It finally happened!  I am so happy!  At 12:50pm today my blog received its 20,000th hit. 

 

Thank you to everyone that reads my blog and views the pictures.  Please feel free to leave comments as well.

 

I think I may do some cartwheels down the hall now...

 

- Lisa Lounsbery

 

 

Walt and I went to our first ballroom dance class tonight, and it was fantastic!  We went to Academy Ballroom http://academyb.com/ in Knoxville for their Friday night Beginner Variety class taught by David.  We learned a little swing and a bit of salsa.  I love swing!  It is so much fun with all the spins.  Salsa was a little more complicated to me, but I know I will get it.

 

After the class was Academy Ballroom's Friday Night Dance Party.  Walt and I stayed to watch other dancers, and figured that we would get out on the floor after a few more lessons.  Next thing I knew, men were asking me to dance and were willing to teach me the basics.  David our instructor took me out on the floor twice to do swing and once to teach me Rumba.  David also brought over a female dancer to work with Walt.  Walt and I tried the Rumba and Salsa on our own and had a good time.  We are definitely going back for more lessons.

 

Tonight was tons of fun!

 

- Lisa Lounsbery  aka Ginger

Yesterday morning I discovered that vast changes were made to Windows Live Spaces.  I was rather miffed to say the least. 

 

If you are going to change something, at least change it for the better.  Let's not make it so convoluted that I can't figure out how to check recent comments, how to add a blog, or even check statistics!  The old version of Live Spaces allowed me to do those things directly from the first page.  Yes, I eventually figured out the new setup, but I don't understand the reason for the "improvements."  I mean seriously, is it really an improvement to have Live Spaces be less user friendly?  I don't think so, in fact I know it is not an improvement.

 

My Plea:  Please go back to Wednesday's version of Live Spaces.  Scrap all these changes and start over.  And above all else, keep the end user in mind.  Not all of us want to use a non-user friendly Windows Live Spaces for our blogs, and you might be losing new bloggers because they don't understand how to use Live Spaces.  So please keep it simple. 

 

- Lisa Lounsbery

Last week I went to World Market to look for accessories for my home office.  I found beautiful white window sheers with green embroidery from India and a brass Ganesha (Hindu God of new beginnings).  I wandered over to the accessory area for women to see if there was any jewelry or hair accessories I might be interested in.  I found a couple of bandannas that were pretty, so I picked those up too.  I wanted more than 2, but I could not find anymore in stock.  The reason for wearing bandannas is to keep my hair paint-free.  I have a tendency to lean forward when I paint and those little wispy hairs touch the wet walls.  I made my purchases and happily proceeded home with Walt.

 

I am happy to report that the sheers look great in my office, and the bandannas have kept my hair clean.

 

Monday I went to World Market after my class to pick up one more sheer panel and to see if they had any more bandannas.  I was walking through the store when I saw two big buckets full of bandannas!  Then I stopped in horror when I realized that the bandannas were not in the female accessory area, but rather in dog section.  Yes, I purchased and have been wearing dog bandannas.  At least I can laugh about it, and I still wear the bandannas when painting.

 

Last night I told my 18 year old sister, Alyssa, about my purchase.  She didn't laugh at all, and said "oh, I can see how that happened."  Wow, if Stacy (older sister) had worn a doggie bandanna, I would have fallen on the floor laughing.  I am sure Stacy is laughing hysterically reading this blog too (that's ok, it's funny).  I guess Alyssa is much more mature and compassionate than Stacy and me combined. 

 

- Lisa Lounsbery

Today I took a quantum leap in understanding my husband a little better.  I took a class in web design, FrontPage to be exact.  I got to hear all sorts of acronyms like CSS, XML, HTM, HTML, blah, blah, blah.  It was all rather interesting and little confusing at the same time.  I did learn a ton about how easy or difficult you can make a website. 

 

I also discovered that some people are obsessed over nit picky stuff with the layouts.  In my class there were three of us, with me knowing nothing about any website application and the other two having experience in other web software and some coding experience.  They did get on my nerves going off subject and being acronym crazy.  I mean geez, it's a beginner class guys, let's keep it basic.

 

I will be taking several more classes in different areas of web design over the next few months.  I have no doubt that I will understand why Walt gets frustrated occasionally once I start working on my part of the Lounsbery website.  But I will try not to sweat the small stuff and make my pages the best I can (and pretty too). 

 

- Lisa Lounsbery

I have finally finished painting my scrapbook room/office in the house.  I am overjoyed at this accomplishment.  This is the first time I have ever rolled paint.  I tried it once before at my parents house, but my mother stopped me within 2 minutes because of my horrible job.  This time I read up on how to roll paint prior to starting.  The room looks awesome!

 

My new office furniture will arrive tomorrow.  Once it is set up and Walt installs my new ceiling fan, I will post pictures. 

 

The final touch to the room will be crown molding later this summer.

 

- Lisa Lounsbery

Monday Walt and I went off to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  Within the park there is an area called Cades Cove that was a farming settlement during the 19th and early 20th centuries.  The hike we did was Abrams Falls.

 

The hike is a 5 mile round trip excursion over three ridges.  So, we hiked 6 ridges out and back.  The hike was listed as a "moderate hike."  I would agree with that description.  We did see quite a few people hiking with babies and toddlers...don't do that!  Children under 5 are not up to the challenge of this hike.  So unless you want to carry them for four miles, pick one of the easier trails.

 

Abrams Falls is worth the hike over the ridges.  It is beautiful out there.  We did see some swimmers out by the falls, but we had decided earlier not to swim.  The park service warns against swimming there due to the strong undercurrents from the falls, and has a sign posted that 4 people have drowned over the past few years.  I don't know about you, but I sure don't want my mother to write in my obituary "Lisa died of stupidity.  She saw the signs posted not to swim and even had a book in her backpack warning of the undercurrents.  But alas her stubborn German genes, that would be from her father's side, prevailed and she drowned."  Fortunately, no one drowned while we were at the falls, but there was a wedding.

 

Ah, a hot July wedding at noon!  Nothing says romance like a hot and humid outdoor wedding.  But, the bride and groom were in their 20's and wanted to get married by the falls.  So, the entire wedding party hiked up and down the ridges to the falls.  I thought is was peculiar that the bridal party was all in dresses and flip flops!  Dresses, ok, I get the dress part...it is a wedding after all.  But flip flops!?!  The terrain is very rocky and there are a gazillion roots on the trail, and don't forget about slippery rocks by the falls.  I am shocked that none of them broke an ankle. 

 

The wedding was the talk of the hike back among the people on the trail.  At one point we saw a man running down one of the ridges and we all speculated that he must be late for the ceremony.  At least he was wearing sneakers and not flip flops.

 

The walk back got tough going up ridge 5, and by ridge 6 I was exhausted, drenched in sweat, and out of water.  Thank goodness Walt still had water.  Overall the hike was great and I would do it again.  We finished the day getting ice cream at the camp store in Cades Cove.  Nothing is better than a chocolate/vanilla swirl cone/cup after a hike.  Mmmmmm, Ice Cream

 

- Lisa Lounsbery

I have spent the first half of today declaring my independence from Kudzu.  Kudzu is a nasty vine from the pea family that grows all over the south and will take over all vegetation in no time flat.  Apparently, I have Kudzu. 

 

Walt and I noticed the other day that this strange vine was growing over the shrubs in a 20 foot section of the back yard.  After some internet research I discovered that it was not poisonous ivy/sumac/oak, but rather Kudzu or something closely related.  This morning I wore my farmer Lisa outfit:  carpenter jeans, Georgia "rattle snake" proof cowboy boots, a long sleeve light-weight Nike top, my straw cowboy hat, big sunglasses, and gardening gloves (Walt will probably post a "Farmer Lisa" picture on his blog http://waltl.spaces.live.com ), and went after the Kudzu.  I attacked it with my trusty pruning shears and big ol' shovel.  I ripped out most of it and cut the thick vines going into the tree.  My shrubs now have a fighting chance at survival.

 

Another project today was to begin cleaning up the basketball court.  One of the previous owners (probably 20 years ago) put in a basketball court on the side of the house.  The cement court is still there and so is the pole for the backboard and hoop.  The problem is that the english ivy has grown all over the court, rendering it useless.  After I finished with the Kudzu, I climbed through the ivy up to the court with my trusty shovel.  I was not too sure if the english ivy was growing out of the cement or simply grew over the court.  Fortunately, it simply spread across the court.  I managed to roll the ivy like a carpet, well about 5 feet, with another 20 feet to go.  The good news is that the ivy has been working as a compost heap.  As the leaves fell off the surrounding trees they were left there to decay.  Then at some point the ivy spread over it.  The result is fantastic compost that I can use for some of my gardening projects later on.  Woo Hoo...compost.

 

I am hoping to have a fully functional basketball court by the end of September.  I think we may have some hoop action for Thanksgiving Day!

 

I am finding it a little amusing that my biggest issues with the yard work seem to be vines.  Instead of have only the strawberry nemesis, I now have the "Tri-Nemesis" of Strawberries (the worst), Kudzu (not far behind strawberries), and English Ivy.  Even with those problematic vines, I still took a moment today to sit on my garden wagon and relax to the sounds, smells, and views of nature.  Wow, I am really living my dream life.  Cool.

 

- Lisa Lounsbery

It has finally happened.  I now have a yard nemesis that is driving me crazy.  I have spent the last hour filling up my wheel barrow with strawberry vines that are growing wildly all over our property.  I should be happy to have delicious strawberries growing outside my front door, but I am not happy.  Those blasted vines are thriving while the rest of the landscaping is drying out (except for the weeds). 

 

So I am spending roughly 2 hours per day digging out  vines and weeds.  Upon my father's advice I bought a gallon of Roundup to kill the weeds and tried it on the strawberries.  Unfortunately the strawberry vines are tough little things and are not dying.  Therefore I am digging away at my nemesis.  I am starting to understand Maryam's frustration with the voles:  http://maryamie.spaces.live.com/ .  Every time I think I am making headway, I discover more strawberries lurking in the shrubbery and lawn.

 

Other than the evil strawberries, the yard is progressing nicely.  I dug up some bushes on Sunday and did alot of pruning.  I actually found a lovely stone border underneath all the overgrown bushes!  I met the neighbor across the street and found out that the prior owners spent thousands of dollars to have the yard professionally landscaped, but they never did any maintenance on it.  Well, duh.  Everything is overgrown, there are dead leaves and funky pollen/seeds deep down in all the bushes, nothing was pruned, and I am quite convinced that they did not own a rake. 

 

Over the next 24 months (I have extended the yard plan another 6 months in order to have two growing seasons) I have my work cut out for me.  There is alot to do, but I am confident that I am up to the challenge.  After all, I watch HGTV, DIY, and TLC on a daily basis.

 

Well, back to digging up strawberry vines again.

 

- Lisa Lounsbery