Green Thumb

One of my favorite things about Florida is the foliage. It's one of my mom's favorite things too - and boy does she have a green thumb. Every time I visit, she takes me on the tour, which consists of the two of us walking around the outside of the house and the lanai (Floridian word for patio) while she updates me on the status of all of her plants. She gets a lot of  enjoyment out of tending to them and I love hearing her tell me about them. Here is a mini-tour of the fruits of her labor. 

Let's start on the lanai... 

 Christmas cactus that she started as a 4-inch sprig last year.

 Succulents and Cacti

Moving outside... 

here is her flap jack cactus (left) and her snake plant (right). 

Hibiscus trees - single...

and double blossoms.

Alligator Fern

Bouganvilla

7-foot tall Agave

Year-round blooming snapdragons

Ahhh... I miss Florida already.

New Tricks

Harper went shopping yesterday. On the car ride, she proved she's no one-trick-pony. She can play peek-a-boo and eat her foot all at the same time. Somebody better tell her not to fill up on foot - it is Turkey Day after all. 

Life Is Better In Florida

My parents really want us to move to Florida. To encourage us to do so, they bribe us. Yesterday, my dad took Rob golfing, my mom treated me to a massage, the cat spent all day by the pool, and Harper got to spend time with her biggest fan. 

Florida, Here We Come!

We made it! 10 hours of driving (plus a one hour time change) later, Rob, Harper, the cat, and I arrived at my parents' house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Despite the fact that 1. I almost left the house without any underware, socks, or bras and 2. the cat got car sick and puked on Rob's sandle-clad foot while he was driving, we had an uneventful trip. Rob drove the entire way which allowed me to sit in the back seat and entertain Harper. Now I can't say that I would recomend traveling long distances by car with a 9 month old baby, but I have to admit that it was easier than I expected (which is probably because I have the best baby in the whole world). She was fussy for about 30 seconds total and then she just played, ate, and slept the rest of the time. So awesome. The best part was that Rob and I got a nice chunk of uninterrupted time to talk and plan some exciting things that will hopefully come to fruition in the near future (stay tuned...). I'll do my best to keep you updated on our Turkey Day Week adventures. Until then, I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday too.

Science Friday - Ants

I don't particularly like ants, but I heard this story on NPR (love NPR by the way) and was fascinated by it. I know that fascinated is a strong word, but keep in mind, I am a science nerd. 

Many ants are known to be slave masters—their raiding parties steal the young from colonies of rival ants and raise the foreigners as workers in their own nest. In this case, the enslaved ants are Temnothorax curvispinosus - tiny ants that aren't much bigger than the commas on this page. Their slave masters, Protomognathus americanus, are only slightly bigger, but kidnap the slave ants and force them to care for their young. 

Biologist Susanne Foitzik said these captor ants aren’t very good at doing their own housework. So, they raid the homes of smaller ants, carry off the pupae, and raise them in their own colony (inside an acorn). Here's where the story gets good... However, instead of caring for the young captor ants, some of the slave ants grow up to become baby killing ant nannies. They kill the young by throwing them outside the acorn or by tearing them apart and leaving them to die.

This rebellion doesn’t win the slave ants their freedom. Even if it did, they wouldn’t know how to get back home (remember, they were kidnapped as pupae). However, these sabotage skills certainly have some advantages. Wiping out the bully ants’ children means fewer bully ants will be available for future raiding parties. In that sense, the slave ants protect their relatives and future generations from meeting the same fate that they did.

Harper Vs. Sage -- Round 1

It's a good thing we have a very patient cat...

Do Blondes Really Have More Fun?

So I am thinking of changing my hair color. I've been a blonde all of my life (see below), but I think it's time for a change. Until about 4 years ago, I've been a natural blonde. And then, for some strange reason, I decided that I wanted to start chemically enhancing my (already blonde) hair. Great idea. Now, every couple weeks, I need to touch up my roots (which are apparently really pissed that I started dying my hair in the first place because they now grow in a nice shade of dark brown...). What it comes down to is that I'm tired of dying my hair but I am too vain to just let my roots grow out. In addition, I really like being a blonde. It's all I've ever known and I don't like change. So, the solution that I am currently mulling over is to dye my hair brown in an attempt to allow my roots to grow out and eventually get my hair back to it's natural color. Any thoughts? 

Me, very blonde at age 4. Can you tell how excited

 my cousins are to watch me open Christmas presents?

A picture from last month. 

Will Harper still recognize me if I dye my hair brown?