Buh-bye Pretty Flowers

First thing this morning, I glanced out Alexis' bedroom window then did a double-take as I stared at the death everywhere. First frost. I would be really sad that my Morning Glories and Zinnias are dead, but I'm kind of looking forward to putting up the Christmas decorations soon. Since the garden and my snowmen can't coexist, it's for the best, I guess.

For a final farewell to summer/fall, I thought I would share some garden photos. I never remember to take pictures of things like that (I always figure I'll do it later, then later again, then it just never happens), but I did a slightly better job this year. I totally missed all the spring bulbs, containers, and roses, but at least I tried.

First, in order to truly appreciate my obsession, you have to see what our yard looked like when we bought our place. It's the townhouse on the right.

Oh, the ugly. We got rid of the baby poop brown a few years ago and I conned Daddy into ripping out those horrendous shrubs and put in a few zillion perennials and pretty trees. Of course I don't have a photo of just the front of the house, but trust me when I say it looks a million times better. Here's some garden photos:

My favorite part is the pond that we tucked under the kitchen window. You can't tell from these photos, but it's actually kind of big--as in 800 gallons big. At the beginning of the summer it housed four fish, but we lost two this year. One was a 20-pound Koi that was significantly smaller than the beast, Ernie. He's probably about as long as Alexis is tall and just might weigh as much as her. Alexis does her part and feeds them any time that we let her.

When we move, which will happen in the next year or I'm throwing a hissy fit, we I plan to take it all with us. I've had some of these plants for over ten years and already moved them from Ohio to two different houses in PA. They will survive one more. And the fish are definately going. I don't know how, but they are.

So long Fall . . . now bring on the Christmas decorations!

Anybody Missing a Toddler?

I don't know who the child was that just toddled up to me and asked to please take a nap, but she smelled like pineapple. She was about 2 1/2 feet tall and wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She's currently napping in the crib upstairs. If you are missing a child that fits the description, please leave a comment.

Randomness

- I would like to personally thank the Steelers for their outstanding performance today. When games go like the one last week, Alexis' vocabulary ends up expanded in ways that are less than desirable. And just to be clear, I'm not the one that yells at the TV during games. I suspect that the coaches and players can't actually hear the people in their living rooms, so I save my energy for yelling at my husband when he teaches our daughter to yell "stupid" at the top of her lungs. Not that he can hear me either, but I like to try.

- I got my butt handed to me in Fantasy Football this week. Last week I lost by one point. If my team doesn't get its act together real soon, I may not make the playoffs. Trust me when I say that would be bad for all of us. I MUST make the playoffs.

- One of these days I will learn that Wal-Mart is an evil place, not at all worth the few pennies we may save by going there. Today's reminder came in the form of a woman in one of the motorized cart things. I'm pretty sure her legs worked just fine, she was just feeling lazy. And mean. She kept yelling at people for being in her way. I wouldn't have known that it was a habitual kind of thing except for the fact that she wouldn't get the you-know-what out of my way. Stopping in the middle of aisle with the motorized cart turned sideways? BLOCKS THE WHOLE FREAKIN' AISLE and thereby forces me to listen to you yell at everyone else for six whole aisles. Would it be wrong if I taught Alexis to yell "Hypocrite" at the top of her lungs?

- Alexis never, ever eats alone. Not even if she's munching on sweet potato sticks and tomato soup.