Small Update...Big Problems

If you recall, I posted something a while back about my little garden experement. Well, after a few snags I got it up and growing. It's been chug-a-luging along at a decent rate ever since....except. My Spaghetti Squash has been doing AMAZING, too amazing. Well....see for yourself-

It is takign over! My air conditioning will soon disappear...

My poor baby squash are being baked before their time...

The squash are now the size of a large potato, but they seem to double in size every day. I guess I'll keeep you posted if I win any prizes at the fair for giant mutent veggies!

It's A Boy

As the doting parents of our little Bearded Dragon we thought we'd take the time to introduce him to some of you and/or to update those of you who are already acquanted! Right now the little daring is sitting on a log basking in the heat of some of his many lamps. Here are some of our favorite photos:

Baby Scruffy

Funny Scruffy

Angry Scruffy

In an effort to get to know Scruffy as well as possible he has agreed to fill out a short survey describing himself (a warning- he has a bit of a potty mouth):

Name: Scruffy

Birthplace: Australia, or some pet store

Hometown: More like Homeroom, these fools never let me outside!

Favorite Food: Crickets... no, Mealworms...no, Crickets...no, ahhhhhh who gives a ((beep))!

Favorite Travel Spot: Anywhere YOU can't find me

Most Embarrassing Moment: That time last week I ran into the wall, it hurt like ((beep))!

Favorite Disney Princess: What the ((beep)) kind of question is that!

List 3 of Your Best Traits: Eating, Eating, and pooping on Shalee 3x

Favorite Pastime: Telling people to "((beep)) off!" and hiding

Now a glimpse of the little fella in a video montage we like to call Scruffy the Devourer:

Back to my Roots

(I hope this does not turn out tooooo embarrassing!)

I was born a blond and I’ll die a blond! This trip I’ve been trying to take down brunette lane has hit a lot of bumps. For the past year or so I’ve tried twice to go all chocolaty brown, and both times it seems my hair rebelled. It lasts a couple of weeks and then reverts back to a dirty dishwater color, not pleasing for anyone. I think I wanted to go to darker because you hear that blonds have more fun but brunettes are taken more seriously. Believe it or not it was half social experiment and half I wanted to see what I’d look like with my natural color (a medium brown- I think). As I remember, the first time I colored my hair was late high school. I fought it forever, I knew once I started I’d never stop! However, the funky dishwater color it was turning pushed me over the edge. Now as I move back to a color where I’m comfortable (apparently as ditzy and the butt of jokes) I wanted to take the time to look back and take YOU on a journey through the life of my hair…..

Actually, I was born bald! And I stayed that way…for a long time. I did not get my first haircut until I was almost exactly 3! Don’t believe me? Here are the pictures

Then I went through several stages growing up. There was….

Crimping- Ok, I still LOVE crimping, but I don’t think I can pull it off like I used to.

Perms- I think I’ve had three. A note, short hair and perms are not always the best idea.

Short Hair- I’ve yo-yoed in the length all my life, but in general I keep it short.

Headbands- I preferred the cloth stretchy ones in every color. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to wear them over my forehead. This led to some ugly acne at the start of puberty that luckily I could hide under the headbands, HA!

Hats- I had quite the collection and I LOVED to wear them to church. If I could have gotten away with wearing those giant Easter/Kentucky Derby ones I would have been in heaven. I still love hats, but I think Kevin’s got me beat in this right now.

Long Hair- The longest it has ever been was right after high school. I think I grew it out just to prove I could grow it that long. To be honest I hated the upkeep (so much shampoo, so much HAIR)! I cut it right before after coming back from my vacation in Europe with Charity. Seeing the photos from that showed me how huge my hair had become!

Brown- I’ve already covered this, and I’ll probably try it again- someday.

Did I feel more serious and sultry in those few short moments as a brunette? Yes. Do I think it was all in my head? Hmmmm, I don’t know. Probably. What I do know is I want my hair to be sun kissed yellow and I want it to be sun kissed yellow RIGHT NOW!

Tan Lines!?!

That I am sitting here now with the slightest hint of a tan line is an act if incredible body transformation. I, for those who are unaware, am chronically the color of transparent. Just ask my nice blue veins. The only time in my life where I can claim with any honesty that I had a tan was in High School when I was swimming outside 3 hours a day 6 days a week! I was not blessed to be born with the Italian-caramel skin of my grandfather, mother, and little sister. The kind of skin that tans just at the thought of it. Jerks! I do have an anti-tan spot on my ankle, a spot that never tans, as a result it is easy for me to see if I’ve got any color (I don’t). So, on this warm (85 blistering degree) summer day, I had the amazing opportunity to be at home all afternoon. What to do with all that free time? I decided to take on a project, myself. I’m not good at all with just sitting and relaxing, listening to music bores the heck out of me, so my first task was to find something to do outside to keep me entertained. I came up with 3 ideas-

1. Water my plants (I have to remember that now since our rainy season has stopped)
2. Paint my nails (Kevin says I don’t do it enough)
3. Read a magazine (my favorite pastime of all!!!)

Now I have to admit, I did take out my iPod and play music the whole time. I began my tanning around 1:00 after meeting my mom for lunch. I had some tanning oil I had never actually used so I gave that a try. Talk about a shock. I sprayed it on and spent the next 8 sheets of paper towels blotting myself off. This tanning stuff is not for the faint of heart. I painted my nails (10 min.), I watered my plants (20 min.), and spent the next hour and a half reading my SELF magazine and talking on the phone. I finally decided I’d had enough cancer time (still looking as white as Victorian Nobleman) and went inside to wash the oil slick off my body. I went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and HOLY COW! A hint of red! I lifted up the sleeves of my t-shirt - a color variation! My legs? The same! I had gone from transparent to pinkish in one afternoon. I hope it lasts…

ME

MY GOAL

...Together We Make Mud (Garden Humor)

So, months and months ago, when we were still in the clutches of winter and in our apartment, I decided I was going to have a garden this year. At the time I thought we were going to be in our apartment for, well, a while. I found an AMAZING deal at Home Depot one day, two green wooden barrel planters, only $2 each! I guess people are not really in the market for planters in the middle of February…

What is a Honeymoon Salad?

Lettuce alone, with no dressing.

But then we moved. Yes! A house! A place with an actual patch of dirt -the size of a large beach towel- my dream garden. Now I just had to wait… February… March… April… May… MAY! My mom said I could start planting in May.

Like a prune,
you are not getting any better looking,
but you are getting sweeter.- N. D. Stice

It was time to start gathering my supplies. Shovel, check. Potting soil, check. Planters, check. Tomato cages, check. My parents, being avid gardeners, gave me some tomato plants, onion bulbs, some peppers, all great plants, but not enough. A trip to Fred Meyer finished me off with some more cherry tomato, bell peppers, peas, jalapenos (for Kevin), and spaghetti squash.

What what can you make from baked beans and onions?

Tear gas

It took Kevin about an hour to fill in my garden bed with some dirt we had off to the side, and it took me another hour to pull all the sticks and old roots out of it to make it suitable for planting. Next was a layer of potting soil mixed in and it was good to go. Planting time!

What does the letter "A" have in common with a flower?

They both have bees coming after them.

- Kim Roblin

Yay! My plants are growing! Wait. My plants are being eaten! My poor peas, decimated. My squash disfigured. Another trip to Fred Myer for some biodegradable pesticide.

What do you get if you divide the circumference

of a pumpkin by its diameter?

Pumpkin pi.

Yay! My plants are growing again! Wait. A call from the landlord. My plants are too close to the house, my tomatoes may cause “leakage” of water into the house. Ok. I guess I get to buy more planters. Off to Home Depot again. We actually found some planters to match the two I already have. Some more potting soil and two large holes later my tomatoes are now on my patio and my garden is again thriving in all the rain we have been blessed with this past month!

My wife's a water sign.

I'm an earth sign.

Together we make mud.

- Rodney Dangerfield