Just in time for my return to school I’ve become addicted to a new Xbox game. I actually bought it several weeks ago, thinking I’d play it during vacation. I made a half-hearted attempt early last week, but didn’t become fully hooked until Saturday. So of course now all I’m thinking about is getting home after school so I can get back to playing.
It’s called “Assassin’s Creed”. In it, you play an assassin who lives and works in Israel during the time of the crusades. Actually, you’re playing the part of a modern-day assassin who is exploring the DNA memories of an ancestor of his who lived and worked in Israel during the time of the crusades, but explaining that is a little complicated. It’s got problem solving, climbing all over buildings, and fighting. I can’t wait to get back to it.
Yesterday was another beautiful day. Unfortunately, I was suffering from the end-of-vacation blues. I wanted to go out and do a bunch of stuff outside because it was such a nice day, but I also wanted to just sit around and do nothing while I still could.
I split the difference… I spent the morning watching “Dr. Who” episodes, and went out in the afternoon. Even though I had already been there just last Monday, I went to Valley View Garden center. It seemed like a nice place to spend some time outside. It was. I resisted many impulses to buy garden plants, but I did end up getting some tadpoles and snails for my pond. They are scavengers and will help by eating stuff off the bottom and by eating algae. They are also a cheap way to test and see if the water in my pond is safe for fish. I can hardly wait to get some goldfish!
Happy Birthday, Denis! Yay!
Last night was our church’s annual bullroast and oyster feed. Dennis, Peggy, Michele and Randy came along. It was really fun. I tried an oyster again because I was curious. It wasn’t bad. But I really liked the roast beef. I got rare beef and salted it like crazy. Mmmm…
There were the customary wheel devices. I played the wheel to win a plant, but I ran out of cash. While I was running to the ATM, someone else won the pink petunia I wanted. I kept playing anyway, but never won. It was weird. I also bid on some things in the silent auction. I love silent auctions and can sometimes get carried away. Last night I was a little more controlled. I won a hand-knitted lap blanket. It will be ready for me in June.
I also had a bidding war for a coconut cake. Since today is Denis’ birthday, I thought it would make a nice birthday cake. After getting up to $25, I thought I had it, but someone out-bid me at the last minute. Dang. But then she came over and gave me the cake anyway! Yay!
Yesterday it was FINALLY sunny. I’ve been waiting all week for a sunny day so I could work in the garden. I went out around 8am. It was still cool, but I knew the warm was coming.
The first order of business was to plant a hedge of japanese hollies on either side of the gate to the back yard. Ever since I took the rose hedge out, the gate has looked a little weird. I moved two larger hollies from the shadow of the front porch, and I planted the hollies I got back on March 30. The result was pleasing.
I had a bunch of garden waste piled up underneath my back porch from a previous day’s work. I loaded it up and went to the dump. I had no problems. The guy didn’t even challenge me. Weird.
While I was away from home already, I went looking for something to brace the ivy on the back wall. It isn’t grabbing the bricks with its roots, so I keep having to prop it up. If it were my brick wall, I would just drill hooks into it, but it belongs to Verizon phone company, so I hesitate to put holes in it. I ended up getting two trellises and turning them sideways to brace the ivy. It’s working well. AND the trellises were on sale!
I worked into the afternoon cleaning up the garden bed next to the front door, mowing the lawn, and clipping the smoke bush and lavender. At 4pm, I couldn’t do any more. I was tired.
I haven’t cut it so close with my taxes in a long time. I didn’t start until yesterday morning. I think I’m usually worried about having enough money to cover what I owe, so that gets me to do them sooner. This year, I had the leftovers of the roof loan to help me cover taxes. Good thing, too. This was my largest tax bill ever.
I usually mail my returns. I figure a paper return is more inconvenient to the IRS than an electronic one, so it’s my little way of “sticking it to the man”. This year, I was feeling kind of lazy, so I thought maybe I’d do an electronic return. It costs! I couldn’t believe it! It costs $20 to send in an electronic return to Maryland. I decided to do both returns by mail.
Since I was out of the house, I went to the treehugger grocery store for more dental floss, and the aquarium store to look at goldfish. It’s almost time to stock my pond, and looking at peacefully swimming fish helped lower my blood pressure.
