Green Fingers

Steve and I spent the morning planting our garden. In what yard, you ask? Our balcony will have to suffice for now since we ruled out the idea of renting a plot of land from our neighbors with the rooster. We bought all the supplies for our container garden (as you can see, Steve was a little generous on the soil estimates) and once home realized we have no gardening tools, no gloves, just hands and maybe a couple things borrowed from the kitchen--I look forward to our next few meals being organically flavored, p.s.

At the present, our garden consists of a couple tomato plants and 6 different herbs, with plans to expand in the near future. Steve has been a diligent farmer and I caught him outside checking on the "garden" probably about six times today. We're pretty excited about our little plants! However, we'll have to wait to find out just how green our thumbs are.

School's Out

Steve is officially too cool for school now that he's graduated from the University of Houston with his MBA....4 years, almost 0 tuition dollars (thanks employers), 1 career change, countless free t-shirts, and 1 wedding later. It still amazes me that Steve aced nearly all his courses since I could probably count on one hand the number of times I saw him study! I'm proud of him for taking advantage of the opportunities he's had to further his education, while working full-time. Though Steve wasn't able to formally walk (he "forgot" to sign up and get tickets...) we celebrated his graduation milestone with our own events, which included the full regalia, Cheesecake Factory, and a movie. Congratulations to Steve!

In Memoriam

My sweet husband surprised me with this beautifully patriotic bouquet in honor of our 8-week wedding anniversary. It was a pretty sweet 2-for-1 since they also doubled as lovely Memorial Day decor. I can't wait for our 9-week anniversary--it's coming up quick! hee hee

Piles

When Steve and I were having dinner a couple of days ago I couldn't help but think of one of my most recent roommates. She prefers simplistic, straightforward meals--usually a combination of ingredients with little to no cooking. This woman is busy and doesn't wish to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen like one of her foolish roommates did (and still does). One form her meals took--perhaps the favorite form--was a "pile of food." For some reason the pile was a symbol of nourishment and satisfaction. Apparently this interpretation of the pile is universal since Steve favors it equally for the same reasons. He requested piles (not to be confused with pyles) for dinner the other day so I did my best to turn a fairly simple meal into a complex, time-consuming production. Steve rated the venture to be a success and placed it among his top ten...though with the number of categories he has it's more like a top 100. I'm still researching whether or not he has a separate Top Ten Piles category...

Can you guess whose pile belongs to whom?

Tough Guy

Steve's expression convinces me that he has secret aspirations to work as a Target-tough-guy and drive a waverunner-on-wheels.

Art on Wheels

This past weekend was the infamous Art Car Parade in downtown Houston. Having never seen a display of these mobile masterpieces, I walked down to Discovery Green Park to check out the cars up close at the preview party.

As I walked around inspecting the work of each car crafter I couldn't help but remember the days that my parents were in charge of building a stake float. Of course it wasn't your normal float--it was an extravaganza that took many hours to build. It was so rewarding, though, to share the massive work of art with so many people. I quietly laughed to myself at the car show this weekend when I saw so many kids trying to touch the art cars, and so many artists trying to prevent their intentions...and I was glad not to be one with "fingerprint anxiety."

To see my recap of the Art Car Preview Party click here.

Your Mom...

Steve and I had the privilege of hosting this years' Mothers' Day celebration at our home--Steve's parents, Christina, and Charlotte were the list of partiers. It was a great way to break in our new dining table. (Finally...a table!) Steve and I spent the greater part of our afternoon making messes and cleaning them up, aka making dinner. Of course we couldn't escape the big day without some mishaps--like covering the mixer in strands of candy while "making frosting". Charlotte kept us entertained with her cars and vogue style in sunglasses. It was a treat for us to host such a fun dinner party and honor some of the great mothers in our family.

Rocket Power

Houston is buzzing with excitement about hosting the Lakers for Game 3 of the playoffs. The Toyota Center was surrounded by the red sea of Rockets fans and alter egos of the players hours before the game. I can't tell you how many different Yao's and McGrady's are parading around this city tonight. Steve was lucky enough to secure a coveted seat in the arena under the guise of "entertaining work clients" while I went on a mini outdoor excursion near the Toyota Center. The most memorable part of my solo downtown tour was the vocal display of southern hospitality coming from a parking lot attendant: "Someone go in there and kick Kobe in the knee!"

Time Warp

I'm growing suspicious that our home is secretly disguised as a Star Trek-style wormhole where space and time are blurred. (and yes, too bad I've seen lots of Star Trek)Exhibit A:

Steve had a summons for jury duty on April 22nd. He had been anticipating it for some time and told everyone at work he would be gone that day to fulfill his citizenship duties. He attended a teleconference from home the morning of his scheduled jury duty and again pointed out that he was out of the office. Just as he was leaving for the courthouse, he took a second look at his summons paper and realized that "today" was actually April 21st--jury duty was the NEXT day. I imagine he felt a little sheepish rolling into work late that day after so thoroughly advertising his absence.

Exhibit B:

I had been looking forward to attending the ballet at the Miller Outdoor Theater this evening. All the performing arts companies come to the outdoor theater once a year and put on a free show for the public. I've attended the Houston opera, symphony, and musicals, but of course when the ballet comes I make it a priority to attend. Steve and I were at a party earlier in the evening, but announced our early exit to go to the ballet. We found some great seats and opened our program to...The Gold? Some original musical about olympics? Of course! I should've known--today is NOT May 8th! I could've sworn it was... Needless to say, we didn't stay for the surprise performance.

From now on we either need to keep our activities (or what we think are our activities) on the DL or get a calendar.