I’ve been busy . . . doing dishes!
Kirk informed me today that we really shouldn’t run the dishwasher again….ever. At least not the current one. All I could think was “I have a dishwasher full of dirty dishes”. So tonight, Nate was drying while I washed – when he asked if we were about done (see below), I said, “nope, gotta do all the dishes in the dishwasher too” – he quickly opened the dishwasher to see the “load” – and made my day with the announcement – “they’re clean!” So because I don’t have a dishwasher full of dirty, food caked dishes to wash, I can blog!
These are the dishes Nate left to air dry. . . (after putting many away)

Sunday night I had a “camera lesson” . . . I have SO much to learn.
Natalie was a very willing model — showing off her perfect wink — while showing me up because I can barely wink one eye and she can do either! Anyway, that’s my excuse for not blogging on Sunday night. Thanks for the goodnight hugs & kisses Natalie!

Another reason I haven’t blogged: I’ve been working on a digital photobook that we got free from Shutterfly with our new camera. The offer expires on the 30th so I’m really short on time. I was up til 2:00 a.m. this morning working on it! Since this is the first time I’ve ever done one of these photobooks, it is taking more time – and of course I HAVE to edit the pictures with Photoshop. Our lilac bushes are’nt even close to blooming yet. Heck, they don’t even have leaves. Pathetic. Last year at this time they were. Our crabapple was blooming by now too. It hasn’t leaved out yet. 🙁Today I did 3 room redesigns for a friend. It took almost 4 hours to do an office, great room and kitchen. We had a blast! She gave me total free reign of her house & furnishings. I’ll post photos tomorrow.Tonight Kirk and I drove to Winona with the van to get Danae’s futon, fridge, and a van load of other items from her dorm. She is done on Thursday so now she only has to bring a few things back in her car. We enjoyed a nice dinner with her at the Accoustic Cafe. Good hoagies, coffee and soup.Other news: We bought a dishwasher on Sunday. We did our homework with Consumer Reports and walked into Sears (which I vowed to never shop at again about 15 years ago) — and bought the Kenmore (made by Whirlpool) one that was the Consumer Reports Best Buy. It wasn’t the one I really wanted, but hard to justify spending the extra $400 for the feature I wanted. It will wash the dishes great and will be quiet enough. I’m trying to be reasonable and buy with “needs” in mind vs. “wants”.
Till tomorrow,