Because I don't have children, you have to put up with photos of my pets...

M-A-R...

A reindeer got lost and ended up in my backyard!

It's a little difficult to do a puzzle when a moody, hissing cat takes over.

But then she turned into Nice Lucy and jumped onto Will's shoulders while he was on the phone. Guess she missed him while he was away.

The Ladybug and The Flower

My Trip To Utah

At a water park:

Jennifer & the girls:

Tiny dancers:

Me and the girls:

My Friend Lailah

8 Things...

8 Things I am Passionate About:
1. Nature
2. my family
3. my friendships
4. Art/museums
5. music
6. eating good food
7. hulahooping
8. sleeping

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over Again and Never Get Sick of:
1. Woman In You - Ben Harper
2. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley
3. Here In Your Bedroom - Goldfinger
4. Angel - Jimi Hendrix
5. Hey Emilie - The Mother Hips
6. Where Is My Mind? - Pixies
7. Let Down - Radiohead
8. You Are My Sunshine

The Past 8 Books I Have Read:
1. You Shall Know Our Velocity - Dave Eggers
2. No One Belongs Here More Than You - Miranda July
3. Baby Love - Rebecca Walker
4. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer
5. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
6.Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
7. Letters To A Young Poet - Rainer Maria Rilke
8. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver

8 Things I Say Often:
1. "No way"
2. "Last night I dreamt..."
3. "I love you"
4. "Please use your words"
5. "Thank you for..."
6. "Get your toy, Marley"
7. "I want one"
8. "Let's go to the movies"

8 Things That Attract Me to a Friend:
1. Interesting interests
2. Honnesty
3. Confidence
4. Openness
5. Ability to listen (& turn off cell phone)
6. Compassion
7. Positivity
8. Understanding

8 Random Things About Me:
1. Sometimes I eat popcorn for dinner.
2. I really hope so-called mythical animals do exist (i.e., dragons, unicorns,
Loch Ness...). I grow Nasturtiums in my yard because I was once told
that unicorns dine on them during the night.
3. I'm still not ready to grow up.
4. I love Christmas. And musicals.
5. Summer is my favorite season -- there's nothing better than sitting on a
patio on a hot day drinking a cold beverage with a friend.
6. I brake for Slurpees.
7. I believe that love is the answer.
8. I like to make lists.

8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
1. See the Hagia Sofia.
2. Take a real vacation, longer than a week.
3. Create art that I'm truly proud of.
4. Hike Half Dome.
5. Give birth.
6. Scuba dive.
7. Visit the Luray Caverns.
8. Overcome my fear of heights.

8 Things I Have Learned This Past Year:
1. It's important -- no, crucial to ask for what you need.
2. The "Brontosaurus" dinosaur is no longer valid.
3. Snowshoeing is fun!
4. 101 ways to cook/store/eat zucchini.
5. Sometimes it doesn't pay to be patient.
6. There is no more Orange Julius in the mall.
7. I'm aging.
8. Updating my blog takes a long time.

It's working!

My, how DOES our garden grow!

The tom/basil box, 6 weeks ago:


Today:



Baby sunflowers, 6 weeks ago
(these are volunteers from 3 sunflower plants I grew last year):

Taller:
We also have baby zucchinis, baby yellow squash, baby toms, 3-ft. corn plants...

Happy Birthday To Me!

From the school:



A Tiramisu cake, with thick chocolate shavings on top and an edible "sign".
Oh, and yes, that IS a pink ribbon around the cake.

My birthday bouquet.
The small light green flower puffs are miniature hydrangeas!

I feel so loved.

So much suddenly seems unimportant.

With the death toll in Myanmar increasing exponentially every few minutes, news of foreclosures, the woes of Brittany Spears, "soaring" gas prices, feuding presidential candidates and so much more simply don't matter. I was listening to our local NPR station today; the broadcaster suggested that listeners who are planning on donating to the station's Fund Drive, should consider redirecting their donations to relief efforts in Myanmar. He said it felt "crass to ask for money" to support local programming while so many people are affected by this cyclone.

I found this interesting and refreshing.

See Ya Later...

Reason #267 to never live in Florida:

http:\\www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24254754/

There Will Be Beds -- Part II

2008 seems to be the "year of the bed" in the Bickinella/Ness home. First our new King sized mattress (the other day the cats and I invited Marley to watch TV in bed with us, and we each had plenty of space! I love that bed!), now our latest home-improvement project: raised beds for our vegetable garden!

Before

Will and his apprentice (apprentice taking a break).



Will Work For Kibble



Taking a break from pulling weeds.



Finished beds! But rather empty...



Filled and planted.
We are using the companion method:
certain plants help others to grow/taste better, fend off certain pests,
and attract proper pollinators.



Tomato plants (5 types), basil (3 types), marigolds.
The basil and marigolds are excellent "companions" for the tomatoes.
If I go all season without seeing a nightmarish tomato worm, I will be a happy gardener!

Hoppy Easter!

There's been an Easter Bunny sighting...







Wait a minute!
It's Marley, pretending to be the Easter Bunny!


Silly Rabbit!

Hope Floats

Reuters - A man who hoped to pop the question to his girlfriend with a helium balloon instead watched his plans float into the sky.


Doh! Remember what it felt like as a child when you lost a balloon? And watched it float away until it was a tiny speck, headed toward Pluto (back when Pluto was a planet)?
Talk about deflated dreams.

I wonder if she said "yes."

There Will Be Bed

Our grown-up bed arrived today!
It took forever to make the bed -- I may have to hire a team.

I couldn't get the whole bed in one photo -- Smokey added for perspective.

Ripley added for cuteness perspective.

Other options for this post title:

Sailing the Seas of Bed
Welcome To Bedlam
The Literal Definition of BEDroom
Far And Away, or Are You There Will? It's Me Josie.

Pink Popcorn!

Pink popcorn!!

Atonement

I just saw this movie for the second time. I loved it just as much as the first viewing. I fell under its spell, which is a lot to say from a self-proclaimed movie snob. I found it practically flawless (I typically view a film and then dissect it to death, imagining what I would change had I been the director, actor, cinematographer, screenwriter, composer, etc...), and cannot wait to own the DVD in hopes of extra scenes that were not in the released version. During the second time I was able to focus on more details (visual, and especially symbolic) and the more I think about the movie the more fond of it I become. Obsessed? Perhaps. I usually become obsessed with about one movie each year (previous "winners" include Pan's Labyrinth, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and A Very Long Engagement.) However, I'm generally proud of my taste in movies (i.e. obsession) and I consider myself very lucky to live in the time of film. Geesh, what in the world did people do before cinema?