big island

Small Person's birthday party went off without a hitch. I baked, Auntie T constructed, and it turned out like this:

Extra fabulous, don't you think? We decked the house and ourselves in leis, grass skirts, and various other island-inspired props, put the five hours worth of music I collected on shuffle, and passed around the mocktails. I do admit to one small gripe: why is the RSVP habit an exception nowadays, no longer the norm? I mean, just let me know, no big deal, I see you and your kid at school several times a week, how hard is it to just mention that you're not sure of your plans? So, big appreciation to those who responded, even those who couldn't make it! 
Anyway, Small Person was pretty dang excited. She was way beyond any normal levels of behavior, and her ears just turned right off. I pulled out the mini trampoline to give her a little physical outlet, but eventually just sent her out of the house with the grandparents so we could finish up.
It was a good group. Enough for a boisterous event, but still able to all play together in Small Person's room. We made shell necklaces and magnets, we limboed, we tore through presents in record time. And then, we excavated the volcano.
The carpet is covered in shard of grass skirt, the kitchen floor is sticky with grenadine and frosting; we must have had a good time.

Today is my baby girl's official day of birth. She's on Spring Break, so we get to cuddle and give her our presents and field family phone calls all day. She also gets to pick dinner, so I'm 99% positive we'll be enjoying something starchy and far removed from the vegetable kingdom. And, we have a lot of leftover grenadine, so it will definitely be another umbrella-drink day.

Happy Birthday!

tgif

Ah, the mantra of the working world; TGIF! I'm relieved to arrive at this happy day. I essentially doubled my activity and workload this week and it shows in my bloodshot eyes. Although, that could be the glass of wine I downed as soon as I got home. I have the night off, since Small Person left for her weekly overnight visit with the grandparents. Thank you, Baba!

Sadly, I'll most likely spend the remainder of my Friday night off finishing homework, catching up on email and reading, then going to bed early. Tomorrow is for laundry and various housekeeping chores, then hopefully a grocery trip squeezed in there somewhere. Sunday we're off to a birthday party for Her Tinyness, for which her excellent parents rented a bouncy. Oh, joy! Oh, exhaustion unrelieved! I often pack Small Person's pajamas when we go visiting for a busy day like that. I'm thinking of bringing my own this time, as well. I'm looking forward to a real day off... oh, sometime within the next decade, perhaps.

That's what I get for re-joining the ranks of the responsibly employed, I suppose.

Happy Birthday, Sahru!

We had tons of fun playing tea party and stuffing ourselves with treats.  I drank so much tea, I was awake until 2 a.m.  Fortunately, leftover tiny tea sandwiches make a delicious midnight snack.

lady grey

Kathi's recent post reminded me to share our new combined laundry and watering system.

I know I'm desperately nerdy for admitting this, but I love a good grey water system.  You know, the kind that takes the outflow from your kitchen sink, say, and uses it to water your ornamental landscaping.  I've seen (or more likely, read about) some pretty awesome systems that send everything but the toilet water through an elaborate filtration system encompassing gravel beds, aeration fountains, and plants to purify the water enough to use it as irrigation for food crops.

Ours is not nearly so fancy, but it's still pretty keen.  Since our laundry outflow was previously uncoupled from the septic system even before we moved in, we were able to set up a simple system fairly quickly.  From the washer, water goes to two storage barrels that have free-flow irrigation hoses hooked to them.  The hoses go snaking along the property, through fences, under paths, around landscaping to drip on all of our ornamental borders.  Yes, we use eco-friendly soap.  No, we don't use the water for anything we're planning to eat.  With five people in the house, it's easy to do at least one load of laundry a day, more often two.  Which, coincidentally, is the exact proportion to fit on our newly-installed clothesline.  We'll just pretend we planned it all that way.