The Office, but not that one.

I've fallen off the proverbial "Room-a-Month" wagon, but I think I caught up this weekend. While Richard was out of town, I decided to rearrange furniture in nearly every room in our home. Because I'm smart like that, and I think flirting with lower back injuries is fun.

I didn't mention this plan to Richard, who would have probably freaked the heck out imagining me sliding 6 foot tall bookcases across the floor. So when he came home, he had several nice surprises.

The first surprise was his office. When we moved in, we used our second bedroom as a guest room/office. Which was fine for a while. But with the addition of a third (!) bookshelf (and a desperate need for another bookshelf), the room was feeling a wee bit crowded and not really all that relaxing for our guests. Here are some "before" pictures that don't really do justice to how crowded that room really is.

Rich and I had been talking about moving his office out to the empty, unused garage for several weeks now. The garage is actually bigger than this room, offers a place away from the distractions of the house, has a pleasant climate about 99 days out of 100, and was empty (mostly). So I surprised him (by not making him move all of that stuff himself). Here are the fruits of my labor.

It's not the most beautiful space, but it is very functional and has plenty of space for when we decide to finally take the plunge, and buy another bookshelf. We plan to cover up the storage shelves with a curtain at some point in the future, as well.

You don't even want to know how many trips it took to get all of these books out to the garage. Or how long it took to organize them.

By some strange twist of fate, I've had two days off work this week. Of course, it coincided exactly with Richard's trip to Chicago. So I've had lots of free time and no husband to share it with! But that's okay because I've found plenty to do anyway. A full report is forthcoming. And I'm back to work tomorrow.

Killer Bees!

Hummingbirds make a pleasant whirring sound as they fly around. Another creature that makes a (slightly less pleasant) whirring sound is the bee. (Nice transition from the previous post, right!?)

We've gotten up close and personal with a startlingly high number of bees in our home this week. Richard has become a pro at killing them with the latest issue of Reader's Digest. Every time he smashes a bee, he tears off the back page of the magazine. Guess I won't be finishing the book excerpt this month!

Yesterday, we heard a bit of a commotion outside, and I nosily sneaked a peak at what was going on. Turns out, some bees had decided to make their home in some duct work in our building. The bees were entering our home through THE VENTS. Just pause for a moment, and let that nightmare wash over you.

Thankfully, a friendly man dressed in a beekeeper outfit took care of the problem, and there are no more bees. Here's hoping they hadn't started making honey that will attract other creatures! (And that our complex covers that hole with some mesh!)

Summer plans: Watching Hummingbirds

This weekend, I accomplished one of the items on our summer plans list: Sit on the porch, and watch hummingbirds visit the feeder.

With War and Peace and my water glass in hand, I sat at our table and waited patiently for our little hummingbird friends to visit. Here are my favorite shots from the afternoon.

Hooray for hummingbirds!

I voted!

Did you?

Summer plans

Rich and I made a list of all the things we want to do around LA this summer.

Here's our list:

1) Visit 5 different beaches around LA, and figure out which beach we like the best.

We've made progress here. We've been to Santa Monica, Pismo Beach, and Avila Beach, though Pismo and Avila aren't exactly in the LA area.

2) Hike Icebox Canyon.

3) Attend our town's summer concert series, free on Thursday nights in the town's biggest park.

4) Visit the Getty Museum. Sketch the artwork, compare drawings, and have a good laugh over our lack of artistic skills.

5) Camp in Yosemite National Park. Hike Half Dome.

6) Attend an Angel's game.

7) Go to San Diego for Carl and Corey's wedding in August. Celebrate our fourth (!) anniversary while there.

8) Go to the Huntington Gardens and Tea Shop.

9) Lay by the pool at least one day per week.

Right on schedule with this one.

10) Buy a hummingbird feeder. Sit on the porch, and watch the hummingbirds visit.

We've purchased the feeder, and we have seen many hummingbirds over the past few days. We haven't actually made a concerted effort to sit on the porch to watch them, though.

11) Read War and Peace.

This is my goal, not Richard's. I've checked the book out from the library, and I'm about 100 pages in. Only 11,000 more to go! This may take a back seat because I'm teaching the summer reading program at work this summer, and I'm sure I'll have to reread most of those books.

12) Buy a used Calculus book from the library, and re-learn Calculus.

Again, my goal. And ugh.

13) Go rollerblading at the beach.

14) Watch The West Wing on DVD.

We're working steadily on this one, though I wouldn't describe it as "work." We kind of wish Bartlett would actually run for president. Several years ago, we had the chance to see Martin Sheen speak at the Black Tie gala in Dallas. People from our church even offered to pay for our tickets. Sadly, we couldn't go because we already had plans, and every time we watch The West Wing, we silently kick ourselves for missing that chance.

15) Master Super Mario Brothers.

This is Richard's goal, and I have no desire to play the game at all (mainly because about all I can do is make Mario walk in a straight line). He is well on his way to being a Mario-Master.

16) Play piano and violin together.

We use to play together all the time, but we don't so much anymore. We'd like to get back in the habit, like Sister Act 2.

What's on your summer list?

Hello again!

Long time, no see. The past weeks have been rather busy. With finals looming, my part-time job has turned into a full-time one. Richard started a job of his own, in addition to studying for his French exam.

We also took a little trip for Memorial Day, and we got to hang out with our dear friend, Kate. Sometimes you hang out with an old friend, and it's hard to remember why you were friends in the first place. But sometimes, you hang out with an old friend, and you end up bummed because you live on entirely opposite ends of the country. Seeing Kate inspired the latter type of feelings.

In all the chaos, I have managed one project: my succulent garden. I love succulents because they are beautiful (especially in large groups), easy to grow (though I did manage to kill a jade plant in college), and require very little water. In Texas, you can't really plant them outside because it rains too much, but here in the desert, they are perfect for environmentally-friendly landscaping.

I snagged this strawberry pot a while back for $3 at Target, and this week, I finally planted it with a bunch of tiny succulents (that I hope will one day grow into big, hearty succulents).