It's raining... and I'm excited!

It's been raining since last evening, and my allergies are SO much better! This is probably one of the few times that I will be excited about rain. I also have a new $100 allergy nose spray... thankfully we didn't have to pay the full price. So now I'm on double allergy meds and decongestants 24 hours a day. I am able to breath which means I can function once again! Hope to be more productive in the next few days.
On another note, I found this cool site called Frugal Living. It's all about saving money, coupon clipping, and living on less. Good info... and a cute little bird logo to boot!

Springtime allergies... yuck

So it's 4:30am in the morning... and I've been up since 2 am with a running nose that is also plugged tight. How the two things can exist simultaneously is beyond me. After suffering from allergies all week, I felt really good yesterday afternoon and went outside to do some weeding. The spouse was sweeping up grass clippings and the side walk (which was covered... and I mean COVERED) in pollen. Apparently I got into the cloud of yellow and have been a mess ever since. It's a bummer because I really like gardening and can't participate yet. This year is the worst that my allergies have ever been. I think it's time for a trip to the doctors to adjust the meds.
For now I will leave you with this lovely picture done by my 2-1/2 year old son.



He is really into circles and will spend lengthy amounts of time creating these topographical maps.... which he prefers to do in marker... never crayon or some other less messy media.

Shark Softie

Miss Elsie received this invite to a birthday party this month....



The shark really caught the spouse's eye, and we decided to turn it into a custom softie for the birthday recipient. So I scanned in the invite and blew it up really big.... YAY for Illustrator!



The result matched the image very closely.



I like his teeth.

Well... hello there

It has been awhile since I last posted. I needed to slow things down a bit and take a break from a few things. My blog was one of the things that was pushed to the side. In the meantime, however, spring has finally arrived here in Portland. I can tell because:
1. I now have all sorts of flowers that I can cut and bring inside and
2. My allergies are on overdrive. Apparently my allergy meds wear off around 5:45am. As long as I'm asleep it doesn't matter, but if I wake up... look out!
I planted these lovelies last fall. They are very orange but have a little big of light tipping on the edges.



I think there are 2 different kinds of tulips in this bouquet... both orange. I can't remember what I planted.



Bulbs are like that, though. A little bit of a surprise in the spring.