Compost and Christmas Cards

What do we do in November, when the season has passed and the cover crop is sprouting and there is nothing better to do? Drive up and down streets stealing people's leaf bags! LOL. Yep, we do this quite often in the dark and it is actually quite fun. Not as fun is then slicing them open and dumping them on our larger-than-life compost pile.

What else do I do? FILL BUBBLES LIKE 2 HOURS A DAY!! Blech. With the ammount of seed requests I've been filling on a daily basis, I came to the decision yesterday that I am not doing Christmas cards this year. I am too poor from already spending $40+ on postage that the people are short on, plus my hand is permanently cramped from writing, plus just the concept of mailing even more stuff is making me crazy. Don't be offended if I don't send you a card, just be understanding and I'll be back in the game next year for sure!

Random Blog Link

Happened upon a few new blogs of young couples lately. This girl had been trying to get pregnant since last March and by following her blog the last month or so I could tell she was still optimistic but getting frustrated. I admire her so much for her openness to talk about this with the world! But it made that special moment that much sweeter when she could finally tell everyone her good news.


http://thisplaceisnowahome.wordpress.com/


Not only would I not be able to talk about an issues like that with the world, I don't even think I could talk about it with my mom! I'm trying to figure out how long I would be able to hide a pregnancy from my family. 1 month, 2 monthes, 3 monthes, 4? 5 monthes, 6 monthes, 7 monthes, more???? Ok I know 6 and 7 would be tough (LOL) but seriously!! I avoid awkwardness and how awkward would it be telling my DAD?!! I do see my parents everyday; EVERY SINGLE DAY. How long until you think they'd figure it out?

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Yep Christmas is here a little early this year but awesomely worth it: I FINALLY FOUND AND PURCHASED HANGING SNOWFLAKE LIGHTS!! My front porch was made for hanging snowflake lights but for some reason I just could never find them in the stores. THIS WAS THE YEAR (Thank-you Lowes). LOVE THEM! They even twinkle :).

Hoot Hike

My favorite animal BY FAR is the owl. If I could just have my own eastern screech owl, I would be happy for ever! SO CUTE!

So imagine my happiness when I saw Stark Parks putting on a Hoot Hike starting 1 mile from my house! YIPEE!

What was the trouble? The online signup said it started at 7 (and so did the confirmation email) but the newsletter I had gotten in the mail said 6. I know I know, it's only a mile away so why didn't I go at 6 AND at 7 to be sure? BECAUSE I'M AN IDIOT. Yep it was at 6 so at least 10 of us who showed up at 7 missed the Hoot Hike. But they people who made it at the right time didn't hear any owls so GOOD FOR THEM!!

At least the lady let me see the 3 she had in her van :). These are owls they keep because they are too injured to be released back into the wild (most got hit by cars). They are used for educational purposes.

Back to Life

Well now that pumpkins are over this blog can get back to being a mix of themes: geocaching, country, life in general. First I have to locate my GPS that my house ghost has hidden. Now that I can't find it, the itch to go geocaching is getting WORSE!

Can't forget to mention that maybe in the next year this will become a mommy blog! Just throwing it out there, not trying to jinx things. TRIPLE EEEEEEEKKK!

In other news, this year I've gotten my seasonal flu shot AND my H1N1 shot so now I just have to avoid common colds, 24 hr flu, tuberculosis, meningitus, strep, etc at school. What a bunch of germy kids. I am germ-phobe TOTALLY. WISH ME LUCK!

Papa Hawai'iloa

So I guess I was in "Time for Kids"! Super cool that a 2nd grade class read it in Hawaii, googled me, and is now writing me asking about pumpkins! They even have a blog / class page.

In other news, this showed up in my mailbox today. From an unknown person in an unknown country! It is one thing to see lots of online articles in different languages, but to actually hold a newspaper from another country that you totally can't understand is totally surreal!

Pumpkins and Art

An artist I am not. Just ask my mom! Everyday in 7th grade I'd come home crying because my art teacher was threatening my perfect GPA with a possible B. Well believe it or not, the Department Chair himself from the University of Maryland College of Art google-stalked ME!! He wanted to cast my pumpkin so he could sculpt it!

Through a weird twist of fate (the carver Scott Cully from Oregon couldn't come as planned because of a family death), John Ruppert was able to get his wish. He drove from Maryland with a flatbed truck, crane, and a LOT of plaster this weekend! Nick and I helped and he finished in a little over 16 straight hours (WOA I KNOW!). What an interesting guy.

I am very excited about all of this. This sort of imortalizes the pumpkin in a way I'd never had imagined. I can't wait to see how many replicas he makes and where they end up! He's got 17 replicas from a pumpkin he cast in 1995 all around the country.