Brian & I must have been bitten by the Earth Day bug. During the weekend, we built a compost bin. He made this swing that he hung from the silver maple in our backyard. And we've topped our various gardens with mulch. I tried to take pictures of said gardens, but Lilly insisted on sneaking into the picture:
Brian & I had an unusual date night Friday: an evening at the tattoo parlor. Brian's left arm is now decorated with this sweet tat, which he designed. Like the tat on his right arm, it represents religious themes. It took about two hours to have done. Did it hurt? I'll plead the fifth on that one.
Our friends Tony & Nicole met up with us, and Tony got this very cool tattoo, which he designed. Yep. Can't beat a double date at the tattoo parlor. We went to dinner at Old Chicago in Old Town afterwards. Our interesting night was complete when "Crazy Mike" made an appearance.
The guys had their ink done at Artists at Large on East Douglas. The place no doubt draws some characters, Brian & Tony included. Friday night was great people watching for sure. We were amused that people out and about for the Final Friday gallery crawl -- including people wearing suits -- stopped in to gawk. There are some neat, well, exhibits on the wall. But don't take kids there. Ever. I did like the wall-o-clocks. Guess it must always be tattoo time somewhere:
"Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
On Thursday, Brian & I met my parents to see opening night of Gridiron, a satirical revue that benefits college journalism students. Gridiron is near and dear to my heart for these reasons: I twice won Gridiron scholarships while a student at KU, I was in the show for two years, my sister Amanda also has been a scholarship recipient and cast member and I have several friends in the show now.
My parents are huge gridiron fans. They wouldn't miss a show. And I even convinced my dad last minute to volunteer as an usher in exchange for a free Bucky T-shirt. Yep. That's how my dad rolls.
My friend Jaime cracks me up every year in the show. I just laugh watching her jump around on stage. What an actress. I predict that her boyfriend Carter will be blown away by the fab show on Saturday!
Miss VZ was quite the actress, as well. God love her, I'm convinced that she's made it her personal goal to lure me back into Gridiron acting ... 
Have you missed me? I've taken a break from blogging and everything else during a three-day trip to Dallas with Brian and our friends Tony & Nicole and Ann & Jeremey.
On Sunday, when the weather was sunny and beautiful, we checked out the Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival, where I fell in love with all kinds of art I couldn't afford. My favorite was Scanlan photography. Breathtaking.
They tried to convince the wives that golfing in the Texas sun meant long and grueling days. We knew better.
I took a break between errands and youth group this evening to play catch in the sunshine with Lilly and her new favorite toy, the Combat Extreme Bone Tug Dog Toy, which we bought yesterday.
The dreary weather this week has meant that Dakota & Lilly have spent most of their time cooped up in the house. So between the farmer's market, grocery shopping and switching out four light fixtures in our house (including a ceiling fan), we took our dogs to the pet store.
While at PetSmart, we ran into our friends Chris and Lori, who had just adopted a beagle/basset hound mix from the Kansas Humane Society. I think the pup, whom they named Trip, has the best features of each breed. Look at that cute face and those adorable floppy ears. They're pictured at left with their little nephew. Lori told me that they saw the 7-month-old puppy online last night and just had to have him. You can see his "adopted" update on KHS's Web site. Congrats!
Mom took a few hours off work this afternoon so we could go on a bit of a shopping adventure. We were in the mood for bargain hunting, so we first checked out the giant Goodwill on North Maize Road, which neither of us had been to. We found lots of cute necklaces for $1.50 each.
When I spread them out for the above picture, Meow Meow attacked the yellow beaded accessory. Pretty kitty must know that yellow is the color this spring.
Next, we ventured to Paramount Antique Mall, where we lost track of time admiring assorted treasures. I was on the lookout for a new piece of furniture, and the one below, built using old barn wood, caught my eye. (It was marked down to a great price, so I snatched it up.) I snapped the photo below on the left at the store and the one below on the right after Brian & I moved it into our freshly repainted bedroom:
I'll admit that I don't look nearly this hot in my tinted Speedo goggles, but Lilly was surprisingly cooperative when I coerced her into modeling for me this morning.
... you might just miss another reminder that spring has arrived. I opted not to photograph the ants we've recently noticed finding their way into our kitchen and instead decided to share these garden images. Our investment last year in several perennial plants is paying off. It's been such a joy watching something new poke through the ground almost every day in the past week or so:
Though book club typically embraces its unofficial "no boys allowed" rule, tonight's meeting was a rare exception. Tom Shine, co-worker to many of us, visited to answer questions about "Life with Mae". 
In case you missed it, my friend and co-worker Denise has had this photo of me on her blog for the last few days. Check out her blog to see my crazy co-workers.
1. Update banner that hangs in our family room
I love ESPN's Web site headline right now: "Chalk and awe," with a photo of game MVP Mario Chalmers, who sunk a three-pointer to squeak KU into overtime play to win tonight's national championship game against Memphis. Super Mario, indeed. Get that boy a pair of blue suede shoes. Crimson and blue, that is.
