Rock Band, BBQ's, Wii Injuries and Birds

This weekend has been busy every minute it seems. Actually my past week was jam-packed. It's nice when everything seems to fit and work in your favor. I wonder if going to the gym first thing in the morning is part of it. I get it done first thing and there you have it - a major goal accomplished from the start.

Friday we started our long weekend out to dinner with Sharon, Stan, Kerri and Rob. We walked to a casual Italian place near their apartment. Then we went to a friends house. Leo's co-worker Dena and her husband Kent had us over to their place in Garner. They have a young son, Keaton and they had their other friends over too who also have a son only 3 weeks younger. When the boys went to bed, they broke out Rock Band. I had only played once before, but having some experience on Guitar Hero I confidently played a song or two. We switched and I tried my hand at the drums. It was fun even though you feel kinda dumb - I mean I could just as easily be hitting real drums with sticks to make the same amount of noise. But I went along with it. Leo and I both avoided the microphone. The toy microphone, unfortunately, does not transform your voice into a super star singer like colored buttons can really make you sound like a guitar hero.

Saturday Sharon and Stan came by and we went to the flea market together. Leo and I hadn't been in a long time and it was a nice day so there were lots of vendors out. I bought a beautiful hand-made ceramic birdhouse. I'll have to take a pic and post it later. I'll tell you about our bird/ animal adventures later . . .

After the flea market, we went to a Taste of Durham which is a little festival where you can sample food from various restaurants, beers and wines of different kinds and some other vendors. Even a snow-making company. I attempted to nail Leo with a snowball but missed horribly - my aim is non-existent. (You will see I made up for it later . . . ) We stayed a little while but there wasn't a whole lot to see and do. Some of our friends were there as well but we left early knowing we would see them later in the weekend.

Saturday afternoon I was faced with hours of time before our evening plans and a yard that needed some help. I finished some additional weeding, transplanted lilies to the new garden area I hope to cultivate, planted some sunflower seeds and cleaned up parts of a dead animal. Yeah, there was something furry and very dead hanging out on the side of the house. Whatever it got into a fight with - it lost terribly. It looked like part of a rabbit to me but there wasn't enough to know for sure. Ick.

Saturday night I was somehow convinced to go watch a UFC Fight at a local bar/ restuarant. I could care less about fighting matches but it turned out to be fun and even slightly entertaining.

Sunday morning we slept in a bit. I had time to make it to the gym before we got ready for a party at friends Eleni and Mike's house. Most parties in the last year or so have been either our house or Eleni's. I like to host, but I also really enjoy just being at the party. Last night was no exception. There was lots of food and drink as always and our Raleigh gang were all there. It's so great having a group of people you can feel really comfortable with.

After stuffing ourselves with burgers and dogs a few of us went for a little walk through the neighborhood. We found a Greenway nearby which we didn't know about. Greenways, by the way, are paved paths to run/ walk/ bike on that usually run through neighborhoods behind houses and such. This ones runs a long way around the area but we veered off the path to follow a different one with a small waterfall. We ended up in someone's backyard and on another block but we made it to where we started feeling a little better having walked off a bit of dinner.

We hung out on the hammock strung out between trees in Mike and Eleni's massive backyard. They have about an acre of land, most all of it fenced in and very long. There's tons of room for dogs to run, people to play games in and, we have joked, tents to be set up and slept in. The yard is so big that if we set up the tents a certain way we could probably trick ourselves into feeling like we are "roughing it". Or we could actually go camping. We'll see.

When nighttime arrived we moved from the back yard and deck to the inside. We fired up the Wii and started a couple games of tennis. Leo and I were playing. I was standing and he was sitting on an ottoman to my right. It was my turn to swing and I connected my right hand and wii remote with Leo's left ear. Oops. I clipped the side of his head pretty hard. His hat flew off one way and his body went the other. In classic Leo form he dropped to the floor like dead weight. In classic Jen form I bent over laughing my butt off. Oh man...I'm still laughing. It was hysterical. Leo didn't think so and he laid on the ground while everyone else worried he was in major pain, but I could see his face. It said "Ow, that really hurt you jerk but yeah it was a little bit funny. Ow." Evenutally I cought my breath, he sat up again and we finished the game. I lost. But I was the most entertained.

Today we are just hanging around the house. While we were eating lunch in the kitchen we saw something cool. For Christmas I got a hummingbird feeder from Greg & Danielle. I put it up a while ago hearing that hummingbirds come through in early April down here. I was giving up on seeing any. Leo saw one a while ago but today I finally saw one myself. He was using the feeder and he danced around a bit for us. We got a little bit of it on tape - we got a camcorder not too long ago. I'll post some of that when we get a little more footage. I feel like the little things I'm doing in the yard are making a difference. I put a birdfeeder out there a month or so ago, along with the new birhouse. Of course the stupid squirrels always find a way to feast on the bird treats. Grrr . . . Otherwise. I can't wait to get more flowering plants out there and start on my little garden off to the side. Soon it will be a fun place to hang out everyday. Just ask the squirrels - they love it.

Spring Fever

I hope that wherever you are reading this that you have a beautiful day to walk out into. If not then you really should consider life here - it's gorgeous! We have had consistent rain lately (and our lakes and whatnot are at capacity so I had better not hear about the stinkin' drought one more time!), mixed in with enough sunshine as well. Saturday was nice and most of Sunday too - with some evening storms. I love that. Today is perfect.

I spent some time in the yard finally. I hate to admit that I hate our yard b/c it is nowhere near what I want it to look like but I have to start putting some time in so I can enjoy it more. The trees in the back are filling in and it feels like we have more privacy and some of our lilies are about to open any day now. I pulled some weeds on one side of the yard and I have a vision for what I want it to look like by the end of summer. It involves, more lilies I think, sunflowers, and some nice stone or concrete. We finished our little project of extending the patio a few feet too. Baby steps.

I also spent some time on wedding album #2. That wll also be finished sooner than later I hope. It's actually a lot of fun to look through the pictures everytime. But sometimes it makes me miss everyone more. Maybe that's why I stopped for a while . . .

Today I continued with this random burst of energy and joined a gym! I had been thinking about it for a while and there is one not to far away that is only $10 a month and low sign up, etc. They include personal trainer sessions as well which I like a lot. I'm sure they are no Bob and Jillian (Biggest Loser anyone?) but they know more than I do. So it's a start. The trick is to get up and go workout . . .

And that's about it. I have a busy work week ahead of me so I had better hop to it. By the way, I established a new e-mail so take note. It's jen@jentrend.com. The other works still and they all go to the same place but this one is current and shorter.

Have a great week!