Spontaneous Saturday

So yesterday began as any old "I have this to do" day, but turned into quite a fun family day.

Spontaneity. It's a good thing.

Starting out, I had planned to go hit up the paint store and grab some paint chips in order to get an idea of which colors we liked and what would go well with the carpet and flooring we had picked out earlier in the week.

However, that got more complicated when we swung by Home Depot first and ended up changing our minds regarding the carpet choice and the potential flooring choice.

Sigh.

Too. Many. Choices.

We actually found a carpet we liked better- a couple shades darker, more plush, still well within budget. So that was good.

But in finding that, I began to question our flooring choice. Was it too dark? Did it have too much red in it? Would it clash with our potential cabinet choices (to be determined in about a week and a half)?

So we headed back to the wood flooring and began hemming and hawing over the bajillion options.

We left with about six or seven samples, because we couldn't decide...

We then swung by the Sherwin Williams store, and my brain momentarily broke. When you find yourself standing in front of an entire wall of paint chips, it's like your brain just goes "NOPE!"

We laid out the carpet and flooring samples, and then began pulling colors and holding them against our flooring choices. Right away we were able to remove three of the flooring choices from the running. Away from the artificial light of Home Depot, we realized that two of our samples were way too light and one was way too yellow.

So that narrowed it down.

We then just sort of went with our gut and picked out colors that we knew would go with our existing furniture and decor. Back at our old house in Washington, I had been planning on painting the main walls a toasted almond color, with an accent wall in a rich, deep red. So, lacking creativity, we went with that same game plan for the house down here.

Stick with what you know, I guess.

The colors we chose also look good with the carpet choice, as well as the four remaining floor samples that we are still debating on. After the house is framed- which should be this week, weather permitting- we are going to meet with the builder and the cabinet guy and pick out the cabinets, countertops, and tile. That will help us choose a wood flooring that looks good with it all, and then we will be able to get everything ordered and have accomplished a huge chunk of the To Do list.

Phew...

So after settling on the paint colors, we decided to head up the road and explore Old Town Fort Collins.

It's so cute!!!

Apparently, the main thoroughfare was the inspiration for Disneyland's Mainstreet USA.

Yeah, that's how cute it is.

Right?!?

Tree-lined streets. Cafes, bistros, art installations, super cute boutiques, yummy restaurants, street performers, hippies, tourists, families. It's a fun mish-mash of all walks of life, all forms of expression, and a fun dose of Americana.

It was quite lovely to stroll along the streets, window shopping, actual shopping, and people-watching.

It reminded me of my favorite city of all- Nelson, B.C.

God I miss Nelson. Must plan a visit there in the near future.

So after our stroll through Old Town, we were headed back home when I spontaneously decided to head out to Horsetooth Reservoir and Horsetooth Mountain Park instead.

So beautiful up there!

The red rocks and the green vegetation- stunning! And we were heading up there as the sun was starting to sink lower on the horizon, so the colors were amazing.

Not only did we find a new place to hike, we may have also found the site of our future cabin!

Greetings from the other side... of the Rockies

Hey hey! I'm back from the abyss.

And by abyss, I mean the internet-less world of moving.

Man has it been crazy lately. Like, mind-bogglingly so. I find it hard to believe that we left Washington only a week and a half ago, it feels like longer (and shorter all at the same time).

So here I am, in a new state, in a new time zone, in a sort of temporary limbo whilst I await our house being built.

The OCD organizational side of me? Not loving it.

The hippie, gypsy, free-spirited side of me? Going with the flow, man.

Cause really? That's all I can do right now.

I'm a little bitter, because the apartment we're renting until our house is done doesn't allow satellite dishes to be put up, so we had to suspend our DIRECTV service for a few months and go with Comcast.

And to be clear: I. Hate. Comcast.

Why, you ask? Because they suck. Exhibit A? The fact that our DVR doesn't work. At all. I can't record anything. I can't pause, rewind, etc. I can't enter in any favorites. Nothing. I get an error message saying that the DVR function is disabled and to call customer service.

And when we called to figure out what was going on, the stupid customer service rep said it was just because we weren't pressing the buttons on the remote hard enough.

Let me repeat.

Our DVR isn't functional, everything we try to do is met with an error message, and we were told it was because we weren't pressing buttons hard enough.

Special kind of stupid, I tell ya.

So after several more phone calls, we finally have a tech coming out on Thursday. I guess my reality TV escapism will have to wait...

Otherwise known as the Real Housewives of somewhere or other

I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?

(I think you can in Europe...)

(If you don't get that reference, then we are never going to be friends)

You know those days when you feel like all of this "stuff" is being dumped in your lap and you are supposed to just find some way to fit it into your already full schedule?

Yeah.

That's where I'm at.

In the last two days, every weekend, and I mean literally every weekend, from now until the end of June has been booked. Solid.

Never mind the fact that I also have school, and the kids have school, and The Husband has work, and our gigantic yard needs constant, never ending, unyielding attention...

Sigh.

I'm tired just thinking about it!

This week for my Race and Ethnic Issues class, I have to watch a movie or read a book that addresses the issues of racial or ethnic diversity, and then write a paper on it using other researched sources to substantiate my point.

After much deliberation, I have decided to watch American History X.

Let me be clear... I HATE that movie.

I mean, it's a really good, well done movie. Don't get me wrong. It's amazing.

I also hate it. It breaks my heart. It makes me angry. It makes me cry (and I hate crying).

(I also dislike Edward Furlong. I find him creepy... in everything... always)

So suffice it to say, I'm not looking forward to watching it again. It's been... I'd say a good 14 years or so since I last watched it... This is going to be tough.

But first, I need to finish my World Religion readings on Buddhism and the printout for the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings in order to do my discussion questions for that class. Then I need to read the two chapters on African American history from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement (a total of about 90 pages...oy vey) for my Race and Ethnic Issues class in order to do my discussion questions and take my quiz.

And I have to find the time to do all of that while also having friends over for a bonfire on Friday, and going down to Le Faux in Seattle for my mom's birthday on Saturday.

Suddenly I have a headache...

Housewifery, Canadians, and tattoos

So my To Do list for this weekend keeps growing. And growing.

The weather is crappy, so no yard or garden work will be getting done, but that's okay, because my inside chores are enough to keep me plenty busy.

First, my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Adrienne, is coming to visit on Tuesday, so I need to get my house absolutely spotless. Not that I need to impress her. I mean, we've been friends since we were almost five, so I'm pretty sure she won't judge me if my house isn't in museum shape. But still, my OCD requires that my house be as perfect as possible for guests. (Then again, I try to keep my house spiffy anyway for my own sanity, so I guess nothing's really new!) (A tidy house equals a tidy brain)

This is the first time Age will be visiting our new house. Well, I guess it's not that new, we've been here for over a year and a half, but she was living all the way across the continent until just recently, so her last visit was almost three years ago. I'm excited to get to spend some time with her. I feel like she makes me sane. While we have plenty of friends around here, she's the only one that I feel totally myself with. She's known me almost my whole life, and it's rare to have people in your life for that long. She's a peach!

Age is going to be here for the better part of the week, and while it sucks that the kids and I have school and The Husband has work, we'll still rock it! On Wednesday my sister and I have appointments to get tattoos, and Age is pretty much an expert in that field (*cough* cough* getthegypsytattooyouknowyouwantto *cough *cough*) so she's coming along for moral support. And I'm trying not-so-subtly (see above) to convince her to get one she's been thinking about for quite a while. She has her whole back and both sides done, but hey, there's always room for more!

This will be my second tattoo, and my sister's first, so we're both very excited about it. I'm a little nervous since I'm getting mine down my spine, and the pain factor is... unknown and intimidating. But I'm a big girl and didn't even flinch during my first one, so hopefully I won't be the sissy whimpering in the corner...

Besides that, Age will also be here for my daughter's birthday party next weekend, which is super awesome! She can help me plan and cook and decorate! Yay for free help friends!

I don't know what else we will end up doing this week, I think we'll just wing it. One of the nights we want to take her to our favorite restaurant, assuming we can get a sitter. Beyond that? Who knows!

Coinciding with Age's visit, spring quarter starts on Monday. However, the portal opened yesterday, so I'm going to try and get as much of the first week's homework done as quickly as possible. That way, I won't have much to do that will be interfering with actual, you know, fun stuff. Of course, this means that I need to get a move on, like, now.

Lunatic salad with a side of crazy sauce

Holy geez.

Just when you think things can't any busier or weirder, life has a way of showing you up.

Sigh...

So first of all, cat ownership is proving to be challenging for my patience today. I think he's pissed we were gone all day yesterday, so he's gone completely mental today to make a point. And if I have to clean up any more spilled tea or pick up any more knocked over lamps, I may just lock him in kitty jail for the rest of the afternoon (and by kitty jail, I mean the little bathroom where his litter box is stashed). Because grrr.

So yesterday we were out of town all day because we had to head across the state to address some health concerns that my mother-in-law has been ignoring for far too long, and basically 'intervention-ed' her about it because her children are genuinely worried. My mother-in-law and I don't really have the warm-and-fuzziest relationship, so I was mostly just there for moral support for The Husband. I don't think anything I would have added to the conversation would have been absorbed anyway, so I just kept quiet. I am thinking about commissioning my health-expert friend to come up with a heart-healthy diet for her, though. Because despite our frosty relationship, it's not like I'm hoping she kicks the bucket any time soon (contrary to popular opinion, my cold black heart isn't quite that cold and black) (sshhhh, don't tell anyone).

Besides all of that, this week has also been crazy for a whole other reason. So awhile back I mentioned our crazy prepper neighbors with their guns and guard dogs and chain link fence. Well, it turns out maybe they aren't the scary ones after all (at least, in the grand scheme of things).

(Although, side note, they ended up forgoing the chain link fence in favor of a tension cable fence. Like, what they used for the dinosaur paddocks in Jurassic Park. Yeah. Not as ugly as chain link, but still...)

Anyway, we have this other neighbor, let's call him Crazy E for the purposes of this post. Crazy E has been well known by our entire neighborhood for being... well, a little whacked. When you first meet him he seems all friendly and jovial and whatnot, but after one conversation with him you realize that he's the "I caught a fish fourteen feet long... but I threw it back" kind of guy. He tells tall tales.

Okay, fine, that's harmless enough. Liar, liar, pants on fire, but at least it makes for entertaining stories.

Only... after chatting with him more than once or twice, you quickly begin to glean that something isn't right with him. First of all, he gives off a very distinct.... rape-y vibe. He has certain creeper qualities that have made all the women in this neighborhood avoid him like the plague.

Second, he has serious boundary issues. He'll just wander into your yard and make himself at home. Regardless of if you're just out working in the yard, or you have guests over and are having a barbecue or whatever, he'll just sort of invite himself. And not leave.

Third, he drinks. Excessively. Like, to the point of completely blacking out in his front yard in the middle of the day. Yeah. And considering he's A STAY AT HOME DAD, clearly that's totally uncool. Why CPS hasn't been called, I don't know.

But the fourth and final quality you eventually learn about Crazy E? Dude has some serious anger issues. I guess his across-the-street neighbors can hear him and his wife fighting constantly, which breaks my heart for their little boy.

Well, earlier this week all of these lovely qualities came together to form the perfect storm of crazy. Crazy E had been drinking heavily (no shock there), and was wandering aimlessly through the neighborhood (again, nothing new) when he discovered his across-the-street-neighbor's kids were playing up the road with prepper-family's kids. Apparently this set him off, so he marched home, grabbed his pistol, came back, and started screaming and yelling and raving like a lunatic about "so what, my kid's not good enough to play with your kids?" and "come out here and let's resolve this" and scary crap like that.

Dude was waving a handgun at CHILDREN.

Clearly, prepper mom called the cops, and four sheriff's cars arrived very shortly thereafter. It took them quite awhile to calm Crazy E down, and he was arrested on a weapons related charge.

Needless to say, I've had our alarm system armed 24/7 since.

But the scariest part for me? The fact that just hours after he was released yesterday, he was at my children's school volunteering in his son's class. Like nothing had happened. Someone who is clearly unbalanced, has access to firearms, and has anger and alcohol problems, and is still working in the classroom?!? I feel like I've seen this news story before...

So I called the school.

Up until this point I hadn't gotten involved, because the situation did not directly include me, and I tend to mind my own business until my involvement is necessary. Well, I'm sure as hell not going to have another Sandy Hook situation occur at my children's school, so you better believe I got involved at this point.

I spoke with the principal, who had just been made aware of the situation, and Crazy E is no longer permitted to have any contact with any of the kids on campus apart from dropping off and picking up his son. But apparently there isn't really much they can legally do to bar him from campus.

And that I have a problem with.

There has to be more that can be done to protect our children, especially in this day and age where gun crimes are committed on the daily. It's times like this where I contemplate getting involved in politics...

Anyway, Crazy E currently has a restraining order against him, and prepper-mom is planning to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law, and while I am not a litigious person, I fully support her decision to do so. No one gets to threaten children and get away with it. If it were my kids, I be out for blood too.

And the stupid thing is we moved out here to the foothills to avoid crazy shit like this. I just want to tend the garden, have our bonfires, and sit on the deck watching the sunset paint the mountain pink and orange.

Not feel like I'm living my very own rap song!

A gypsy wind...

First of all, I'm pretty sure I saw Ted Nugent at the grocery store today. Or his twin brother. Or his doppelgänger. So that was the exciting part of my day.

Inoright?!? It's a small life I lead...

So spring break is officially over. Well, for the kids at least. I have a week left before my spring quarter starts up. And then ten weeks until I'm free for the summer! And yes, the countdown has already begun.

So something weird has been going on with me lately. Over the last few weeks I've suddenly developed this burning desire to get the hell out of dodge. Which is kind of crazy because I genuinely LOVE where I live. 

I love my house, I love my town, I love the kids' school, I love it all.

And yet...

This little spark of adventure has crept up inside me, wanting to try something new. To boldly go where I haven't gone before. 

The last time we upped and moved completely spontaneously, it backfired horribly. We moved to Alaska on a family member's promise of amazing job prospects, but those jobs weren't actually there, and everything quickly fell apart. Naturally, I'm a little hesitant to have the same thing happen again, since life is good here and there is always risk involved in rocking the boat. But at the same time, I have this little gypsy spirit inside of me that gets restless every once in awhile, and given some unnecessary drama that has gone on lately, Husband and I have sort of tentatively discussed getting away from it all.  Plus, I feel that everyone should move away from their home state, at least for awhile, and get a taste of life outside of that bubble of familiarity.

There are a couple of areas that I have in mind. Both are several hours away from where we live now. Both are smaller areas, more rugged and rural, with a lower cost of living, a slower pace of life, and amazing natural beauty. One area specifically isn't as pretty, but it has the most job prospects. The other areas are vastly more beautiful and very artsy fartsy, but more limited in other ways. 

Potential future views?

Clearly, this is a HUGE decision, and not something that will happen remotely soon, but it is still bouncing around in my head and I will continue to do my research and gather information... if for no other reason than to dream...

Potential future main street?

Gravel at my feet

So The Husband is on his way to the quarry right now to get a load of gravel.

Because Yard Work Day!

There is this little gully type thing on one side of our house, where all the rainwater seems to gather and create a little stream, and quite frankly, it's a mucky mess.

And since we have the limited green-thumb cognition to at least understand that grass likely won't grow there in that soup, we're going to turn it into a gravel/rock path leading from the front yard to the back yard.

Improvising!

May as well turn an ugly into a useful and pretty, right? Of course right.

Of course, this means that I'll be spending my afternoon shoveling gravel out of a trailer....

Man that's going to suck.

How does your garden grow?

So spring is nigh.

In theory, anyway. Considering we got about six inches total of snow this week I'm a little hesitant to fully believe it. But fingers crossed!

Yesterday we spent the afternoon planting the two maple trees finally, now that Mother Nature's version of March Madness has subsided. We also shoveled out a trailer full of topsoil and then spread grass seed.

Our front yard is almost done!!!

Of course, my celebrating has to be mildly subdued on account of my screaming back muscles. But whatevs. It was worth it.

The next major step is getting the garden prepped and ready. In theory it should have been started by now, but again, Mother Nature kind of screwed that plan up. Apparently this coming week is supposed to be really nice and get up into the 60s, so I'm super stoked about that!

We have eight 4x8 raised beds, and last year we grew snap peas, green beans, black beans, pinto beans, lettuce, carrots, onions, corn, and tomatoes. Unfortunately, the lettuce got eaten by slugs and the corn didn't mature enough before the end of the growing season. We also tried growing peppers and herbs, but neither turned out well. Likely not hot enough.

This year, we plan on amping up the nutritional value of the soil to increase our yield. While we were up to our eyeballs in carrots, peas, and green beans, everything else was a little disappointing. Not bad for our first ever garden, but there is some serious room for improvement!

First, once our greenhouse is mended we are going to start peppers and herbs in there. We also plan on building a potato tower, which I'm super excited about. We started potatoes last year, but they quickly were consumed by slugs... or rabbits... I'm not sure which. Either way, I was unimpressed. Hopefully the tower protects them. I'm going to look into planting repellent plants around them to keep away the nibbling thieves.

Also, we need to blend some compost and organic fertilizer into the beds and get the seeds planted, and I'm looking into copper tape to repel the damn slugs. Last year we tried sprinkling a barrier of slug repellent, but they just slide right over it. Bastards. Apparently copper tape is much more effective, and is also 'greener'. It's also pricier for a garden as big as ours, but it may just be worth it to not lose food to them.

Hopefully the weather really does improve as is forecasted, and I can spend next weekend being Mary Mary Quite Contrary.

Mother Nature can suck it

So the weather has been crap lately. Absolute crap. And I'm a little bitter about it!

It's like Mother Nature realized it was nearing the end of March and that she hadn't yet met her quota on snow, hail, wind, and torrential rain, and decided to make up for in it a 72 hour period.

Monday the boys were outside replanting some of the spruces that had been knocked over in the wind, and yesterday not only did the spruces get knocked down again, but so did the red maple.

And our greenhouse.

Yes. Our greenhouse got flipped over on it's side like it was a dinner table in Jersey, taking the huge wooden shelves that were inside with it. Needless to say it's severely damaged, and I'm disgruntled about it. When the greenhouse flew it also knocked down and broke the big wooden T-stand that held our tomato and strawberry Topsy Turvy's, and crushed the kids' kiddie pool (which they haven't used in quite awhile, but I'm still annoyed it's smashed to smithereens). So yeah, our yard looks like a tornado swept through, hence my bitterness.

But there is one thing that is keeping me from going completely postal and divorcing nature altogether.

Spring is here.

Mother Nature may be in denial, but she's a fickle bitch anyway, so her opinion matters little. It is still technically spring whether she likes it or not.

And spring means hiking!!!!!

I love hiking. I love being out amongst the trees, in the mountains, smelling the fresh air and listening to the birds and taking in the beauty that is Western Washington. It's where I find my peace.

Now, I'm not one of those hard core hikers whose sole goal is to make it to the top of the mountain as quickly as humanly possible.

*cough*cough*Age*cough*cough*

I prefer to take it a little slower and enjoy my surroundings.

I also enjoy being able to breathe, and as I learned the hard way this past summer, hiking with *certain* people (Kotyks) is like asking to be punched in the gut and have the wind knocked out of you for three hours straight, all while struggling to keep up with their ridiculous pace and simultaneously not make it too obvious that you're wishing for the sweet hand of death to release you from this misery.

Love you guys!

It's just that, I'm not in terrible shape, and yet I was still having my ass kicked. Like, totally, mercilessly, unabashedly handed to me.

And I expect Age to literally run circles around me. As previously mentioned, she's kind of a fitness goddess.

But I also got shown up by her dad. Who had just had OPEN HEART SURGERY a few months prior.

Yeah, to say it was demoralizing would be an understatement.

And their perspective?

"That was a nice walk, eh?"

Dude, you just climbed a world-renowned black diamond ski mountain in what I'm pretty sure is record time, and you consider that a "nice walk"?

Dear god I hope I never witness what they consider challenging...

But I digress.

There are several hikes that I am wanting to do this spring and summer. Some that I've already done and just want to do again, and others that I haven't done yet and am dying to go do.

Since we have kids, not all the hikes we do are hard core. Two of our favorite kid-friendly hikes are Lime Kiln and Old Robe Trail.

Saw blade on Lime Kiln

Lime Kiln is a beautiful hike, and isn't terribly difficult, so kids are more than able to come along. The trail starts out in lush, beautiful forest (beware of horse and dog droppings, not everyone is as courteous as they should be). It then opens up to some four-wheeler paths, which aren't as pretty (and are private property, so stay on the path). After awhile you turn left back onto a trail (and back onto public lands) and follow the trail down along the Stillaguamish River. Along the way you'll find relics from the mining days- saw blades, pots, a rusted-out stove, bricks, and various other weather-worn scraps. About two and a half miles in you'll come to the lime kiln. It's pretty cool, I must say! After that you continue on another mile or so before dropping down to the river, which is a perfect place to have a snack and relax (or if you are the intrepid hippies we came across last time, it's the perfect place to start tubing down the river half-naked).

The only indication there is a hiking trail there.

Old Robe Trail is in the same park as Lime Kiln, on the opposite end. It is a historical town site, and after dropping down the switch backs (which are not as easy on the knees as the site claims) you meander through a pleasant trail and along the Stillaguamish River. Washouts in the last few years have made the trail more difficult, so I would recommend only bringing older kids past the washout marker. After that, you are following the old railroad tracks. You have to scramble over a couple pretty sketchy slide areas, but once you do, you can follow the tracks through old railroad tunnels. It's pretty neat. We've never gone past the second tunnel though, as apparently it gets a little more dicey further down, and we've never felt comfortable taking the kids out there just in case. But I've always seen families hiking out there every time we've gone, so maybe it isn't as scary as we've been told.

Two of my personal faves so far are Heather Lake and Mount Pilchuck. Heather Lake is challenging, but still kid friendly. Mount Pilchuck is not kid friendly at all!

Heather Lake

Heather Lake is gorgeous! You are deep in old growth woods the entire time, and it has some breathtaking views. Definitely bring a camera! There's a little bit of switchbacks at the beginning, but then it is a straight trail after that. It's fairly steep, but our kids were able to do it (with plenty of rests and drinks of water). Once you get closer to the top, you are likely to encounter some late season snow- which the kids thought was the greatest thing ever! Shortly after that you come to the boardwalk that encircles the lake. Stop, rest, and enjoy the subalpine views!

Lookout Cabin- Mt. Pilchuck

Mount Pilchuck is by far my favorite hike. It's brutal, but it's amazing. It's also the place where I managed to hike the entire thing without incident and then rolled my ankle in the parking lot (as mentioned in my post about my tendency towards clumsiness!) This hike is no joke, and as the warning sign at the trail entry states, Search and Rescue gets called up there multiple times a season. If you're hiking it in summer, you should be fine, just follow the yellow dots and arrows painted on the rocks. But if there is any snow still on the ground? Be careful, please.

Ladder of death

The hike starts out in the forest, but after awhile you come to a rock field. This is the first of many, and I believe the fourth one marks the halfway point. The rocks starts out smallish and more jagged (perfect for a sliced knee), but as you ascend the rocks turn into boulders the size of cars. Towards the top you start to feel like you're on another planet. It's very cool! The rock fields are interspersed with dense forest and scrubby alpine meadows, and there are a few points where it's good to be fairly loud as you are in 6-foot tall brush that could very easily hide a bear. At the top you come to the final rock field, on the top of which a lookout cabin is perched. For someone who hates heights, this was the worst part for me- climbing the ladder to the cabin. You are literally perched on the very tippy-top of a very tall, very pointy mountain. It was terrifying. And awesome. Side note: make sure you hike it on a sunny day, otherwise the killer views are wasted!

I am also looking forward to doing some new hikes this year. Friends of ours recommended Iron Goat. I'm dying to do Hoh River, since you're hiking through the rain forests of the peninsula. And apparently the Enchantments is an amazing hike as well, though that requires a bit more travel time from my neck of the woods.

There is also this hike (I forget the name) but it's up in the North Cascades. It's very long and fairly difficult, but you hike through alpine meadows and rim one of the main glaciers up there and I'm DYING to go, but apparently it suffered some serious damage a few years back and I think it's closed for now until the WTA gets up there and makes it, you know, not a death trap. But it's calling me, so I plan to keep a lookout until it pops back up on the site again!

Toeing that fine line between annoying and crazy

So I mentioned before about our crappy neighbor with his guns and guard dogs and overall antisocial demeanor.

It's okay, take a sec, refresh your memory if need be... I'll wait...

All set?

Okay, let's continue.

So while I spent the weekend planting trees, planning my garden, and in general beautifying my yard and increasing its value, our darling neighbors spent the weekend inexplicably digging a trench and burying metal posts on which to hang a six-foot tall chain link fence.

Yeah... nothing sends your property value down quite like destruction and chain link.

Yay me.

While we were out in the yard on Sunday, our immediate neighbors (the house in between us and the scary people) stopped by to comment on our progress with our yard, and the conversation naturally turned to the thorn in our collective sides.

First of all, they are "preppers". Not the hey-you-never-know-so-let's-be-prepared types.

No, no.

Like, hardcore the-world-is-ending-and-everyone-is-out-to-get-us types. Great.

Paranoid + high-calibre rifles? Dream neighbors, amiright?!?

And apparently, the trench in their backyard? That's all it is intended to be. A trench. To "run drills" in.

Dear God, I don't think I want to know what that means.

And the chain link fence? Well, besides the fact that it directly violates our neighborhood's covenants and adds a nice splash of ugly to an otherwise beautiful street, apparently they are looking into the legality of putting razor wire on top of the fence.

Yes. You read that right.

Razor wire.

Because that's what you think of when you picture mountain living.

A prison-like compound two plots down.

What's next? Guard towers?!?

Tree Hugger

So this weekend has been filled with one overarching theme for me so far.

Trees.

Yes, trees.

One Braeburn apple tree. One nectarine tree. A moosewood maple and a brandywine red maple. And thirteen spruces.

These are the trees we have procured for our yard in the last 36 hours or so. 

The apple and nectarine trees were added to our growing collection of fruit trees on the west edge of our property. The spruces will be planted tomorrow along the east edge of the property. And the maples will each go on either side of the front yard.

We chose the maples because they are fast growing and get the best fall color. 

(Plus, the moosewood just looks cool, and really, sometimes that's all that matters)

The spruces were from my grandparent's property up in the Skagit Valley. After they were done raising horses, they had decided to turn their pasture into a tree farm. Only once they realized how time consuming it was to run a tree farm that idea quickly went out the window, and now they just have a crap ton (very scientific term of measurement) of trees on their property. The trees starting having baby trees, and my grandpa requested we come collect some of the younger saplings for our property.

So we did.

And now we're lousy with trees.

The irony, of course, is that our property backs up to a forest, so in theory we could have just collected some saplings from there and transplanted them in our side yard.

Only, back there is protected green belt and wetlands.

So we can't.

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink...

First World Problems

Okay, so not to be totally obnoxious or anything, but...

Who's got two thumbs and has a new iPhone?!?

This girl!!!!

Well fine then... party pooper.

Anyway, I got a new iPhone 5 last night, and I'm super jazzed because... well, I had the iPhone 2... and I've had it for about four+ years now... and it stopped working reliably several months ago...

So it's nice to have a phone that, you know, functions. And doesn't shut itself down randomly out of some sort of technological protest or something.

So that's the latest news in my life. Exciting stuff, eh?

Moving on!

I'm taking a break from schoolwork for a little bit, because my brain is about to protest in the same manner my old phone did. Just shut off and refuse to come back on for a few hours.

And that would be inconvenient, as I have a multitude of things to get done today.

So I'm taking a breather, drinking some tea, and, well, I guess complaining about First World Problems? God, I suck.

Sorry.

The weather has been crap lately, and while I usually don't get bummed out with Seattle's rain spells, this week it has been annoying me a bit. Mostly because I seem to keep finding the deepest puddles possible to accidentally step in, and I'm running out of clean socks because of it.

Plus, I haven't had a good hair day in what feels like forever.

Partially because of the stupid wind and rain (and hail, WTF has been up with the hail lately?!?) but also because I desperately need a hair cut.

But luckily I can control one of the above issues (and clearly that's not the weather, I've tried, my powers are not nearly strong enough yet), so I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow, and I'm probably a little TOO excited about it.

See, I have long hair.

And long hair tends to go from flowy and manageable to wild untamable mess remarkably fast.

And then it becomes difficult to brush. Or shampoo. Or just keep it contained in a somewhat presentable manner.

And my hair is wavy too, which adds a whole new level of pain-in-the-ass-ness.

Combined with the wind and rain and hail... and it's been a ponytail day for a couple of weeks straight.

All the blustery-ness of late winter/early spring has also left me pining for summer to come.

I love summer.

Summer is my lobster.

(please tell me you get the reference)

Summer means hiking and camping and bonfires and road trips and gardening and total blissed out relaxation. No school. No schedules. No restrictions.

Did I mention I love summer?

But summer does come with one issue.

One haunting, tormenting, uncomfortable issue.

Shorts weather...

All women have hangups over their body. Boobs too big, boobs too small, tummy too squishy, arms too wobbly, too big of a butt, not big enough of a butt. You name it, there are a million women worried about it.

For me, it's my legs. I've always been self-conscious about them. I have these spindly calves and itty-bitty ankles, so I feel like my legs look like upside-down triangles. And as with most women, I hate my thighs.

So shorts weather makes me... uncomfortable, to say the least.

But since I am of the mindset to understand the things I can change and accept the things I cannot, I get that I have my mother's legs (thanks, ma!), so the spindly calves and ankles thing? Not much I can do. Bone structure pretty much is what it is.

But!

I'm getting a treadmill today, and I'm going to do something about my muscle tone, so even though my legs aren't proportioned how I'd like, at least they can be more shapely, and then I will *hopefully* feel more confident when shorts weather rolls around.

Plus, that whole Couch-to-5k thing is hard to keep up on when the weather has been as crappy as it has been lately. Being able to run inside will greatly help that as well.

So bring it, summer! Muhahaha!

Your inferiority complex is showing

So a couple years back when we were looking to buy a new house, we took many variables into consideration. Commute times, school district boundaries, quality of life, house-to-lot ratios, property tax rates, the whole kit and caboodle.

I spent countless hours pouring through Zillow and Redfin listings, saving certain houses into folders on my desktop, comparing amenities, yards, neighborhoods, etc, etc, etc.

(You say OCD? I say thorough...)

The house that we ended up buying was actually stumbled upon by accident. We drove out here to look at a different house, which we didn't end up liking, but while we were in the area we discovered this one. We proceeded to look at a few more listings, but we always came back to this one.

It stuck with us.

We were always told that when you found THE house, you'd know. Well, we knew.

The offer was accepted immediately, we closed (albeit a week late, but whatevs), and the rest is history. Happily ever after, right?

Well, not so much.

You see, even with all of that research, all of the time and effort and thought that was put into our home search, there is one thing you can't plan for.

One big variable.

A huge, glaring, pain in the ass that you can't predict.

Neighbors.

Now, the majority of our neighbors are great. Fun, kind, down to earth people. We have neighborhood barbecues and bonfires and there is even an industrial karaoke machine. Since we live in the middle of nowhere, our neighborhood has largely attracted cool, independent, low-key individuals.

With one exception.

One guard dog owning, high-calibre rifle shooting, neo-Nazi exception.

The neighbors a couple houses up from us are... shall we say... unpleasant? Anti-social? Downright scary?!?

They moved in six or eight months ago, and it's been interesting, to say the least.

The wife is... alright, I guess. Ish. She will half-smile and half-wave. Sometimes.

The kids are... well, hooligans in the making. Let's just say if my house ever gets egged, TP'd, or tagged with spray paint, I know who I'm pointing the finger at first.

But the husband?

Well, he's an ass. He's arrogant. He's a bully. And he's the most inconsiderate neighbor I've ever had. And having lived in a Quadrant Homes neighborhood, that's really saying something!

(Cookie cutter neighborhoods. Amirite?!?)

So this guy decided that it would be the greatest idea ever to install a shooting range in his backyard.

Yes, you read that right. A mother-effing shooting range. And we're not talking bows and arrows, my friends. Oh no. We're talking semi-automatic, high-calibre, military-grade rifles. You know, the kinds used to massacre children, theater-goers, and temple worshipers in the last few months? Yeah, those.

And the worst part? It's legal.

*facepalm*

Because we live in an unincorporated area, dude is technically allowed to shoot whatever the hell he wants on his property.

Never mind the fact that there is a house about a quarter-mile behind his. Never mind the fact that our property sits below his and any errant bullets put us and our children at risk. Never mind the fact that our entire street is a sickle-shaped curve and all of the properties are attached pie-shapes and dude is violating all of our safeties just to satisfy some itch to rapid-fire armor-peircing rounds into the woods.

Yeeeahhhh......

I have to say, it is the most disturbing thing to be sitting here listening to those guns going off.

*pop*

*pop*

*pop*pop*

*popopopopopopopoppopppoppoppopopopopopopopopop*

It makes me want to crawl under my kitchen table and assume the earthquake 'ready' position. I hate it.

And many neighbors (us included) have tried talking to him about how uncomfortable it makes all of us, and how unsafe it is considering the position of his targets in correlation to where the rest of our kids play. But to no avail.

Suffice it to say, I think I see an HOA covenant in our future. And while I hate to be "those people", because we previously lived in a neighborhood with highly restrictive covenants, and because we all moved this far out for a reason (the freedom to do whatever the hell we want), there has to be a line.

I don't care of you want to have chickens and goats in your yard. I don't care of you have raucous bonfires every night. You want to work on your broke-ass truck in your driveway? Have at it, big guy. But I sure as hell care if your hobbies are putting my kids in danger.

Take your machismo to an actual gun range dude.

No one here is impressed.