May 25 The arbor was installed in 1 day. It is really nice. The concrete doesn' t look so white and orange anymore. I put out the antique white wicker furniture and it looks really good. I restained the potting bench but I don't like it on the patio so it will go in the garage this weekend. It is sooo nice out there. I still have some more pots to fill. But I forgot to water some of the new plants this week and they were almost dead when I went out here this afternoon. It makes a difference when it is really hot (and we have already hit 98 this spring).

I hope to get the rest of the house and the garage straightened out this weekend. I did get some furniture moved up to Mom's this weekend. She likes to have garage sales. I put one piece back in the spare bedroom and part of it is in front of the window. The cats really like it there and it will give me a little extra storage space.

We start level 3 water restrictions next week so I can only water the yard once a week on trash day. But most of my plants aren't really thirsty (except the pots of course).

The patio has arrived but where is the arbor? The patio was stamped and stained concrete. It looks pretty good but the color I picked is too white and too orange. It looks like the UT Austin Longhorn logo should be in the middle (yes I did go to UT DALLAS where the color is an ugly ugly green and we didn't have a mascot - it was a pure academic school back then!). I hope once the arbor and furniture are in, that the color won't be so ... soo. darn orange! The city of Allen has a new automated sytem for the inspectors and apparently they are still working out the kinks. The inspector came out 2-3 times and was getting really frustrated because the automated message for the contractor said the inspection was cancelled, then approved, then cancelled. He did approve it as long as they put down 2" of sand. So it took 2 weeks from the first shovel of clay to the end. It is a nice size.

So they called yesterday Monday to say they would be out to start the arbor but when I went home, they hadn't shown up at all. And there wasn't any rain in my area yesterday. Of course, it should rain today and it will be another 2 weeks before I get the arbor. It may be fall before I get to use this thing! And I'm waiting to take a week of vacation after the arbor is up so I'm getting more and more impatient!

Sun April 30 2006: well I got 'skunked' this afternoon. My mother is having problems with an armadillo messing up her back yard. The city came out and left a trap. This morning, there was a skunk in the trap. We went up and laughed but stayed out of the way since the city won't come pick it up until Monday. We went out for Chinese food for lunch and then came back to change light bulbs, tighten down things, put up new hangers (all the things one does for mom when you visit). By the time we got ready to leave, the sun had moved and the skunk was in a really sunny place without any water. So I decided to be nice and put something over the sunny side so he wouldn't get so darn hot in the metal trap. HA! he got me....not bad but bad enough. My brother wanted me to ride in the back of the pickup on the way home but my sister-in-law (bless her heart) wouldn't let him do it. So we all got used to the smell until I got out of the car. The cat that was awake - Sam - didn't seem to mind it but I got on the internet anyway to look for ways to get rid of the odor. So a quick trip to the store (no one ran away screaming about the smell), got some baking soda and came home to make the 'get rid of that darn skunk odor' concoction (hydrogen perioxide, baking soda, detergent). it worked to some extent but I'm really not sure I'll be going to work tomorrow. My clothes are in the washer now so we'll see how they come out (my favorite jeans too!)

April 2: I love April Fool's Day. I always have to leave something in my brothers yard sometime on, before, after, around the time of April Fool's Day. Occasionally, I do it at Christmas (last Christmas it was flamingos with wool scarves that lined their driveway - of course I wanted until the Christmas when my niece brought home her new boyfriend!). This year I was just too tired so I went to bed instead. But I woke up this morning around 3 or 4am and decided it was as good of time as any. (I like to mix up exactly when he gets his AFD surprise!). So I go back the car out of the garage, run up into the attic and get the bag of huge plastic Easter eggs (Thank you again Wal*Mart - and yes, I buy stuff all year for this one event). I have a new motion-sensor light in the back so of course the driveway was lit up for a while (I'm sure my neighbors slept through it - well I hope so anyway) then I took off for my brothers house - he lives 2.5 miles away - with the windows down it was just so nice outside. Anyway, I took out all the big Easter eggs and threw them all over his front year (always do the front yard, it makes more of an impact to his neighbors!). He lives in a really really nice area that makes him clean up my shenanigans within 24 hours. But at least he knows I'm thinking about him!

I also finally got my pink phone yesterday. I've been in several Cingular stores recently and besides being rude, they didn't care about selling phones. I decided to try one more time and if I didn't get the phone from a real store (yes I know they carry it online but for heaven's sake, they have stores!!) I was going to transfer to another carrier that does want to sell phones. I went to the store by Collin Creek, had to wait awhile since it was crowded but they had one on display!. When they finally called my name, I said I wanted a pink phone, he said "ok sure let me go get it"; and then he really went and got it. I bought it, he explained about the battery and out I went! It was the first Cingular store I've ever walked out of happy!

March is certainly leaving with a roar. It is really windy. I've dug up part of my garden as I'm going to have the patio extended. I really wanted a screened porch but because of my roof line, they'd have to take off part of the roof and that scares me. For a few days, I considered moving to a house so I could add a screen room easier. So all the bulbs that I want to keep must come out. Along with the trellis' and the clematis that can't be killed (no kidding, I've been trying for 3 years now to kill this one off with no success - not even roundup works). Of course now I have to find another way to let the cats outside to enjoy the new patio. I may get a big cage so they can go out while I'm at home. Right now one of the cats, Sam, is inside a shopping bag on the floor beside me. He loves that bag for some reason.

Life is never dull. I have a leak in the roof from weekend before last when we got 5 inches of rain. It just showed up in one of the bedrooms. It isn't bad though. But I hate going up in the attic. The insulation makes me sneeze like crazy (yes, even with a mask).

March 7 Took out frustrations on 3 crype myrtles. I love my chain saw. They were diseased and had to be removed (they were supposed to be 3 foot high, they were as tall as the house and I planted them too close to the house for trees). I got a new electric chain saw in the fall. This one stops much quicker when you release the level so I was brave enough to wear my sandals. I need to get some steel toed shoes though. Now I have to cut them into smaller lengths and I'll have to use cutters instead of the chain saw - that is really hard work too. Hopefully, I can finish in time for the next trash/recycle pickup this week. If not, I'll be busy over the weekend.

An update on my ant bites, the scars are getting smaller but they are still there. It's getting warm enough to ride my bike again. I'm looking at gazebos again. My little one collapsed in the windy weather earlier this year. I have to put something up since it provided shade for the few shade plants that I have.

I'm still working on moving the 2 bedrooms around. The cats love the extra furniture in the way in the living room (I've only managed to get them from the bedroom to the living room) as it gives them more places to climb and explore. They are getting along fairly well now. Last weekend when I moved the old desk to the porch, both of them managed to get outside. There was a small cat that came in the yard and they were protecting their turf! The only thing funny was me running around trying to get 2 cats that didn't want to be caught. Millie actually got out twice, the second time, she was all the way at the back of the house in the bathroom window and the next thing I knew, there was a white flash out the door (she saw the little cat again) - she was so agitated and tense, it was like picking up an elephant!

My neice visited this weekend from Atlanta. She's working on her doctorate (chemistry I think or maybe microbiology) and still expects to be finished by the end of the year. She's going to a NATO conference for young scientists this summer. This will be her second year to attend.

My nephew is taking law and criminology classes this semester. He really likes them.

I have another nephew who is in a band (but rumor has it that they broke up recently) and he works at a high-end electronics place. He really enjoys working there. I just couldn't stay awake late enough to see this band play anywhere.

I almost forgot! I finally got my Native Texan license tags for the XUV! I was thinking about having a Texas flag painted on top but that would probably get me in trouble with speeding - there are planes in Texas Oklahoma and Arkansas that have radar. They'd be able to pick out the XUV easier with a flag on top. I do try to use the cruise control but that is very boring!