How did you do this week?

Posted by danielle at 09:00 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

I haven't blogged much lately except for my flowers posts and the exercising posts. I guess I feel that blog posts on the weekend will get lost behind the exercising post (although since that one is so short, I doubt it would get lost) and that posts on the weekday will get noticed more. But the weekday rolls around and when I get home from work, I simply want to (sometimes) exercise, eat supper, clean-up, and go read my latest book. And I have been reading some good books lately. I was given The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella and I decided that I really like her style of writing. So, for our 10 year anniversary when we went to Borders to buy books, I bought some of her Shopaholic paperbacks. I think I'm going to start one of those books when I finish this post. I've also read A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith. It was a historical novel set in the era of Richard III with the tiniest tinge of romance in it. It was quite good. It was fascinating because it was told from the point of view of a peasant girl who becomes a foster-daughter to a more well-to-do family and through her own spirit and talent in singing and playing the harp, gets noticed by a nobleman. I liked how it followed her rise and how her opinionated manner sometimes got her in trouble, but more often served her well.

But enough about books. You may wonder why I'm so tired when I get home from work. Well, we've had a summer student from Puerto Rico working with me. This is his first time ever really speaking English and he has only had 2 years of undergraduate education. So, he hasn't been taught in school any of the background info that he needs to understand what we are studying. And the language barrier has been a real challenge. Initially, I had to repeat myself multiple times and in different ways, and it was truly exhausting. With time, he is comprehending more and I am repeating myself less and less. Thank goodness. Cause it was really wearing me out. The good thing is that he has collected some good data. Which has confirmed experiments that I've done. So, it has been useful to have that confirmation.

One other thing of note that has happened lately is that my parents-in-law and brother-in-law were here visiting last week. They were here to go fishing in their new boat. They caught a nice amount of fish one day that were cleaned up and cooked for supper.

That is one small-mouth bass at the top and 5 northern pike.

They all seemed to have a great time fishing. I decided not to go out on Saturday. I wasn't ready to get up at 5:00 on my day off to go fishing. My mother-in-law and I slept in instead, had a leisurely breakfast, and went shopping. It was the preferable way to spend a Saturday, in my mind.

And in my final news, do you remember those orchids from a couple weeks ago? Well, they are STILL blooming! I can't believe how long they have lasted. I've thought about cutting a daylily or two from outside to bring in the house where we can enjoy them more, but my one thin vase has been occupied with the orchids. I guess this means it is time to buy another vase. ;-)

Oh that's right, I have one more piece of news. I figured out that if I eat ham too many days in a row, I end up with a migraine. This is sad, because I love having ham sandwiches for lunch, and I'm really not that fond of turkey sandwiches. I made the mistake this week of eating ham every day of the work-week and here I am, trying to get rid of a migraine. I guess I shouldn't have been the guinea pig to test out my theory again, but part of me saw the pattern once but didn't quite believe it and thought that maybe I'd be okay. bummer. In case you didn't know, ham has nitrates in it (along with processed meats like bologna and hot dogs, oh and bacon - my absolute favorite meat) and nitrates are a common trigger for migraines. I've Known this fact for a long time, but I've never had trouble with eating ham occassionally so I thought I was unaffected by the nitrates in it. Well, now that I take my lunch every day I've discovered this thing about me and ham. *sigh* tooo sad. I guess I'll have to go back to turkey. And hopefully something else that I can eat to mix up what I eat every day for lunch. I get tired of the same thing, but the lunch choices around where I work are not so stellar, so I need things that I can take in to work. My head IS better now. It is slowly getting back to normal.

I hope all is well with you, my lurkers and my commenters. Until next time.
-D

Posted by danielle at 01:14 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

This daylily bloomed in the flower bed in our front yard. It is one of those pictures that turned out far better than I'd ever imagined. I'm not sure what it is exactly that strikes me so much when I look at it, other than that the central flower parts look so pretty with the way they are projecting from the flower (no snickering, please, yes, I know how that sounds). When I saw it in person, I was more struck by the symmetrical wheel of stems that the flower is coming out of, but you barely notice that in this shot.

The daylilies have been really abundant in our yard this year. They must've been a favorite of someone who did the planting in the past. I can tell you that they certainly seem to be a good choice in that they have been hardy enough to withstand the heat and the lack of rain. We've been watering the grass some, but that water doesn't always make it into the flower bed, so the flowers are living off of whatever rain water comes their way. And they are doing really well. I'm becoming more fond of them too. Especially with their long blooming periods. I had been under the misimpression they kind of bloomed and died, but I'm discovering that once they bloom, they stay blooming for quite a while. And that makes for a really nice garden.

Posted by danielle at 08:58 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Here we are again. Another week, another dollar. Oh wait, that isn't how that phrase goes is it?

;-)

How did you do this week?

Posted by danielle at 09:14 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

These echinacea, or purple coneflowers, are blooming in two different spots in our front yard. I'm so glad that the previous owners put in so many perennials. It has been fun to see what will bloom next.

I tried my hand at some close-up photography again. But this time I tried it outside while the wind was blowing. That was quite tricky and led to many blurred photos. However, the photo above was taken outside and turned out okay.

The one I took inside has an interesting lighting effect. But overall, I liked the outside shots and angle better.

I love the pattern in this last one.

Hope you like them too! Happy Friday.

Posted by danielle at 08:56 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Here we are again. Another week has gone by. Another scorcher.

How did you do this week?

Posted by danielle at 08:15 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Today is our 10th Anniversary of our wedding. I didn't want the occasion to pass without marking it in some way on my blog, even if it is a little bit late in the day and many of you won't see this until tomorrow.

I was thinking today about the day of our wedding. Periodically, throughout the day I'd think something along the lines of "10 years ago today, I was doing X at this time." I have a pretty vivid memory of our wedding day, including the wedding ceremony and reception. For some people, it becomes a blur in their minds, but there are a lot of really distinct moments that I remember.

I've also been thinking some today about how HB and I have grown since then. Now, yes, our waistlines have both thickened, but that isn't the kind of growth that I mean. Our relationship has matured along with each of us. We were 22 when we got married, and a lot has happened between then and now, and we've been each other's best friend through it all.

I think that is the main thing I feel today. A strong love. A love that is even deeper and more meaningful than the love that I had on the day that we married. And a deep friendship. The very best kind of friendship.

Posted by danielle at 07:08 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

I was just thinking about how it really is helping me that I have to 'report' my activity each week. It is definitely helping me stay on target. So, for those of you who come here looking for a real post and all you get is a post about exercising, Thank You for bearing with me.

Posted by danielle at 07:16 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

One night, HB and I needed to stop at the grocery store to pick up a couple of items for breakfast. When we went past the flowers, I couldn't help but linger over them. He jokingly told me it was either flowers or butter (one of the items). Now, I knew we had plenty of butter at home; I was just planning to get more as a back-up. So, I quickly decided that Flowers! won.

I debated about picking out some Gebera daisies, but I saw these orchids and they were so cheap and they said "long-lasting" on the tag. And they have lived up to their promise! They've lasted for at least a couple of weeks and the buds just keep growing and blooming. They have been a joy.

This one reminds me of an alien mouth - it's coming to get you - ahhhhhh!

I like this one a lot. I'm not sure why exactly. I think it has to do with the way the petals are all coming together in the background or how they look like Dumbo ears and the way the purple petal is flipped up which seems cheerier than the ones flipped down.

I spent forever trying to get a good photograph of those little spiky things on the petals. None of them turned out quite how I'd planned. But I liked this one. It reminded me of an iris or a ruffly skirt.

And this last one reminds me of a flower petal draping something so gracefully. I like the glistening/wrinkly look of it.

Hope you enjoy them too! Have a good weekend. :-)

Posted by danielle at 09:01 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Now that the heat of summer is upon us, it gets harder and harder to exercise outside.

How did you do this week?

Posted by danielle at 08:55 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack