all that's past is prologue...

I had a BHAG to get the garage pained by the end of April. Like many such goals, it got derailed by being overbooked (mainly with circus shows) and rainy days and work deadlines and the like. I did get a lot of it done, but there's still a fair amount to do. To be honest, I think I touched up the siding in spots about 10 years ago, but haven't otherwise painted the garage since it was built. I'm on a ton of May 15 deadlines and should have been working. But the backyard looks TERRIBLE and I really wanted to get it cleared up so we could spend some time out there, and that means at least finishing the part that faces the patio. And it's a gorgeous day. So I got through some work and decided I would just have to do some tomorrow. Patrick has Beatrix at an MRI for a back injury (yikes!), so I popped quickly out to get some of the painting done. The step stood I was using was tippy on the group, but I thought I was ok for small sections. Until I was not. Stepstool tipped, m

Many years ago, Patrick got me a comfy chair I had fallen in love with at a consignment store. Since then it's been my comfortable place — but also the comfy place for the animals as well. For a whole year, Brutus spent most days camped out on it. But over the years, it's become pretty worn down. So, because I haunt the free boards, I found a blue and white chair and ottoman that I also loved. I made a new friend from the previous owner, and she even delivered it tonight. So tonight I went down to the park at the end of the block to nab some lilacs to put in a vase (and talk to a neighbor on the way).   When I came back we moved some things around, and I love the way the living room looks now. I think the animals appreciate it as well! Come and visit! We bought a bottle of crema de fleur tonight at a tasting at Solo Vino, and we made some delicious G&Ts. We would love to hang out with you!

I'm in a lot of shock and not getting much done today because I got the news that our incredible neighbor, John, passed away yesterday after a brief illness. (terrible picture but best I can do in a quick timeframe) His story is not mine to tell, but my memories are, and there are so many of them. They are flooding through my mind right now that it's hard to get much else done, so I'm doing what I usually do when that happens and write. John and his wife Linda were the first people I knew on my block — in fact, I knew them before I bought the house. Linda worked with my friend Elaine at TPT and they welcomed us with open arms and connected us in to everyone immediately.  Whatever we needed help with, John was there, where it was work on the house or a drink in the back yard next to the chimichanga. I talked him into stage managing at Jeune Lune and he stayed for awhile as production manager and never held it against me. He and Linda were always going to great theater, and o

Ok, and I mean this seriously — one good thing about having multiple properties with multiple projects is that you can always take advantage of an opportunity. Even if something is not on your priority list, if something comes up that you can use, you can hop on it. In this case, I had long wanted something between the pavers at Summit. Really I had wanted creeping thyme, but it's ridiculously expensive per pot. And then my friend Teresa was doing some dividing yesterday and had some extra stringy stonecrop that she gave me, so I put it in there. I know it's "invasive," but here I think it will be great. I just wish I had a little more of it, but hopefully it will start to spread soon. For some reason, every one of our gardens are looking a little bereft this year, and I don't know why. I also have some upgrade projects I want to do — Africa re-ignited my love of tropical plants, for example, so I would like to put some cannas by the pool. If anyone is dividing pl

Last week, my friend Megan told me that each 1,515 emails we store in the cloud translates to one full pound of carbon emissions a year. I made a note on my Trello list (I wonder how much carbon *that* takes up a year?) to delete some emails. Then today Patrick informed me my work email box was almost fully out of space and I NEEDED to clean it out. I was volunteering for Circus Juventas this afternoon, posting the show order for parents so they know when to come pick up their kids. Before the show and at intermission I had a few minutes, so I ruthlessly trimmed old email. Reader, I deleted over 21,000 emails.  I am sure I will regret some of those later, but at least for today it feels good — and hopefully kicked the can down the road for storage space, as well as saving 14 pounds of emission. 14 pounds is not especially significant, but it is over the equivalent of whole tank of propane for the grill, so I guess I've ensured we can hold pool parties with less guilt this summer.