Spring Break Play List

The boys will be spending next week with Billy's parents, and I've been busy getting lots of housework done so I can spend the week playing instead of cleaning. Here's what I hope to get accomplished:

1. Get my hair trimmed. It's been probably 7 or 8 months since I had a trim!

2. Color my hair. Shall I stick with Chocolate Peanut Butter or should I go with something a little different? I'm thinking something different if I can work up my nerve...

3. Shop for beads. I haven't been to some of my favorite bead shops in a while. I'd like to see what they've got in stock for the new "season". Some of the shops bring in new items for the spring/summer, but a few others just carry the same thing all the time. I might even make it out to a new bead shop or two that I've heard about.

4. Browse the jewelry design books at Borders. I haven't done this in several months. I might even buy one if it has several good project ideas. Plus, I have a 30% off coupon that's valid through Monday.

5. Go to the Dallas Blooms festival at the Arboretum. I've never been and I'm determined not to miss out this year. There are supposed to be countless varieties of flowers in bloom. I'll be sure to have my camera batteries fully charged! I plan on staying a while and taking tons of pictures.

6. Have lunch with Billy at Ali Baba. He keeps telling me how delicious the food is, and I've yet to be able to go with him. I made a point of telling him I want to do that next week. I'm looking forward to some roasted cauliflower...

7. Go to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra! I saw a notice on Facebook the other day that DTS had some free tickets available for next Friday night. Billy was able to get us some, so we'll be hearing Mozart and Handel that evening. I can't wait!

8. Go see Alice in Wonderland. I've been wanting to see this ever since I saw the first news clip about it. A few of my friends have seen it and said it's great, and I've read that it's already broken some records. Any Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration has to be great!

9. Hit some golf balls. It's been almost a year since Billy and I got out to hit a bucket of golf balls, and I'm more than ready to hit some more.

10. Go to the zoo. Yes, I know, the boys and I just went to the zoo on Tuesday. But I want to go with my camera and Billy's zoom lens and spend all the time I want at some of my favorite exhibits, waiting patiently for those perfect shots. My hope is to get some great pics of the gorillas.

11. Get my last few months of photos renamed and organized in iPhoto. I haven't done that since November, I believe. Ugh! I keep telling myself I'll be better about it, but then I get busy with other things. When I finally do think about it, I don't have the time. I need to set aside some time each month to get caught up on that. Oh, and I need to download the boys' photos off their cameras, too. Billy and I scrolled through them just to see what was there, and Caleb seems to have a pretty good eye!

12. Get curtains put up in the boys' bedroom and the master bathroom. I finally found some curtains I like for the boys room. They're striped and match the colors flowing through the rest of the house - and they look masculine. I'm still not decided on curtains for the master bathroom, though. I may just go with the same ones that are hanging over my kitchen sink...

13. Explore the small towns around me, with my camera in hand, of course. This is something I want to do with Billy, though. I'm not sure yet if he's planned to take a day or two off, but if he does, this is high on my list. It's not something I feel I can do with the boys, though they might enjoy it. The main issue there is them getting bored while I'm trying to take pictures; but if they had their cameras with them, too, it might not be too bad...

-------------------------I'm sure more things will come to mind - certainly more than I'll actually have time to do. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to add it! I wonder what I'll actually get done...
-------------------------
14. Get an oil change and a car wash.

15. Organize my jewelry-making supplies. A while back I cleaned out a stand of drawers where I kept my Pampered Chef paperwork, supplies, etc. My intention was to store my jewelry supplies there: completed projects, bags and tags, wire, beads, etc., but I never got around to doing it.

-------------------------Update: Jacob started running a high fever on Saturday, so their spring break trip has been postponed until next week. The only thing on my list that I won't be able to do next week is attend the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Maybe next time things will work out...
-------------------------
16. Check out the new Aldi grocery store. The prices are supposed to be even lower than Wal-Mart's - but you have to take your own grocery bags and "rent" a cart for a quarter (which you do get back).

17. Go to the dentist for my semi-annual cleaning. This was supposed to have happened back in January, but I was sick and had to reschedule for March 3. Then I had to reschedule that appointment for April 27 - but I told them to call me if they had something come open during my free week. I just got called yesterday for an opening next Wednesday morning. I'll be so glad to get this out of the way!

18. Buy some new lipstick. That probably doesn't sound like a big deal, but there's a Merle Norman shade I used that I loved. When I ran out, I thought I could get something comparable from Wal-Mart. Not happening. I've tried a few different shades, but nothing comes close. I have some other shades I like, but nothing beats Rich Raisin. I need to find out where the closest Merle Norman store is so I can get another tube!

Springtime at the Zoo

I'm so ready for spring! Yesterday was picture perfect! The temps were in the mid-70s and the sky was cloudless. I took the boys to the zoo and we studied some of the insects in Bug U (for our science lesson) before eating our picnic lunch and seeing some of our favorite animals. We skipped The Hill (as usual), the reptile building, the monkeys, the tigers, and the far reaches of The Wilds of Africa - and it took us 4 1/2 hours to see everything else, including a 20-minute ride on the Monorail Safari. I guess if we ever want to see everything there, we need to go when the zoo first opens and spend the whole day!

We saw quite a bit of "real life" at the zoo as well. The mongooses (mongeese?) and zebras were especially, um, active. It was funny listening to the comments adults would make when they saw what was going on. The boys thought the animals were fighting. :o) The funniest thing was when the monorail guide was telling about the zebras we would be seeing next. As we rounded the corner, they were being rather "frisky" and the guide got tickled. She continued on with her speech, but she was having a hard time keeping her voice normal. I looked at the other adults in the cars past us and saw that all of us were laughing.

I can't wait for the new zoo exhibit to open at the end of May! Giants of the Savannah is an 11-acre habitat that will house seven or eight elephants, 14 giraffes (that can be fed by zoo visitors!), a pride of lions, some cheetahs, and other animals. There will be a restaurant overlooking the big cat area. The zoo currently has two elephants and three giraffes, kept in small neighboring enclosures. The lone lion died of cancer a few years ago. The three cheetahs are on "The Hill", which is not so fun to walk to (which is why we often skip it). The grand opening is set for Memorial Day weekend; the boys and I will go the week after so we can avoid the sure-to-be-massive crowd.

The Fort Worth Zoo recently had a grand opening for its new Museum of Living Art (MOLA) - a new herpetarium. When we visited the zoo with a home school group last fall, the new one was under construction but the old one had already closed. While I'm not a fan of reptiles and amphibians, they do make great photographic subjects. I can't wait to visit it soon!

-------------------------------
I've heard many people make comments about how "bad" the Dallas Zoo is. I think it's great! Maybe it's not up to the same quality as other major zoos or even the Fort Worth Zoo, but it's improving. It's improved quite a bit in the 5 years that we've been going to it. The Dallas Zoo is better than the zoo I grew up visiting, which is better than no zoo at all. I've been a member of the zoo for 4 years now, and I plan to continue my membership indefinitely. Even when the boys think they've "outgrown" the zoo, I know I never will. I love zoos!