And a good morning to you!

Every once in awhile, I think about posting a certain something on my blog and decide not to do it. I really do believe that there are some stories that are just too strange or embarrassing to share in this type of forum. Like the incident in Paris when I was locked out of my dorm and really needed to use the restroom. And I mean REALLY. Or the horror and shame I've endured while trying to find a bra small enough to fit me. Or the time when pigs...no, let's just stop there.

So before posting this picture, I want you to know that I really did think long and hard about it (well, for at least two full minutes). This is a photo of Lily under my nightgown. Now, I am perfectly aware that you might perceive this as kind of an odd thing for Lily to do, and perhaps an even odder thing for me to allow, and an especially odd thing for me to photograph. But I'm all for documenting the everyday (and quite often odd) happenings of my life, so I'm willing to take that risk.

You see, every morning, whether it's a flannel or cotton kind of day, Lily tunnels under my nightgown to sit. Sometimes she decides to lie down on the hem, thus pinning me for an extended period of time to the floor and seriously hampering my productivity. Yesterday I happened to be pinned near my desk. My camera was within reach, so I slid it across the carpet, positioned it in front of me and pushed the button, not knowing if I'd even captured her in the viewfinder. To my delight, what you see in this photo is Miss Lily as she is most every morning, sweetly emerging from under my nightgown, eyes heavy with sleep. (You also see that I need to vacuum, but we'll ignore that.)

Anyway, my husband thinks that having a cat under my nightgown is totally weird. I personally don't see anything odd whatsoever about it.

But no, you do not get to hear the pig story, so don't even ask.

Back in the Saddle Again

It's been a very long time since I've actually made a layout for myself. Shamefully long. Longer than I care to admit. Remember that list of excuses I posted earlier in the week? They have all been used...multiple times.

It's not that I don't scrapbook, because I do. But most of my energy and time goes toward completing store projects, which I thoroughly love. My challenge is to get better at balancing the personal and professional aspects of my life. That has always been a hard thing for me to do. Work always comes first for me.

But today, I set the work aside. It will be there when I'm ready. Today, I made a layout for me.

And it felt pretty good.

Summer's here: What valuable skills will you teach your children?

Just now, I walked downstairs to the kitchen to get a refill on my coffee and overheard my husband asking our 14-year old daughter to stay off of the computer today.

"It's much too nice a day to be indoors. In fact, I think it's high time you learned to mow the lawn!" he announced with fervor.

Insert 14-year old groans here.

"Or, would you rather learn to bone a chicken?" he asked, throwing a glance my way.

At our house, we all know this story. In fact, I have a coffee mug depicting the "Boneless Chicken Ranch", a place where spineless chickens, unable to stand, flop limply on the ground. I promptly pulled the mug out of the cupboard.

This exchange between my spouse and daughter reminded me that indeed, summer is here, and now is the time when my own mother, many years ago, began the annual ritual of trying to teach me important domestic skills that she knew I would need in the future. Suffice it to say that it never went well, and by Day 2 of summer vacation, she generally gave up.

The Dreaded Summer Ritual always started the same way: On the last day of school, she would greet me at the kitchen door, knife in hand, and announce that this was the day I was going to learn to bone a chicken. It was indeed a skill that all girls needed: Without it, nary a meal could be prepared. She staunchly believed that I needed to acquire many additional domestic skills, too, such as cleaning, ironing, and sewing, but for today, we would start by learning to bone a chicken.

Now, I grew up in the 60's and 70's and was highly influenced by the "women's liberation" movement of the time. My aspiration was to become a high-powered career woman. I had no interest in becoming a wife or mother, or even as a single person performing any domestic tasks whatsoever. Actually, "had no interest" is probably too mild a phrase: I absolutely resisted and refused to learn any of it. Nevertheless, my mother tried every year to teach me to cut apart a chicken and carefully remove the bones. If you've ever done this, you'll understand that it is the most tedious of tasks and one that I perceived as having absolutely no value.

After many summers of enduring the "How to Bone a Chicken" lesson, I finally went off to college, still quite happy that I had acquired no domestic skills. I couldn't cook or clean, and I definitely couldn't sew, but I could speak French and analyze American literature and play concertos on the piano. And sure enough, it wasn't long after I left home that boneless chicken began to appear in grocery stores. At that moment, I felt vindicated.

So now we sit at the beginning of this long, unstructured period of time called Summer Vacation. I have to give my mom some credit for her boundless optimism and desire to equip me for adulthood. Between cups of coffee, it makes me wonder how well I am serving my own daughter in this regard. What valuable domestic skills will I teach her this summer?

Hmmm...Lawn mowing sounds like a pretty good place for my husband to start.

Feline Friday: Of Paws and Patterned Paper

Here are two happy images for Feline Friday:

Lily's precious feet: Curling, kneading, running, leaping...But beware! These sweet, little white-gloved paws mask claws as sharp as razor blades.

I'm working on this small tin as a take-home project for customers at Memory Bound. The paper, alpha stickers, and blue embellishments are by Making Memories. Great stuff. It feels good to accomplish something tangible this week.

Lily Goes to the Vet

I took Lily to the vet this week to have her evaluated for a possibly urinary tract infection. Lily shows no signs whatsoever of illness, but because of the two recent incidents of "urine leakage" (yes sir, right on my shorts), she needed to be examined.

As it turns out, the vet was unable to palpate Lily's bladder. Seems there was a large "fecal ball" in the way. (Given Lily's voracious appetite, I'm sure this is a normal state of affairs for her.)

Since all of her vital signs are normal, the vet was not concerned about the urine leakage but suggested I try to obtain a sample. Now, my friend Darci (not in the least bit a cat person, mind you) had predicted that the vet would want Lily to "pee in a cup". I imagined myself holding the cup with one hand and the camera in the other. "OK, Lily, NOW!" That would make for an interesting blog post, I thought. But being an experienced cat mom, I knew that there would be no cup involved. In the past, I have scooped up wet cat litter or left kitty overnight at the vet to obtain a sample. It has always been a pretty simple operation.

So imagine my surprise when the vet handed me this syringe. Boy, I thought, a cup would have been hard enough, but this?

Well, not to worry...it's not as clinical as it sounds. Here's what I need to do to obtain the sample:

1) Isolate Lily with her own litterbox. This will be easy enough, since (due to extreme naughtiness) she is now confined to a private basement apartment each night.

2) Put a small amount of litter in one end of the litterbox, leaving the other side empty. Elevate the box on the litter side. The idea here is that Lily will use the litterbox and the "sample" will trickle down to the empty end.

3) Collect the sample with the handy-dandy syringe. Place it in a sealed container and take it to the vet's office for evaluation.

It's as easy as that! Stay tuned for progress updates.

And by all means, watch out for fecal balls.

Garden in Early June

Last month I posted a few pictures of two of my perennial gardens. It was early spring and not much was blooming. The plants were looking a little puny. So to document the garden as a work in progress, I snapped a few more photos yesterday morning. It's a month later, and the plants are looking fuller. A few more are in bloom. Here are the details of these photos, left to right, top to bottom:

1) Mullein -- I planted this herb last year, not knowing exactly what it would look like or how it would perform. It has turned out to be one of the prettiest plants in the garden. The flowers are cream with a lavender center. I did have to stake it last week because it has a tendency to flop over.

2) Hollyhocks -- I just added these along the side of the house last week and if they do well, I will plant a row of them next year. I just love hollyhocks. They take me back to my childhood every time I see them. We used to make tiny doll dresses out of the blooms.

3) Dwarf Jacob's Ladder -- I planted this shade perennial last year, and I really love it. The plant has beautiful foliage and in a few weeks will have some small white flowers (unless the bunnies devour them).

4) Planter of mixed pink impatiens and begonias -- We bought two of these, courtesy of our school fund-raising drive to raise money for the bands.

5) My little angel reading a book -- Next to this statue is a straw flower plant, newly planted but doing well so far. These flowers apparently do not appeal to the bunnies. I imagine that the somewhat dry blooms would tend to stick in Sweet Bunny's throat. *cough, cough*

6) Distance view of my older perennial bed -- Later in the season or next spring, some plants will need to be moved around in this bed. They are OK right now, but they will be crowded when full size. As you can see, not much is blooming at this time. It is too late for the spring bloomers and a bit too early for the summer flowers, but the buds are in place and they should start blooming any time now. With luck, soon I will have daisies, purple coneflower, globe thistle, saliva, lavender, and Kansas gayfeathers in bloom, to name a few.

7) Summer snapdragon -- This little annual plant has flowered several times, but each time the bunnies devour it. This is the first opportunity I've had to catch a photo.

8-9) Mixed planters of pink and purple annuals. I have a few of these on the patio and front porch.

Next month, I'll try to remember to take another set of photos to document how things are changing. It's always interesting to see how different kinds of plants perform over time. Since my garden is really a trial and error kind of thing, it's always full of surprises.

Today's Two Peas Challenge

The blogging challenge on 2Peas for today is to write about five songs that you have recently downloaded or love right now. That's a fairly easy one for me since I've been completely in a Coldplay frame of mind of late. If you haven't listened to their music, it is considered "alternative" rock, or "piano rock". Most of it has a contemplative, sort of melancholy quality to it. The one exception on the list below is the last song, which is more upbeat. Some Coldplay music is acoustic (guitar, piano, drums) and other pieces are highly synthesized, with an "ethereal" quality. The lyrics are simple but meaningful.

Here are five Coldplay songs (and snippets of lyrics) that I absolutely love. No...wait! Six!

My apolgies for the inconsistent fonts and sizing below. Blogger is not cooperating this morning.

From 2005 album, X&Y

1) "X&Y" (title track)

I know something is broken,
And I'm trying to fix it.
Trying to repair it, Any way I can
You and me are floating on a tidal wave...Together
You and me are drifting into outer space...

2) "Fix You"

When you try your best, but you don't succeed,
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep,
Stuck in reverse...
Lights will guide you home,
And ignite your bones,
And I will try to fix you

3) "What If"

Every step that you take,
Could be your biggest mistake,
It could bend or it could break,
That's the risk that you take ...
What if you should decide,
That you don't want me there by your side,
That you don't want me there in your life

From 2002 album, A Rush of Blood to the Head

4) "In My Place"

In my place, in my place,
Were lines that I couldn't change,
I was lost, oh yeah. I was lost, I was lost,
Crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed, I was lost, oh yeah.

5) "The Scientist"

I was just guessing,
At numbers and figures,
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science,
Science and progress,
Do not speak as loud as my heart
Tell me you love me,
Come back and haunt me,
Oh and I rush to the start

6) "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face"

Where do we go, nobody knows,
Don't ever say you're on your way down when
God gave you style and gave you grace,
And put a smile upon your face

I could get more scrapbooking done if I...

1) would just stay off the computer. This would include reading all sorts of blogs and message boards, compulsively checking my e-mail, perusing layout galleries, downloading cool fonts, and looking at the NPR website. It should probably also include blogging, but I staunchly refuse to list it here.

2) would figure out which pictures need to be printed and actually print them.

3) could see the surface of my table. Actually, that's not even a valid excuse because I don't scrapbook on the table. I scrapbook on the floor.

4) would stop living so inflexibly by the "work first/play later" philosophy. Here's the deal: Scrapbooking is play for me. Everything else is work. Since I almost never get all of my work done, I rarely allow myself scrapbooking time.

5) would schedule scrapbooking, like an appointment, in my handy-dandy altered Franklin Planner. Which I altered, by the way, instead of scrapbooking.

6) would set some scrapbooking goals for myself. If I actually articulate a specific goal, I almost always achieve it. The problem here is that I have not taken the time to articulate any goals. (Personal scrapbooking goals, that is. I do have a few other goals in life. I don't want y'all to think I'm a total slacker.)

7) would go to a crop once in awhile and actually crop while there. I am putting this on the list just because some people (and you know who you are, peeps) might think it needs to be on the list. In reality, I will never be able to do this because I cannot actually crop in front of other people. I know, I know...that sounds really strange, but for me, scrapbooking is a really personal thing. I can only do it in the confines of my own little space. (Yes, I know I have issues...Trust me: They are well beyond the scope of this blog.)

8) would stop feeling guilty when I do take time to scrapbook for myself. This is a big one for me. I consider scrapbooking to be an incredibly worthwhile activity, yet I let a multitude of mundane things come before it. Like laundry.

9) would start to feel a teensy-weensy bit of pressure to produce some scrapbooks for DD's graduation open house, which (it occurs to me) will be held three years from now. Sure, I have quite a few pages ready to set out next to the cake and punch, but there are large gaps in what I've scrapbooked of her life. Actually, it's mostly gaps.

10) would stop organizing my stuff and get down to business. I love to organize, and my scrapbooking stuff is in pretty good shape. I wish the rest of my life were as organized as my cardstock.

OK, my idea in writing this list is that the first step in moving the ball forward is to identify the problem. Hopefully, we can all agree that I've done that here. Maybe the next step is to get myself into some therapy. But for now I hope to start tackling these excuses so that I actually start producing more pages. I shall even print out my list and post it as a reminder to myself. With luck, I will report back on my progress, and (hold your horses) maybe even post a page or two.

Now, if you are a scrapbooker and have had the patience to read this far, my challenge to you is to go figure out your own list. Post it on your wall or on your blog, if you have one. Identify what is getting in the way of your scrapbooking productivity.

Then let's get busy! No more excuses!

Cutify your Stuff with Galvanized Tins

Galvanized tins are sort of my new thing. Well, my new, old thing. Or maybe I should say my old, new thing. The point being, I've had galvanized tins in my scrapbooking area for several months now, and every time I see them for sale, I seem to acquire even more. They are handy for corralling all sorts of stuff and making it look, well, cute.

I stopped by Target this past week and in the Dollar Spot, I found large, round galvanized tins. I bought a couple, not knowing exactly what I'd do with them but that they would be handy for holding something. Now one of them contains the miscellaneous stuff found on my scrapbooking table that really needs to be put away. And now, while it's waiting for that day to come (and it could be a very long wait), that stuff looks cute.

On a previous trip to Target, I picked up a stack of small, rectangular tins. One now hold blank cards and another contains the contents of my Bazzill Swatch Box. (Now, putting the swatches in a tin was the suggestion of my friend, Darci, because every time I used the darn things I could NOT figure out how to get them back into their original plastic container without wanting to fling them across the room. Thanks to Darci, I'm much calmer now.) Another small tin holds the adhesives that I use every time I work on a project. And on a trip to Michaels awhile back, I picked up two larger, oval tins. Now they house a few completed mini albums and smaller projects.

So if you are looking for a good way to store a few odds and ends in your scrapbooking area, my suggestion is to pick up some galvanized tins. They can make just about anything, even your messy stuff, look cute.

Crock Pot Dreams

Have you ever dreamed about crock pots?

I hadn't...at least not until this week. In my dream, I was standing in the scrapbook store where I teach. Strangely, there were no products in on the shelves. Without a word, our assistant store manager opened a big closet (presumably where everything was stashed) and out tumbled a crock pot, hitting her on the head and rolling across the floor to my feet. I looked at it and thought "what's up with that?" Then I woke up.

I believe there is a reason I dreamed about a crock pot. Notably, I recently acquired a large box of crock pot liners (this may be the subject of a future post) from my mother. I have given these away to many scrapbooking friends. We discuss how much time we would have to scrapbook if we used our crock pots more. Then we laugh about the abundance of crock pot liners we've amassed compared to the relative infrequency with which we actually remember to use them. And there is another story about crock pots in a hotel room on a trip to CKU, but that one will also wait for another day. Yet in spite of these real-life crock pot connections, I had to wonder what dreaming of this kitchen appliance might mean. I'm pretty sure you're wondering, too.

According to a highly scientific dream interpretation website, "to see or use a crock pot in your dream suggests that you need to look at various sources to attack a problem. Alternatively, it means that patience, hard work, and tenacity will pay off in the long run. Hang in there and don't let difficulties and obstacles discourage you."

Not bad advice for anyone in any circumstance. In fact, I'm going to attach deep and lasting significance to my crock pot dream. Think roast beef. It takes a long time to cook in a crock pot. Just because it doesn't cook in two hours doesn't mean that it won't EVER cook. Likewise, I will remember that my problems will take some time to resolve.

At least 8-10 hours.

Our Tall Grass Prairie

Note: It is Feline Friday, and you can read Lily's post below. I had planned to save this one for the weekend, but the prairie looked so beautiful last night that I just had to share it this morning. I'm not trying to steal attention from Lily's Feline Friday post. I swear!

Edited to add: If you click on this collage, it will enlarge and you can see more detail.

How fortunate I am that every day, I can walk or bike through a prairie restoration area, right in my own neighborhood. Over the years, I have learned how important areas like this really are. Historically, there were over 30 million acres of tall grass prairie in Iowa. In fact, 150 years ago, 85% of the state was prairie. But today, as a result of agricultural development and urban sprawl, only .1% of this prairie remains. The prairie in Iowa is on the verge of extinction.

In our neighborhood, several large areas have been devoted to prairie restoration. Experts planned and seeded these areas with native plants, flowers, and trees. Over the years, the prairies have matured and become a haven for many different kinds of wildlife. A bike and walking path gives neighbors ready access to all of this beauty.

Last evening, I walked through the prairies and snapped a few photos. Right now, only a handful of flowers are in bloom. But wait a few weeks and the prairie will be a blaze of color. A few evenings ago, I walked through it as the sun set. Fireflies began to emerge, covering the entire prairie with tiny golden jewels. An amazing sight, truly.

Every day I am thankful to have access to this unique beauty. I have great appreciation for the work that is being done across our state to restore areas like this. What a treat it is to be able to visit this ever-changing landscape every day.

Feline Friday: Lily's Weekend Plans

Mom is busy this morning so she let me write this post. I didn't know what to say, so she told me I should tell you about My Big Plan for the Weekend.

You're lookin' at it, dude.

By Lily, age 1 year, 1 month