Harry's First Apartment

We got Harry settled into his first apartment in Phoenix for his junior year at ASU.  He is living with two of his buddies in a three bedroom place downtown that is in a great location.  Still within easy walking distance to campus.

Here is a little tour of their set-up.  

View from the front door into the living room.  All sports fans.  Can you tell? 

Nice little kitchen with granite countertops, full size appliances.  Harry has made pasta damn near every day since he moved in.  He is going to turn into a noodle!  Happy that he is cooking! 

Living room.  Three TVs.  Three Playstations.  One Wii.  

Everything you need for a successful school year! 

Funny story…..last year we bought the boys a little IKEA sofa for their dorm.  Harry had to bring it home to Texas for the summer.  It was supposed to rain for the drive back so his roommate's Dad helped them take it apart, wrap it all in plastic wrap and pack it strategically in this little truck for the fourteen hour drive home.  It lived in our garage all summer.  For the drive back to Phoenix, it was supposed to rain AGAIN so we bought a big tarp to cover everything and that sofa made the return 14 hour drive back out to Phoenix.  We moved it into the apartment, Hubby put it back together and damn if it wasn't too big for their space.  CRAP!  What to do with it?  Instead of dealing with selling it or moving it again, we decided to put it out in the apartment lobby sitting area by the elevators and just donate it to the building.  Didn't know if that was legal or not so we were trying to be a little sneaky!  We were terribly noisy with all our laughing and shuffling of furniture.  A kid moving in next door poked his head out and said "Are you getting rid of that couch?"  We said "Yes, you want it?"  He was thrilled.  He is a law student, so hopefully if Harry ever has any legal trouble that young man can return the kindness!  What a mess!  

Continuing on the tour….the apartment toy closet.  Every college apartment should have a plastic pumpkin, don't you think?  They also have a full size washer and dryer and another great big closet by the front door.  Plenty of storage for three kids just starting out. 

Harry's room.  It looks like a prison. 

He has no decor.  Nothing personal.  Did not care one tiny bit.  Didn't want anything.  

I should be thankful, but I just don't get it.  Why????   

I couldn't stand it, so I ordered two flags for him to hang up this week.  Will post a picture when he  gets them and hangs them up to see if it livens up the place a little.  

His desk area.  

He also has a large closet in his room which holds his dresser and a dirty clothes hamper.  

It is so much bigger than the dorm room he had last year. 

Each of the boys have their own bathroom in their bedrooms, which is very nice.  

This is Harry's with the tower of toilet paper. 

It was a mild 109 degrees for move in weekend!  HOLY BALLS, that is hot.  Like, it feels as if your flip flops might actually be melting when you walk on the sidewalk!   That is hot.  It looks like rain was in the area from that radar shot, but don't recall getting any while we were there!  

Made him take a selfie with me, against his will!  Those are my favorite kind. 

We carried in tons of stuff, unpacked, unboxed, put away, cleaned up and organized.  Shopped and stocked him up.  Squeezed in a Diamondbacks game and some great visiting with his roommates and their families.  

Then we got on a plane and left him there….AGAIN.  Goodbyes are the pits.  

It does get easier, but man do I miss him. 

I know he is going to have a great year and I am already planning a mom weekend trip to visit him!  

Chip's First High School Football Game

It happened.  My baby is in high school.   His first football game as a Dragon was this week.  

I spent most of the game praying for protection for all the kids on the field.  The other time I spent looking for my favorite #54.  It is hard to keep up with these kids going in and out! 

Chip has been playing right tackle since football practice started on August 1st, but last Tuesday he was moved to center.  Their first game was on Thursday.  So, nothing like two days of practice at a new position until you have to put it into action in a game.  

He did great!  The first half he was pretty consistent with his snaps.  The second half he got a little wobbly.  By wobbly, I mean a couple of his hikes were worm burners to the QB.  One time, he actually hiked the ball so wobbly it was picked up by the running back and he scooted down the field for a nice 15 yard gain.  Whoops….bypassed the QB, but turned out to be a successful mistake!  Biggest offensive gain of the game, I think. 

The Dragon's lost the season opener, but I could not have been more proud of #54!  Go Dragons! 

Life with Boys

We had a lazy weekend around these parts.  I ran some errands...grocery store, crickets, Lowe's, birthday shopping for my Chip.   But there was ALOT of downtime.  We played lots of cards, watched a movie, cooked some meals, bird watched…basic hanging around.

This morning at 7:35 a.m. Chip is laying in the floor of my office talking about how unprepared his theatre group is for their performance today.  He is dreading it.  Then he says as if a light bulb went off in his head "Oh, I need to wear khaki pants tomorrow for Athletics."

Me:  "Can you wear your khaki shorts?"
Chip:  "No.  It has to be pants?"
Me:  "Can you wear your black dress pants?"
Chip:  "No, mom.  It has to be khaki pants."
Me:  "Well, you don't own a pair of khaki pants."
Chip:  "I don't?"
Me:  "No. Do you ever remember wearing khaki pants?"
Chip:  "No, I guess not."
Me:  "I sure wish you would have told me that this weekend, when we had some free time."
Chip:  "Oh.  Well, I just remembered.  We can go after school."
Me:  "You have practice after school."
Chip:  "Can you go?"

This entire situation does not surprise me at all. In fact, I am going to count my lucky stars that is isn't Tuesday morning at 7:35 when he tells me he needs the pants.

Scenes from the Backyard

Me and Chip started a backyard transformation a month or so ago that has brought us so much enjoyment this spring!  We started by cutting back all the gangly, straggly, dead, dying, messy growth.  Chip wielded an ax like a real lumberjack and chopped down anything I pointed out that needed to go. 

Hello, Chipperjack. 

Then we got a raised vegetable trough to plant some veggies in that wouldn't be hard to reach, weed or could be peed or pooped on my our furry friend, Astro.   We painted it a pretty orange color, filled it with four tomato plants, a jalapeño plant, some basil, parsley, cilantro and some delicious smelling chocolate mint! 

Next we cleaned up all the patio furniture, got some new pillows, a water fountain, a table top fireplace and an outdoor carpet. 

We added some lights to enjoy our space at night. 

We spread 30 bags of mulch!  

Put some cool red stars on the fence. 

Planted lots of plants, put in a bird bath. 

Now, we spend lots of mornings and afternoons doing this…..Birdwatching!   We added a variety of bird feeders and watched our backyard come alive. 

Hummingbirds are frequent flyers. 

We have many woodpeckers.  They visit the feeders then hang out in the trees. 

They travel in pairs.  Can you see one on top of the limb and one underneath? 

We have sweet little chickadees. 

And this squirrel that was my arch nemesis until I figured out how to keep him out of the bird feeders.  Now I feed him nuts, apples and corn.  He is actually very entertaining. 

We have seen some really cool birds.  We have a Texas Bird Guide and love trying to identify the birds  we see.  Hubby thinks it doesn't count if you don't get a picture, so we are keeping the camera out on the kitchen counter for easy access.  This is a house finch. So pretty! 

This is a a cardinal. We have named his Stan.  He visits many, many times a day and we have even started to recognize his sweet bird call. 

This is Stan's wife, Ozzie.  They travel together and sometimes even feed each other. 

Woodpecker on the corn.  I also put shelled nuts in this feeder and the BlueJays keep coming back until  over and over again until every nut is gone.  They wiped me out in seven minutes flat one morning! 

Mystery bird.  We can't figure out what this one is?  We each think it is something different. 

I even put a bird feeder outside my office window.  Two woodpeckers entertaining me during a teleconference or two. 

Astro enjoys all the time we are hanging out in the yard. 

Lizard. 

Titmouse taking a bath.

Veggies are growing. 

Flowers are growing. 

Look at those tomatoes!  Can't wait! 

Everything is healthy and happy.  Weather has been pretty mild with plenty of rain.  I am sure summer will be a different story! 

Here is my friend, still occasionally checking to see if he can get some seed out of this bird feeder. 

 He can't! 

This pair made their first appearance today.  This is a male and female lesser goldfinch.  

Who knew they lived in the neighborhood? 

Iris bloom. This plant is one from my house in Alabama, which I originally dug out of either Louise's yard or Joe's sister, Auntie Al's yard.  It has been to all my houses.  Makes me happy. 

Rose bushes were stellar this spring. 

Can you see the lizard? 

Cardinal on the feeder with the squirrel baffle.  That old squirrel boy is baffled and cannot climb up the pole or figure out how to jump on the feeder!  Victory!!! 

My gardenias started blooming this week.  Takes me right back to Vimy Ridge Avenue in Norfolk Virginia where my grandma and grandpa's backyard had gardenia bushes.  They also had some rose bushes with tiny pink roses, a clothes line, an old bathtub full of worms for fishing, a fig tree and a freezer full of frozen strawberries with sugar on them.  It was paradise for a kid when we were lucky enough to visit their house in the summer.  Funny, how a simple smell can transport me back over forty years like it was yesterday.  Gardenia's always remind me of my momma too!  Her favorite flower.

Harry came home from college on Mother's day (YAY!!!) and Chip was proudly showing him everything we had done in the backyard.  He looked around and said "It's like someone finally started giving a damn about this backyard."  Cracked me up! 

Hope you enjoyed sharing a little bit of the joy that we have found right in our own backyard.