Hippity hop

My older girls will be at their dad's this weekend, so we celebrated our secular Easter yesterday afternoon.

I always say I'm going to use natural dyes: beet juice and blueberries, spinach leaves and violet blossoms, and the like, but alas,

A PAAS brand kit, again, but still beautiful, no?

The inevitable twister arms

And long wait

But before you know it all the eggs are dyed, or broken.

We'll let them dry while we go on our plastic egg hunt...

Ooh, pretty

Garden art as camouflage

Ditto. This one took a while to spot.

Yes, but do you see both of them?

Shine!

Blend

The loot

The empties

The dried eggs

In a pretty bowl

Happy Easter to you and yours. May you revel in this season of rebirth and renewal ;-)

Opening Day

What's that you say? How'd the roof job finish up?

Well, I'm so glad you asked. I am here for you, people.

Day 6, shining bright.

The front side was essentially done . . .

. . . and our two lone boys got right there on the back side, and did what it is that they do do.

I was around most of the day, doing a little sanding project of my own, secretly* spying on them.

*(It probably wasn't that big a secret. They could *see* me sanding, afterall. And taking photos.)

But I wasn't spying; I just really really loved watching them up there, doing what they do, fearlessly. Actually, that's not even accurate. "Fearlessly" denotes there's something to fear. These guys are so cat-like, and so comfortable, and so in their element up there, it seemed odd to see them down on the ground at the end of the day.

TJ took care of cleaning the gutter . . .

. . . then he and Eric started cleaning up the gear.

But wait! The ugly vent pipe! They were supposed to paint that ugly vent pipe!

The guys had been almost loading the ladder on the truck when I reminded them of the painting of the ugly vent pipe. Inches from a clean getaway.

And this is when I couldn't look anymore and went inside.

And then? Well, then it was done.

The Back Side? Done.

The Front Side? Ditto.

It's pure, awesome magic. But I feel vaguely empty and vacant without the boys around. Because although I always assumed one of them would fall on his head and meet his early demise, and although the banging was, well, loud, I liked having them around. I liked the productivity and busyness and beehive of activity around here.

But thankfully, today we can fill that empty void with one of the most promising, inspiring and exciting Spring events.

It's Opening Day!

Play Ball!

like riding a bike

Last weekend, I had the distinctly awesome opportunity to visit the city of Austin, Texas with my sister Jane.

I know! Austin! With Jane!

I was in town for a conference, and wished for a sister to come and enjoy my bodacious hotel room,  and Jane made my wish come true, because she is a magnificent superpowered uber fabulous rock star. Plus, Austin is a really cool city. Plus, it was me and all.

It was a quick visit, but we packed it with fun. Jane knew the city from her years as a Texan, and she was great about researching and finding seemingly endless options for our entertainment. I highly recommend my sister Jane as a travel buddy, she is really good at it.  Plus, she's adorable and silly and wise and fun, and what more could one want in a travel buddy? She's the real diz, fo shiz.

We didn't have a car and the hotel was in sort of a dumb spot, so Jane suggested that we rent bikes and tool around. I'm a big fan of tooling, and jumped right on the bicycle bandwagon. On Friday morning as I bravely endured the morning workshops, Jane got all the world's woes figured out and planned our day. The moment I was done, we made our way over to the bike shop with a spring in our step and a song in our heart! I sort of casually reminded Jane about how I really wasn't the world's best bike rider. She didn't remember it being an issue when we were kids... I kinda did.

Learning to ride a bike is one thing,  riding in canyons is another. I've been avoiding bikes pretty successfully for the last 20 years or so. I just don't feel quite safe up there, I can't help but fixate on the likelihood that I'm going to fall or crash into something or get hit by a car or somehow otherwise end up similarly maimed and/or dead. 
Last summer I was in Monterey, and that place just screamed for bike touring. I spent an afternoon with this rig...

...and it was awesome. Sure, I had my moments of silent(ish) screaming when facing imaginary potential peril, but once my dainty bits recovered from the indignity of prolonged exposure to that ungodly triangle of doom, the overriding emotion that lingered after that gorgeous Monterey day last summer was bliss. I  knew I could handle Austin.

We didn't take enough pictures, partly because we suck but also because some of us were busy maintaining a death grip on both handlebars while internally(ish) keening on the verge of certain catastrophe. But look, here is evidence of the adorable young Jane with one of our adorable twin Schwinns.

And the pretty river we rode all up and around and over, but never into (although I imagined that scenario vividly)

It was great fun to follow my girl Jane through the beautiful trails and neighborhoods and even the scary streets were manageable as long as I could keep her bum in my sights to follow. Every time she turned to look over her shoulder, my heart rate increased in anticipation of a maneuver that I would have no choice but to follow. Jane was a great and patient guide. Despite the fact that she actually owns a bike and has been known to ride it in things like triathlons  while my level of bike expertise is best described as scaredy cat, we made a great team and the times we spent tooling around Austin will be forever preserved in my memory.

I love you, Janey girl! Know what would end this post perfectly? That photo I made us stop and take right in the middle of that busy intersection that took an hour to get across. Remember? With the invisible city and the poison oak? That was fun. 

Twenty-word Tuesday: loony bin

There's nothing quite like sending your kid out to play in the neighborhood and having her come home in this....

Roofie-Roof, Redux

Where were we?

Ah yes. The dawn of Day 3:

You see those clouds up there?

That's foreshadowing.

Because although it looks like we've got nuthin' but blue skies on Wednesday morning, well, don't let that blue sky fool you for one second.

In the meantime, though, a gigantic truck showed up and used its long octopus arm to deliver the shingles up to the boys . . .

. . . while I wandered around looking at the cool patterns the cords and tubes and hoses made on the grass.

We told the boys they were welcome to put their boombox on the Leaning Table of New London, 
but that it might be the proverbial straw.

Thanks for the table, Tommy and Dawnie. It served us well . . .  

And then the shingling started.

But wait! This is New England, and this is March. My friend Martha emailed me that afternoon an update from the local paper:

Ellie, foreshadowing for next blog… I thought about posting it as a comment but [excuse me for this, can’t help myself] I didn’t want to steal your thunder!

http://www.theday.com/
Rain and thunder arrive in area
Published 03/28/2012 12:00 AM
Updated 03/28/2012 01:18 PM

Rain and thunder have arrived in the New London area, and the National Weather Service says isolated thunderstorms and showers will continue across the region through 3 p.m.

Heavy rain and gusty winds along with occasional lightning strikes could come with this storm, the weather service said.

Thunderstorms. With occasional lightning strikes, people.

Our boys were on aluminum ladders.

I was at work absolutely writhing with worry and concern about our little friends on said aluminum ladders being smote and dead bodies littering our modest yard . . .

When I got home that afternoon I marveled at all the progress they had made . . . 

. . . and was absolutely delighted that not only was the crew long gone, there were no dead bodies in the yard. Zero. Not one.

And yeah, blue skies.

And then? Day 4.

In the morning the boys started plywooding the north side.

You could see clear through those old wooden slats.

And when I got home that afternoon . . .

. . . well, it just does not get any better than this.

We have the best roofers in the world.

In the entire Universe.

And the north side? All plywood- and polystyrened-up.

And finally. Friday. Day 5.

Just look at Eric go.

He's a total badass.

Total.

And the north side? Prepped and ready. The radio on the chimney is my very favorite thing.

I walked to work, as per, and when I got home that afternoon, just look what greeted me:

Yes! The radio still on the roof!

And one mighty-fine piece of workmanship, right there.

They were almost done with the north side. Almost. So close . . .

But they couldn't quite finish.

And Saturday? Well, the forecast was for rain and snow. Which was perfect, really. Monday: wind. Tuesday: cold. Wednesday: thunder and lightning. Why wouldn't it snow too?

So we agreed they'd finish the job on Monday -- today! -- but in the meantime, there was the issue of the cooler full of icy cold Bud and Bud Light. And Mistah and I certainly weren't going to drink that swill* ourselves.

*That morning I said to the boys as I left for work: 
"I've got beer on ice for this afternoon."
"What kind?"
"What kind?"
"Yeah, what kind."
"Becks and Bud."
"I like Bud Light."
"Dude? I'm getting you Bud Light."

So we had ourselves an Almost-Finished-The-Roof Party . . .

. . . an Oh-So-Close-To-Being-Done Party.

And today? Well, I'm holding the nail-gun-air-compressor and ladders hostage until they return.