We've Moved One Step Closer to World Domination!

Come visit as we unpack the boxes in our new digs at

http://teamnugget.wordpress.com/

Woo-hoo!

All for now,
Nugget
:)

OMG OMG OMG!

OMG I got my first Etsy Front Page! Woot! *Happy Dance!*




It's the Miriam Necklace, one of my personal favorites and the very first piece I made for my shop!!! How's that for serendipity!!!

What a great day!

All for now,
Nugget

Those Little Saké Cups are for Taking Shots, Right?

Team Nugget can really be dense sometimes. Like when we think we can go out to a nice dinner (something other than fast food or Mexican) with the Little Nugget. I mean, how many times do we need to be reminded? Apparently many. Because we have a keen ability to block unpleasant experiences from our collective memory. Call it our superpower, if you will. Otherwise, why would we keep trying to take our oh-so adorable, albeit fidgety offspring to public places confined by the typical social expectations. You know, like not screaming "NOOOO!!!!" seemingly out of the blue: we're used to it so we no longer have the startle reflex, but most other diners are unaccustomed to spontaneous bursts of adrenaline during their meal. Makes you feel alive, eh?! Our gift to you! You're welcome! :-)

Team Nugget had a hankering for sushi the other night, AND we had a coupon. Score! So blinded by our fog of naive forgetfulness, we loaded up for a family outing. Woo-hoo! Usually the amnesia is short-term, as we gain consciousness as soon as we walk in the door and see 1) it's a nice, quiet restaurant and 2) there are other customers who seem to enjoy the quiet nature of said establishment. Fuck! I will share with you now:

Team Nugget's Strategies for Peaceful & Harmonious Dining in Fine Restaurant Settings, a.k.a. "Damage Control"

1. Order alcohol, tout de suite.
   
2. Waste no time in ordering food, and pray to God it arrives quickly.
   
3. Swiftly unpack the Squinkies and other well-chosen distractions from the Little Nugget's poodle purse.
   
4. Even though you are going to a restaurant to procure food, ALWAYS BRING BACKUP FOOD. Food delivery is NEVER fast enough.
   
5. Once food has arrived, eat! Enjoy and savor it, of course, but just know everything could fall apart at any minute!
   
6. When they come to ask you how it tastes, ask for the check! You just never know when you may be shamed into an abrupt departure!

Bon appetit!!! That really is our survival guide, for reals.

OK, so we weren't shamed *this time*, but we did make a quick departure as Little Nugget REALLY liked the sound her sassy boots made on the hardwoods, and she wanted to make sure everyone knew. That and she felt compelled to do a special sushi house interpretive dance in the exact spot where the wait staff come in and out of the kitchen.

After we escaped to the privacy and non-judgemental embrace of the car, I realized I had forgot to finish my Sake. I was really tempted to burst back into the restaurant, grab the tiny shot glass and down that sucker.

I'm sure the other diners would approve.

All for now,

Nugget

It's Not You, It's Me...

This is so hard to say. We've been together for such a long time now, which makes it even harder...I'm breaking up with you, Michaels.

We had some good times. When I got those weekly 40% Off the Price of Any Item Coupons (excluding sale items, magazines, books, Martha Stewart items, Cricut items, clearance items, or anything else you want), I couldn't wait to hook up with you. It was intoxicating. I remember the first time I introduced you to the Little Nugget. She gasped "Oh Mommy, look at all the colors!!!" I knew just how she felt. We both thought you were "the one".

But something happened. I don't know. Maybe you started phoning it in. Maybe I just raised my standards. But all I know is I need a store that can give me what I need.

I've started seeing another store. It's a locally owned store. There, I've said it. Their beads are all drilled on center. And the holes are straight.

But we can still be friends, right? I'm sure I'll need some craft paints or a new sketch book from time to time. And hey, you're the only place I can get butter rum Life Savers, so we've still got that!

Take care of yourself, Michaels. It was good knowing you.

Nugget

**Tap Tap Tap** Is This Thing On?

**eh-hem**

I JUST HAD MY FIRST TWO SALES IN THE ETSY STORE!!!!

whew, that felt good!

All for now,
Nugget

I Can't Help but Rock the Mommy Blog

While I still am a shameless marketing whore and continue to convert the masses via my quest for jewelry domination (World Domination will be Sparkly), I find that I can't say fuck or anything over there lest I offend and present myself in an unprofessional manner. Well, I could offend here too, I guess, so sorry bout that if it bugs you.

But what I guess I'm trying to say is I MISSED YOU guys. I enjoy your company. BFFs? K!!!

We'll talk soon! I have to figure out what I can make for dinner using only leftovers and a box of wine! ;-)

Nugget

Yea I Did It!!!!!

I've been wanting to create my very own jewelry empire for some time now, and I'm happy to say that I've finally taken steps to achieve said domination!

You may have noticed I added a wee Etsy gadget to the blog, and as a result of the opening of my Nuggets of Goodness shop, I have started another blog, which you can find here.

Long story short, and because I am a shameless marketing whore, I probably won't be posting a lot on this blog for a bit, cuz, well I'm going to be posting on the other blog. There, I said it. But I invite you to check it out, because I'm sure you'll find it equally as enthralling, AND it's more sparkly than this blog!

You just can't beat sparkly. I mean come on!!

Nugget

What I Learned in Preschool Today...

Little Nugget is not ready to dislodge herself from my butt just yet.

For the last month or so, I have been eagerly awaiting the coveted yet elusive "Mommy Alone Time." I've heard about, read stories, but thought it was just a fairytale. Until last week, when we had a meeting with Monkey's preschool and they said she could start. Today. What? Seriously? OMG! Since that moment, although struck with guilt over the degree of excitement brought about by said news, my mind has been all a-whirl with what to do with my new found freedom, known as the Morning Session.

I have long sought to return to jewelry making and my dream of building a crafts empire, you know, just in case my evaluation doesn't go so well at work this week. I dropped her off, holding back the tears until I got back out to the parking lot, then timidly went about the business of "Mommy Time." An hour later, I got a phone call. From the school. OH. NO. My empire, dangerously behind schedule, will have to wait. Little Nugget had been crying for an hour!!!

:-(

Apparently I am the human equivalent of a giant squishy pacifier of comforty-goodness for my Sweet Babygirl. Sigh. I got her calmed down (don't know how, but we'll take it) and decided to stick around. Because there would be no staying for the Little Nugget if Mommy wasn't staying too. So we went outside and hung out on the playground for awhile, and she dug it. And the boys dug it too. Sheesh. She's 3, and already the boys notice her. One little boy even stuck his tongue out at her, giving Mommy the perfect opportunity to explain that really that's all she needs to know about boys, they're silly, have cooties (except her Daddy and Grandpas), and should be regarded with skepticism or avoided altogether. Her response to this was to get up and go play "kick the ball" with her new little boyfriends. Sigh.

I wonder if we get to fingerpaint tomorrow....

Nugget

UPDATE: Oh. My. God: I forgot the funniest part of the story: one of Little Nugget's boyfriends asked me if I was her SISTER!!!!! LOL, His Mommy taught him well!

You Know You're Just Dying to Find Out...

Bat-Assed Crazy Neighbor Update:

When we last met, Mr. Crazy was packin it all up, laundry appliances and all. It was quiet for the rest of the weekend, with the exception of a late night visit to pick up God-knows-what. Crazy Bitch was still AWOL, but we didn't think anything of it, since it was Valentine's weekend, and honestly if I suffered a breakup then, I'd probably not come home to face the empty house either.

So Monday morning, I'm sippin my coffee, and I hear noises next door. Being the concerned (nosy) neighbor that I am, I peeked through the window to see Mr. C's buddy (Mr. TOW-Mater) drive off with the new trash bins just delivered by the city a week earlier. So now I'm thinkin WTH? And then it dawned on me: Mr. Crazy did NOT leave Crazy Bitch as previously thought. Seriously, we think they skipped town! OK, I didn't see this one coming.

Again, being the concerned (REALLY nosy) neighbor that I am, I of course contacted our real estate agent, thinking she might have some insight. And just like a good piece of gossip, she was on it like stink on shit. (I don't know if she's a gossip hound, I just thought it sounded good when I wrote it...sorry.) No it's not in foreclosure YET, but they might have thought if they left town before it happened, nobody could find them! HA!

She suggested we call the city, and we plan to, but honestly I don't want to jinx it. So we've given it a couple of weeks. There has been snow on the ground most of the time and no sign of activity. *crossing fingers*

I think this calls for a happy dance!!!! *shakin it*

Oh Hell Yes!!!!
Nugget

Really There are NO Excuses, but Try This One On For Size...

I SO had good intentions to rock hard on the remodelling project(s) underway and for about 2 hours I really opened up a serious can of whoop ass.

Yes, we sat around for some time this morning leisurely drinking our coffee and watching the renno-fest marathon that is HGTV on Saturday morning: Holmes on Homes, eh, and some other ones. I don't quite remember, it's all a blur of fencing, tiling, dry walling...And you'd think that would put a fire in our belly, but people, we were tired and clearly in need of much greater motivation than mere TV personalities were going to provide. At least for me. Hubby Nugget had far greater initiative at that point, but I needed additional prodding because I was tackling the dreaded problem: the butt-ugly, unevenly applied popcorn ceiling that the obviously EVIL previous owners put up. There really should be a law against that, if not some code violation.

Having already accepted (due to my habitual viewing of HGTV) that I will have to slip coat every square inch of wall in the house (the alternative being new drywall), I had yet to reach acceptance about what needed to be done with the ceiling. I envisioned water, drop cloths, breathing aparatii, and hours and hours of horrible aching tedious dirty work.

And all that was true, except the hours and hours part. The ceiling had been painted, so no need for water. I just knocked off the popcorn part, and was done in less than two hours. Which is awesome, except I had really just expected to work on that today, and wasn't really in the mood to start slip coating. (I have to psych myself up for something I've never done before. Well, I've done slip coat, but that was on plaster, no biggie. This is 50-year old sheet rock. Nuff said.)

Plus when I got done, then allowing clean-up time, it was about 4 o'clock, which really is too late in the day to start something new. Ehem. Now don't get me wrong, I've been busy: I cannot tell you how many messes and toy box explosions I've cleaned today. Plus laundry sorting...oh yes, and Monkey wrangling. That's job number one.

Oh who am I kidding...I feel like an unbelievable lazy turd right now, obsessively checking Facebook and the Blog-o-sphere for new updates. Busted! But I did do all that stuff today. I just feel bad that I should have done more. Oh well, some days you just need a day off...oh wait...TOMORROW'S MY BIRTHDAY!!! Well if that's not an excuse to be a slacker for 2 or 3 hours, I don't know what is!!!

Check out the computer game that's been occupying much of my lazy turd time: Pure Hidden. If you're into seek-and-find games and like really pretty, relaxing graphics, check it out! (note to self: must remember it's OK to take some relaxation time!!!!)

All for now,
Nugget

The Early Bird Gets the Worm, But Might Get Killed in a Late Season Frost...

The planting catalogues are here! Yea!!! Time to think about gardening again!!! I say that as another blizzard approaches...


I never thought I would be one of those people who 1) looks forward with great anticipation to the upcoming spring plantings in October; and 2) peruses seed and bulb catalogues with deep and meaningful purpose. Oh yeah, and I want a goat. Nobody saw that one coming.

Honestly, who could resist that cute face? I will have my pygmy goat one day, oh yes I will. But for now, I have The Bug.

So yes, I am very excited about Spring and have been thinking about upcoming projects. First off, the rock wall garden is complete. The only thing left to do is let it do it's thing. Oh sure, I am going to take the iris, ornamental grass* and some of the sedum out**, maybe move some stuff and add some goodies in the corner near the tree, but other than that (!), really all that needs to be done is to let the ground cover by the road cover the ground.

*OK, so here's the story with that. The iris was planted willy-nilly at the end of '08 because I received it as a late season gift and needed to get it in the ground. Now I have a better place for it, so it gets moved this year. And the ornamental grass, well I put it in the place it now resides simply to prevent erosion. Now that the ground cover has kicked in, the grass can move elsewhere as it looks a bit out of place.

**And the sedum. Sigh. My poor sedum. Oh it's OK, but it really could use some more sun. Some are doing well, like the angelique and blue spruce. But the others, the stonecrops, are just too leggy for my liking. Even though I love sedum, leggy sedum is just plain ugly. So leggy sedum in the front yard are heading to the back where they can bask in the sunlight, at least somewhere in the NE corner.

That leaves a little patch of ground by the front door in need of tendin' to! Wahoo! Another garden spot! Not sure what yet, probably has to be something that doesn't need much light. Maybe rocks. And another tiny tiny gnome.

In the backyard (yes I know we agreed that's Hubby Nugget's domain, but I ran out of places to plant, and I wore him down), I will continue the plantings around the Juniper, another azalea bush to be sure. And vinca. It seemed pretty happy there last year. Of course the beloved Garden of Sedummy Goodness. This will include rocks, and definitely lavender (mmmm). Oh yes, I'm excited. Again, not sure where it's going to go, but I need to be able to see it from inside the house.

On the west side, I'm going to plant the orphan Norton grape from the vineyard. This is mostly so I can practice pruning it. Probably would be a good idea to learn how to prune if one is going to be a grower of grapes and maker of fine wines.

And finally, as if there aren't enough projects already, I will embellish the newly finished rock wall that surrounds the fire pit/patio area with plants from Larry's House of Cheap Sedum (a local nursery that I was told about and am salivating at the thought of visiting this spring...big surprise there).

Come on spring!

All for now,

Nugget

Damn I'm HOT!!!

And not in a good way!

So I've been sitting here at my computer as I am apt to do when I'm putting off laundry, and I realized that I am SWEATING! Now anyone who knows me is aware that I have the metabolism of a sloth and rarely break a sweat, even in the dog days of summer, and even then only if I'm performing some sort of hard physical labor in direct sunlight. So I thought there must have been some kind of heat wave in the house and got up to check the thermostat expecting it to read something like 85, but no. 71 degrees. I blame this entirely on my daughter.

See, I had the Little Nugget late in life, the ripe old age of 39. (Yeah I KNOW that's not old, but you tell that to my God-forsaken hormones!). I was standing in the middle of JCPenny's buying my Sweet Hubby Nugget a Valentines day present when I suddenly felt like I was burning up on fire! I was beet red! I thought "wow that's weird whats up with that?" Since me and the newly Hubby-d Nugget were working on expanding Team Nugget to three members, I had my suspicions. We'd only been married a couple of months, so it seemed kind of unlikely, but hey, miracles can happen. So I picked up a pee test at the store and told my sweet Nugget about the urinary celebration we were to have the next morning promptly upon waking. I was convinced of impending pregnancy as my body was acting STRANGELY.

There is a point here, and I'm getting to it, just be patient.

So the pee test of goodness commenced, and...nothing. NOT pregnant. Dude, I was bummed. Hubby Nugget was bummed. So on we went about our days at work. Except I had a huge commute and TONS of time to reflect upon the news. Being prone to thoughts of impending doom, I suspected that I had misread my hormones and was not pregnant, but in fact starting MENOPAUSE. Which made me sad because I surmised we were too old to have a kid, blah, blah, blah. That's just how my brain works, and why meds are awesome (I wasn't taking them at the time, rest assured). So the next day, struck by a nagging sense of curiosity, I decided to check out via the interwebs (both of them) the accuracy of those "super accurate" home pregnancy tests. And guess what. They're not that accurate and give FALSE NEGATIVES! Dude, I was simultaneously stoked and freaked out!

Since we had super-awesome health insurance at that time, it was cheaper for me to just go get tested at my doctor's office than buy the test again, which is what happened the following Tuesday, and the rest is history. And now we have the Sweet Little Nugget of Goodness! Voila!

So ok, this is not supposed to be a story of our pregnancy, but it is closely tied for me to the subject of Menopause, because after I had the Little One, I became keenly aware that I was no longer experiencing pregnancy-related hormone fluctuations, but that the pregnancy had in my opinion jump-started my hormones into peri-menopause gear. Damn.

So yeah, it's ALL my daughter's fault. I'm just sayin.

All for now,
Nugget

Wonderwall

Behold the rock wall that Hubby Nugget and I built this summer:

It is a boomerang shaped border for our new patio/firepit area, a work in progress. It's original intent was to accent the 60' wildflower patch, oh but now it is so much more. You see, I have exhausted all my planting options in the front yard, in other words, yes, my rock garden is DONE. Now all that is left is to let it do it's thing. Auto-pilot! While that is oh so satisfying, uh, it's really not. Because I still must plant things. And when I say things, I mean sedum. And other creeping perennials. Enter the wall. The Empty Wall. Screaming for green. Just begging for plantings. How could I deny it? Oh I know it's Fall. WAY past planting season. But I laugh at freezes! Throw caution to the strong autumn wind. Behold my lunacy: Creeping phlox will look FABulous in the wall if it roots before it dies....

And let's not forget our friend, creepy thyme (yes, it FINALLY took off up front):

Couldn't leave Irish Moss out of the loop:

This is an earlier experiment with sedum. Kind of leggy, guess it expects TOTAL sun, sheesh.

It faces south, you'd think that would be good enough, picky bastard...

AND sedum facing west, so totally psyched with it's location:

So come spring, we shall see who is left standing. And hopefully, we will have a wall full of beautiful blooms!!! Yea! Go Team Nugget!

All for now,

Nugget

I Really Should Write These Posts Earlier in the Day...

I'm usually at my best when I write in the morning. So now it's almost 9:00 p.m., and I just remembered that I hadn't posted yet, even though I had a great topic ready this morning!

But alas, we spent the day outside working (mostly my Nugget)/lounging (me)/playing (both of us) with the Little Nugget, and when I came indoors to attend to urgent peanut butter sammie needs, I ended up doing laundry, dishes, and kicking ass in the Photoshop Expediency Project, which is what I'm now calling the attempt to rid myself of a giant pesticle in my (what some would call hostile) work environment.

Have to give some stats, to demonstrate the awesomeness at which the project is hurdling towards the finish line: I have approximately 4,000 digitized images depicting various works of ancient art to edit and basically re-create in Photoshop (started with over 10,000, just so you get the scope of the project). I have been averaging about 50-75 images per day, on a good day. Since the inception of the Photoshop Expediency Project, which was at exactly 12:20 Thursday afternoon, I have finished almost 1,200 images!!!

I really don't think that merits any further comment, we all know that World Domination is within reach!

Oh hell yeah!
Nugget

Don't Mess with the Support Staff...

or they will mess you back.

So I've been working on this massive digitizing project for Curmudgeon (also known in this blog as "Pesticle"), and have delivered many, many images. So NOW he decides he doesn't like the way I'm delivering, via CD, which is the only way we currently have. Says there are too many images on the CDs, he can't find anything. Nevermind that I include all data in a spreadsheet so he can find said images, but hey, when I mention the data, he says, "Oh I don't need the data, I know what everything is." Whatever.

He wants them broken down by categories, Like all the Parthenon images on one disc, all of the Jupiter Capitolinus on one, etc. I get that. But I also get that he requested literally over 10,000 images and needs them by December, and if I'm to have this done in a timely fashion, I can't take the time to catalogue and re-organize all the images in little chunks and spoon feed them like baby food. Dude.

I reassure him that we are working on a new web-based delivery system and once we get over this bump, it will all be better.

He says, "I don't care about a delivery system, once you get these all scanned for me I won't need you or a delivery system."

Oh no he di-int!

I calmly looked at him and said, "you really don't think you'll need anymore images?" to which he replied, "oh no I can get beautiful Botticellis online, so why do I need you?" I said, "you can get Botticellis, but you can't get "Villa Papyri," and he countered with "no, but you're scanning them for me so I won't need it."

Dude.

I've spent the last year Photoshopping almost 10,000 scanned crappy 30 year old slide images and you're gonna say that to me?! Wow. My first impulse was to say something like then I guess its ok if I delete the rest of these bad images because you can easily replace them with images from the internet (HAA! I'd like to see him try!!!), but I decided it is more prudent to consider this the light-bulb moment, like when you wake up one day and realize that your boyfriend is a giant asshole and why hadn't you seen this before when its so clear! Now I've always known he was an ass, but I've decided that he no longer deserves my quality services. Apparently he feels that I am vulnerable, he has been suspiciously nice lately so I was prepared for the attack. Such a little weasel. Don't fuck with the person who is working on your project!!! What an idiot!

As of this moment, I am no longer making silk purses of these pigs ear images, I am hammering through the remaining sets to GET THEM DONE, then I'm gonna burn so many fricken CDs he'll regret the day he ever set foot into my office. If I'm feeling really ornery, I might not include the data! Ha!! And when I'm done, I will deliver them in one giant heap on his desk!!! Oh yes!

Then I'll get back to work on more productive things, like serving the faculty who actually appreciate me!!!

All for now,
Nugget

Diversions of Goodness

I'm looking for a new game to play. I've never really been a game player, but I've been giving it a go as a way to unwind after a busy day.

When I joined Facebook, I really got into Farm Town, as witnessed here. When I say I, I mean we, in that Hubby Nugget was equally enthralled with this time-wasting endeavor. I have to give the Town some cred for making me realize that a relaxed Mommy is a happy Mommy, one that requires less drink to achieve the desired relaxation level.

But all good things must come to an end. My love affair with Farm Town began to fade. I looked to Facebook for another and began playing Farmville. But really it was just a rebound relationship. Who am I kidding.

I re-evaluated my priorities. It wasn't about the coin. It wasn't about the small house versus the farmhouse versus the mansion. I was perfectly happy with the farmhouse (more closet space, but not so much that you felt compelled to become a compulsive shopper). And I really didn't even care about the crops. Oh I did at first, but that was just a means to an end. Plant the crops, harvest the crops, sell the crops, get the coin. Coin in itself doesn't bring happiness, no, Coin brings choices, and choices are good. I digress. What I'm trying to say is that I realized what appealed to me about Farm Town was the fact that I could design elaborate gardens and mazes, and THAT was cool.

So while I am simultaneously amusing myself and cursing Jungle Jewels, I would like to invite someone to create an awesome landscape gardening game app. I bet it would be HUGE. Or not. I know I would enjoy it.

All for now,
Nugget

Is it November Yet?

SO close!!!

Till tomorrow, I leave you with this:

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

All for now,

Nugget

New Post...

Oh I know you want one. But guess what? This is all you get for now!!! Ha!

November is National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo).

You shall be rewarded for your patience with an entire month of daily posts about excruciatingly mundane things.

You have been warned!

Nugget

Team Nugget's Anniversary Gift to You...

To our fellow diners last night, you are welcome.

Yesterday was the anniversary of the founding members of Team Nugget, myself and my Nugget! Four years! Woo-hoo! To celebrate, we planned a nice dinner out at Justus Drugstore, a Restaurant.

It promised to be a tasty evening of wonderful cuisine. Here is the blurb from the website:

"We believe real food raised with painstaking care by local small farm producers, prepared lovingly by skilled artisans served in an ambient beautiful space is an experience everyone should enjoy. If we can’t make it from scratch, we won’t serve it." --Justus Drugstore

Last night's menu included Striped Bass, Braised Pork, Roasted Chicken, Kobe Beef, and Rabbit, all locally raised. Mmm...(I don't even like rabbit and it sounded good!)

So we get there early to take advantage of the "window of opportunity" that is the Little Nugget's tolerance level for fine dining. That entailed lots of snacks and distracting yet quiet toys. It worked well with our dining experience in Denver last spring, so there you go.

Soon into the door we discover that this place isn't too kid friendly, no boosters, but hey, that's OK, it's a sophisticated vibe, and our girl is cool with it. I made some joke about duct tape, but I don't think the woman who seated us had kids, or she would have pissed herself with laughter.

They brought us menus and water, (Little Nugget immediately noticed the straw was absent, apparently she requires straws now, but this wasn't a straw place...she rolled with it though, good girl!) First off, the waiter patiently asked us what our meal plans were for the Little Nugget. Uh, raisins and rice cakes for appetizer, then what ever she'll eat off our plate? He allowed us a few moments with the menu (which as I mentioned had rabbit and stuff, and she realistically would prefer eating play-doh to that stuff, but we were trying really hard to make it work...).

Moments later, with all her snacks quickly disappearing at an alarming rate, our waiter came back over to discuss the menu and gently assert that entrees take some time (as indicated in above statement), all the while, someone was getting fidgettier by the second. Dude, I was getting nervous. None of the toys were working. Not even the stickers. I started having flashbacks to last weekend.

He gave us another "moment" but I noticed he was taking orders from all the other tables, even though they had came in after us. Normally I would have been a little put off, but I think he knew. And we knew. And he knew that we knew that he knew the Little Nugget was not going to make it though the dining service. And for that, we are grateful. And our fellow diners should be too. Because this could have turned out very unpleasant for EVERYone in that ambient space.

We packed it up, and they seemed relieved, and frankly, so were we. But now where to eat? Restaurant dining was out. So we headed over to our local grocery store and loaded up a rotisserie chicken, bottle of chilled champagne and a couple of salads from the salad bar, and snuggled on the couch at home!

It's all good!

All for now,

Nugget

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

No, really just a Bobcat:

Last weekend Hubby Nugget rented that fine piece of heavy equipment, and the backyard carnage began!

It's all part of Team Nugget's plan for Backyard World Domination. Our yard is on a diagonal slope (we live on a hill, duh), so HN wanted to level out the future patio area. In the end, it should be like a sunken fire pit space, with benches built into the side. And fabulous sedum growing out of the rock wall. Can't wait!

Go Nugget!

We (and when I say we, I mean my Nugget) jackhammered the existing useless sidewalk down to the backyard (which really was just an excuse for rain water to seep into the basement), and he filled that in with some more concrete chunks from the demo'd sidewalk in the back, and dirt from the patio is going there as well, to level it out a bit.

Jackson was very helpful:

The Bug, not so much! He's freakishly camera-shy, maybe he thinks it will steal his soul...nah, he's just a scaredy cat!

More scooping action:

Hubby Nugget was having fun!

Behold the future driveway extension! We have a bit more filling to do!

Woo-hoo! More places to plant next spring!!!

All for now,

Nugget