Well, it looks like I'm finally able to post this entry after several attempts to access the web. Tonight is the second time in the past week we've had internet troubles related to DNS, so I've put in a router workaround so we don't get knocked out by this every time. Let's hope it works :)

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The weekend got off to a bad start on Friday night when I discovered our remaining African Dwarf frog laying dead at the bottom of the fish tank. We've had this guy for over 2 years now, and during that time he has survived several fish extinctions, an accidental tank poisoning, and the death of his companion. I was rather depressed about this for most of the weekend, wondering how he could just drop dead like that. I think it'll be awhile before we think about getting anymore frogs....

The weather this weekend was absolutely stunning, bringing summer-like temperatures around 80F!

On Friday night we watched Simone, starring Al Pacino. That was a bit corny and contrived, but I still found it reasonably entertaining.

On Saturday we took advantage of the nice weather and did some work in the backyard, fixing the bird-feeder, and removing a dog-run wire between trees that was here since we moved in. I had to climb one of the trees to cut through it, which was fun, but left me feeling a bit sore afterward :) We also did some tidying-up inside, as well as hanging fixtures and pictures, and other assorted chores. For dinner we had some tasty sandwiches at Panera, then drove around by parks near the house to see what was within walking distance. We'll have to check those out sometime.

Later on we watched Unforgiven, and we were so tired we had to continue watching it in the morning. That was a good movie, although not quite the masterpiece I was expecting (Academy Awards and all that).

On Sunday we couldn't stay inside any longer, deciding instead to work on the front yard and soak up some sun. We made two trips to Home Depot to get some flowers and red pine mulch for the front garden, and spent most of the afternoon clearing old leaves, planting, and laying mulch. We'd way underestimated the amount of mulch we'd need--we ended up needing ten bags, and we'd initially only bought two, so back to Home Depot we went.

On the second trip we were taking a look at the Weber barbeques (propane versions thereof), and finally decided to buy one using the gift card we'd received for Christmas to partially offset the cost. There was no way the box or contents were going to fit in the car with a trunk full of mulch, so we drove back home, spread out the rest of the mulch, then headed back for the barbeque grill. The box still wouldn't have fit in the car, so the helpful grill guy there helped us unpack the box and put the individual pieces in the trunk and back seat. It was a bit of a hassle, but certainly beats paying for delivery or renting one of their pickups. Now I just need to assemble the thing :)

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With all the spring-cleaning, garden maintenance, and movie-watching, there wasn't much time at all for writing this weekend. I managed to get another critique done, but that's about it.

I've also been feeling rather uninspired, which is annoying because I'm getting antsy about writing some more stories. Not having a continual supply of stories to send out, or getting a small pile of rejections back is quite demoralizing at times, reinforcing the notion that my lazy Muse has gone on holiday.

Ignoring the busy times of late, I reckon part of the problem is that I feel like I need to have a decent outline in place before I can get writing. Once I've got that, I can usually whip something up fairly quickly. Until then I'm almost too reluctant to start, for fear of wasting my time churning out a couple of pages that go nowhere. That's something I should probably embrace rather than fear. I've surprised myself in the past by just sitting down and tapping things out as they occur to me, and it's certainly better than writing nothing for weeks on end. Methinks that's something I'll need to work on in the weeks and months ahead :)

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My parents and brother will be flying from Australia this coming weekend, staying here for three weeks before heading off to Vegas and surrounds for a further week. It's hard to believe they'll soon be here--we've been looking forward to their visit since we moved into the house last September!

While they're here we'll be doing plenty of sightseeing, although not as much as we'd like because we don't have enough leave saved up. Since we're within walking distance of the train line, they'll at least be able to visit Chicago while we're at work, and won't have to hang around here waiting for us to get back. I'm sure we'll also fire up this new grill at some point....

So, for the next month I expect this journal will pretty much be on hiatus, with few, if any, entries. Meanwhile, have a great spring and I'll drop by here when I can. Cheers!