Why do I do that???

It never seems to fail.  I almost always seem to forget to take before pictures!

Jim's little house is a diamond in the rough. It just needs a little care and a woman's touch to bring out its true beauty and make it the quaint little cottage I know it can be.  Today was the first step in giving it some curb appeal.  We went to the garden center and bought six plants and two hanging flower baskets.

Now I've never really gardened before... Okay... I'll admit... I've NEVER gardened before, so I have no idea if the plants I chose will live where we planted them.  I chose plants that require partial sun, 4-8 hours.  However, I'm wondering if putting them under the awning was such a good idea. I guess we will just have to keep them watered, because I don't think they'll get a lot of rain.

We did get some good soil to plant them in, and we followed the instructions exactly as written on the tags. After we were done, we gave them a good drink of water.  I have no idea if we gave them enough, but we'll water them again tomorrow.  The tags said three times a week until established.

The other thing we need to do is put some mulch around them, but Jim wants to buy that in bulk rather than by the bag. I think that's probably a good idea.  It's really going to look nice when it's done. We've decided to buy a few plants every week and build up the landscaping little by little.

We eventually have big plans for our little house.  A small deck for the front, and new deck off the side, extending to the back, a garage... Of course, we'll also be residing and putting on a new roof.  I'd like little roof over the front door...

So many things to do...  One step at a time.

Now if I can only remember to take those dang before pictures!!!!!!

How We Met...

This is a story that I love to tell.

I had started working for the Census Bureau as a clerk--one of the last clerks hired for Address Canvasing. Jim was the Assistant Manager for Administration, and of course, I noticed him. He's tall and very handsome.  But I had given up on the idea of meeting anyone. I was very satisfied with being alone, so it didn't occur to me that he had noticed me.

Oh, he spoke to me every day. He said hello, asked how I was, how was my evening, weekend...the usual office chit-chat...nothing that struck me as unusual. I thought he was a nice guy who spoke to everyone in the office. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought, because I was trying to figure out how to keep my job when they started cutting back on staff, which seemed imminent.  I managed that by getting assigned to Field Operations, which made me feel a little more secure.

About three weeks into the job, I was walking by Jim's desk and he stopped me to ask how my evening had been and if I was feeling any better.  I hadn't been feeling well the day before, and I thought it was nice of him to remember.  So I was standing there talking to him, when he flipped over his calculator.  I looked down and there was a post-it note on it that simply said "Lunch?"  I was so in shock, I think I said "sure", but Jim says I said "yes."

Anyway, that was at about 10:30, and I had a horrible time concentrating the rest of the morning. Suddenly, I was very aware of where he was in the office. And I couldn't help but wonder if it was just two co-workers going to lunch or if he was asking me out on a date. Then of course, I couldn't help but wish I had worn something more attractive. It was Friday and I was wearing jeans.

When we left for lunch, Jim quickly made it clear that he was interested in me. He told me that he had been trying to figure out how to get to know me outside of the office. Again, I was shocked. I had no idea. Then at the restaurant, he asked if I was seeing anyone, which I wasn't, and he asked me if I would like to date him.  The whole conversation is kind of a blur, but I know that before we left the restaurant, he said he could look up my phone number, but he'd prefer not to, and I ended up writing it on a comment card.

That was the beginning...