I mentioned that we have been have hot and cool days lately, and the hot ones have been HOT! Needless to say, I already have an excellent tan started. We're short a few pool toys this year (surely you remember Jim and I zooming down the frozen hill in "Gilligan's Island" back in January .), and we've had to move those colorful "noodles" over to scare the birds away from pooping in the pool this year. (So far, that trick is working fairly well. )

Jim climbed up on the roof of his house to get this picture. All the dolphins from last year are "dead"; but the shark is still lurking around the pool.

Another Super-Duper MouseOver Special Three-in-a-Row!

That's Ritchie, reading in the back of the truck, while his sister, Becca, looks on mischievously.
MouseOver to see what happens next!

Last year I collected half a baggie of seeds from the two Cosmos that I had. This year I have a full patch, and they are starting to bud. This is the first bud breaking open. WooHoo!	MouseOver to see the morning glories beginning to climb

Now don't think that this month has been all fun for me. I've been working my butt off. One client tells another client who tells another and every week I go from having no jobs to suddenly being booked up for the week. WooHoo! Did I mention that we were short some pool toys this year? (We do tend to wear them all out. LOL) Well, between clients and before pool time, I was able to pick up a few new toys.

Shooting at the dang poopy birds!

Lookout Yertle! Jaws is on your tail!!

This silly animation is a product of the sun
(or my red hair dye) frying my brain. ROFL

Yertle the Turtle

mIkiE, why are you taking off your Mp3 player and cell phone and staring at Yertle that way? No, No. Don't. Stop.
(Answer the Survey to See the Movie) Jim is doing the filming and narrating.

Everything has been quickly growing around here. It seems we have a little bit of sun and a lot of rain nearly every day. Lots of flood warning abound each evening after the thunderstorms rolls through. Between the rain and sun, I've still been enjoying the weather out by the pool, while my plants grow another couple of inches every day.

With a little more heat, my hollyhocks will be spurting up soon.

My fountain has a small leak, but the rain has been filling it back up every day.

The tiger lilies under the kitchen window

A few rose petals scattered about on DO's lawn, ended up making a very nice windows wallpaper. Right-Click Desktop Version and choose "Save Target As" to save this picture to your computer and use it as your Spring/Summer wallpaper. Click to Change this Webpage BackGround to these roses. (Reset the Background)

About to bloom

Close-up First Bloom MouseOver

Click here for a desktop version of this picture (right click and "save target as", once again).

peeking around the corner, to see what mIkIE is doing.

Last year, I only had a couple of cosmos (that I got from Carolynn's neighbor); but they bloomed up a huge bouquet of flowers. I collected nearly half a sandwich baggie of seeds, which I planted for this year. Now they are beginning to bloom! Check out my yard cam to see them in person.

My 4 monitors are filled with pictures of my lawn, bringing a little bit of Spring indoors.

	Here's a picture of DO from her webcam (while chatting with me on Yahoo).
And speaking of DO, this is Lacey (DO's dog) with her second litter. She had 4 pups in her first litter (from which, DO kept Rosita); but this litter only had this little girl pup.

mIkIE learns to play poker
	DO and Jim contemplating their next bet.

Spring Storms and Rainbows

	I already mentioned the storms that we've been having this last month and so of them have been doozies! After one severe afternoon t-storm passed by, I got this picture of the blue skies left behind.
Always thinking ahead, Jim had us go out after the storm with our cameras. And just in time to capture this rainbow over my home.

MouseOver (and hold) to watch (and hear!) the storm from PoolCam

Special YardCam Update

Speaking of PoolCam, I've made several changes to my cams lately. Jim and I finally moved PoolCam out of the window and up onto his roof (for a better view into the pool) - but more on that later. Click this birdhouse picture to find out how YardCam has changed!

Underwater photography

Jim and I have all of our fun toys (cell phones, digital cameras, cams, etc.) and we really do use the all. We're always learning and trying new techniques with our cameras. Our latest adventure has been trying some underwater photography. Of course, we don't have underwater cameras, but using a plexiglass box, and watching not to splash too much, we have been able to take some really cool "underwater" pictures and movies!

	MouseOver
MouseOver

Jazz up this webpage and Change the Background to Water.
Reset the Background before you get too soggy.

"PoolCam Changes" or "Up on the Roof"

Not only did YardCam get an update (into "BirdhouseCam"), but PoolCam (over at Jim's house) got several big updates too.

We only temporarily placed PoolCam in the window of Jim's computer room. Our plan has been to mount it back onto the roof (like last year) for a better view down into the pool. Before moving the cam, we had to prep our setup and so we climbed up to the roof - and of course got some really cool pix!

Jim lounges atop Yertle

up on the roof
Sunset (before another storm)
MouseOver

Making the picture prettier

PoolCam (along with YardCam and EACcam) is usually pretty dark at night, unless Jim turns on the strand of Christmas lights circling the pool rim. Our friend Linda (DO's daughter) picked up some Tiki torches and now PoolCam is CoolCam in the dark!

Scroll below to see the pool, just as if You were sitting on the deck.

	MouseOver to see the Torches in the Dark and also light with a little camera flash
OOPS! Don't fall in, mIkIE!!
	Looking the back of the pool, that black thing wrapped around the base is the solar heater.

mIkIE taking pictures of Jim taking pictures of mIkIE
taking pictures of Jim taking pictures . . .

	Another MouseOver

While out in Jim's backyard, taking pictures in the dark, we also took some time to bring out Jim's telescope. All Spring we've been watching Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus shining brightly in the night sky.

PoolCam Moves to the Roof

PoolCam looks out the computer room window, showing Yertle and the Shark. But to get a better view of who's splashing in the pool, we moved the cam back up onto Jim's roof, protected in a plexiglass box.
	MouseOver to see a CloseUp of the webcam mounted up on Jim's rood.
Look Out! mIkIE's got a dangerous weapon!! Actually, if you MouseOver, you'll see me clipping some limbs to get them out of the webcam's view.
	From the far side of the pool, looking back up at PoolCam.

And the BEST news of the month is . . .

I've saved my best news of the month till the end. As you can tell, it's been a busy month for me and I really had a great time this Spring. And well I should! At my recent trip to the doctor, I got really great news. Although it was one of my barf-y days (I still barf one to three times a month from my newest meds; but that's a heck of a lot better than nearly every day, like I was doing from the previous medications.), I still managed to handle two clients before heading to the doctor's office where I received the news that although my T-Cells had dropped a tad (from 191 to 159 - but they've been low forever, so I'm not too concerned about this change); my Viral Load count has gone to UNDETECTABLE! That means that the amount of virus in my system right now is so low that it's too hard to even get a count of the damned virus. WooHoo!!! I teased my doctor that surely this meant I was cured and could stop taking my meds again. ROFL He just glared and made me recite my mantra a few times - "I will take my meds everyday. I will take my meds everyday. I will take my meds everyday."

Unless anything really amazing happens, I believe that I have posted enough news and pictures for this month. Stop by next month, when I start the month off by celebrating the Fourth of July with Jim at Kings Island Amusement park and the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Museum. Everyone have a GREAT Summer, and let me hear about YOUR vacation plans!

Oops! Looks like I spoke too soon! My Nikon Coolpic 775 digital camera has died. The lens will no longer extend and retract. Luckily, I have always had a rule that if I can drop it on the floor, I buy an extended warranty. So that camera is now in the shop. But never fear! There will still be more pictures. OfficeMax offered a pretty decent camera for about $60, which Jim helped me purchase to get through this "rough time" without my camera.