i mentioned not too long ago that we were no longer a single car family. woohoo! it is so great to not have to scramble in the mornings so everyone gets where they need to be on time. now we are back to our original routine that allows an extra five minutes if needed. that doesn’t seem like much, but in morning traffic it is a big deal. i am so happy that djembe found what he needed too. he can fit all of us and his drums in if needed. he was nice enough to let me drive his new toy today. how very kind. 
i wanted to finally create an outdoor fall display. nothing major just a few mums and color in the front bed. i needed to repot my ivy too. i decided to put it in the ground instead. we’ll see how that turns out. tomorrow i’m sending jem to buy more rock to finish the front beds. this is a project i have worked on for the longest. life just gets in the way. i had to put it on hold in my frantic attempt to prepare for comps. but i am ready for it to be done! i can’t wait until thanksgiving break. that is when we will hit the inside and paint, redo, and make the house “ours”. we’ve been here over a year now and not taken the time to change things. i really love this house. it is not huge. adequate for the four of us. the yard is great for the kids and dogs. it backs to our neighbors pond that the kids love to paddle boat in.
there’s also some pretty big fish in there too. we leave the fishing to the neighbors. but it is nothing to have kids from the neighborhood hanging out in our back yard with their fishing gear. as long as they leave my dogs alone no problem. the dogs love the pond too. i haven’t seen blackie (the smaller one) swimming as much this year, but they chase the dragonflies and get a drink now and then. usually getting a drink is a full body experience…not today though…
when we went to st. louis i bought a new digital camera. it took GREAT pictures. but after having it only two weeks it locked up on us. so i took the vivitar and exchanged it for a kodak. we have a great 35 MM kodak that i will not give up so i’m hoping the kodak digi will be just as good. i had problems getting pics off the camera but figured that glitch out tonight. i am really impressed with the quality. i was pretty far away when i took that pic of the dogs. i can’t wait to go hiking and get some great nature shots. when jem and i went to talladega a few weeks ago i took pics of the race cars. here’s one of his favorite driver, taken right after practice:
guess that is enough for an evening ramble…time to jump over to compchaos and get some work done…evaluating the 1950s and the “happy days” perception.