We had a great time and we gorged ourselves on cheesy biscuits and seafood. We had a great time and I hope she did too. Since I’ve been doing so much artwork lately, I made her a pretty watercolor painting of a vase of flowers in a little glass frame. I think it turned out pretty nice and she seemed to like it too.

On Sunday we went to Grand Rapid for Mother’s Day with Mike’s family, which was also nice. We went to Frederick Meijer gardens, which I love anyway because I like flowers and sculpture, but there is a new exhibit of blown glass sculptures by Dal Chihuly. I LOVED it to say the least. It was amazing and beautiful. I took some amazing photos, here are a few of my favorites.

These are just my favorites, there are so many more at my Flickr page, link is on the right. The second photo is a new piece called Blue Moon, and it was my favorite. I took several photos, and none of them do it justice. I just couldn’t seem to get a good photo from where I was. It is so amazing in person. If you get a chance to visit the gardens before this exhibit ends, you really should. It’s so worth it. I definitely would go back. One thing I found interesting is that for the larger sculptures made up of thousands of pieces of glass, the pieces arrive individually, and then it takes a team of 90 three weeks to put them all together to prepare for the exhibit. Incredible. I loved the blown glass reeds, as pictured in the third photo here, the tall blue pieces. There were lots of these around the gardens in all different colors and I think they are so cool.

After the gardens, we raced home for Crappy Movie Sunday. Last night’s feature was Purple Rain. We will have a rehash up on the blog in the next few days, so keep an eye out.

I finally finished season 2 of Lost, and I am just about to embark into totally unknown territory – season 3. I’m excited and also terrified. Wish me luck!

Oh, and houseboating is this weekend!! I could not be more excited!! I’m going to be on a boat!!! Definitely packing my flippy floppies and planning to ride a dolphin.

Last week, I had my orientation for a volunteer position, and today I have my hands on training. I’ll be working at a volunteer run charity thrift store! I’m excited about it, and I think it’s going to be really fun. I am definitely going to do this at least one day a week, maybe even 2. I’ll get my schedule all firmed up after my training session this afternoon. I LOVE thrift shopping, so I think this is going to be awesome.

Crappy Movie Sunday continued yesterday with the latest installment – Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon. The CMS blog is all up in your grill here (I also added it to my links over on the right). If you haven’t seen this movie, I’m really not sure what you’re waiting for. It’s a kung-fu classic with music from DeBarge, so if that doesn’t have you running to the video store to rent a copy, then you must be crazy. Oh, and don’t forget to follow Crappy Movie Sunday on Twitter for all the latest.

We are houseboating in Kentucky in less than 2 weeks, and I could NOT be any more excited than I am right now. I can’t wait!! I found out last week who is going, and that made me even more excited. It’s an awesome group and it will be a ball. Pls it will be totally sweet to get out of town for a bit and relax with my homies. YAY!!

I finished this scarf recently, and it is for sale at Fuzzy Paws Knits. It took me forever to finish this thing because I used the tiniest little bits of yarn to create my own yarn for this. It took along time to collect all the yarn bits and then tie them together and then knit them., Whew. I think the result is worth the effort though. I call it “Fluffy Fingers”.

And just for giggles, here’s Dawn & I boozing it up at Gallagher’s last week. We are making a dent in the beer list. Distinguished status, here we come!

Next up is the Azteca shawlette. I have made several of these, and I kept one for myself that is purple and pink. They are so easy to wear – very versatile and fun. I love the way the colors worked out in this one, I’m really happy with it. These are perfect for spring! I might have to keep another one for myself. I’ve had my eye on Cake & Ice Cream….

I know these are suckwad pics, they were quickies with my phone in awful lighting. Anyway, I bought this BA little tea pot for Mike last week for him to make tea at work. His tea gets cold before the second cup, so I told him to bring it home and I’d make him a cozy to keep the tea warm. Viola! And I even used some of the leftover yarn from his Sackboy. I thought it would be kind of neat to needle felt a leaf on there, but I ran out of time. I might have him bring it home again this weekend.

Oh, and I decided to call about the juicer. I sort of look at it this way – if a car has a recall, it doesn’t matter if you are the first or the 10th owner, they are still obligated to repair it. And they didn;t ask me ANY questions at all except for the codes at the bottom of the unit. They are sending me a letter which will offer me a cash refund or a replacement juicer and I can choose. It should be here in a few days. I asked what I should do with the juicer and she said DO NOT use it, discard it.