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!

Derby Fever

So I've been wanting to attend a Roller Derby bout for a few years now but never got around to it and I think it used to be held OTP which is out of the question no matter how much I want to go see girls kick each other's asses while speed skating around in a circle.

My yearning returned full force when the Atlanta Rollergirls were in the parade this weekend at the IP Fest. So after checking out their website I've found out that we have 4 teams here in Atlanta; The Denim Demons, Apocalypstix, Sake Tuyas and the Toxic Shocks, who I desperately hope kick butt b/c I've decided by name alone they're "my team". Those 4 teams play each other every 2nd Saturday of the month and sometimes there are out-of-town teams as well.

Due to K's b-day party we can't go in May and even though MC said April was a bit premature for commitments I want to go ahead and plan to go in June.

You need to buy advance tickets so those of you who already know you're in let me know because I'm getting mine SOON.

Details are as follows:

June 14th (5pm)

$13 bucks for 2 bouts

ITP- its now on Ponce at the Shrine Center and haven't you always wondered what was up in the Shrine Center anyway?

Free Parking

Event is BYOB and apparently people tailgate beforehand...again I ask myself why I haven't been before...

Who's in?

I know what I want for Christmas

I had no idea these things existed but if they start making a combo teen/squirrel-be-gone I'm going to need one immediately.

Toot, Toot

It is a long southern tradition for woman to make delicious fare and then to make apologies for its appearance or taste. Normally I follow this tradition to a tee, as I, too, feel the need for total perfection in my kitchen and its output. When I signed up to make Angie and Jon's wedding and groom's cakes I expected to be doing a lot of apologizing...and I expected to have legitimate reasons for doing so.

For those of you like me who have never constructed a wedding cake it not only requires more baking than you can imagine (9 hours!!) but it is actually quite the architectural feat setting it up. So I'm bucking the tradition and tooting my own horn this time because I have to say I'm pretty proud of how both cakes turned out.

Jon's Groom's Cake "Dig"...complete with mini dinosaur bones...toot, toot.

No Marriage is complete without a trip to the Clermont

Angie's bachelorette was this Saturday. After bbq and then darts we headed to the most sacred of Atlanta landmarks...The Clermont Lounge.

Maybe it is the PBR in a can, the feeling that if you touch anything you will walk out with crabs, a bathroom that will test your ability to hold your bladder beyond your wildest dreams or the strippers who are either over 65, weigh over 250lbs or have track marks up and down their arms...there is just something magical about the Clermont that cements your relationship and makes you all the more grateful for your pending marriage.