{My Garden}

Last year, I was successful in keeping two plants alive and producing: Cherry tomatoes & basil. This feat made me think that I can add more plants to my list of responsibility.  I knew I wanted to keep this project contained to my back deck so that I would not have to tromp through the yard to go water a garden. So, a container garden on the back deck it is! Another reason I like this idea is because I can use potting soil. No soil testing, augmenting, tilling, etc. Just pour & plant!

Here it is:

Top from left to right: Dahlia, Basil & Rosemary, Cherry Tomatoes

Bottom from left to right: Bell Peppers & Jalapenos, Cucumbers, Salad Greens & Spinach

This guy is going to tend to the basil & rosemary.

I'm pretty excited to be able to go pick my salad when I want one!

And some pretty tulips that were in the front yard!

Marietta National Cemetery

Last week, we paid a visit to the national cemetery in my town. I have driven by there an infinite amount of times in my life but never stopped to see it. I always wanted to, though. I have been enamored by the arrangement of the grave stones for years. They are all lined up so neatly!

At the top of the hill, a beautiful gazebo covered in wisteria sits. The scent coming off of it was phenomenal.

There are monuments and, of course, a big American flag.

My Little Baby

Well, I guess this is the best place to announce that I'm going to have a little baby! April Fools. Yes, that was lame, but it's April Fool's Day so I felt obligated to fool you. Moving on...

How cute is he?

His name is Junior. He's 5.5 pounds of Yorkshire Terrier who acts like he's about 90 pounds of ferociousness. The boy likes to bark at strangers and squirrels who approach our house. Hilarious! I love the little white tuft of hair on his chest!

Here's his guard dog stance. What kind of dog do you have? What funny things does he/she do?

Play Time!

As a kid, I remember loving to run around in the yard, getting sprayed by the lawn sprinkler. Here at the Forshee house, we take it up one level. We just get out the hose. I mean, why not? It's fun and I get to spray my kid who thinks that's fun and not a way to get out my frustration! **Evil laugh**

We more or less got to skip winter this year and for that I am grateful. The past two winters have been too cold for me. All of you northern people, quit laughing at me! Yes, all of our winters are mild by comparison, but I am  not built to withstand anything below about 40F. I don't do snow. I don't do coats. I barely do tolerate shoes that require socks.

It's still a tad cold to be outside playing in the water for me, but I guess kids don't care! I never did!

New Thank You Postcards

I recently taught myself how to use Adobe Illustrator in order to make the pattern pieces for my second sewing pattern, the Coupon File Organizer Clutch. Then, I designed some new thank you cards that are now included with every order from my shop! I am very excited about them! I even made my own QR code (see it there on the bottom right?)!

{Homeschool} Field Trip: International Auto Show

Kendall is going through a car-craze phase, so I thought that taking him to the auto show would satiate him for a while. I was wrong. It made it worse. Oh well, there are worse things he could be the focus of his obsession.

First, we saw the Fox 5 Storm Chaser!

Then, we dropped a $5 bill near the vending machines and they sucked it up under there into the black hole. We never saw it again.

Kendall sat in almost every single car there. I sat in the ones I was interested in: Acura TSX Sport Wagon, Volvo S60, Nissan Maxima, and (the best for last) Cadillac CTS V Coupe. I love that Cadillac. 556 horsepower has something to do with it, you know. 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. It could be yours for $75,000. Anyway, here's Kendall in a Mustang:

And my 2nd choice if the whole Cadillac thing doesn't work out:

A green car:

And, last but not least, a new sports car by Lexus. They are only making 500 of these. At $375,000, the Cadillac looks like a bargain!

Overall, the auto show was fun. It was basically like a super dealership, and I was glad for the opportunity to look at that Acura station wagon since the dealership here was not helpful when I wanted to test drive last year.

{Time Management} Lists

A while back, I wrote a post about using your time wisely and effectively. Today I'll share a simple way you can keep yourself on track and feel a sense of accomplishment each and every day.

It seems really simple and easy, but the only thing I use to help me be productive is a list. Well, there is actually more than one list. I usually have at least 3 lists, and that number can go up to about 15.  It might sound neurotic, but it works!

I will just tell you about my main, daily lists. The first is the "to do" list. If there are things I MUST do today that aren't routine, they go on the "to do" list. This includes making doctor's appointments, making phone calls, etc. Things like sewing, homeschool, returning emails, etc. do not go on this list. 

The second list is the "done" list. It's really just a daily log of all the stuff I did. The reason I started keeping this list is that I was having a lot of days where I was busy all day but did not feel that I accomplished a lot. I began writing down everything I did (within reason--feel free to leave off breathing, using the bathroom, showering and such...) and I felt a lot better about the way my time was spent. Here's what my daily log looks like:

The daisy is hiding a client's last name...I don't think she wants her full name on my blog!

It's just a little notebook with a list of stuff I did. Simple, right?

Once you get in the habit of keeping a list, you'll be on track and focused like crazy!