The world ended.

Well, I may be exaggerating. But for a period of time last night, Facebook wouldn't work for me. It said my account was unavailable due to a site issue? My first thought? "HOW DO I CONNECT WITH PEOPLE???" Then I remembered that I still have a phone. And email. And Twitter (though I'm still a bit lost on the land of small birdlets). The silver lining on this murky gray interwebz cloud is that I had a chance to go through Google Reader and clear out a couple hundred blog notifications {oops}! In that pile, I discovered:


an amazing collection of images about family, Sweden and just being awesome {here}

something reported to be the best lemon cake I (or you) will ever eat {here}

great ideas for improving the feel of your workspace {here}

the adorably quirky style and fabulous tattoos of a fellow cat-lover {here}

a glowing white farmhouse that I love to look at but am way to messy to live in {here}

romance in Holland {here}

a ground-shaking-ly fantabulous paper craft that should be completed by all humans {here}

What? I like gnomes!!

And since I hate posts without photos, here is a squirrel!

Yum

This weekend the mister and I spent some time in the big city. While he was schmoozing with people in the fooding biz (you know, the people who cook), I enjoyed fresh made kolaches, a delicious latte and a fabulous book.

My kind of weekend!

A new way to travel

The heat in my area has been brutal this year, and while I still love commuting via bicycle for the most part, the extra sweat is not my favorite. I've been using a messenger bag for commuting and that worked fine, but I recently changed jobs and have to carry more stuff with me on a daily basis. I've been getting quite tired of how sweaty that makes me, so... I made a change.

Gone are my free-wheeling days of messenger bag madness.

I have upgraded to a more mature, matronly pair of....

panniers.

Through the magic of Craigslist I discovered someone who had a brand new set for sale and off I went. They even have an extra bag that can go on top (though it smushes on my seat a little), but I don't need to carry THAT much stuff!

I hope the change helps- at least it will make the ride a little more comfortable!

Spring is the Hair

Spring is rough. Two horses. Two dogs. One cat. All of them fluffy. Yesterday I could barely breath for a large portion of the day. *snorf* Today I've got allergy meds keeping me going, but I am wishing that shedding season (known to others as spring) will pass quickly!

And by fluffy... I mean fluffy. Each of the house critters was kind enough to pose for a photo with their pile of liberated fuzz yesterday after I groomed them. My furminator is my best friend right now!

Fifty50: Pickle

I love photo challenges, but you wouldn't know it from recent post. I admit it- I have fallen off the challenge bandwagon. For several months I had my days planned around what challenges were coming up and what photos I needed to capture, but... it was too much for me. Between work, pets, life (and I guess I should mention the husband), I just couldn't devote that much time to photo challenges.

But... then I realized  the joy of periodic and monthly photo challenges- yay! Over at Chase the Light, Tracey has a variety of fun and no pressure photo challenges to enjoy. This month she started her Fifty50 project which focuses on diptychs (she has a great explanation of what that is). So what did I take 2 photos of?

Pickle, of course!

Well, I was mostly focusing on his ears.

They kind of do their own thing, no matter what he wants them to do.

"Mom- I'm being serious. Stop playing with the clicking black thing and pet my belly!"

"What? These are my serious ears!"

Poor Pickle- he won't ever be taken seriously until he gets more graceful and learns to control his ears.

I hope that never happens!

Tales from Phd-Land

My charming, sweet and culinary-gifted husband is normally quite intelligent. But sometimes I wonder about Those Who Pursue PhD Programs. Last night, talking about places we'd like to visit, he mentioned that he would love to go to Charleston.

source

I totally agree! A city with history, culture and a lot of beauty to enjoy! However, my sweet husband soon ruined my joy. "I want to go to South Virginia!"  My response... "Um... what?". I gently {between giggles} informed him that there is no such place. He defended his words, stating that he meant South Carolina and was simply tired. I choose to think that he is planning to found a new state somewhere between Virginia, the Carolinas and Montana.

*sigh*

I guess I'm not with him for his geographical prowess.

Nope, I married him for the food. :)

A good life.

 

Found this on Pinterest. I've had some rough days at work lately, making this a very important lesson to remember. My job sucks sometimes, but...

My husband is amazing.

My dogs, cat and horses are adorable.

My life is good.