Tag Archives: hobbies

Weeds (The uncool kind)

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Weeds be like can’t stop, won’t stop.  It’s annoying.  Those jerky weeds just keep on creeping into my yard even though I verbally abuse them constantly.  It’s time to step the abuse up to a more physical level.

Had to buy some gardening gloves and went to work ripping them out of the side yard, which is also a dog run.

side yard

 

As you can see from the pictures, I have to rig up garden hose in the front yard and connect another hose over the fence to water the back yard because there’s not a spigot back there. It’s kinda lame.

Mowing

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This might not seem like a huge milestone or something that should be new to anyone who is (cough) 30 years old.  But it’s new to me, so shut your mouth.

My mom was nice enough to gift me her old electric lawn mower which is perfect because filling a gas can and doing that whole thing seems really lame.  Mowing a lawn with an electric mower is kinda like vacuuming.  You gotta take care to not run over your cord and the you can never seem to get close enough to the wall.

I might’ve waited to long and the grass was crazy high.  So high, it wasn’t getting sucked into the bag.  Just laying damp in grass-stainy clumps on the ground which may or may not have ruined my Nike Cortez’s.

mowing

July – Backyarding

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Okay.  Okay.  I know I haven’t updated you folk for a while.  Here’s the rundown of my last few months.  I bought a house, moved into it, and, uh… well that’s pretty much it.  It’s pretty freaking time consuming, ya know.

So, this month is all about getting my backyard furnished and learning how to care for the slew of greenery that the previous owners were kind enough to cultivate for me.  I have mowed a lawn maybe once in my life and have killed more plants than I’ve saved.  So, I should probably learn how to, at the very least, keep these things from dying.

Goals this month:  Make a daybed for my patio.  Mow the lawn and keep it from dying.  Plant an herb garden.  Get my outdoor fireplace working.  Get table and chairs for the fire pit.  Buy a grill and use it.  Figure out outdoor speaker system and lighting.

Step 1 (Continued) – Buy Guitar Accoutrements

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Apparently there is a lot of extra stuff you need when you want to play guitar.  Apparently hair barrettes don’t make appropriate picks.  Also, guitars that are in tune sound better.  This is all news to me.

So, I find a local music shop and ask for help.  He shows me a crazy awesome electronic tuner with an amazing display that costs $30.  I say that’s a bit expensive, so he shows me the same option with a less amazing display that’s only $15.  It clips on the head of the guitar and analyzes the frequency of vibrations.  Super easy to use. I take that and a bag of medium thickness Fender picks.

tuner

March – Guitar Month

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Learning to play guitar was on the original list of things I wanted to do.  I even had a guitar long long ago.  I’ve known several amazing musicians over the years and don’t know why I never took advantage of the opportunity to learn.  Well, I guess it’s never too late.  I know that I am not really going to learn guitar to play guitar in 30 days, but I do have goals.

1. Buy a guitar.

2. Practice.

3. Play this song.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTgg3Z7JwTE

In Retrospect of Crafty Month

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As per usual, 30 days is just not enough time!  I finished a large suitcase project I’ve put on hold for about 2 years.  I revamped a window pane that I’ve been hoarding for a while.  I bought a lamp for $6.99 from Goodwill that I painted before realizing it doesn’t work.  Then I threw it away in annoyance.

But fear not, dear reader.  My little sister is getting married and I’ve volunteered to assist in crafty decorating.  So more craftiness is on the horizon!

February – Crafty Projects Month

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There is something about February, and winter in general, that makes me want to stay inside.  The sun is only out for brief moments and I want to follow suit. I want to flip the switch that turns my fireplace on and drink some tea.  Perfect timing for some indoor activities.  Half finished projects fill almost every closet of my apartment.  Things I bought or held onto for months (or years) that I knew I could do something with someday.  I know I won’t be able to finish all my crazy projects this month, but I can at least make a dent.

In Retrospect of Snow Sports Month

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As usual, lots of things I didn’t get to accomplish and still want to do. Snowshoeing is definitely one of those things.  A recent recommendation of making a snow angel is also something that sounds super adorable and fun.  So, there’s still a few good months of winter left and I might just be able to sneak some more snowy adventures in.

There were also really awesome things that I did get to do.  I went up to Mount Hood for the first time.  Went cosmic tubing and zip lining and had a freaking blasty blast.  Went ice skating on a lady-date.    And… uh… bought a groupon to take a snowboarding lesson… and… bought some winter gear…  um… okay, I guess that’s it.  But what I did do was pretty awesome, so BOOM!

January 29 – Ice Skating

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Bought a Groupon for ice skating at Lloyd Center.  It was $10 for two people with skate rental. Took my “special friend” Katie.  (Side note: this is her new nickname and she will forevermore be referred to as such.  Mainly due to my coworkers thinking I might be a lesbian because of all the lady-dates we go on.  Oh, and maybe also because I brought power tools in to work to install a bulletin board, but whatevs.  It’s probably the lady-dates.)  First things first.  Time to lace up!

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Ready to roll!  It’s been about 20 years since I’ve put on ice skates, but it did come back pretty quickly, after some stumbles.

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We skated for about an hour, then stood enthralled as the Zamboni made it’s graceful loops around the rink.  Why can I not look away?!?  Skated for another half hour or so and asked three different people to take our picture before winding up with something that was acceptable.

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Ice skating was really fun and a good workout.  Taking your skates off at the end feels incredibly awkward and I was immediately sore.  But I did get a good Toe Pick in!