My Blog

Well, we settled with the city...

Christiana/Marcy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:28:51 GMT

It's a done deal. We signed all the paperwork today - signed away basically 20 feet of backyard and 11 1/2 feet of flowerbeds, trees, privacy fence, and our shed. It was a long tough negotiation! Didn't get as much as I wanted for the trees and stuff, but I told them what the minimum I'd take was and we reached a middle ground that doesn't satisfy either the city or me - the subtle art of diplomacy - HA! So now I'm praying for a cool spell so I can move plants without them or me shriveling up and dying. I'm gonna miss my backyard! For the next 2 years I'll have a clear view of the construction behind my house. And I can't replace my trees until the city is finished! Bye, bye birds...

I'm SO bummed...

Christiana/Marcy — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:50:47 GMT

I'm not having a very good summer so far- so somebody pass me the cheese to go with my whine. First my neighbors and good friends put their house up for sale about a month ago. None of us really thought it would sell because of the upcoming project to widen the street behind our houses. It was snapped right up with in 3 weeks - WAH! So my friends are moving from Olathe to out by Lake Quivira - no more hanging out next door in the evenings. Then about 3 weeks ago I jacked up my knee working in the garden. Had to stop going to the Y and my belly dance workout class, which really s*cked. My knee finally got better and I was going back to my workouts this week but I TOTALLY screwed up my back somehow this past weekend. I can't even stand up straight! ENOUGH ALREADY!! I have things to do, places to go and people to see!

More birds!

Christiana/Marcy — Tue, 06 May 2008 20:21:40 GMT

Another birdie entry - a whole flock of cedar waxwings flew into my neighbor's apple tree this afternoon! They were sitting up there eating the flowers. I knew they ate fruit and berries but I've never seen them eat flowers. I was working in the yard, so I kind of kept an eye on them and by the time they flew off about an hour later, they had pretty much denuded the whole top of the tree. Haven't seen any of these lovelies in about 13 years, so I think it's pretty neat. There has got to be something different going on this spring. Don't know if it's the cooler weather, global warming or what, but I haven't ever had this big a variety of birds in my yard.

Orioles!

Christiana/Marcy — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:47:17 GMT

Wow, I don't know what's going on this spring with the birds, but I like it! I was just out on my deck and 2 Baltimore orioles flew by and landed in the neighbors' tree! We had a pair of orioles when we first moved into our house - there was a tulip tree in back where they nested, and probably drank the nectar from the blooms.Unfortunately, the tree had to come out (too close to the house and hit by lightening - which scared the cr*p out of me). I haven't seen an oriole since,until today.

Grosbeak redux

Christiana/Marcy — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:45:35 GMT

Not only is my beautiful male rose breasted grosbeak still visiting my feeder, now I have 2 pairs!! I think they are a mature pair and last year's kids, judging from the pictures in my bird book. I can't believe it - TWO PAIRS!

Rose breasted grosbeak on my bird feeder!!

Christiana/Marcy — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:02:27 GMT

I was standing staring out my kitchen window this afternoon and, wonder of wonders, there's a rose breasted grosbeak! I have only seen one once before, on an outing with my grandmother when I was in grade school. Yes, my geekiness is showing again but I got so excited! I was babbling and quietly screaming at my husband, oh my God, oh my God, there's a rose bird thing out here, come quick! I couldn't get the name to come out. He was in the livingroom mumbling a what? Why are you so excited? He finally hauled himself into the kitchen, where I was pointing out the window. Then he got all excited, too. He'd never seen one live. I hope he'll be back again! The bird, I mean.

Can't fight city hall

Christiana/Marcy — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:21:42 GMT

Well, we finally got the word on what's happening with the 127th Street project here in Olathe, Ks. And it sucks! The 10 feet of temporary contruction easement on the inside of my fence is actually going to be PERMANENT utility easement - I won't be able to replace my trees back by the fence at all. Everything is going to have to move out into the yard...just great. I'm effectively losing 10 feet of usable yard. They also informed us that they still will put up temporary fencing but it was supposed to be privacy fence, now it's going to be chain link. My poor dogs are going to be crazed for the duration of the construction with all that noise and activity that they will be able to see. I really feel for the folks along here that have big dogs. No way a 4 foot chainlink fence is going to keep some of them in! Oh, and since the city has to move the gas meters up to the houses, the gas company will be scheduling home visits to check for code violations - WTF! If there's a problem, they'll be shutting off the gas until it's fixed. We are all so screwed! There is absolutely NOTHING we can do about it. I HATE Olathe!!

Waaa...I want it to be SPRING!!

Christiana/Marcy — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:58:48 GMT

I'm so tired of this chilly weather! I'm rarin' to get out and play in the dirt and the weather just is NOT cooperating. My daffodills look beautiful, things are greening up and getting buds and it's supposed to f*cking FREEZE tonight. If it does, all I'll have left will be ugly brown stuff. I'm tired of being cold, too. I'm going nuts waiting for some warmer weather - not very patient, am I? Is this funky cool weather bugging anyone else?

Good for me!

Christiana/Marcy — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:37:46 GMT

I signed up at the YMCA, finally! I'm fed up with being out of shape and too fat to fit in my clothes - it's past time to do something about it. I mean, I knew I was in bad shape but when they did my health assessment, I was appalled! I went 3 times the past week and, oh, do I feel it!! I also informed my husband (Mr. Junk Food Junky) that I will not be buying chips, candy, or fast food. If he wants that stuff, he'll have to go get it himself. I've been buying lots of fruit, veggies, and salad stuff - hubby actually looked in the frige the other day and announced that there was nothing to eat! Get over it, already!! So, please send positive waves this way, since I need all the help I can get!!

&#%#* Walmart

Christiana/Marcy — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 21:53:56 GMT

Well, I had an interesting and unpleasant experience today at my Olathe, Ks Walmart. I had bought a couple of bras without trying them on (I was short on time that day) and needed to return them since they didn't fit right. When I was trying them on at home the tag had ripped off one of them - no biggie, right? WRONG! My Wally will no long accept the return of any clothing without the original tags STILL ATTACHED to the item. I made loud, unhappy noises and they did refund my money - this time. I asked what happens if the first time you wear something it comes apart - surely it can be returned as defective? Nope, if it doesn't have tags, you are outta luck. They couldn't tell me if this is a new policy nationwide or if it just is this one store (135th and Blackbob, Olathe, Ks, for those of you in this area). So, HEADS UP folks! I sure as hell won't be shopping there anymore!!

The joys of home ownership...NOT!

Christiana/Marcy — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:28:55 GMT

I wonder if there's anyway I could own the lot and rent the house?? It's been one thing after another the last couple of months - the word on the city widening the street behind us, foundation problems, replacing the water heater, and, this weekend, the garbage disposal croaking. If it weren't for my garden, I'd be thinking seriously about going back to renting! I guess the folks on my Christmas list are going to get a little tin of cookies and a note thanking them for the new water heater and disposal! Happy Holidays, everyone!

Red and silver costume

Christiana/Marcy — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:47:40 GMT

I finally got a picture of the whole thing! I look stupid in the picture - probably because the Haloween party had an open bar...that's my next door neighbor holding me up.

Saving tribe

Christiana/Marcy — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:19:10 GMT

Copied from Sanura's post: (reposted from Khadu'ja) Sat, November 10, 2007 - 9:43 PM The word in some of the admin tribes is that Tribe.net is in serious financial peril. Peril that may make this site go away. Most of us belong to MySpace and/or Bebo and/or Facebook, yet we return to Tribe because it is what serves us best. There are even rumors that Tribe is down to less than five employees. Given the above, would you be willing to pay a $5/mo subscription fee to tribe as a Premium Member? Not pay $5 just to USE tribe, but to have perks. Premium Members might receive benefits such as ad-free usage, more customizable skins, or other such bells and whistles. Please, if you support tribe and are willing to pay HALF THE COST OF A MOVIE TICKET for one month of Premium Usage, respond to this blog post. Repost this in YOUR BLOG. Collect the yays and nays and forward them to Pi (people.tribe.net/pi). After ten days I will summarize the results and forward them to the Admins.

Sigh....

Christiana/Marcy — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:59:58 GMT

As if there wasn't enough stuff going on this time of year...my 'puter crashed this past weekend. My hubby got it fixed but now I have to reconstruct all the files I never backed up. So, reminder to myself, smack self up side the head repeatedly until I learn to do regular back ups!

Halloween an belly dance costumes...

Christiana/Marcy — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 22:01:09 GMT

I finally finished my red cab costume - YAY! I really want to wear it, so I'm planning to to wear it to this big Halloween party next Sat. night - is this cheating? It kinda feels odd to use I costume I made to really dance in for a Halloween costume, but I'm not ready to perform in it. Humm...what to do....

Stupid city of Olathe

Christiana/Marcy — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:02:45 GMT

Well, I just found out that when they widen 127th street behind my house, they are going to take out 10 feet INSIDE my fence for "temporary" utiliy easement. I'm going to lose all my trees up to the front edge of my existing flower beds. ARGH!! Those trees were finally big enough to hide the street, reduce the noise, and act as a wind break on the north. Not to mention I'll have move all the perennials some place else and figure out where to put my shed temporarily. The city is going to have to pay through the nose to put my landscaping back in, let me tell you!!

Garden pictures

Christiana/Marcy — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:56:33 GMT

Yay! I finally got some pics of my flowerbeds that I can post. Here's the east side of my back yard with Toby standing in the flowers looking goofy. I'm still using film and only discovered that you can get discs made of the photos about a year ago. Maybe someday (ha, ha) I'll get my older pictures negatives dug out and get those on disc, too. Eventually I'll catch up to the digital age - 'til then, this will have to work!

Butterflies!

Christiana/Marcy — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 16:30:03 GMT

I am sooo excited! I just found monarch caterpillars on my red butterfly weed! It really is a milkweed - the only stuff monarch lay eggs on. I haven't seen a monarch catterpillar in YEARS - which is why I'm so excited. Ya, I'm a nerd, I know. But I designed my garden to attract butterflies and hummingbirds and it feels great to know it works ot only to attract the adults but provide food for the larvae.

Stuff, stuff, and more stuff!

Christiana/Marcy — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 17:05:02 GMT

I'm slogging along organizing fabric - I've got stuff I'd forgotten all about! Only problem, what do I do with the scraps?!? I sorted them out to a minimum size but I've still got a garbage bag full - it's too much! Thing is, I know that if I throw them away, I'll need the stuff I've pitched. Bleh. On the positive side, I now have a full storage tub of fabric I've decided I can live without - yeah! Everything else is sorted into "I know exactly what I'm going to do with this" and "I'm pretty sure what I'm going to do with this". Next stop, costume stuff!

Too much stuff!!

Christiana/Marcy — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:24:15 GMT

Jeanne's purge of various fabrics on DYI has got me reassessing MY fabric stash - as well as all my costume stuff. Man, there is sooo much! I have simply got to make myself clean up, organize, and get rid of! I'm up to 4 tubs of assorted fabric, plus what's in the spare dresser - I simply can't throw away scraps! So, my goal for the next week or so is organize it and decide what to keep. Maybe I can hook up with others here and we can have a belly dance garage sale!

Finally!!

Christiana/Marcy — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:02:17 GMT

Finished the red sequined bra today!! Hooray! I'm really pleased with how it turned out. (Only a year from the initial concept to finished product - geez.) Some day I'll have pictures - I'm still not living in the digital age. Think I'll work on dyeing my silver veil next and then on to the belt!!

PARTY!

Christiana/Marcy — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:58:25 GMT

Finally actually inviting everyone to MY house for videos and henna - can't even remember the last time I had a party...must mean it's been WAY too long! I want to invite everyone to come to my house after open studio (around 8pm) on August 25th! We can all watch the recital and NKC Library videos - and any others you'd like to bring. Amara will be bringing henna. If it's hot, we can all splash around in my 8 ft. kiddie pool, too! BYOB if you want something special and snacks are welcome! I'll post directions to my house for those interested closer to the 25th.

I'm Christiana now!

Christiana/Marcy — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 01:38:04 GMT

How could I forget to mention this?!? I finally selected a dance name! It wasn't until my great aunt died that my mom found out about our great, great, etc. ancestress Cristiana Bell. I have always thought it a beautiful name and had considered legally changing my middle name to Christiana. I feel like using Christiana as my dance name honors those maternal ancestors and helps keep their memories alive in me.

WE RAQ

Christiana/Marcy — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 23:40:32 GMT

Whew! Vina, you raq! Our first performance of our first original choreography - could have been better but could have been worse, too. We did great until the end - then kinda lost it - but the itty, bitty, bouncing stage didn't help us at all. We mananged to keep smiling and recovered for the very finish and according to witnesses, the crowd liked us! Now I'm all excited about performing May 6th and creating more numbers in some other styles.