Michelle’s House of Horror

I have a shoe problem.

No, it’s not the kind of shoe problem you may be thinking about. It’s not a fetish, it’s not an excessive shoe-buying issue. Well, Mark might think I buy too many shoes but that’s beside the point because he is incorrect about that. I *need* all those shoes. Especially the red ones. Everyone knows that red shoes make a person more content with life.

My shoe problem is different.

I am a shoe litterbug.
I leave my shoes all over the house.
I just can’t seem to put them away when I take them off.

There are shoes under my desk:

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Shoes next to the rocking chair:
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Shoes under the dining room table:
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The source of the problem is genetic. It seems to come from a gene on my Gorgeous Mother’s side of the family. Yes, she is a shoe litterer as well. That is why I don’t even try to fight it. I am genetically doomed to messiness.

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Read all about it in the family blog

My Mom:
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Famous Italian Political Prisoner:

What do you think?

Isn’t my family good looking? My brother Ken wore long pants to see his son graduate. This was only about the 4th time in his life this has transpired. It was the second time in a period of less than a month–Ken got married over Memorial Day weekend! It’s been a very good year for the Jolin family so far.

More importantly, please visit Justin’s web sites at justinjolin.com or
myspace.com/duckfan4life and leave him an embarassing message of congratulations!

camera. Get your minds out of the gutter.

My spouse has a big boy digital camera with a shutter that actually goes off when you press it, rather than several seconds later. This is a very good thing. I took it into the back yard before it started raining to see what I would get. No pressure at all having the professional photographer looking over my shoulder, I assure you

Here’s a bug hiding in the pine. I colored the pine purple in Photoshop just because it looked cool.

Since Mark and I are gardeners of the wildly hands-off variety, there are only a few things that really look good in our yard. The hydrangeas and lavendar are taking over the universe, as are the strawberries. The roses are blooming like crazy, but have foliage that is a little on the ratty side.

Hydrangea:

and lavendar:

A bit of rose, with the color photoshopped out a bit:

I can’t remember what this is called. Huechera, maybe?

We also have this plant with buds on it that look like gnomes. Well, *I* think they look like gnomes anyway. The gnomes might be columbine when they bloom:

And last, but not least..the bleeding heart. I love bleeding heart, but ours just doesn’t seem to be very happy where it is. A better person would move the poor thing:

Mr. Squeeeks wishes someone would let him outside for a little while:

I am heartbroken.

These are not available commercially, and I simply MUST HAVE THEM NOW.

Someone needs to start printing them for me. My birthday is in November.

Sigh.

Praise the Lord, all the same:

It’s a good thing I have this important picture of Kate in her birthday wear to post, or I’d be very irritated by all the Democratic proclamations of faith being discussed in the news. Here’s an idea: let’s judge the candidates based on their qualifications and ideas rather than how, when and if they go to church at all. Ahem. I was apparently not as distracted by Kate’s picture as I thought!

Here’s a work appropriate version of the picture. Click on it to see the “real” version when you get home from work!

Doesn’t Katy look good in a tiara? She really does look like it comes naturally to her, and seemed very at ease in her fabulous bejeweled state.

Happy birthday, Kate–we love you!

Need I say more?