Homemaker Update

I am going to claim success with my first poker party. Now, I didn't actually play a single hand of poker, but I played a game called "31" and two games of Yatzee. Yatzee is definitely more my style. Tim thought I was a little crazy when he saw that I was taking photographs of the food that I had prepared, but I have a method to my cooking madness.

For example, if the antipasto tray was a hit, I would want to remember exactly what I had put on it. If the new recipe for Texas Caviar was a hit (which it wasn't), I would want a picture with my recipe post. I have my reasons. Finally, when I asked him to take a picture of me with the food, it was simply because I am always the one taking the pictures and so rarely in the photos. However, I start to pick myself apart in photos...my necklace wasn't out, the shirt makes me look pregnant, I should have better posture...oh, well. I asked for it, right.

I found out that taking pictures of food is harder than it looks. I never realized that lighting was so important when taking pictures of things other than people. This is the only food photo that actually looks decent.

Food is not the only thing on my mind today. I have grass on my mind too. I have been trying to grow grass in my shady backyard for a few weeks and I am starting to see the rewards of my obsession. The dirt is slowly being replaced with green stems of grass. I tell everyone who is interested in my not-so-secret weapon with growing grass...peat moss. It has made a world of difference.

Other good news on the gardening front, three out of four replanted hostas have returned! It makes me feel like I have a little bit of a green thumb. Also, some perennials that I planted last year have returned in full bloom. I didn't have a lot of confidence that they would return. The yard is coming together and we have until Mother's Day to get things in order because that is when I will be moving some hostas and planting some annuals.

Finally, I will probably be missing from my blog again this week. I have parent-teacher conferences and it will be taking up a lot of my time and energy. Along with that, I will be attending a professional development seminar.