That’s right, last week it was so cool in the mornings that the heater was kicking on before I got out of bed. This week, it’s in the mid 70′s when I wake up and by the time I’ve had breakfast, I’m ready for the a/c to be running! In fact, by mid afternoon, we have now had 3 days in a row that were in the 90′s, that’s just crazy for the first week of May. I’m hoping that this is not a bad sign of what we have in store for the summer, I can’t afford those electric bills!

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Anyway, I got out of bed and started in on the mental list. I paid a couple of bills, wrote a post on my other blog, checked a few websites out and now here I sit, watching the sprinklers try to bring some water to our parched soil.

My husband actually got up a few minutes ago, early for him, so I went and made coffee. While I waited for that to brew, I emptied the dishwasher and loaded it with all the items that were sitting on the counter. It’s only 8:15 and I do feel like I’ve accomplished a few things at least!

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I've seriously been contemplating putting in a garden.  I recently saw that one of the local home stores is selling an easy to put together kit that creates a raised bed garden.  For me, that would be perfect.  The soil here is so bad and very hard to dig in.  I don't want to have to go out and spend a fortune on roto tillers and tools, so a raised bed garden would be great.  Just snap it together, add dirt and tada!  instant garden!

Well, sort of.  It might need a little more than that, for example, fertilizer is always good to add to the soil.  I worry though about using any type of chemicals, particularly in our back yard where our dog spends a lot of time.  We also have a ton of birds and I don't want to use anything that could harm them.  That's why I really like the idea of using products from Whitney Farms®. They offer a full line of all natural plant foods and soils with no chemical additives.  Theorganic soil  and organic plant food are safe and easy to use and still provide all the nutrients that plants need to grow.

I think using Whitney Farms® soil and plant food (be sure to take advantage of their $3 off coupon), along with the raised bed kit is exactly what I need to start my own garden and grow some of my own vegetables.  With the cost of food at the grocery going higher and higher, I think my little garden would more than pay for itself, plus, home grown veggies taste so much better!

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Of course, I was super annoyed that the game against the Seattle Mariners wasn’t being televised, and even my subscription to MLB.TV was not airing the game because it said it was blacked out in my area.  Not sure why it was blacked out since they were playing in Seattle, I live in Texas and it wasn’t being televised here, at all.  But, I was able to listen to the audio, and, thankfully had the Yankees/Red Sox game on t.v. (muted) when, finally, in the 9th inning, they switched games to show Humber getting his final 3 outs.  I give hearty applause to A.J. Piersynski for a superb job behind the plate!  This was a great day for baseball!

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It's very rare that a new way of gaming can interest me, but I have to tell you, AppGear is doing exactly that, and it's very exciting!

AppGear is this new, amazingly exciting wave of digital gaming that works through downloadable apps for your smartphone or tablet.  What makes it so cool and different is that they have found a way to include real toys that work with your app to augment or control the game.  For example, with the Foam Fighters app, you attach a small foam airplane to your smartphone and then get ready for take off, you're gonna be in a dogfight!  The video looks so real and you control the game with your hands viewing as if you were in the cockpit of the plane itself.  Honestly, I think even my husband would love this game and he's not a gamer in any shape or form!

Another game app release in April is ZombieBurbz, a game revolving around a suburbia filled with zombies who don't seem to get along so well with their neighbors!  In fact, the neighbors really want to run the zombies completely out of town, so your job, is to keep that from happening.  The game comes with 3, 1 1/2 inch sized zombies that are used on your screen to control the game.  I love how it uses real game pieces thta you can physically hold in your hand and combines that with all the latest in digital technology.  This really is gaming at its best in my opinion.

In addition to the 2 apps I've all ready mentioned, 4 more titles are scheduled to debut over the next 3 months.  For more information, check out AppGear.  

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Usually, my favorite part of the quilt show is wandering through all the vendors and checking out new products. I am still looking forward to doing that, but this time, I don’t have much extra spending money, so I will be looking for extra special products, and maybe not purchasing all the fabric I usually buy at these events.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to spending time with my family. I’ll be gone for several days, don’t miss me too much!

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Before we moved to Texas I was much more successful in keeping a nice looking lawn and flowers in the flower beds. In fact, I had bulbs in early Spring, popping out of the ground with snow still on the ground and yet, it was always my favorite time of year. My favorite flower of all is the tulip and I had those too, in yellow and red. Every year about this time I would see them all, loving every stem and every petal. Seriously, here in Texas, instead of flowers I have little baby trees popping up everywhere because the squirrels are so busy all year planting their little acorns. Now, instead of enjoying the fresh tulips, I’m spending my mornings pulling saplings out of the ground.

So I think I lack the motivation to battle the Texas heat and drought to have a successful flower garden. I think instead, I should just have my flowers delivered online and be able to enjoy beautiful flowers without all the pain and aggravation it would take for me to grow them myself.

What about you, do you have a flower garden?

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The team, up until last Friday, was undefeated on the season. Last Friday, my daughter was not in the game. The team lost.

They played 3 games yesterday in the 1st half of a high school tournament, winning 2 of the 3 games. My daughter played in the 1st game, and as a batter, she hit a triple, a double, flied out to left field, and got walked. They won, 10-0. The next game she didn’t play and they lost. The 3rd game she didn’t play, but they did come from behind to win, 2-1.

Tonight was a home game against a big district rival. She didn’t play. Last time they played this same team, she hit a triple off the very same pitcher and they won. Tonight, they lost.

I simply don’t understand why she’s sitting the bench in these important games. Is is truly a good, solid player with a strong bat and she has proven herself, this is not just me saying it because I’m her mom. It’s high school ball though, so I can’t say anything to the coach. I can only sit and watch while my heart feels heavy and I have a pit in my stomach.

3 more games tomorrow in the 2nd half of the tournament. These are all 3 against beatable teams, wonder if she’ll get in the game. Heavy sigh.

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It’s Spring in Texas and that means it’s time to spruce up the flower beds, rake up the dead leaves, pull weeds and fertilize just about everything.  Of course, most of that is simply labor related, but when it comes to sprucing up the flower beds, I like to add fresh color and that means planting, usually annuals.  Planting around here isn’t so bad, but keeping things alive?  That’s a whole challenge in itself!

Our soil is cruddy clay.  It definitely helps to add fresh top soil when planting anything in the ground here.  Fertilizer is also a must as this dirt as no nutrients whatsoever.  I’m so happy that I’ve discovered Expand ‘n Gro™ planting mix.  This potting soil is a wonderful mix of Miracle-Gro® and coconut coir fiber that not only adds important nutrients to the soil, but also lightens the weight of the soil so that the plant roots can breath and grow better, resulting in much healthier plants.

Expand ‘n Gro™ is a concentrated planting mix and 1 small bag will expand to 3 times it’s size after adding water.  It will continuously feed your plants for up to 6 months and it retains 50% more water than average potting soil thanks to the coconut coir.  This is the only planting mix I will use from now on, it beefs up the soil, adds necessary nutrients and help keep the plants watered, even in our drought ridden state!

Visit the Expand ‘n Gro™ website where you may possibly even get a free sample to try for yourself.

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We’ll start with the fact that our van, the vehicle my husband drives to work, won’t start. He took it to a mechanic because it was having issues and they wanted $1000 to repair it. Well, it’s 12 years old and I’m not sure it’s even worth $1000 so he drove it home after paying $85 for the estimate. The very next day, he got in it to drive it to the store. It made a horrific noise and has since refused to start. So, there is now a dead van in my driveway.

Next, we had a large tree die in our back yard. It’s not huge, but it’s an evergreen (or was), so it’s very fat. Probably about 18 feet tall so now I’ll need to pay someone to cut it down and haul it away.

And, most expensively, we have a leak in our roof. I had a roofer come out who told me it appears to be a result of hail damage. So, I’ve filed an insurance claim and the insurance adjuster is due out on Monday for his inspection. Hopefully the insurance will cover it. I would much rather come up with our 1% deductible than have to cover the entire cost of a new roof. I’ll keep you posted.

I don’t want to keep going on this list because it makes me depressed. I don’t like it when things break and I don’t like it even more when it happens all at one time. I’d go have a beer, but I have to go to a softball game this afternoon, don’t want anyone to think I’ve been sitting at home drinking! Hopefully my daughter will play a good game and that will definitely make me feel better!

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