Hey June

June 2010 will be bringing lots of good fortune to Mr. & Mrs. Liedtke.  We have been living by the proverb that "patience is a virtue" and I am sincerely hoping it is.  

First off, after a two year wait, new smart phones are coming our way!! We both have out-dated pieces that have NO apps...which is very surprising to people who know us as tech geeks.  But my contract isn't up until June 10 and we decided to wait for it, even though E's was up in February.  It'll be better this way, and we will be getting our new htc Incredible phones at the same time.

Also, hopefully we will be putting up a new slick horizontal fence around the sidewalk side of the house.  We're planning it to be cedar that we will stain to our liking.  It will be amazing when complete and the privacy will be priceless. I hope it looks a little something like this.

New episodes of Futurama will start airing June 25 on Comedy Central. E was an avid watcher and fan while it was still on the air, and I joined a while later.  But we both enjoy the show immensely and have seen all 72 episodes.  New seasons/episodes/movies have been promised before, so it's incredibly exciting to see a scheduled date of arrival.  This show is both clever and funny, and I love smart humor presented in silly ways.

Toy Story 3 comes out in June too! I realize how old I am and that I have no kids. But so! These stories are incredibly cute...and this one is in 3-D! I am anxiously awaiting to see what kind of antics Woody and the gang are up to this time.  Besides, most of the jokes are for the adults anyway. 

It also is beginning to look like my sister's twins could come in June rather than July.  No one really knows, which is frustrating.  But I'll just be happy to see 'em!  My trip isn't until July...so I don't want them to be around too long waitin' on their favorite aunt!  

My best friend is visiting me the first weekend of June. That will be nice. Seems like it's been forever since I've seen her. We've been friends since we were 12 and we still have stuff to talk about.  She's a rare gem and I can't wait to see her! 

I know I'm leaving something out. i'm pretty sure of it actually. Hmmmmmmm.....Oh well...I am distracted by visions of new phones.....

Itzy's modeling debut

Itzy

New tiny human

Today I held a tiny little baby. She is the new daughter and first child of a good friend of mine. She is only 4 days old today. Mom was lookin' good and happy, as was Dad, and baby was just perfect. Did I mention she was cute & tiny?? Seriously, she was like a bonsai person. Adorable. See?

On the drive to meet lil' darlin', I got stuck in traffic and started thinking about motherhood and babies and whatnot. At first, I was just so happy for my friend. After all, a baby is a precious gift, so I was vibin' on the joy. That lasted all of about 10 minutes...then it turned to holding back tears. I mean, after all, a baby is a precious gift! I told myself I wouldn't cry like I did when I met my current youngest nephew for the first time...but sometimes happiness can be overwhelming! The only other time I cried out of happiness was the day after my wedding...and I felt like an idiot.

Nonetheless, I made it through the day without crying and had a very nice visit with new momma. She is a natural, and it is inspiring to see someone take to motherhood with such ease. It will be fun to watch them grow together.

In unrelated baby news, in less than two months I will be flying to the north to meet my (yet unborn) twin niece and nephew. I can only contain my excitement by reminding myself how tired I am going to be during that trip. But a matching set of baby loves? My heart can barely wait!!

I did it!

I finally started my gardening blog. I even have a few pics up. Check it out here if you want to see what I'm up to outside the walls of my house. It'll probably have more posts than this blog after a while anyway. Happy reading! (I hope)

Notice anything?

I am a good speller by nature. Not great, but pretty darn good. I am also kind of a grammar nerd. Thus, I am a natural proofreader...signs, blogs, even commercials... anywhere there are words really. So here are a few pix off my cell phone of things that have caught my attention. I do have the advantage of Tivo, so I can pause tv mistakes at will. Isn't it sad that most of the eff-ups are on my local news? I think so. Anywho, enjoy! (clicking on images will enlarge them)

Um, I think Colorado might object to living in Wyoming.

Seriously...where is my damn hamster?

How old is spell check anyway? sheesh.

Nice 'stache

I hope they mean weather.

Saturday's Dollar

Making my way to Barton Springs Nursery...290 frontage >> Mopac North. Exit 360 N and wait. and wait. Waited three times at this light before the homeless guy finally made his way down to me. Holding a sign that reads "lear jet out of fuel" he walks slowly past me. I don't pay much attention since I have seen him and his sign regularly for the two years I have been driving this way.

But on this day, as I inch my way closer to the light to wait yet again, I notice a second man is walking back up the line. His back is to me but his hunched appearance softened me a little as I watched him. He was bent over at a slight angle, and was making his way slowly back to the front of the line of cars. It was already scorching hot for May and he looked tired although it was early in the day. I'm only about 4 cars from the front now as he turns and I could read his sign: "Homeless Vet - With Family - Needs help" or something of that nature. He smiled at me as he turned, and I smiled back. Then, for what seemed like an eternity, I compared our lives.

Fearing the light would change too quickly now, I started searching for money. Whew, I found a dollar. As I rolled down the window, he approached, and with my right hand I handed him a dollar through the window. He leaned in and paused, with each of us holding an end of the bill, and said "Thank you for having a heart" and pulled away. I was stunned. I sat there a little frozen. thank you for having a heart echoed in my brain over and over until my eyes filled up with tears. I felt so bad that I had used my right hand, the one without my wedding ring, to hand him that dollar. Not to mention the fact that I had another dollar somewhere that I kept. Plus I was on my way to buy stuff I probably didn't really need. If he only knew that I DID have a heart, but what I did wasn't really an act of it. The feelings of guilt were strong for a while, and I thought of this encounter the remainder of the afternoon. Something in that man's eyes I won't soon forget, and something about his words I'll remember forever.

Category: Rant

Warning:

Stupid people are out in record numbers this year and they are working at every single place you need to go. They disguise themselves as cashiers mostly, but have been known to manage other idiots as well. Please, whatever you do, don't ask them any questions. They know absolutely nothing. Small talk can be acceptable, provided it's not confusing and/or smart on any level.

I wish there were an easier way to tell who is going to dumben-up your day so such events could be avoided. I have observed that an open mouth, gazing eyes, or on certain occasions being under the age of, say 25, are all good signs of people to bypass when out and about.

Of course we often find ourselves with no alternative. Sometimes there isn't a person with a brain in a 10 mile radius. I have no solution for this. THIS in fact is my problem. Was it always like this? Maybe I'm just getting older. For now, I'm just staying home.

what's in a name?

Here's a few of the choices in my head for the name of my soon-to-be garden blog:

(for some reason alliteration seems to really appeal to me)

• Garden Gab
• Terra Talk
• Gettin' Dirty
• Tiff's Earth (don't know if I want my name in it)
• Dig Nation (a dig at Digg)
• The Dirty Redhead (want to be sfw & user friendly...)
• Dirty Redhead's Garden Bed
• Gabbin' 'bout Gardens (the 2 apostrophes bother me a little)
• Yardspace
• Tiff's Terra
• Grass with Class

I will probably edit this to death before choosing. If anyone were actually reading this I would ask for help...

Not quite started yet...

After spending the greater part of the morning inundating my brain with gardening blogs, it was never more clear to me that I need to start my own garden(ing) blog. I was thinking of doing that originally but needed a place to dump my thoughts beforehand. I am so full of ideas for nearly every square inch of our small suburban lot. I am blessed with the ability to see a dream in the midst of a nightmare.

On a different note, I will probably start cataloging and organizing my photos from the past few years on here. I want to show before/after shots of both the yard and the house. I will probably keep yard yard postings to the gardening blog...which I will link to eventually...after I make it! But the house itself has undergone quite a transformation in the quick 2 years we have been living in it. I, myself, look forward to comparing the photos. Now if they would just jump onto the computer...edit & name themselves...and post themselves...*sigh* see? dreaming again.

Testing, testing, old pictures are up!

Since it's getting late, I am using this test blog to show[off] cute pictures I ran across of my girls sleeping. They are naturals!

My First, ahem, Blog

Ok, so this is technically my second blog. A few hours ago I opened a Wordpress blog ( I may link to it later if anything more comes of it) and I'm not quite sure I like it. Some (needed, IMHO) upgrade options are pay-for and, well, if I need to explain why that's silly then this blog won't be for you. Anyway, I need a place to dump my brain, that's totally customizable!!, and free. Welcome home, gray matter.