garaj mahal

I haven't updated much on home/garden projects mainly because we haven't done much. It is just too hot to do anything in the garden. I'm lucky to get motivated enough to water the plants every other morning. Thankfully, it has rained so much this week, but there isn't much blooming right now.

I haven't been energized to work on projects inside the house until just recently. I'm working on our guest room, and it's the one room (so far) that displays my favorite Indian fabrics, relics, books, and collectibles. It took me a long time to come up with an idea for how I wanted to decorate this room. And, I wanted a room that housed some of my cherished statues - away from young visitors' hands. Since our guestroom is seldomly used, it is easy to leave the door closed throughout most of the year. Yet, I want our guests to feel like they've escaped to an exotic place. One day, when I'm finished hanging the mosquito netting and framing artwork, I'll post photos. I'm aiming to finish this weekend, since we're hosting guests next weekend!


On another note, we did get halfway through one big project:

ME: Clay and I (but mostly Clay) cleaned out part of the garage and the workbench.

YOU: What? He cleaned and organized it? How did you get a husband to do such a thing?

ME: Well, he got to use his power tools to build stuff, and dropping some cash at Lowe's tends to help...so that makes the job much more exciting.

YOU: Really? That works?

ME: Apparently so. Hmmm...can an orbital reciprocating saw help with making curtains? Let me Google that...


I have a feeling I'm going to get in trouble for that little dialogue between us, but more importantly, HALF OF THE GARAGE IS CLEAN!!! You don't understand how happy that makes an obsessive compulsive wife. Now, on to the other half which will mostly consist of organizing and throwing away old junk.

where's the "on" button?

Okay, so I'm not that inept...

I made the plunge and switched from using my paper planner to utilizing a Palm PDA. This was quite a traumatic decision for me. I love my paper planner. I like my Nan font and the doodles made with my favorite pen(s). It has various lists of groceries or rosters of guests for dinner parties strewn throughout random pages. I scribble design ideas for the million posters and mailers I'll be creating soon. I like flipping through the pages, and it has pockets for my business cards and post-it notes...it even has stickers. Birthdays are notated by a different color ink, accompanied by an exclamation point and a star.

Now the Palm, as Clay pointed out, can allow me to organize everything the way I want it and more. I knew this already, but I needed him to remind me every few minutes. I had a Palm several years ago (free from former boss - he had no idea how to use it and gave it to me). It was a little bulky with a black and white screen and lacked the bells and whistles of my current one. The battery life was pathetic, so I used it for about 6 months and tossed it in a drawer. I think the boss had gotten it free with the purchase of his laptop, so it wasn't exactly top of the line.

Anyway, the impetus for the big switch was my Entourage email/departmental calendar at work. The six of us in my office were recently trained to use our calendars to increase efficiency and organization. It's easier for everyone to know when I'll be out of the office (in case the media is looking for me for information) or what huge deadline I have looming (so no one will bother me). And, the same goes for everyone else. It may seem a little invasive, but each individual can have private entries, such as doctor appointments. I have access to Clay's calendar to add social events in case I forget to tell him. That's pretty convenient. Well, for those of you unfamiliar with such things, my email calendar will sync with the Palm calendar, so I don't have to enter the same thing twice. Obviously, that is not the case with a paper planner. I would have to type everything on my Entourage calendar at work and then add the same entry into my paper calendar - not a fan of redundancy.

I'm slowly acclimating, and it doesn't hurt that I can do a million other things on this handheld machine. It was nice to sit in my sunroom and read cnn.com wirelessly or check my email. I can "type" a press release in the car for a last minute deadline or share photos with friends. This is all especially helpful when I'm out of town and don't have to carry a laptop with me...it fits in my purse! And, of course, the best part is that I didn't have to pay for it thanks to my government employer.

I'll miss my paper planner, but...oh, my Palm is ringing...let me answer that. Okay, not really.

hot date(s)

$200 spent on a fancy meal (on a couple of anniversary celebrations) at one of our absolute favorite restaurants...actually is not my favorite date. Although, this downtown restaurant is amazing - fabulous wine selection, excellent service, and food of the Gods - on top of celebrating the most momentous occasion of our lives...my favorite date(s) with Clay actually take place at Barnes & Noble, for lack of a good local book retailer. We enter, as shelves of copious books - with their clever jackets constructed by marketing teams - scream for our attention (and are in the bargain section). We peruse the aisles for hidden gems, however most include those off-the-wall genres: tourist attractions in Iowa, how to tell fortunes, or a brew your own beer guide...maybe even a Windows 2.0 for Dummies book...hmmmm...how long has that been in the bargain section?

After finding zero books to our liking, we split off in two directions. Clay to the geek section. Nan to the garden and art sections. We take our time scrutinizing interesting titles and flipping through whatever catches our eyes. Then we carry our armloads of books to the magazine aisle - Clay to the geek section - Nan to the garden/home or graphic design section. We have an inherent sense of when to meet there. It's kind of odd. After gathering our magazine loot, we head to the Starbucks cafe to order drinks.

And, we complete our journey at a cozy table in the corner, with stacks of 23 books/magazines and our frappuccinos in the summer or hot mochas in the winter, squeezed onto a 3' x 3' table. But we love it...we sit across from each other with our legs just grazing and sip on our drinks. When I find a really cool garden layout or discover a talented graphic artist, I just have to interrupt his reading to share. Clay will find interesting stories about Geek X or Geek Y or just an article on the latest technogadget (or anything new from Apple!), and he explains to me why we need to buy them all...okay, not really. It's quite fun - a great way to share our interests for several hours. After I convince him that we cannot afford to buy gadgets x, y and z, we slurp down the last drops of our crackuccinos, and tally up the books we want to purchase.

Cheap date...a bit educational...quality time spent together...and we know we'll get a goodnight kiss at the end.