Yard Break

I've been working my arse off to get everything completed for the first deadline of the project I'm working on for my former company. I had a really productive day but had to take a mental break and get some fresh air.

While getting this air I couldn't help but admire our yard. It was a mud pit when we first moved in. Nothing would grow and if it did it was only a matter of time before the severe sloping caused the rain to wash it away. After 3 years of toiling away in it I have to admit it is looking pretty good. It is nice to finally see everything getting mature (everything was of the 1 to 3 gallon size when planted) and the whole thing looking so green and lush. The lush part is due solely due to my Wife, Mrs. Gore, who diligently carries out buckets of recycled shower water every few days.

I also decided to take some pics of some of the spring blooms we have right now...


This one's potted, Purslane. I bought it after I admired some in Farmer Paul's garden. It is a funky looking plant and I love the muted color.

One of our many daylillies, they come back better and better each year.

Daisy Gardenias..they smell delicious.

Another daylilly.

In sad garden news, my tomato plant, although growing like wildfire, is dropping all its blooms. I fear I may have planted it in too small of a container but am hoping it is because of the cooler weather at night. Needless to say I may have no need to continue my war with the squirrels.

730 Days Married

and couldn't be happier...

happy 2nd anniversary to us!

Good News on the Marriage Front

Good news from the west today!

Nice to see progress just a few days before the 2nd anniversary of our "illegal" union.

Pretty Good Day

Today marks the 31st anniversary of the birth of two of my most favorite peeps in the world.

Happy Birthday Pablo & Heidi!

And my wife surprised me with an earlier flight home from Florida...

all in all a May 9th is a pretty good day...

even with a broken foot.

Stupid Weak Foot Bones

10 years ago I broke my foot in 4 places...4 stress fractures from a lack of proper arch support and too much marching/running.

10 years later and apparently my bones can no longer handle walking my dog on the sidewalk.

So not only do I get to crutch around for 2 weeks and wear the "soft-shoe" for 6 weeks but I also have to go to a podiatrist and get orthopedic inserts for my shoes so this won't happen again.

Pretty sexy.

But in all that sucks about this Yash did bring up a really good point...at least I'm not overseas with a broken foot. So if my stupid foot has to be so weak and stupid and need special inserts to get it through the day then I'm glad it is broken now.

Well, maybe next week would have been better since the wife would have been in town to help me.

I certainly won't be hiring Gert out anytime soon as a helper dog. Useless.

Homeowners-1, Tax Assessors-0

The city of Atlanta decided to hit Grant Park residents with a blanket 27% hike in our homes' value. This meant huge increases in our taxes across the board without any consideration for actual home sales or values.

The wife and I appealed our taxes and were denied any adjustment. Today we had our hearing with the Fulton County Board of Assessors and I have to say it was by far the most pleasant experience I have ever had with any person or department of my local government.

We got our value back down to what it is actually worth and it took less than 10 minutes.

Thanks to Mr. Adams with Adams Realtors for holding the free seminar for the entire neighborhood and to Jody our favorite local realtor (and one of the nicest people we've ever met) for helping us out with comps.

To my homeowner friends...APPEAL, APPEAL, APPEAL!