A Haiku on Cutting the Grass

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Ah, mowing. Enforced
Meditation. Spring begins
Our weekly sessions.

WW - Guess the Movie

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Time for some more open letters

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Dear Grandparents Coming This Weekend & the Ones Coming the Next,

How do you feel about playgrounds? Also, how do you feel about hard work? These two might very well be related...

...but your granddaughters will love you even more!

Sincerely,
The One Who Hauled 5 Boxes Labeled "Playset" on Monday



Dear Weeds,

I hate you. I realize it's only April & we've still got the whole garden arena in which to rumble, but I'm starting out in a hatey state of mind already.

With Malice,
The One Who is Trying to Uproot ALL of You From Where Aforementioned Playset is Going


Dear Strawberry Plants,

A couple of flowers? Already? Um, ok?

Puzzled, but Hopeful,
The One Who Will Weed Around You


Dear Couch-to-5K Program,

Thank you. You keep surprising me by what it turns out I can do. I'm through Week 6 already, which means I've managed to run 25 minutes straight. Go, me!

I know, I know, I curse you (sometimes aloud) three times a week, but dang, if you aren't good for me.

Gratefully,
The Sweaty, Winded One


Dear Scale,

I hate you. Running is HARD work & makes me hungry.

Petulantly,
The Snacker

WW - The best skirts are twirly!

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

P.S. Thanks, TNGreatAunt! They're a hit!

WW - Mr. Kluges's Weekend Project? HoneysuckleBGone!

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Before...

During...

After...

(Cross-posted to House of 42 Doors)

Are we sure it's April 8th & not the 1st?

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

MY calendar says April 8th today, but it looks like Mother Nature decided to do us an April Fools' Day trick a week late. Here was our front yard yesterday.


And here's this morning...

Our very surprised flowering forsythia bush.

The neighbors' Easter Egg tree

Oh, poor squill!

'Course, at least they managed to stick out of the snow sometimes, which is more than I can say for my little crocuses, which were nothing but tiny little snow bumps this morning!

Oh, that reminds me, I told Pumpkin I'd try to take a photo of their 2 snowmen when I had a chance, so I'd better run and do that before it gets any later.

Wishing you a springy spring, with April RAIN showers!

WW - Happy Easter 2010!

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Components of a Great Easter Morning

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Penguin slept the night through and seems (knock on wood) much, much improved. She stayed home from church with Mr. Kluges just in case & also to avoid germ spreading.

I woke up about 5:30 am on my own (well, partially thanks to the overly chipper birds. It's still dark out! What're they doing up?!) and snuck outside... er, I mean, sources close to the investigation state that 20 plastic eggs were successfully hidden around the front yard by the EASTER BUNNY in the early morning WHILE EVERYONE WAS ASLEEP INSIDE.

Also good news, the Easter Bunny unintentionally avoided the motion detector lights by the garage until the end, but since the neighborhood all appeared to still be sleeping, nobody probably saw her duckie pjs.

Even more importantly, the Easter Bunny must have learned from a minor fiasco last year, and did NOT leave the chocolate bunnies in the sunlight this year. Apparently, even though it's still quite chilly in the mornings, that sun shining on a clear cellophane package acts like a greenhouse. Poor Pumpkin had to get a replacement bunny last year. :)

Pumpkin and I got to church early enough that we were able to get great seats close to the front with a clear view of the brass ensemble that played a few times... and where I had a clear view of our pastor shaving during/as the children's sermon. *

Mr. Kluges made pancakes (from the Joy of Cooking, not Bisquick!) for brunch, which I decorated in the pan with stripes of mini chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries & some Reece's Pieces Pumpkin donated to the cause. YUM! and fancy looking!

Not that Penguin's wanting to (or allowed to) eat much beyond jello & crackers & clear juice, but she was allowed a couple of small pieces of candy without (as of yet) ill effect.

This morning I got some (I think) great photos of the girls Easter egg hunting outside in their gorgeous (as always!) Easter dresses from TNGreatAunt. I'm especially looking forward to sharing some of the ones of them in their lavender/purple dresses in front of the yellow-flowering forsythia bush.

(And now you know what Wordless Wednesday is likely to be this week!)


Hope you are all enjoying a lovely, relaxing, beautiful Easter Sunday, too!




*He really did. Bowl of water instead of a sink, towel to protect his clothes, actual shaving cream & razor, one of the kids up front for the children's sermon holding the mirror (Up, wait, down a little...turn it this way a bit... ok, hold still. No, up a bit...) - the works. Point of children's sermon? That they/we could tell all kinds of people about this story... but that many wouldn't believe. Your pastor shaved during church? Right up front? No way! Much like nobody believed the women when they discovered Jesus' tomb was empty. And there's your Easter message. :)

Menu: RICE followed by BRAT

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

I'm much better, thanks to RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). My foot/ankle were feeling well enough that I ran yesterday after taking the week & a bit off thanks to my twist & a visit to MN. I had finished two of the three Week 4 workouts for the Couch-to-5K program, but I did a Week 3 one this time due to the break & it felt so good that I did a bit extra at the end. Yay!

In "boo!" news, I do believe Penguin has picked up the icky, bad, terrible intestinal bug that her 1 year old cousin had in MN. I'm soon off to the store to pick up some jello and such to supplement her BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast). Wish us luck that it passes quickly & less dehydratingly than his did! Also, that Pumpkin doesn't contract it as well!

An interesting evening

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

It was an interesting evening yesterday. The fun part - I got carded. The not so fun part - I twisted my ankle & fainted.


Not surprisingly, I liked the being carded part best. And the vanilla stout.


Since our belly dance class was done & the recital was over (& it was the birthday of one of our troupe members), for our troupe time this week we decided to celebrate & go out to a brew pub. So we had a beer* & some excellent nachos & chatted, chatted, chatted & laughed, laughed, laughed. I had water, then a second beer & we continued chatting & laughing. Finally, after we'd been there for a couple of hours, we decided to go listen to the live music in a separate part of the restaurant.

We got up and started walking that way. I saw there were a couple of shallow steps, but apparently miscounted how many. I landed wrong and twisted my foot hard.

Since I was in back of the other two, they didn't see it happen & kept going. I took a couple of breaths, decided it wasn't so bad & that I could at least get to the corner/walkway so they'd see me when they looked back. I gimped over to there, grabbed the wall... or maybe a chair... and started graying out.

Next thing I knew I was on the floor with some up-close blurry faces in front of me and a vague memory of my legs not wanting to stay under me. Turns out I'd been in and out of consciousness for maybe 10 minutes. Once I was actually awake, within probably 30 seconds my vision cleared up completely, I started being able to talk again, and I felt perfectly fine. Well, except for my foot.

Meanwhile, not too surprisingly, they'd called my husband and 911. The paramedics came & checked me out. They figured the unconsciousness was not due to low blood sugar/diabetes or an allergic reaction or anything like that, but was probably a vasovagal episode. Which is a fancy name for fainting. As in, "Lordy, my stays are done up too tight & I just cain't seem to catch my breath!" And since the universe wanted to balance out my post-carding feeling of youthfulness, they said it's not uncommon for old people to experience a vasovagal incident when on the toilet. So, you know, thanks for that. **

Mr. Kluges got a neighbor to stay at the house while he came & got me. And today we went back & picked up my car & I've been gimping around the house some, trying to at least get a few things done in preparation for our trip to MN tomorrow. (But I know, Mom - RICE: Rest, ice, compression, elevation! :) )

Wishing you all a much less exciting time. And the moral of my little story? Count the dang steps.



*This would be when I was carded. Not that I look 21, but they might have a policy of carding those who look under 30? Maybe? Anyway, I was carded, the other two women weren't, & as someone closer to 42 than 21, I'm choosing to take it as a compliment that I look young! :)

**Wikipedia/MayoClinic say it can also be triggered by such simple things as getting your blood drawn, or seeing someone else's blood drawn, or standing with your legs locked too long (like all those groomsmen & bridesmaids), or sudden onset of extreme emotions, or the aforementioned "bearing down" or a whole list of other triggers.