I can't believe it is so dry. I haven't had rain in quite a while now and the temperature is steady at 98-101. We can use our sprinkler systems 1 day a week. I can use a soaker hose every day for an hour. It is very frustrating because the soaker hose doesn't keep the area 4 feet around the house consistent as did using the sprinkler around the house for 5 minutes a day when the temperature gets over 95. And more frustrating - I am using twice as much water with the soaker hoses and it just isn't working. I don't know what the city is thinking about, they assume because the water bills are higher that we water the lawn more on our 1 day - no way- I'm using all the extra water on the foundation - and it is cracking anyway. The grass is pretty much dead - that's another story. Yes there are people that over water on watering day, but I am one of those that uses water wisely and carefully and am tired of being punished because other people can't do the same.

Scott's Lawn service doesn't check to see when watering day is so they come out, put out chemicals that have to be watered within the next 24-48 hours and they do it on the day AFTER my watering day. They told my neighbor across the street that you have to call them or they will come out whenever they want. So they do my yard the day after watering day and hers the day before watering day. Great Service - so now my grass has burned because I couldn't water for 6 days. I think they should take the word Service out of their name. I am so ready for organics.

But wait - now there is the matter of the grass mowers. I need my grass to be higher so they skip a week as I asked but when they come back the following week, instead of raising the blades, they scalp the front yard. So what was the point of skipping a week? So now I will call and have them skip the front yard until October. It isn't growing anyway thanks to the chemical burns. The sides and back look much better.

June 21 2006 Well the saga at work continues. Discovery today is that the off-shore staff won't work more than 40 hours a week, won't be on-call and won't work at night or weekends. All the stuff our folks did all the time. Very frustrating.

The garden is looking nice and I am dividing some plants to move and finally planting all the ones I saved from the area that is now a patio. Some of the daylilies are blooming and they have been in pots since March - and when I say pots I mean I dug them up and threw them in pots and behind plants without planting them. I can't believe they are still alive. While working in a new bed next to the new patio, I managed to dig up my cable modem AGAIN (well it has been about 3-4 years since I did it last). So I taped it up, marked it with rocks and it seems to be working.

I wish it was cool enough so I could finish my motorcycle class. I'm drooling over a new one that I think I want when I finally get my license.

I went to NW Arkansas 2 weekends ago and saw a deer stroll across my brothers back yard. Saw some woodpeckers too. I always see animals I don't normally see when I go up there (remember I am a city kid and generally see animals at the zoo).

I got 29 drops of rain over the weekend that was supposed to be stormy all weekend from Friday to Tuesday. And had plenty of SUN too. I think the old timey weather forecasters did much better than what they do today. So needless to say, I am watering well on the only day I can water due to the water restrictions. But my foundation is cracking anyway. ergggggg

May 30 2006: My dad's brother is coming in from Seattle tomorrow evening. So I'll go to the airport and pick him up then deliver him to Dad's house. Dad is really excited about him coming. I hope I can get them to come up to my house this weekend. I don't really know yet when he leaves here for Kentucky - he will go visit the rest of the siblings before returning home. I wish Dad would go with him but he won't fly anymore.

We had a bloodbath at work last week - well, at least they told several groups that they would be off-shored, some as soon as the end of June and others at the end of this year. While many knew it was coming, it was hard when you realize that so many people that you work with will be gone - especially the good ones. I had already been offered a position in another group and will take that one. I had another offer but while it would have been the better long-term solution, it was a chance to do something I've wanted to do for a while -it is a big risk for me since I am coming out of a technical area. It was hard to get any work done last week but I'm glad they did this on Tuesday instead of waiting until Friday before a holiday. Hard decisions were made and that's ok if they are good ones. Time will tell (I'm betting sooner rather than later).

I worked all weekend in the yard doing some spring cleaning .... yes it was very very late. The weather swings in Jan through March did more damage than I thought. I also had to thin out some plants that I was using as filler until other plants grew in. Looks good but I'm still not done.

I really wish I had finished the motorcycle class but in some ways it is probably good that I didn't since I have so much yard and house work to finish. I'm going to get some gloves that fit better for the next time and ask for a more powerful test motorcycle ( I had a baby cycle that took all day to warm up and I kept missing practice and tips while they kept trying to fix the silly thing). Been reading my motorcycle for dummies book though. It's pretty good. I've noticed I pay more attention when there is a motorcycle around while I am driving - it is also amazing how many people aren't dressed properly - I like my skin too much to do that.

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!)