[talk: I Ain't No Gardner, But ...]

We love berries. Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries ... you name it, we love 'em.

So I got this idea to plant a couple of our own bushes in the backyard, with hopes that we would have a small crop each year - where the boys could see how the plants bloom, how they produce fruit, how God provides for us.

We bought a blueberry bush and a raspberry bush, and I planted them today in the sunniest spot I could find. I have no idea whether I'll get a crop this year, or whether I'll unintentionally kill these little "treat" plants *sigh* ... but I'm giving it a go.

Plus, our winter deSTROYED my rosemary bushes - such a shame, as I had been loving these 2 bushes for a few years now. So today, I also planted another rosemary bush and a thyme plant as well ... love 'em for cooking.

Here's to a handful of raspberries!

[renovations: Oh Dear. Really??]

This photo is NOT of my home ... if it were - then there would be no need for this post *grin*.

I love my home. I say home, and not "house", because it IS home to me. We've been in the same place for almost 5 years now, and every year we sit down and decide what changes need to be done to keep up our biggest investment (our house *smile).

One year, it was to put in another room in the basement and a bathroom because our cousins were moving in with us for a couple of months.

Another year, we worked on the outside. Our backyard is a swamp, and we decided to halve the yard with gravel so that at least it was USABLE. The boys love to dig in it ...

And some years we haven't done anything ... and that's what I thought THIS year would be - especially with a new baby coming in a few months.

But, alas, that is not the case - and we are now starting the process of redoing the flooring in our home.

Our place was built with CREAM carpet (what sort of MAN decided this? I'll never know ...). With two boys, and half a swamp in the backyard (figuratively speaking, of course) we now have permanent blackness on our carpets. I could get them cleaned, but have been warned to save my money. The stains would most likely return within a few weeks. PLUS - my boys and the swamp won't change either ... and it's not like I'm not on top of them to take their SHOES off ... but when they get their feet dirty too and run to the potty ... ugh. *smile*.

SOOOO ... I'm starting to ask questions ... Right now we have carpet plus laminate. I really don't like the laminate (but it IS 12 years old ...) b/c it just streaks when cleaned and we have large windows that make it ALWAYS look dirty.

Do you have advice for me?? Laminate vs hardwood? I don't want to be a slave to my floors ... and I want to make sure that my boys can be boys and play cars or whatever on the floor. And we're THINKING of doing the stairs and upstairs in carpet (I don't like hardwood/laminate on stairs ...). I'm thinking Berber, with a small fleck in it to hide the small sins?

Then - there's the whole baseboard thing ... we have none upstairs, and downstairs is 2" right now. My hubby wants 12" - but I think that's INSANE. Maybe 6"?? Thoughts??? We do have high ceilings ...

The whole thing is, is that once you start one thing - it leads to another. Headers. Crown. Changing banisters. Redoing the drywall-fireplace with REAL mouldings. And obviously, there is a budget ... so when it's gone, we're done.

Thoughts???

[talk: Change of Plans ...]

I had a couple of different ideas for my post today - but felt that maybe I should share something that has been a reoccurring theme for myself as of late.

Today I had an orthodontist appointment - but I was early and so I thought that I would maybe pick up some groceries beforehand. But as I drove, I felt strongly that I was to go visit a friend who's really been going through it. Her and her new husband have had some difficult times with real estate (purchasing a new property, then the deal for their current property fell through), the swine flu cancelled her honeymoon plans (literally), and she is now facing her father being tested for Parkinson's.

When I was in New Zealand, I had the privilege of being "roomies" with one of my parent's dear friends. Her husband succumbed to a melanoma (skin cancer) in his early sixties - and she has much wisdom on the whole "comparison" topic. A small mole has changed her life.

It's easy to say that someone else's situation is better or worse than our own. Someone who has been through a difficult time may look at another circumstance and say, "I could never walk through that," while the other person walking that particular journey feels the same way about the other person. Or maybe someone feels like they've endured the worst of the worst, and that no one could possibly understand how defeated they feel.

My "roomie" said to me that she's learned to not look at others and compare their story to her own. Her husband passed in his early sixties ... and it would be easy for her to look at someone ill in his 80's and say, " ... at least he had another 20 years." Where as someone could look at her story and say, " ... he lived until his sixties ... my husband was taken from me in his 40's, " or " ... at least she had a husband, I've never found love ...". Her pain and loss is very real, regardless of how fair or unfair it may seem to others.

Each of our stories is worthy of our feelings. We all mourn parts of our journeys and rejoice in others. For some, their hard road appears to last only a moment - while others seem to walk an endless journey of hardship. But not one is more valid than another ... each of our circumstances is different - and how we were brought up, our faith in God, our surrounding support, even our own personalities all play a role in our perspective.

I think the greatest thing that we can do, is support and encourage those we know when they are facing hard times, and not try and weigh their experiences against our own. Validate them, believe in them, stand beside them. For it is the person who has walked the hard road who learns compassion for others ... and will most likely stand beside you when you need it most.

[talk: Firehall Fieldtrip]

Tias' preschool went to the Firehall for a fieldtrip and it was full of great information, laughter from the kids, and an eye-opener for us parents.

The firemen were so great with the kids. There were games, reenactments, drills and even a chance to sit in the firetrucks.

The eye-opener was the film that was shown to the parents in a separate room, while the kids had their snacks and made crafts. The film was actually an episode of Dateline, showing the importance of fire safety and even more important, the power of having your family prepared.

I found it fascinating that it was SMOKE that kills, not the actual flames. And a story of a family where 2 small children succumbed to smoke inhalation really hit the message home. There was also a segment where 10 year old children, who felt very prepared because of school firedrills, were put to the test. But when faced with a homedrill during the night, none of the children were able to save themselves. One 10 year old simply covered his head with his blankets and whimpered, "I'm scared."

Of course, many of us parents felt the strangulation of panic as we realized that our two story homes had no safe way of evacuation. And when we thought of the ages of our children (mine being 2 & 4, plus a newborn soon enough ...), it became apparent that we were NOT prepared.

I'd like to say that we have a plan now, but we don't quite yet. Today, though, I will be calling the sprinkler service to fix our system as we had a pipe blow a year and a half a go, and we turned the water off. How ignorant of us. It'll cost some money that we hadn't planned for, but I never realized how blessed we were to have a sprinkler system and how it could, potentially, save us all.

And once my hubby's leg is better (2 more weeks, fingers crossed!!) we will be going through the drill ... having a planned meeting location, talking about keeping your door CLOSED (big tip for keeping the smoke out), staying low to the floor, opening your window, yelling for help ... we'll be doing it all.

So let this be your reminder ... do you have a plan? What would you do? Do you know? It's something that I pray you'll never have to put into action - but being prepared is the best life saving plan you can have.

[talk: Kris Allen IS The American Idol]

Oh the drama.

Did you watch? I sure did ... even watched most of the show, despite having the PVR ability to skip through everything ...

A couple things made us laugh outloud ... like the Bikini Girl (there will be no link to that as she makes my stomach turn *smile*) and her version of "Vision of Love". And the crazy Tatiana - whom we're still debating whether she really did rebel against the bouncers and start randomly singing as she darted across the stage. And LAUGHED at the dude with the alter-ego "Norman" who sang, once again, "You're Gonna Love Me." Not so much at the song, but rather at the speech he delivered prior to ...

But here's the thing ... why I'm posting this is that I'm a wee bit frustrated at all of the comments that are being strewed across the internet by the media. They're calling this the "Idol Upset" and if you read this from CNN it pretty much suggests that Adam is some sort of victim, that Kris didn't even think he, himself, deserved to win, and that conservative Americans voted against Adam due to being "speculation of Adam's sexuality" and for Kris because he apparently went on a missions trip. And of course, would never suggest the opposite - that liberal Americans voted against Kris and for Adam for the exact same reasons.

So - that irritates me (almost as much as me not being able to put spaces between my paragraphs in this post!). Because, I wonder if Kris' fans would cause such a stink with such degrading suggestions that Adam was basically non-deserving and null-in-void of talent - which is pretty much what I've been reading from Adam's fans. Pretty cruel, and I feel bad for Kris - who I felt deserved the win based on a likable voice and his creative talent with instrumentation. And it must be disappointing to think that the public believes you won due to your faith - not your ability.

Now, obviously, these people who write such things are few and far between and are NOT a fair depiction of all Lambert fans (I have many friends who absolutely LOVED Adam). But I can't help but notice that the media, once again, is unable to show an unbias in their reporting - that they have to bring sexuality, faith and beauty (handsome-ness, I guess) as a deterrent as apposed to just saying, "Great show-down, both were deserving, congratulations to Kris."

I guess, though, that would be unrealistic, though *smile*.