Mystery Revealed

Do you remember this?

It was the foundation for THIS:

The picture above is a little funky. There's actually a street light across the street that looks like it's attached to the pole Randy is putting in....weird.

It's our beautiful new light post! It has a lighted box hanging off the side where we will put our house numbers. It's so pretty! This was Randy's idea, of course, and I'm so glad he did it. It really looks nice.

We hope to finish up the front tomorrow night. If all goes well, I'll post the finished pictures then. We're very close to being done. Yay!

Spring Has Sprung

We usually are just getting around to planting our flowers over Memorial Day, which is usually a lot later in May than it is this year. We're ahead of our normal schedule because one Saturday my parents called and invited us to meet them in Howell to see where they buy their flowers. They've always talked about this place, so we went and ended up getting most of what we needed there.

Since it's such a great place with GREAT prices, I'll share the information with you:

Wilczewski Greenhouses
1260 North Hughes
Howell
517-546-0776

Open Mon - Thurs 10 AM to 7 PM
Fri - Sun 10 AM to 6 PM
Cash & Check only

We got HUGE hanging baskets for $13.25. Their annuals are $8.02/flat or if you mix the flat they're $8.96. They're very nice people, very helpful, and their prices were better than anything we could find in Lansing. Great quality plants, too.

They're not too far from the Howell outlet mall, so, if you're in the neighborhood, stop in and check them out.

Thought To Ponder

Why is it that if I'm having major surgery or some sort of major medical procedure, I'm lucky to get ten minutes with the surgeon and maybe get two questions answered....BUT....if I stop in to Yankee Candle the clerks want me to spend the day with them so they can tell me every single detail of every single scent in the store and on line?

Does this seem out of whack to you?

Talk of the Neighborhood

Randy has worked on the front yard for two solid days, and it's really coming together. I make him stop once in a while to get fed, but then he's itching to get right back out there. It appears he's the talk of the neighborhood, with people stopping over (some even driving over) just to tell him they're watching him and can't wait to see the finished product. I'm so proud of him!

And now a contest....can you guess what THIS is???? Leave a comment telling me your guess!

How to Save The Country

Not being thrilled with any of the so-called Presidential candidates, I've decided that there's really only one team who can turn this country around. I present to you our next Presidential party....

Our President, Jack Bauer. No one will mess with him. He will bring respect back to the office, and no one in the media will dare make fun of him. Terrorist won't dare mess with him. He's smart, good looking, and a born leader.

Our Vice President, John Locke. John is so very smart and intuitive, and he's a man of strong integrity. He can figure anything out, he knows how to negotiate with evil doers, and he's got a charm that makes him a natural leader.

Our Secretary of Defense, Sayid. Mess with him, and he'll kill you. 'Nuf said.

Of course we need a Secretary of State, Jack Shepherd. He's fair, honest, smart, and hard working. He tries to see the big picture and play nice with others. He's cute, funny, and can perform emergency surgery if need be. He's the man who could finally bring peace to the Middle East.

And finally, we need a Press Secretary, someone who has a way with words.

Now tell me, wouldn't you vote for this dream team?????

Another Wild Willett Week

Things have been nice and quiet here at Castle Willett. Randy's been crabbing about the weather because all he wants to do is be outside working on his projects. He's out there right now starting the front flower bed. I can't wait to see it when it's all done. He has a 3D image of our house on his computer and has graphically created what he's doing with the front and side yards. It's going to be so nice!

I filled my car up Monday evening and spent $53 on gas. This was BEFORE gas jumped up another $.25/gallon on Tuesday, mind you. I decided it's time for a lifestyle change. So, I worked from home Tuesday, Wednesday, and today. That saves both on gas and on lunches, a big help. It was a good week to do that since my bosses were in Richmond all week, so the office would have been quiet anyway. But after three days of that, I do find I'm ready to get back to the office tomorrow.

In my evenings, I've been trying to find room for all of the stuff I bought at the MegaMeet. I'm just about done with that and have a scrapbook layout I want to get finished. Very exciting stuff. I'll get some pictures on the yard progress and post them soon.....

Back from the Missing

I know I've neglected the blog lately. So many people have commented on it....it's nice to know that people do read it! I'll give you an update of what's been happening here in the World of Willett....

My Dad had a medical emergency a week ago and gave us all quite a scare. Thankfully it turned out to be a combination of his body bottoming out after coming off a steroid and, at the same time, reacting very badly to a new antibiotic. Luckily the medical team who arrived at the house to transport him were on the ball and quickly began to stabilize him before leaving for the hospital. After a few hours in ER, he was doing well and was able to come home. The next day he was fine, feeling so much better, while the rest of us were exhausted and had headaches. But he's really doing well now, and we're all so grateful for that.

The second thing that happened was the Scrapbook MegaMeet in Novi. This his the holy grail of scrapbooking in Michigan. It's at the Rock Financial Showplace, a huge exhibilition center. The last few years I've only been able to go on a Saturday, even though it's held Thursday - Saturday. This year I went Thursday and Friday, and it was awesome. I took lots of classes and shopped until I couldn't walk and my money was gone. I found some great deals and learned a lot of new things. As I write this, I'm in my craft room, surrounded by my new toys. Problem is, there's no room. Randy has said he's going to bring a semi-truck trailer in and hook it to the side of the house on a hinge. I think he's probably on the right track, because I have no clue as to where I'm going to put all of this stuff! Guess I'd better get busy and get some scrapbooks done. The MegaMeet was fantastic, but I was actually gone Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, taking two more days off work. Since I'm just getting back after our vacation, that meant I was really crunched for time, both at work and at home. I'm hoping I can stay home the next few weekends and not be so scheduled.

Randy and I have decided to concentrate on some new yard projects this year, so we've been busy shopping (yay!) and planting (yay for about the first hour). Here's what we're doing...

We replaced an old, rickety porch swing with this:

See those bushes on the side of the house? They're gone now:

This front flower bed? Also gone (we ran out of daylight, but the other bed in front is next):

Our purchases:

Randy worked on our vegetable garden. Here it is before:

And after:

Our hosta bed before:

And how it looked at the end of yesterday (he did even more on it this morning, but due to the rain, I didn't get a picture yet):

And a few more random pictures:

And finally, here' s Jack, doing what he does best, rolling in the yard:

So, this is our first step towards what we want to do this year. We've still got a lot of work ahead of us, but we're getting there. Keep watching the blog for our progress!

That's Sportsmanship

What an amazing story.