Inside This Mind.

07.06.2008 * 7:02 p.m.
decidedly awkward.

It has been a rather long, yet wonderful week.
Sunday we made a speedy trip out to Brentwood to pick up eleven rolls of sod that Barry's uncle had left over. It was hot and dry, so I made sure to keep those babies watered that evening and all through Monday. There wasn't as much grass there as we expected, but it was free so why not give it a go?! Monday was an adventure as I raked up all of the natural landscaping (read: weeds and wild grasses) in our backyard. Thankfully I had a friend there to hoe the earth that I raked. Barry came home that evening and rototilled until we had a small patch of ground that was soft, tilled dirt. We spread out the steer manure fertilizer blend, then some potting soil (the store was out of top soil), and watered until it was a muddy mess. Barry then picked up the first roll of sod and nearly died. The look on his face made it clear that those little bundles of dirt and grass were much heavier now that they were loaded with water. Thank goodness he's a strong guy! Now we have a very tiny patch of lawn in our big dirt backyard. It's exciting, except that it's been getting hotter and hotter as this week has progressed and I'm a bit on the frugal side. All of this watering is bound to cost a little more than a pretty penny, but we shall see.
In related news, we are discovering the many things around our house. My favorite discoveries while raking were an extremely old chain, three golf balls, and several square nails. (Square nails are old. Older than your grandpa. Unless you have an extremely old grandpa.) So far in the ivy we've found a kitty litter scooper, and a container full of used, dirty oil. I'm sure there will be more discoveries. My favorite thing is watching the apricot tree in our front yard. It is loaded with fruit and they are finally getting close to being ripe. There is another fruit tree in our backyard, but we aren't sure what those little fruits will ripen into. Our best guess right now is that we'll have plums. Isn't that fun! I'm so excited to have my own house with fruit trees! Just wait until we tackle the rest of that yard and get a garden going! Grandpa will be proud! (My grandpa, not yours this time. Unless you think he'd be proud of me too, in which case tell him I say, "Thank you."

Now for unrelated news:
We had some of Barry's family over yesterday, a get together of the kids. His sisters and a couple cousins came, hung out, ate, and played with us. We introduced little nephew Caleb to water balloons, which he enjoyed. His mom didn't enjoy the last one very much, because we encouraged him to throw it right at her, but overall I think everyone had fun.

We sat around and talked in the evening after some of the group had left. The conversation ran all over the place, from work to relationships, family and friends. Then it took a turn towards politics and I stopped talking. First of all, I'll admit that I'm pretty apathetic when it comes to politics. I'm just not that interested. However, when I do get interested, I am clearly liberal. The rest of the people in the room were clearly not. How do I say this? I felt awkward? Yes, decidedly awkward. I'm use to conversations with my husband where we cannot see eye to eye because of the whole liberal verse conservative thing, but that's different because neither of us are terribly educated on the current political events. We know what other people tell us and don't really care enough to dig much deeper. But last night, talking with other people who may actually know for themselves what they were talking about, well, I felt uneasy. I also couldn't shake the feeling that they were a little bit foolish. I don't like that feeling, which is why I usually steer clear of political conversations.
Now you know how to get me to stop talking in a group.

Let's see what this next week brings my way...