Learning Garage

Two people brought up my blog today and I had to confess I hadn't updated since June. So, here I am.

Back in June, the month when updating ceased, my dad came to town and helped straighten my garage. It was leaning and stressing me out every time I pulled my car in the garage. This project was handled just like every other project with my dad — I took pictures (and sent him this link); he did the dirty work.

After the garage was pulled back in place, Dave and my dad replaced some rotting boards, and a week later, Dave and I slapped a fresh coat of paint on it. Done.

Oh, also, there's this neat stuff called foam backer rod. Write that down. You can use it when you have extra wide gaps that need to be caulked.

Before

During

After

Lost and Found

I did a good deed yesterday. I found a dog wandering my neighborhood around 6:30 a.m. with a collar but no tags, so I corralled it in my backyard while I debated my next move. Since I couldn't call the owner, I ended up calling our local humane society, but they weren't open yet. Their phone system gave me another number to call for lost and found dogs. So I called that number...and it turns out it was for the police department! Did you know you should call the police for lost dogs? I was totally caught off guard.

I'm happy to report the dog was returned to its owners. 

Found!

 P.S. Heather -- thanks for helping me with the dog!

Streamers

Back when Dave had a birthday, I made a dozen of these streamers. Then, I left them up for a week and a half. When I took them down, I intended to throw them out, but that seemed like a waste of paper cuttery, so I stuck them in my spare bedroom closet. It's very festive in there.

Bonus – Penny Friday!

A funny thing happened

I got bangs. I feel like I'm wearing a Halloween costume. It's startling every time I look in the mirror, because I'm not so sure about this new fringe of mine.

I cannot smile with bangs; something frightful happens to my face.

Time Management, part 2

And then I went to China. My brother, sister-in-law, and I made the trek to the middle kindgom in early April. We dropped in on our aunt and uncle in Hong Kong, got yelled at in a Beijing subway station, and cruised the Huangpu River in Shanghai.

Here are some of my observations:

• The bikes in China are old. The cars are relatively modern, so why are all the bikes rusty and old looking?
• Asian bakery pastries are so tasty. We went to one almost every day, sometimes twice a day.
• I'm terrible at bargaining (because I hate it so), but still ended up getting good deals.
• To get anywhere took a lot longer than we expected.
• Cars do not yield for pedestrians. Cross the street at your own risk!
• Pizza Huts are fancy.
• When we would finally work through language barrier issues with waiters and ticket counter agents — through a combination of Chinese, English and hand signals — it felt like a huge victory for mankind.



Hong Kong city shot.



On the street in Hong Kong.





Making our way up to the big buddha in Hong Kong.





Greetings from the Great Wall.





See?! Old bikes.

 



In Tiananmen Square -- out of all the places we visited, just milling around the square is what felt most like China to me.



An Asian bakery. My true love! They all look something like this.



Colorful shot of Shanghai. So sci-fi.

Time Management, part 1

Hello? As it turns out, time management has not been my strong suit during the first several months of this year. No matter. I'm here now to delight you with my lack of home improvement projects, pictures of Penny and miscellaneous news since my last post two months ago.

First up, in early March, my mom and I tagged along with my sister to San Francisco where she was attending a conference. While Lola learned defensive programming in Java (thrilling!), I marched my mom all over the city. I have a very purposeful stride. 

 I scored a half-off Segway deal on Yelp. At one point, my mom got stuck in the mud.

Lola, my mom, and me with a classic San Francisco backdrop.

You've all seen the Golden Gate Bridge, but this shot's not too bad, right?

Bundle of joy

Penny Fridays have gone by the wayside, but that doesn't mean Penny has! Here she is all bundled up. When I took this picture, I had the day off from work so I exercised my right not to make my bed.

Kale Chips

I can't stop eating kale chips! They are so tasty and good for you because kale is a powerhouse vegetable. I've been eating them every evening this week and have said "Mmmm!" out loud every single time.

According to the Internets, these are so a year ago, but, no matter, I'm always behind trend. I started with this recipe (only four ingredients) and made my own modifications. Here are the two things I do differently in case you want to follow suit: Use lime instead of lemon (or experiment with various vinegars) and change the oven temp to 325 and cook for 12-14 minutes.

This just looks like a bowl of salad greens, but I promise you these are kale chips. I would have taken another picture, but by the time I realized this one was lame, I had already consumed all of the chips.

2011 Calendar

I'll just out myself before my brother does in the comments — my 2010 calendar only consisted of months January through April and October and November. I got lazy. This year, I went the pre-made route with the My Owl Barn calendar. Done.

Unlike 2010, I will acknowledge all the months of 2011.

Where's Bee?

One of my Facebook friends had posted this video. Since I'm too chicken to re-post stuff on Facebook, I'm sharing it here. This little lamb is crazy cute.

Monday Off

If I were to make an un-scientific guess, I would say that about half of the working adults in the U.S. had the day off today.  I was one of those. Dave was not. So Penny and I got some quality time together. I also brought my car in for an oil change, which is my first ever oil change that my dad or brother has not done for me (we're talking 11 years' worth of oil changes). I may become an adult yet!

Here's Penny. You know you missed her.