This has to be quick because I’m about to meet some friends for lunch, but there is one very important-yet-simultaneously-inconsequential thing I want to share with you before I forget:

I still haven’t really gotten the hang of posting on Twitter, but I am increasingly fascinated with reading it. And this is after about a year of being on the Twitter fence.

However, I now consider myself a bit of a fledgling Twitter fan.

Because remember? In junior high? When you’d call a friend and say “what are you doing?” and you felt better just knowing that your friend was, oh, writing Rick Springfield’s name all over her notebooks?

THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT TWITTER REMINDS ME OF.

It’s like having access to a junior high party line, only the people on the party line are, you know, grown, and also, they’re not nearly as catty.

So if you Twitter, why not leave your Twitter link in my comments? Make sure you only leave one link - otherwise the spam filter will think you are trying to sell some sort of medicinal product. But if you leave a link, then people can click on that link and follow you and know when you’re writing Rick Springfield’s name on your notebooks.

Only I know you’re not writing Rick Springfield’s name on your notebooks anymore.

Because, DUH, you’re totally into Zac Efron now.

GAH.

Remember last week when I said I wanted to tackle this flowerbed?

I am happy to announce that IT. IS. DONE.

I mean, everything still has to grow and whatnot, but still. I feel we’ve made significant flowerbed progress.

I ended up using a hodgepodge of stuff from the clearance rack at Lowe’s (have I mentioned how much I adore the clearance rack at Lowe’s? I ADORE IT.) - the only full-price flowers were the impatiens, but they’re almost impossible to find on sale this time of year.

And I would now like to bore you with some up-close pictures of the stuff I planted.

And here’s my trusty helper.

Because when you’re planting a flowerbed, you always need a helper who is willing to spray water on every stationary surface within a one hundred-foot radius, and yes, that includes the helper’s mama, who, by the way, DOES NOT ENJOY HAVING WET HAIR IN THE OUT OF DOORS UNLESS THERE’S A POOL INVOLVED, THANK YOU.

So anyway.

I’m going to sit on the couch and read a book now.

And said book will not have anything to do with gardening.

Now do have a lovely night.

All righty, y’all - we have three winners!

171 - Stephanie
219 - Jessica R. (aol email)
230 - Vickie (hotmail email)

A person from Show Offs Art will be contacting you about your prizes - and congratulations, everybody!

A few months ago David told me about an online trend called unboxing. Initially I thought maybe unboxing was some new “go green” movement that encouraged people to give a gift without first putting it in a box (which would be a super-fun conversation to have with Martha, by the way, because she would think that not putting a gift in box is crazy! that’s just crazy! why would someone do such a thing? and what about the wrapping paper? the wrapping paper wouldn’t look nearly as good! not to mention the bow!), but that’s not what he was talking about at all.

Because as it turns out, unboxing is when people, some of whom might be classifed as a smidge geeky (and I mean that in the MOST POSITIVE SENSE OF THE WORD, OH YES I DO) take pictures (or video) to document the process of removing a new piece of electronic equipment from its box.

And then they post those pictures to their blogs.

Don’t believe me? Consult Ye Olde Google.

I’ve thought a good bit about this whole unboxing phenomenon for the last couple of weeks, and after trying my best to understand it, I’ve decided that it has to be a mostly-guy thing. Because from my decidedly female perspective, the process of unboxing, say, a new camcorder or a new cell phone is as far up on the thrill-o-meter as watching a two-day marathon of Hardcastle & McCormick or being forced to listen to a monotone lecture on car maintenance and repair.

But guys are different about that kind of stuff. I know this because my husband still has the boxes for every video game console he has ever purchased, including each individual piece of styrofoam that surrounded the actual console as well as the cellophane that was wrapped around the instruction manuals AND the twisties that corralled all the cords.

And do you know what? I’m sure that hanging on to all those boxes is completely worth it in the long run, because if someone walked in our house right now and said, “Quick! In order to diffuse a bomb that’s right outside your door, you have to pack up your Xbox so that it looks exactly like it did the very first time you opened the box,” MY HUSBAND COULD TOTALLY DO THAT, Y’ALL.

It’s no wonder that I feel so incredibly safe here. As I’m sure you can imagine.

Well.

This morning I opened up the pantry and spotted an item that I picked up at the grocery store yesterday. And when I saw that item and realized that it was still unopened, I thought, This, THIS is worthy of unboxing documentation. Forget the electronic stuff. This is WAY better.

And so I grabbed the camera and got busy.

You may want to take some deep, cleansing breaths to prepare yourself for what you’re about to see.

It is very special.

Breathtaking, isn’t it?

I suspected you would agree.

1. The Flowerbed - I cleaned out the flowerbed Tuesday afternoon just like I planned. I did not get the new soil mixed in because I underestimated the amount of time it would take to PULL ALL THE MILE-LONG WEEDS.

So Wednesday we had a friend over, and yesterday it rained all day, and today it looks like it’s going to rain some more. But if it doesn’t, I’ll be tackling the flowerbed once again.

And since this is in fact an issue of critical international importance, I will be certain to keep you posted.

2. The Widget - I am very excited that I have a brand-spankin’ new way to keep you, the internets, abreast of my ever-changing-list-o-musical favorites. If you look over there to the left, you’ll see a widget from Amazon. And if you click the play button, you can hear clips of some of the songs I’m loving right now.

FAYN-CEE.

3. The Friend - Several of you have emailed me to ask if I actually got to see Heather the other night.

And yes. Yes I did. It was DELIGHTFUL.

I actually hurried home from church that night to try to get the house in some semblance of order before she came over, and after my mad cleaning spree I jumped in the shower because I’d been running around with a couple of five year-olds all afternoon and didn’t want Heather to think that I no longer viewed washing my hair as a crucial step in the hygiene process.

Well.

I dried my hair and rolled it with my beloved Velcro rollers (BELOVED, I TELL YOU. BELOVED.), thinking I had plenty of time to get my coif on before Heather arrived, only two minutes later the doorbell rang and there was cute Heather, standing on our front porch.

While I stood in the foyer sporting yoga pants, one of my husband’s oxford shirts, and about eight Velcro rollers all up in my hair.

And the first words out of my mouth?

“DON’T YOU DARE PUT A PICTURE OF THIS ON YOUR BLOG.”

That’s some twenty-first century friendship right there, my friends.

4. The Oven - Even though the service guy claims he didn’t do anything that would have fixed it, the oven no longer smells like fish.

Personally, I think he must have had a special oven-repair anointing.

And it is ever-so-delightful to be able to cook a meal without wondering if something has crawled up in the wall and died.

Just keepin’ it klassy, y’all.

5. The Get-Together - If you live somewhere in or around or within driving distance of Birmingham and would be interested in a little bloggy get-together, would you leave a comment and let me know? Several people have emailed me to say that yes! they would enjoy a social event! maybe a girls’ night out! for bloggers! perhaps with food!

And I’m all for it as long as I don’t have to plan it. Or cook for it. And as long as I can show up in my pajamas.

Oh, I kid.

6. The Weekend - Have a happy one, everybody!

I’ll be here trying to climb out from under a pile of laundry if you need me.