Random Yammering

Every year after the holidays, I long to just go through my house room by room, clean things out, throw stuff away and CLEAN. But because one or more of us has been sick since then, NOTHING has been done. Until this weekend. I am finally attacking the clutter monster. I usually try not to just throw stuff away. We either recycle, or find a charity to give stuff to. But this weekend I've been taking each pile/stack and relentlessly throwing stuff away or putting it where it belongs. Only clothes are going into bags for the charities. I'll work my way around the visible piles, then start working on the closets, drawers and cabinets. It feels really good to get this started.

Somehow this weekend I also managed to do some things outside that I've been meaning to get to. I moved the iris bulbs that I rescued from the monkey grass a few years ago. I had originally put them in our back corner bed, but they have never gotten enough sun back there and I've only had one bloom. Today I moved them to the front yard, under our Chinese Pistachio tree. We used to call this our "baby tree" but it has really grown and the name doesn't make sense any more. I also got our two Crepe Myrtles trimmed back, and started what I am calling my "mid-life crisis gardening project." I am attempting to pull up a huge section of Asian jasmine/monkey grass to have a bigger flower bed along the back of our house. I want to plant drought resistant perennials to have next to my bed of Turk's Cap, which has spread nicely the last couple of years. I also want to attract butterflies and/or hummingbirds. But the job itself is much harder than I originally anticipated. And I'm hoping I don't run into a hibernating snake, because I've seen little snakes in this area before. Yikes! But once again, it felt so good to start doing some of these things that have been on the "to-do" list in my head for a LONG time. There's nothing more satisfying than an afternoon of really hard labor in the yard on a beautiful day.

Except for perhaps solo grocery shopping. I've started a new routine that will last until Gabriel starts having Saturday baseball games this Spring. Because the weekly grocery store trip with two kids in tow was getting longer and longer, and more stressful because of bickering, I decided to start getting up early on Saturday morning to do my shopping while Jav watches the boys. My neighbor Helen usually comes with me, and we reward ourselves for getting up so early with a trip to Starbucks before our shopping. Chai - aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. There are very few people shopping, usually plenty of checkers, and it is a mostly pleasant experience. It's also great because I can get the huge pile of groceries put away without being too rushed. The whole thing still takes most of Saturday morning, but so far I'm loving it.

Speaking of loving things, Jav and I went out for Valentine's Day last Sunday and went to see "The Descendants". What a wonderful movie. I've been a relatively big George Clooney fan, especially since his performance in Michael Clayton. But this movie puts him in the "Great Actors of Our Generation" category. His performance, the Hawaiian scenery and music, and the slight environmental message elevates this movie to greatness in my mind. The two actresses playing his daughters are wonderful also. After the movie we went for dinner at P.F. Chang's and while we were there it started snowing. Hard. How surreal is that? And the weirdest thing is the same thing happened to us last year on our Valentine's date. I guess if Fort Worth is wanting a little snow, we need to plan a date night! Which we plan to try to do more often. I have so much fun with my husband. I've missed spending time with just him.

Seeing one movie has made us crave movie-watching, which is something that has all but stopped since Joel first made his appearance. So Jav got "Moneyball" from one of those movie box rental thingies. We plan to get "Midnight in Paris" next weekend, which I've seen but Jav hasn't. That will mean that we will have seen three of the eight movies nominated for Best Picture before the Oscars next Monday night. Go Us!!!! Reviews to come.

And finally, I worried way too much about choosing the right book for my book club meeting in March. I had thought about baseball fiction, comedy (Tina Fey's "Bossypants" was at the top of the list), traditional English mystery, and a few other genres. But then I saw someone's "Top Novels of 2011" and downloaded the numero uno book into my Nook. It's called "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett. I think I finally hit the jackpot on picking a book that almost everyone will REALLY like. I couldn't put it down. And when I finished I had a good cry, which I have now figured out is the best way to determine how much I liked a book. I cry because the story is good and I don't want it to end. I cry because I've grown attached to the characters and I want to keep finding out what happens to them. And I cry because of the subject matter, if it is something very near and dear to my heart. This book met all three of my Tears Criteria.