today's the

day.  It's the big reveal.  Oh, first let me mention that we decided against concrete for the walkway and went with pavers.  The backyard patio extension HAS to be concrete though.  (I did mention we have two dogs, right?)

Anyway, after 7 trips to Home Depot and 2 trips to Lowes, the walkway is done.  We called Antonio to do it and I am SO happy with it.

Are you ready for the big reveal?

Are you sure?

I'm sure you're not near as excited as I am but let me tell you this.  Sure, I didn't have to actually lay out all the pavers but my role in this was pretty involved and tiring.  For example, after actually picking out the pavers, I had to figure out how I wanted them and also how many to get.  (FYI, math is not my friend.)  Anyway, Home Depot had this awesome catalog that gave me a formula for the pattern I wanted. 

(Have I ever mentioned that the only thing I ever thought I really wanted to do was to be an architect?  I used to sit around and draw houses and floor plans.  So, I guess the drawing it all out was a little fun.)

So after deciding my walkway needed 360 pavers, I made trips to haul 50 at a time (with one trip of 60), in addition to the 2 trips to Lowes for other material and now I have a walkway.

This is it.

Now my plan is to get from the backyard to the driveway without anymore injuries.

this will be a

2 Coke day.  I feel it.  The one I have now feels so nice going down I just can't stop.  I won't waste it all at once, I'll wait so the other one will be just as nice later in the day.  A little throwback to when my addiction began.  (Well, it probably didn't start here but it's the only evidence I have.)

Today is also going to be a pool day.  I need to float and chill and swim and float a little more.  Maybe I'll hang out in here and listen to music and do whatever I feel like for a while.  I don't know but today is definitely one of those days.

we were without

U-verse this morning.  Actually, it went off around 9:00 last night but I was already asleep.  That means we had no internet, telephone or television.  Two guesses as to what happened, one guess for each answer.  Did you guess Maggie and Archer?  Very good.  You're catching on.  So while I was waiting for the AT&T guy to show up between 8:30 and 12:30, I walked the fence to find where the wired fence was out of commission.  I found BOTH places, fixed that and let the dogs back out with their collars.  There were a couple of yelps.  Did I mention that we had to order a new collar?  Yeah, apparently they figured out how to take them off and chew them up.  (sigh...)  So that sums up my day.  Ha.  Yesterday I was so far ahead of everything as far as my to-do list went, I thought today would be a do-whatever day.  Yeah, it was a do-whatever day, as long as the "whatever" didn't involve tv, internet or leaving the house.

I did fix the fence today and the garbage disposal yesterday. Today I came to the conclusion my car needs to have the spark plugs changed.  (You know, now that I'm officially an accomplished DIY-er, I can diagnose things like that.)  If I don't watch it, people might start thinking I'm competent or something.

Anyway, I took this the other night on the driveway.

If I'm not passed out by 9:00 tonight, maybe I'll head out with my tripod... further than the driveway.

so i went to the dog

show on Saturday.  I'm still having a hard time sitting, standing, walking and pretty much just moving my legs around.  It was a morning of intense squats.  Lots and lots of squats, some lasting a second or two and others lasting a few minutes.  OMG.  I hurt.  But here are some of the pictures I got during my squat session... along with a few non-squat session.

This one just seems sassy and like she maybe knows all the latest gossip.

That face.  I don't need to say anything. 

WHEEE!!!

Over it and ready to go home.

I would go try to finish stuff around the house but I'm too sore to get up.  I'll just sit here and look at dogs.

well the walkway

and patio extension were approved by the neighborhood ACC.  Now I'm running out of time to convince Cosme to pay to have it done.  Wish me luck.  And if I don't succeed, wish us both luck.  I'm not stressing though.  I have other things to worry about, like what plants will look good planted in the 3' wide strip between the house and walkway.  By the time the river rock is in, that won't leave much room for anything.

In other news, I'm doing a Capture Crawl tomorrow.  It's the same as a photo walk but it's with Houston Center for Photography.  Everyone knows how I am at socializing.  I think I'm stressing more over that than the walkway.  Anyway, it'll be at NRG where the cooking shows were that Mom did.  It's going to be a dog show.

I should probably think more about going with Maggie and Archer instead of Canon.  You know what I'm saying?  They sure are sweet but dang, they're destructive and stubborn.  Something tells me I'll probably get sidetracked from photos.  Oh well, anything to help with the social anxiety.

well here it

is.  The new roof.

The new CHARCOAL roof.  Remember, I posted the old one here a few days ago.  I'm happy with it.  The only problem is now I don't like the light fixtures and think they need to be bigger and bolder.  Here are a few I found when I first started looking.

But since then I've found several more that I think I like better.  The top left is a lot like what I already have, just a little frillier.  The bottom two, well, I just don't know how well the style matches but I'd probably pick the one on the left over the one on the right.  And the top right?  I like it but I just don't know.  It seems like it's close to that fine line of being a little too rustic.  Whichever one I choose, if any, I just want it bigger and bolder.  I really want it to stand out.

Totally off topic, can I share something?  (I mean of course I can, it is Melanie's family blog...)  It smells wonderful in this house.  I started off making bacon and to make it even better, I just pulled banana bread out of the oven.  Yeah, it smells pretty awesome.

Okay, I've got to run before it gets too hot.  I'm going to water plants in Brazoria.  On second thought, the earlier and cooler it is, I'll probably have more mosquitoes.  Maybe I'll wait.  But, if I do it early, I can get a $1 large drink from Sonic.  (Which I could always do if I waited until this afternoon but I like early happy hour better than afternoon happy hour.)  Maybe I'll do it now and leave a loaf of banana bread for the neighbors.  But first, I'd better try it and make sure it tastes okay. 

Time to TCB.

well the roofers

were here at 7:00 this morning and it sounds like the house is being torn apart.  Technically, I guess it is.  I'm hoping that our roof, being as old as it is, will come off extra easily, speeding up their process.  I love home improvement projects and I hate home improvement projects.  I love the planning and the finished product.  I hate everything in between.  HGTV really sugarcoats it all by only showing us bits and pieces of the "during" process.  (Yes, I know a whole backyard can't go from desolate to "zen oasis retreat" in 30 minutes but still…)  This is different, in a way, since contractors are out there doing all the work and cleanup but there's still the one thing of the work part I don't like.  The mess.  Everything being out of order and chaotic just makes me a little on edge.  Oh, along with everything being out of order, the dogs are stuck inside to avoid barking and debris.

In other news, Apple sent an email yesterday and my computer is ready!  I'm so excited.  Not only is this computer totally awkward, but once I sit for a few minutes, my back is killing me.  Guess I'll head to Houston shortly and pick up my beloved laptop.  I hope I didn't just jinx anything there.

Maybe if I go watch TV it'll drown out the roof demo and keep my mind off the mess being created out there.  I'm scared to look out the window.  Yes.  This might be a 2 Coke day.

a week ago

today I messed up my foot.  It's better but sometimes, depending on the shoe or lack of, I still have a slight limp.  A week ago tomorrow I took my computer into the shop.  I still don't have it back.  This is what I've been using as my computer and it SUCKS.

Can you imagine how annoying it is not only trying to work my way around all of these contraptions but using a mouse that I'm not crazy about… on top of one of the contraptions.  I'd really like to have my laptop back.  Having a keyboard at the level of my collar bone is less than ideal.

Yesterday I was in Brazoria and Mom and I picked figs.  This morning I made fig preserves using THIS recipe.  I really don't know what they're supposed to taste like so I'm waiting on Eric to try some.  It really only needs his approval.

I think I had 5 cups of figs and that made a little over three jars.  The jars are sealed and the extra is in the refrigerator… awaiting approval.

I'll try to post more tomorrow.  I can only take so much of this computer's setup.  Hopefully I'll receive a call to picked up my repaired laptop soon.