Project

Bret is trying his hand at building some furniture. First project ever - wish us luck! 

Short again

Hooray! I have short hair again and it feels great! A couple weeks ago I visited my nephew and he told me he liked my hair short, not long, so this photo is for him. Hi Logan! 

First visitor

Our basement is finally coming together!  The walls are all done and now we have to finish moving all the storage. Lynn came to visit tonight and we were happy to have our couches set up and clean. 

RIP aspens

I finally cut down my remaining aspens. The trees are now pulled in various spots of my driveway and yard. I have a blister, sunburn, scratches, and bruises; and my house looks naked. 

Shakes for breakfast

Bret making his all time favorite. Avocados were 6 for one dollar. He bought 30 this morning. Endless shakes for the future! I made myself a broccoli chocolate shake - my favorite. 

1 1/2 c "milk"

1 c frozen broccoli

1/2 frozen banana

2 Tbs cocoa powder

3 Tbs sweetener

Doing my duty

Bret was thoughtful and suggested we take a rose. it gave up the ghost before we got there but I figure dad doesn't care. The neighbors had a ton more decorations, but at least he now hasa wilted rose. 

Windows

Look! I have new windows! Beautiful, but the screens are on the inside because they are designed to open out - the while thing. Different, but it will work and they are pretty and silk keep the cold air out. 

Neighborhood block party

These are the "Heartland Dancers."

Panda

This is where we had lunch yesterday. Panda something. It is a Mongolian bbq place but I am convinced they never put anything away at night or stay with fresh ingredients in the morning. It was way divey. The sign says greens and groceries and is the awning over where you assemble your ingredients. It was so not nice that Bret opted not to tip. It want like we had a waitress anyway. The only woman working there was so caught up in her Asian  soap opera we were lucky she cooked our food at all. 

Spring is here!

not to make my sister jealous or anything, but I paid 1.27 a pound for these. Love the price matching. 

Hidden treasures

Look what I found in my heating vent today. This is why they should probably cleaned more than every 30 years. The date is 1981. on the back is an explanation of the word "scapegoat."

Indulging

Bret is enjoying one of his favorite treats: avocado shake. due to the high milk content we have not made them recently. Since we are visiting his parents' he is indulging. 

Natural history museum

Bret received a year membership for the both of us at the natural history museum. We loved our first visit. 

Birth parent dinner 2

This was the view from my table. 

Birth parent dinner

Last night was our annual birth parent dinner. It was my first one. Bret and I chose to donate quite a bit of money to make it a really nice evening. One of the board members is friends with Kenneth cope and got him to provide entertainment. This is his back side. I loved one of his songs -about how God loves broken things. I saw a couple old friends there and had a grand time. some day maybe I will bring my own birth mom. 

Bedroom

This is my old room. Once walked in wood paneling that I found warm and inviting. Now it will be a generic plain walled room. Yes I miss it already. Mostly because of the headache it has been to transform it. 

Window well

I am getting a new one. Not quite up to code but at least useable is the plan. It will cost about $500. I don't want to think about it. Hopefully all will be normal in a month. 

Basement drywall

Here is the latest view of our basement. I took it from the north looking south this time. The pile in the middle is our couches stacked on top of each other. Word is it will be another 2 weeks since the windows and doors are being custom made. Today the tried digging out our old window well to put in a deeper one. The old one was formed with rebar so the $125 rental fee for a concrete cutter was a total waste and they spent the afternoon with a sledge hammer. Sadness all around. I should get a photo of the big hole. Maybe tomorrow. 

Spring Beauties

These caught me by surprise. I need to spend more time outside before they are gone.

Poor mom

Now she gets to clean house.