Barb and Audrey spent the past week visiting me and C. We spent two nights and a day in San Antonio visiting the river walk, the botanical gardens, and the national cemetery. There is a Lingrell buried there (he is/was a civil war vet) and being able to visit his grave felt rather special. The hotel we stayed at was right across from the Alamo, in fact, we were able to see it from our windows.

Though we never really did anything super special on the other days, they all felt full. We were able to talk, laugh, and get to know each other once more. It has been so long since our last visit. I was very sad to see them leave Sunday. I do hope we are able to see each other sooner than the 3 (6) years between the last visit. Maybe C and I will be able to head up north sometime next year instead.

The house feels empty without them here and a little sadder. Guess I miss them a bit. :) On the upside they had a good trip home and not the nightmare Barb had last time she visited. 

This week is a rather crazy one, lots of early hours and extra hours along with the book store hours. I should make up for some of the lost time from last week so it is ok.

On my way to work this morning I noticed a field of grain was heading out. Sure, it has been green for some time, but this is the first time I noticed any real change. Even though we have had a very wet spring, the crop is still very short. I have been away from farming for too long to identify the crop accurately, but I think it might be wheat. I also noticed that the fields of corn had wee short corn plants growing. The weather the last few days has been nice, and today was really really nice.

I am impressed with how green everything is here this spring. When we arrived, this area was in the midst of a nasty drought and everything was looking dry and desiccated. All the rain this spring has changed how things look. I even saw a guy fishing in a stream bed that has historically (my history) been dry.

We likely have one more cool rainy night to survive, but with any luck that will be the end of that!

Less than 3 weeks until the sisters come visit! I am getting excited!

It was a gorgeous day today. We managed to get to 84 or so and with all the green and blooming stuff it felt quite wonderful. Bit warmer tomorrow (may get 88) and I am looking forward to the warmth. Hopefully, we won't get no nasty storms come Wednesday the way the forecast is casting.

I did get out and mow my lawn this morning. Well, law is a bit too fancy a word for what we have. Still, it looks better now. I saw Charlie's lizard out sunning itself, it really is getting big. Must be some bugs around for it to eat now.

We have a rabbit hanging round our place. I think it is a mommy type as we saw a couple of wee babies hiding in a little nest in our back yard. The poor mom has a ragged left ear from what must have been a close escape from predation.

Bluebonnets are blooming everywhere I look. The wisteria is pretty much done with. Irises are going crazy. I saw a field of corn today that must be a foot high. It'll be interesting to see if the sorghum is growing as well.

Next week is the annual Texas Library association convention. We'll be attending, and best of all, it is only a short drive away in Ft. Worth. No need for hotels and fast foods, though C will have to have a bag over her head as we move through the snarly traffic in town.

It's been a bit nippy the last few days. The temp is not really all that nasty, but the wind makes it feel much worse. I think half of  West Texas is now in East Texas. There will be a few more days of brrr and then we should be into spring full time. Even with the bitter cold it has become extremely green here. If one just looks outside without stepping outside one might even think that it is really nice.

Had a hard drive failure Sunday. Ended up replacing my hard drive and reinstalling some of my programs. I was tempted to slave the old hd and move everything over but decided that might bring too much stuff over. It seems to be running better with the clean new drive.

My hours at work may be changing a bit over the next few weeks. Still the 19 hours a week, but coming in and leaving at slightly different times. I have no problems with changing hours as long as I don't end up doing less than 2 or so a day. Given the cost of gas, I feel I need at least 3 hours a day to ensure my profitability.

We are mostly moved in now. The last big job is organizing the garage based on the Library of Congress Classification system.

Well, I would actually be quite happy if everything was up against a wall and I could park the car in the garage. Right now it is such a mess the car has to sleep in the driveway.

The house is starting to feel more like ours. We put up some art over the last few days and that has helped. We are a bit short on cupboard space but will make do. The best part is the backyard looks out on a pasture and there are hawses roaming round there. The worst part is the backyard looks over a wet spot that Carol calls a mosskitter creator and is already worried about being able to sit outside.

A wee bunny rabbit hangs out on our front lawn a long with a wee lizard (slightly bigger than the one at the old place and Charlie the Black Cat is quite happy to meet him/her).

Spring has definitely settled in round here. The fake pears are losing there blooms and going green, the redbud are all red (pink but I guess pink bud don't sound as good), and the trees are half green and half fuzzy. I had to cut the lawn today, so I guess the easy winter days are gone.

livin in boxes

We are mostly in the new home. Still a few things to do with the old place before we abandon it entirely. I will be delighted to walk away from that place though I will miss the back yard.
I will spend today in the old place cleaning and that should be it there.

The new place has laminate and tile through 90% of the house. The only pieces of carpet that exist are in the closets. I guess the owners felt swapping that carpet out was too expensive for the return. It has a rather weird paint job, but it is better than the brown cheap peeling wood paneling that was in the old place. Ceiling fans are present in all rooms except the kitchen and bathrooms (2 full baths again). We have a garage, though we can't use it right now due to an excess of stuff that likely should be thrown away but hasn't been. Neither C nor me are all that good at throwing stuff away. We have a fireplace as well, so on those cold rainy winter nights we will be able to warm up the old fashioned way.

Now all we have to do is find things in boxes.