Dinner!/Cherry Tomato Salsa, Pickled Beet Salad

Tonight, my hubby and I mustered up the ambition to tackle the tangled mess we call a garden:
After much sweating and swearing, we extracted some good sized ears of corn, a ton of beets, some onions, cilantro, jalepenos, and at least a million yellow pear and cherry tomatoes (and a child sized zucchini we named "Bob").

I love planning dinner around the summer garden; we had some amazing buffalo steaks, fresh corn, beet salad, and salsa with chips tonight, with cold slices of yellow watermelon for dessert. It doesn't get any better than this!
Now, if I can only find a recipe for Bob...

Cherry Tomato Salsa
1 clove garlic, pressed or finely chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
2 jalepenos, finely diced (include some seeds if you like some heat)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters (chopped if you prefer)
2 tb fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients and chill

Pickled Beet Salad:
5 cups beets, boiled, peeled, and sliced
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 tsp whole allspice
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
couple peppercorns
1/3 cup sugar
Boil vinegar, water, sugar and spices for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture over beets, stir to coat, and chill.


http://www.nataliedee.com/


p.s. completely unrelated country-girl fact:
if you give a mouse to a chicken, the chicken will eat it.

Television Epiphanies:

I am soooo totally calling in sick tomorrow; I worked 11 hours today with a blazing headache and a sore throat, seeing double all day from wearing an ancient pair of glasses ('cause Molly ate my glasses yesterday, little monster). It was non-stop running for 11 hours straight, and I still feel like I'm moving, even tho I've been standing still for a few hours now.

I'm supposed to be training for yet ANOTHER job in the am, and although I know I should never turn my nose up at paid employment (and I heard that this job is amazing, working with fantastic people), I'm just not thrilled to be taking on more responsibility right now:
I need a break. I'm tired as hell and resentful that I have been working so much, and continue to be responsible for 99% of the household and children, as if the fact that I'm skilled, knowledgeable, and highly paid still only qualifies me to be the resident underwear scrubber in the household.

I have become middle America in my exhaustion, and as such, have been watching endless hours of television tonight to numb the pain: I watched an hour of "Wife Swap" and an hour and a half of the beginning of "Gray's Anatomy" on DVD tonight, bleah.
I know that they make everything soooooo obvious in the medical shows, but I found such excitement at trying to guess the implied diagnoses: "Tetralogy of Fallot!", "PE!", as if anyone in the household cared that I used to be a whiz about all things obscure and medical.
When I watch these medical shows, I can intuitively see why I chose the "mommy route" over 48 hour shifts of a 7 year residency; the two don't seem terribly compatible, unless you have an incredible amount of help (which I don't).

Is it considered lost potential to give up a lucrative, rewarding career to raise your family (even if nobody gives a rip but you)? I've known more than a couple (female) Drs who has given up full time practice to raise their kids (or left practice altogether), so I know I'm not alone at acknowledging the challenges. But a part of me wonders what could have been, had I not limited my options in the ways that I did.
Under different circumstances... who knows what I could have accomplished.
But, no matter. I knew what I was getting myself into when I fell headlong into this situation, and feel confident that I will eventually work my way out of it. Someday.

I was also pondering this evening (whilst perusing the quality show: "Wife Swap", where a nice Christian lady swaps with a fallen pastor and his drunken punk rock wife) if the main reason I have lost intetest in the church of late was that I ultimately realized what bullshit my abilities are to fulfil God's plan to be a good wife and mother: since my hubby wants me to work (and be his "partner", as he insists), how is it possible that I can be available to maintain an organized, peaceful household? I can't, Goddamnit.
I tell you, he's gotten what he wanted; I'm working all right, but there's no peace or order in THIS household, and we've not taken a single vacation in years (like I'm going to tromp off to the wilderness NOW like we used to-- when would I get laundry done and the house clean if we're gone for the weekend? Who would pack and prepare for a week away when I'm gone all day, every day? No one, that's who. So we don't go. )
I love love love working and having $$$ to spend on eating out (who can cook after an 11 hour day?), pre planned vacations (Disney Cruise!!!), and paying for expensive stuff so I can get away with ignoring the children... but deep down, I know that it sucks, and it makes me mad. Mad that I accomodate what I know is wrong, because I'm weary of feeling insecure because I'm not giving my husband what he wants. And he's not happy anyway, as if there was some way I could DO even more, BE even more.
Anyhoo... (deep breath). Enough bitchin'.
TV puts me in a complain-ey frame of mind, and I really need a day off, if for nothing else but to finnagle a new pair of glasses, register Grace for school, un-register her for CC, figure out her transportation with the bus co, pay the day care (like I was supposed to LAST WEEK), get the dog in for shots, and any and all such unresolved family crap that is solely my domain, as resident underwear scrubber and bullshit juggler.

3 Pounds, 17 more to go..

It's been 10 days, and I've lost a grand total of 3 whole pounds! (if I can trust the junky Wal Mart scale that reads something completely different everytime you step on it, even 30 seconds later).
It's mega birthday season, with Jake's, Jacob's and various family member's birthdays all falling within a short period of time. With all the cake and crap food circulating around, it's a wonder I've lost anything at all (if indeed I really have...).
I threw a healthy food birthday party for Jacob, which was fantastic: snacks were grapes, 3 types of melon, those Flat Earth chips, and low sugar (aspartame free) juice drinks. The kids could have cared less than if it was Doritos and dip, they loved it anyway. My mom threw the tiniest monkey wrench into the mix by offering coney dogs (??), chips, and broccoli-cauliflower salad (which I love, but is full of FAT), but I abstained fairly well. Jacob's cake was probably the best I've ever made, with a new recipe of milk chocolate meringue frosting I made up (tastes like the filling from a Milky Way candy bar), and I only had a little tiny sliver, which was painful as all get-out.

I worked my ASS off yesterday in the gym; I was nasty sweaty and actually kind of smelly after 45 minutes on the elliptical (Thusday night TV is the BEST for mindless exercise, as is the B-52's "Private Idaho" and the Prodigy's "Voodoo People"), 20 minutes of weights, and another 10 on the slidy thingy before they kicked me out at closing time. Man! I love to exercise! When I think of all the things I could do if I only had the time, it blows my mind: I could be buff and slim, speak several languages, go back to school (I'm thinking Nurse Anesthetist these days... I love to put people to sleep. I think I'd also like to work as a NP/PA in the ER/Urgent Care, as I love to suture and deal with bloody messes, too. Decisions, decisions...)

Now that the kids are getting older I can see the fruits of my labors and see my way to the finish line, where I can spend more time pursuing the things I put on hold to raise them: hobbies, exercise, self improvement, education and career; things I knew would interfere with my being fully there for them while they were young. I am soooooo ready to get some of those things back, my lean, muscled body being one of them.

Hell Week, #2

Rah Rah Rah!
3/4 of Hell week is completed (Hell week #2), which, to be perfectly honest, really hasn't been in the least bit Hellish... it's actually been kind of FUN.

Yesterday was the only crunch day, where no one brought their films, films weren't delivered, Cerner was down, charts were missing... but it calmed down fairly quickly as the morning progressed. I made a patient hopping mad and had to deal with that (because I didn't give him what he wanted), but it was the only *truly* stressful part of the day. Yippie! I survived!
Tomorrow is the Neurosurgeon's clinic, with 20 some odd patients to manage in usually under 4 hours. I'll wear my running shoes and be sure to jack myself up on coffee and sudafed for the am, and hope for the best. So far, so good!

I have been DIETING, if anyone is at all interested... I started taking that Alli product, which is supposed to prevent absorbtion of fat into your digestive system. However, rather than use it as an excuse to pig out, I've been treating it as a sort of Antabuse for chubbies, as I am soooooooo afraid of the so-called "treatment effects"-- the cramps, uncontrollable BM's and "greasy gas" you can get from eating too much fat. Ack! As if! I'd have to quit my job and move out of town if I had some sort of greasy gas/uncontrollable GI issue in public somewhere, and as such I've been avoiding treats and fatty foods altogether. No cakes, no potato salad, no Culver's.
And of course, I've not lost a pound. Boo.

It's been fun running around like a crazy person working and such, but I'm really looking forward to having some time off with the kids (and by myself!).

Time Suckerrrrrrrr.....

Life has been frenetic at best, and I hope when all is said and done, I am filthy stinking rich for all my troubles... I've been working an insane amount of hours, and hating (almost) every minute of it. Boo.
I worked 10 hours in Neuro today, and finally told my co-worker that I was going home-- she was planning on staying another hour or so, which blows my mind. I am simply PRAYING that I don't get overwhelmed next week while filling in for her-- what a shitty job! I anticipate ignoring the phones as much as I can get away with, telling people that the regular nurse will be back soon to help them out, and skating by with as little trauma as possible (to mySELF!).
I couldn't function if I knew I had to go to that job each and every day; it never ends, the endless phone calls that lead to six more inane phone calls (can you tell I HATE talking on the phone?), that ultimately lead to telling hard working people that for some ridiculous reason, their insurance company won't pay for this medication or that important test...
I knew the world was crazy, but I really had NO idea the extent to which we all are fucked: the Government couldn't help *itself* out of a national disaster (I learned this horrifying fact during my stint in Public Health), and the medical racket relies primarily (solely) on a handful of insanely overpriced meds, paid for by aforementioned hardworking people, so Doctors and Nurses can stuff their already overstuffed asses with Drug Rep food and the "professionally poor" can save their $ for more important things, like cars and clothes (and trips to Florida, as one of our Medicaid patients is doing for the second time this year. I'd just like to be able to go to the stinkin' Dells for a couple days!). Oh, and passing the buck so many times to other providers that are likely not covered by your insurance to the extent that you will gratefully give up pursuing a "cure" to just be done with the whole mess.

Note to self: don't get sick.

Crappy Friday

This post may venture into the realm of TMI (as in "Too Much Information"), so read at your own risk, keeping in mind the limits of whining you're able to tolerate in one sitting.

Today sucked, rather royally....and there are so many aspects of it that I should be grateful for, yet I'm bitchin' nonetheless (which makes me feel worse, actually).

Ok.
So I agreed to work for a co-worker today in GI, which is great, but in order to do so, I screwed up my one and only prime opportunity to learn how to do Neuro. Picking up the shift meant that I would receive call in bonus $, and I would receive a substantial amount more than my base rate of pay.... which should make me happyhappyhappy ($4o some odd bucks an hour, yippieyahooey!) but, ungrateful whiner that I am, I'm just mopey.
Pay now or pay later has always been my motto... and I now have a deep feeling of dread that I may have gotten paid more now, only to be in great pain later when I am dying in Neuro all by my clueless self in a couple weeks. Shit!
My payback of the day, however, was that we were short staffed in GI, so my day was a tragedy of errors, starting early this am with a desperate, crabby mom and a horribly sluggish boy who didn't want to go to daycare. Mom was crabby with the poor daycare lady, skipped breakfast and coffee due to a lack of time (and I forgot a snack!), and hit the floor running on empty and ready to go back home and crawl back into bed.
I was sent home after the crazy morning rush at 1300, ready to get some house work done, only to find that Molly had shit neatly in a corner of her cage. She was shit-free for a brief, shining moment, but when she saw me she immediately started doing the happy dance in the poo, covering herself with it, and spraying it in every direction: all over my uniform, the cage, the carpet...Fuck. I managed to tie her outside to un-smear herself in the grass while I tried to extract the mess from the kennel.
That done, and after breaking my espresso carafe, I was near catatonic and ready to call it a day.
After an unsuccessful attempt to sleep my troubles away (a nasty sinus headache, a noisy, stinky puppy, and a couple mosquitoes made sure of that), I tried my best to drown my sorrows in chocolate. Sadly, no deal (I made chocolate chip cookie cupcakes... not bad, but ineffective as a mood elevator. Now I just feel like a fatty).
I finally broke down and tried my last resort: a bath to drown my sorrows in, which almost always makes me feel better. And wonder of all wonders, my husband, whom I have been crabbing about all week, came and surprised me with a glass of wine and an offer of help.
So, with his assistance, I am now scrubby clean and feeling a million times better, and even though I am moving into a hell week to surpass all hellish weeks, things are looking rosier. Or at least, less suicidal. Well, slightly less.

Sex. The fantastic cure-all. I highly recommend it.

Yikes...

The first day back at "real" work is always the hardest... but Neuro is a logistical nightmare! The staff training me started work this morning at 6 am, and was "thrilled" to be getting out of there as early as she did (which was just shy of 6 pm). Ack! I'm already feeling oppressed, and I've only been back one day. Boo.
Camp called today, too, and wants me to work as much as I can next week, which will be primarily comprised of working my ass off in GI in the am, Neuro in the PM, and then driving off to camp for the night-- and who knows if I'd sleep or not, depending on what the kids are doing. Um... I don't think it'll work out. I feel sick and exhausted just thinking about it.
They also want me to work the first week of the 2 week session I'm helping out with, but I really don't want to do that, either. I want my life back, with my kids and my husband. I want to take a cheesy vacation, even if it means I have to cook my own food and clean up every once in a while.
Fuck! I'm bummed.
If God wanted me to work sooooooo hard at my places of employment, He wouldn't have given me a family that can barely keep themselves fed and alive in my absense-- right?

Bye, Bye, Baby:

I'm going to miss my Gracy Pants. I remember when she was a tiny little baby, just like it was yesterday... and now she's practically grown, training to be a counselor, and gone for the next 4 weeks. Getting old is hell... (tee hee)

UPDATE: Allright... I guess I'm not the only one who's going thru Gracy withdrawal. Her poor, beleaguered boyfriend has called me **3** times in the past 14 hours to check if I've seen her or talked to her, which he knows is fairly impossible.
I told him I'd try to sneak him in tonight for a few minutes, but I know I could get all of us in a heap o trouble.... it'll be like the underground railroad of teen angst. I remember, tho, what it was like to be in the fresh bloom of young love, all those many years ago (not like the crusty, ant bitten love of middle age).

Ants!

Ok. It's 5:30 in the morning and I was just awoken, in my own bed, covered with biting ants. I think I was bitten on my freaking eyelid, for God's sake...
For some reason only beknownst to the ants, there was a mass migration from under the house by the back patio to parts north. Millions and millions of ants covered the patio.
Poor little Molly was standing by the back door waiting to get in, covered herself with ants, and then jumped into bed with me (thanks, Jake!). When I finally awoke from a deep sleep, itching and crushing ant bodies, screeching "WTF?!?", my oh so sweet husband calmly announced: "they're ants, and Molly's covered with them" (and now, so are you).

While I escaped with only a handfull of bites, Molly writhed and howled for a good 10 minutes.
Now I'm fully awake, 2 hours earlier than intended, having swept a gagillion ants to their oblivion off the patio while nursing my swollen and misshapen eyelid. I'm starting to look like a freak, and it's sure to be another interesting day in the country.

An illustration of me in bed, thanks to Natalie Dee:
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

UPDATE: Last night, as Jake was getting into bed, he stepped in a large puddle of pee with his socks on. Thanks, Molly, you rock! It's not exactly the ant bite to the scrotum I was hoping for, but it was a nice, unexpected surprise.

I'm Baaaaaaack!

My week at camp sped by lightning fast; I can hardly believe I was there and back, even tho I'm bone tired and mentally whipped from the chaos of the past few days.

It seemed like every time I gave myself the slightest opportunity to relax, some life-threatening emergency (or seemingly life threatening emergency...) was unfolding before me:

A late night anaphylaxis (or head cold, as I soon discovered; but the poor kid still almost got epi-penned by his traumatized counselor before he was dropped off at the Nurse's station-- wahoo!), an early morning bloody mess (is it ever appropriate to apply makeup before dashing out the door to get a kid off for stitches? While the thought crossed my mind, noooo...... I only applied a haphazard smear of lipstick before running out with my first aid kit), and an evening mystery accident involving an embarassed pre-teen boy, 3 different versions of what occurred, and a gaggle of crying counselors.

It was a relatively quiet camp, tho, with only 120 kids and 124 different medications (some given up to 4 times a day! Better living thru chemistry, I guess... poor little critters. What makes a parent put their 10 year old on 4 different psych meds? A wild parenting fantasy gone amuck? SPS {Stupid Parent Syndrome}?)

As usual, my assistant was incredibly helpful; God bless the fresh, uncluttered mind of youth. That girl has saved me from embarassment more times than I can count, considering she can remember not only the daily schedule but kids' names, medication times and the last thing our boss told me to do 15 minutes ago.

I have to tell you, though: for all it's foibles, camp is the greatest job I've ever had:

I have a dinky quarters to keep for my very own (easy to keep clean, and no one to care if I don't), a private bathroom, my own office, beautiful surroundings, delicious meals I only have to *show up* for-- and best of all, the peace of mind knowing my kids are off having a fantastic time with new friends and adult role models, doing things I could never expose them to due to lack of time, funds, or ability. Plus, there's nary a couch or computer game to be found, and I'm hoping the repetitive busy-ness will drive the urge to vegetate from their DNA. I also greatly enjoy the daily reminder that my kids are low on the Goofy Kid spectrum, and that I am only *marginally* on the SPS list, in the grand scheme of things.

I survived, my kids survived (Jacob had a wicked case of "I'm not eating enough fiber", if ya know what I mean...)-- and sans a broken collarbone, 6 stitches, and 3 cases of pink eye, everyone else survived as well. Halleulah!

Beer Margaritas from the Food Network

I am always on the lookout for new and enticing ways to send me to my "happy place" (aka after one drink). Jake and I checked out a fabulous restaurant a while back that had margaritas made with beer; this is the closest I've found to the nummy recipe, and far more economical than the $7 a pop restaurant variety:

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges 1/4 cup coarse salt
2 (12-ounce) bottles your favorite beer (I used Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy), chilled 1/2 cup frozen concentrate limeade, thawed
1/2 cup chilled tequila
Ice cubes

Rub lime wedges around rims of 4 margarita glasses. Dip rims into salt to coat lightly. In a medium pitcher, combine beer, limeade, and tequila. Fill prepared glasses with ice, then with margarita mixture. Garnish with remaining lime wedges. Serve immediately.

Yee Ha!

UPDATE:
I'm not sure if it's the combination of beer and tequila, but these pack a nasty hangover, even after only 2. I still have a headache, 2 days later. Boo.

Daycare Dilemma

I have so much on my mind right now: with all the changes summer brings, and my lack of preparedness for it, it's no wonder I'm in a funk.
I am so glad for Grace, that she gets the opportunity to be gone for 5 weeks and learn and grow with what truly are her closest friends. But I have no childcare for a month, and I'm not sure what to do.
I initially thought that Jacob could stay home by himself for a few hours in the morning, since he's almost 10 and I usually get let go from GI at around 1-1:30 (sometimes earlier). But now Neuro wants me to come after I get let go from GI, which throws a big ole monkey wrench into the mix. I had to tell them today that I have no childcare and they weren't too happy about it, and I don't blame them a bit.
Jacob's best buddy is at his grandma's next door every day now too, which at first you think is nice, but then you realize that having 2 little monkeys in your house unsupervised (I'm sure they'd be here-- grandma does not watch the kids AT ALL), in the pool by themselves, letting the puppy out alone (the kids wouldn't watch the puppy)... I just don't think that I'd be able to function at work.
For a moment, I though about asking the grandma to watch Jacob at her house, but when I really got to thinking about it, it seemed like a bad idea: Grandma doesn't cook or feed any of the children in her house-- Jacob's buddy often wanders over here at mealtime in search of food. There is no end to the number of shady characters who hang out at that house; grandma had 13 kids and I think quit raising them after #5 or 6-- one of the adult children who lives there has a toddler she lets run while she sleeps all the time... turns out she is addicted to heroin and has her druggie boyfriend living there as well. Bleck. So bad, bad idea. I told my husband that I just couldn't forgive myself if anything went wrong while Jacob was there, since there were SOOOOOOOO many red flags. I think my husband understood.
Which leads me to a very important point: why is this MY problem, finding daycare every time it is needed? My husband is counting on my working, yet he has never in his life concerned himself with these important details. Yes, it's great if your kid can grow up and not be molested or abused by freaky people, but sadly, this takes a bit of planning beyond just leaving your kid home alone or in the care of the town outcasts.
My husband seemed surprised that I even wanted to talk about it, as if he somehow should be: a) involved in any way, and b) concerned in any way. Ohwell.
I think the grand outcome of this dilemma is that I won't be working so much this summer, which of course, since our finances are separate, will only affect *my* spending power... I think I'm really growing to like hot dogs, tho. On-Cor family entree, anyone?
And I'm sure you're thinking, "why don't you put your precious little critter into daycare--duh?" Well, I thought about it... but with daycare, you have to pay a $75 registration fee, give them set days/hours (which I can't do since my job is flexible), pay for times you get cancelled, and last but not least, because Jacob doesn't want to go and he will be miserable. Oh, and I only need it for a month and daycare doesn't work that way.
So there you have it, poverty in a nutshell.
Jake did agree yesterday that I could just work GI for the summer, so I'll see how accomodating he is with paying for stuff he doesn't want to. The guy's working 6 9 hour days/week-- he should be rolling in the overtime dough. So ante up, buddy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

We had an abundance of strawberries explode from the teeny tiny plants we put in the coop garden last year; I am harvesting up to 5 pounds every other day! In honor of my overwhelming, bountiful crop of both strawberries and rhubarb (the first year's harvest, too), I made my favorite pie recipe, adapted from one I found years ago on the All Recipes site:

INGREDIENTS
Filling:
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch crust pie
4 cups diced rhubarb
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 1/2 cups white sugar
6 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca


Crumb Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a pie pan with bottom crust.
Mix together rhubarb, strawberries, orange zest, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and tapioca. Spoon into crust.
For crumb topping, combine flour, 1 cup sugar, and salt. Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Spoon over filling. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake for an additional 35 minutes. (I had to bake mine for at least an hour-- my pies were deep-dish, and overfilled!)

Saturday:

With the exception of the few CD's my daughter glommed off me and left with her BF, my entire musical life history is now recorded onto my MP3 player; I can't believe it all fits! There are quite a few more things I'd like to load, like my Django Reinhardt, but I have 5 CD's and I have no idea what to pick. And of course, there are tons of songs I'd like to BUY (like Peter Murphy's "Cuts You Up", a couple Nitzer Ebb songs, etc), but so far, so good. I'm fairly happy with what's being pumped into my ears-- "Burning Down the House" (Talking Heads) and previously, "Close to Me" by the Cure. Listening to the Cure brings me back to those incredible days with my very first boyfriend-- it's funny how you can relive a moment long past just by hearing a song.

The new tipi is offically up and informally blessed;

the sleepover guests (yes, two showed up somewhat unannounced. How wierd. But Jacob was thrilled, and we are glad to have them! Just look at those smiles:)

And I cleaned the house, top to bottom, with many forgotten chores attended to: dusting, vacuuming behind couches, mopping, organizing, et al. I'm feeling the need to get things in order (music collection included) before I'm off to camp, and the summer cruises by in a cluttered, dirty haze. It felt really good to get everything good and clean (altho I almost killed all the carnivorous plants and orchids in the process-- don't ask!), and our lives in order. The calla lilies just opened and look lovely, as always:

Friday, Creature of the Night:

And so it has come to pass that I have become a creature of the night; I am exhausted all day, and then when the temerature drops, I regain my energy and try to play catch-up with everything I left undone.
I got my new MP3 player in the mail today, so I spent the better part of the afternoon downloading each and every favorite song from my entire life onto the player-- it's like the ultimate mixed tape, only instead of spanning the music of your 15 year old self, it's from forever: music I loved as a little kid, teenage angst music, hippie days music, grown up music... (but which is which? It's hard to tell). There is so much in the common world that I just learning about, like MP3 players; mysteries abound, much excitement... now if I could only stay awake for it!

Hump Day

It's a sleepy hump day, and despite tea and coffee and drinking lots of water, I just can't shake this sleepy lethargy that has settled upon me. I took a Benadryl last night so I could crash HARD, I'm guessing it may be why I couldn't wake up today...

Funny, you create a mini vacuum in your life and oftentimes something rushes to fill the void: I worked my last day (last few days? one never knows..) in Kenosha, and lo and behold, my Burlington boss asked me this am if I wanted to cross-train to help in Neuro. Sure, why not? Neuro is not my favorite, but it'll give me extra hours closer to home... how cool is that? And here I was, fretting about my impoverished state-- I didn't even make it one day! Well, someone's looking out for me, that's for sure...
There's a super-fine line between being a woman of leisure (aka, woman who stays home enough to keep her house from becoming a sickly pig sty) and a woman who's broke-- we've always maintained our financial independence in our marriage, so unless I want to eat ramen noodles and shop only at Love, Inc (the local thrift shop), I have to work just enough to maintain my bank account AND my sanity, which roughly translates to about 3 days/week.
P.S. The tipi arrived today! However, it sounds like Jacob's party won't be very well attended, boo. I guess we are doomed to roam the earth as loners, whine whine whine. It's really too bad for Jacob, tho, he was looking forward to it.
UPDATE 12:18 am:
Well attended, my booty... NO ONE can come to Jacob's party. Poor, poor little guy! I'm really bummed:-(

I made THREE strawberry rhubarb pies tonight, and I'm still waiting for the 3rd one to come out of the oven... tasty, yummy stuff. I'm feeling self-destructive, and could eat one all by my lonesome, they're that good. I thought I'd bring one to work tomorrow, but I'm guessing the ladies are getting tired of my feeding them sweets, and who could blame them?

Little Miss Molly had the most awful day today: she pooped in her cage, peed in the house 3 times, tried to throw herself in front of a dumptruck (taking YEARS off my life, no doubt) and then got a taste of the mean ole shock collar; I set the amps to the lowest setting (I think it was 5), and she responded well. She got shocked for leaving the yard, chasing the chickens, and not coming when called. I know, I'm a Nazi, but I rationalize that if she learns not to leave the yard, she'll stay alive a lot longer (the dumptrucks travel on the service road all day, all week long, 100+ per day sometimes..), and a shock is a small price to pay for a long, happy life of belly rubbing.
Life is good, but I've been crabby almost all week long. Wah! for me. I think I need more pie-- now where's that ice cream?

Last Day at Work:

So here I am, my last day working (to my knowledge) the job I was pondering leaving the other day-- things move fast 'round here, you really have to pay attention!

Nothing makes me feel naughtier than blogging at work, as if I had something better to do at the moment... there's a gaggle of nurses hiding in a corner having a bitch fest about their co-workers right now, burning their own time, so I don't feel too bad.

So I'm all set to be broke, and since I scarfed a cinnamon bar, a muffin, 1/2 brownie and 1/2 doughnut throughout the day (I can hardly believe it myself!) I'm prepared to be obese as well. Good thing I'm going to the gym today; here's hoping I can burn some of those calories. I could probably skip dinner, too, and be none the worse for it.
Get this: I can blog while I'm here-- but I can't read the blog; it's blocked. How goofy is that?
More later:
OK, it's Later, 9:03 PM:
I did that stupid pet owner thing tonight, you know that thing where you step in a fresh pile of dog poop and then track it all through the house? I could have slapped myself. I scrubbed the poop-tracks and then furiously tried to get the doo out of the crevices in my shoe so I wouldn't make Jacob late for swim class. The bad thing was that I could smell the poo the whole time I was exercising; I kept looking, saw nothing, but could still smell it. Maybe it was a "phantom" poo smell from guilt at wearing poop shoes to the gym. Nas-tay~! They're the only shoes I have, tho, that don't make my feet numb when I do the elliptical...
Speaking of stupid dog tricks, obviously Gracy pants wasn't, ahem, watching the dog too carefully when she tied poor Molly outside this afternoon. When I got home from work, Molly had apparently knocked a potted tree over, leaving a huge dirt mess all over the patio (Grace claims she "cleaned it as best she could!", god help us all...), jumped up on the picnic table, destroying the new potted succulents I just bought, and somehow ripped a whole branch off my new, expensive Japanese maple tree I planted the other day.
All this mess so Grace could be fondled by her boyfriend, undisturbed by a puppy.
Children are evil.... and Grace must pay, oh! How she'll pay, mwaaaa ha haaaa (insert evil laugh here)!

Sunday, June 3rd:

I couldn't sleep after 4:30 am, who knows why, maybe the song birds were especially loud this morning-- but I suspect it's because I have a couple things on my mind these days, and I'm trying to make some decisions about this summer...

So, thus far in the morning, I have:
weeded the gardens, paid my astronomical credit card bill (I pay for everything I can with my Discover Card so I can track my monthly purchases *and* get a huge cashback at the end of the year), did some budgeting (ack!), smudged the house (before church, no less. I just like the smell, it reminds me of the desert), and pondered my fate, all somewhat simultaneously.

I had THE most wonderful time with my friend Laurie yesterday, I'm hoping she wasn't bored with all my tours and stories. I loved checking out the shops downtown, the Jasmine Tree reminds me of who I used to be when I was young and carefree...
Speaking of which, I cleaned out my records box the other day, and found some old pay stubs from when I was in nursing school working in Cardiac as a Nurse Tech. It was the most physically demanding and stressful job I've ever had (even more than planting cabbage and weeding acres of farmfield), and I was paid a whopping $7 an hour. And I'm sure with my hopeful, young mind, I thought that wasn't bad. Of course, being a fully fledged grownup these days and therefore miserable and malcontent, now that I make $20 more an hour, I find it ironic that I am often lamenting my poor state. I am probably short about $500 this pay period, which freaks me out, but I have to keep reminding myself that I recently purchased a puppy and paid expensive vet bills, which is why it appears that I have less $ in my account today.

That said, I am in the throes of trying to decide if I should leave one of my positions, the one that is the farthest away and pays less than my Burlington job. It's quite a distance, 60 miles round trip, which is the biggest drawback-- the staff is ok (Laurie is fab-u-lous!), I like my boss, the job isn't too bad (dull at times, but I suppose that never killed anybody). I just want to simplify my life, especially for the summer, even if it means that I'll be a little broke.
But broke=scary, and I'm not sure if I have the guts to take the plunge. I think I told Laurie yesterday that sometimes you can't look a gift job in the mouth, especially someone with my crazy work history.

I have a full day ahead of me; I'm a little anxious, as I'm sure there's shopping needed today, and I'm hoping I can put the day to good use. With summer and camp fast approaching, there's few days ahead to enojy the cooler weather to get work done, and less time to play. I'd love to take the train to Chicago and check out the CSI exhibit before we head to camp, but I know it won't happen. I'm trying to wrap my brain around being away from Gracy Pants for 5 weeks~ I know she'll come home a new girl, I hope it's one that will be ok with the less expensive schooling option.
UPDATE 8:59 pm:
We had two brief storm showers today, and combined with the soakers we've had recently, we've discovered that all the asparagus patches have finally sprouted!
So, if all goes well, we should have our very own asparagus ready in the next couple years-- asparagus that is growing freely in the prairie, where interlopers can't get at it:-)
The day went much faster than I expected, but we were able to wrap up a few more projects before the great summer of lounging begins:
We finished the walkway to the chicken coop! Jake installed a fan formation of bricks at the very end, which looks slightly primitive and very cool. Little did we know, we purchased some sort of polymeric sand, which, if I had thought for 2 seconds about it, I would have realized was something a wee bit more than ordinary sand... we used it fairly incorrectly, and hopefully when the sand settles, we don't have nasty clumps of plasticized sand everywhere.
Jake bought me a very nice little retro patio table; it's lime green and makes me smile whenever I see it. Plus, it holds the strawberry margaritas I made from our very own strawberry patch, harvested just this morning, keeping me from spilling on myself when the tequila kicks in..
We fixed the impromptu "pet escape hole" in the screen door, the one the cat made but all pets enjoyed. We used this HEAVY DUTY screening that was almost impossible to squeeze into the channel in the frame-- what joy it gave us as we watched each pet figure out that their escape route was closed off. One animal even tried to walk through it without even noticing the hole was gone, haw haw! Even Charlie cat was perplexed, as he furiously tried to claw a new hole in vain-- ah! To be entertained so cheaply... but I'm sure Charlie is already sharpening his claws and planning his next jail break.
I planted at least 100 grape muscari bulbs and 25 tulip bulbs back into the coop garden, when it was too damn hot to be doing any such thing, and scattered some alyssum and zinnia seeds just about everywhere (and I transplanted the cactus into a patch of dirt by the gravel-- Joanna's looks so robust in her gravel patch; hers even flowers and is gigunda, unlike my 1/2 dead plants), and made some pretty crappy fajitas. Boo for crappy dinners.

End of a Saga?

We had a fantastic thunderstorm tonight, complete with high winds and lightening; I can't wait to see the plants tomorrow, and see if they've greened up with the discharge of nitrogen into the atmosphere.
I heard back from the landscapers yesterday, and they aren't planning on offering any compensation for the damage to our property or for the poor quality topsoil; pfft!
I'm guessing , from a legal standpoint (my dad was an attorney, Assistant DA to be precise, and the law has always fascinated me), the Landscapers realize that:
a) if they compensate me for the cost of the soil, they are beholden to compensate all the other customers who received the soil as well, and
b) if they refund my money, it may be considered an admission of guilt, which would open them up for further liability for the repair of our lawn.

One of our Doc's wife is an attorney, and I will be consulting with her if the Landscapers give me any further grief about the photos and description of the damage from my other blog-- I have to say, though, what a Pandora's box they would open, if they decided to pursue legal action!
Once the media got hold of the story (I have friends in the media as well), all the elderly and professional folks who would be far more disinclined/unable to go to the trouble to fix their properties would be *horrified* to find out that a company did this to unsuspecting people, and had no intention of fixing it. Everyone who has seen the photos has been APPALLED, almost to a surprising degree, at the damage and the company's response; I wonder what the public at large would think?
Reasonable amount of damage for one small load of dirt? I think not. But he incredible contentment I would feel at telling the news media about how the driver was instructed to turn around on the driveway, and he still chose to wreck our lawn, knowing full well, according to the owner, the damage he would cause-- and the company insists I told him to do it! Ah yes, I enjoy little more than having to stress and toil like a dog for two weeks to fix the ruts, as if I have nothing better to do. Would the driver have pulled that trick with an elderly woman, who would not have had any ability or resources to fix the damage? After this experience, I certainly hope not. The report with the Better Business Bureau will stand, and I hope beyond all hope that people will check with them before hiring ANY company to do work for them; I know with absolute certainty that I will.

Thursday:

Today, in the garden, I:
Planted a Japanese Eggplant, planted more spinach, sno peas, and beets, and finally got around to putting in some basil in the kitchen garden. The salad greens have been phenomenal, I wish I had planted more sooner. I'm guessing we'll run out before the next crop is ready.
I also planted a lavender, some Greek oregano (the stuff I already have is ornamental, and doesn't taste too great), and transplanted the purple sage into the coop garden. There are a lot of herbs in that garden, which is a nice complement to the chicas (a little chives and sage with those eggs? Yum!) Everything in the coop garden looks ok, not too bad in the way of transplant shock. I'm surprised how formal I went with the row of hostas vs the random chaos of most of my gardens; I guess the formal look of the brick inspired me.

Rain! It's raining for the first time in a while-- how cool is that? I'm sick to death of watering the grass, altho I'm thrilled to report that I've seen the first tiny sprouts of grass poking up in the first area we seeded-- the other areas should be along in a day or so (and the soaker will help!).

I finally worked up the gumption to empty out the composted side of the worm bin; I've been putting that job off for some time now... nasty! I scooped a large 5 gallon bucket out of there, diluted it to a mixture of 1 part compost, 4 parts water, and then poured the slurry onto all the plants I could find-- there's even some left, maybe I'll give it to Jake to put on his veggie garden (I think we've entered into an unspoken competition about who tends the best garden, as if there was ever any question... I've given him some of my very best tips, so it's not like I'm being unsportsmanlike or anything). Putting the mixture into the watering can was a bust, even with the spigot removed, as the worms and undigested peanut shells, egg shells, etc, eventually clogged the spout and I kept having to dig out these nasty wads o gunk with my fingers and shake the can... eventually, I splashed worm goo all over myself, which isn't nearly as geeb-ish as when I got some of the chicken coop compost in my mouth the other day. Now there's a flavor that'll stick with you all day!
The rain will do wonders for the strawberries, too-- they are 99.9% close to being ready; we picked a couple to eat this am, and they were big, beautiful, and SOUR. Obviously, they aren't ready quite yet.
I purchased 2 azaleas on the clearance rack today, but I'd like to get some input first as to where in the shade garden to put them... they don't look like they'd transplant well if I ever had to move them, so I'd like to get it right the first time.
So fantastically awesome to be off today! I even got a good portion of the house cleaned, some marketing done, and now that it's raining, I'm all set to organize the kid's school/memory boxes, which I've been putting off for over a year now (you know, all the keep-able artwork, school papers, report cards that sit in a pile until you file it officially or with guilt into the circular file. Don't know what the kids will do with all this stuff when they're grown, but hopefully they'll know that I was crazy enough about them to organize their stuff).
Salmon for dinner tonight! Happy times...
UPDATE, 10:47 pm:
Dinner was nice; I oven roasted a yellow squash, a zucchini, a vidalia onion, some chopped garlic, and some sliced grape tomatoes seasoned with Montreal Steak Seasoning and olive oil at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes, and tossed the veggies with some hot soba noodles, served with baked salmon. Tasty!

I can't believe it, but I finally got my Bluestone Perennial order placed: www.bluestoneperennials.com

I have been ordering from this company for years, and you just can't beat them for customer service, price, and selection. Ordering at home with a beautifully illustrated internet catalog with complete plant information is much more pleasant that searching the picked over plants at the Home Depot, that's for sure! Their deadline was midnight TONIGHT for spring orders-- that'll put the heat on! I got a couple clematis, some columbine, monarda, and yarrow. Not like I need anything... I'm not even sure where I'll put the new plants, but that's usually how I end up digging new gardens.
Jake and I were hanging out at dusk as the mist was rising thickly off the grass, making everything seem more mystical... the 2 dogs and the cat were all hanging out near the chicken coop with the chicken girls and babies, all checking out the vole Charlie Cat brought home. Idyllic. I love how all our critters are in relationship with one another. We have a very special place, every inch a living image of who we are. We are truly blessed...

Auntie Cyndi

My sister told me a couple days ago that she wants me to be her baby daughter's God Mother!!!

How cool is that? Carlylin is the cutest baby this side of the Mississippi, always happy, always smiling... but it does lead one to ask: how on Earth did Cathy end up with such a good little baby?
Because life is not fair, that's why (tee hee). Cathy also has a fantastically sweet teenie weenie at home, Crystina, who gets good grades and attends public school and is an all around great kid. Why, oh why? So completely unfair... I would hold deep grudges and sneer at them at family functions if Cathy wasn't the only one of my 3 sisters who does a fairly good job of putting up with me, god bless her.

Now, how to tell Cathy that I've fallen off the religion wagon, that my Holy Roller days have taken a sabbatical?
Considering she's one of the 2 whole people who read my blog, I guess I can consider her informed.
Veggie Tales, anyone?

Wednesday:

I had the WORST headache today, I think it's from the muggy weather (and most DEFINITELY not from all the wine I drank last night!). I came home from work this afternoon, popped a couple ibuprofen, and cozied up on my fabulous lawn chair under the maple tree with my pillow. A cool breeze was blowing, the flowers were swaying in the wind, the birds were singing, the puppy was playing... I fell asleep for a short while and awoke feeling like I was in the most amazing dream. The headache was gone, my energy returned, and I finished up all the tasky type stuff I've been putting off while getting the big stuff finished: I cleaned out the chicken coop and pen, put away all the garden tools in the barn, transplanted the last few shade plants in better spots, took photos, watered, and made an incredible chicken salad (I cut up the remaining chicken from Sunday's dinner, marinated it in olive oil, lemon juice, Greek seasoning, and chopped garlic; picked salad greens, spinach, and baby beet greens from the kitchen garden; found some carrots, broccoli, kalamata olives, and feta cheese in the fridge, and there it was. Good, good, stuff!).

Jake raised the tipi poles this evening as well, and we're hoping the skin comes soon... Jacob is having his first group sleepover party a week from Saturday, and it would be great if the boys could sleep in a real, live tipi. Jacob is soooo excited, and I'm praying that he doesn't get nervous, as he's shy, and trying to make new friends before school lets out. Wish my poor, shy boy some luck; he's had a heck of a time making friends.

P.S. without divulging many gory details, the worm pills were a raving success, at least for the puppy. I have no evidence for Daisy, but her belly looks a little less swollen today.

Hooray for modern, efficient medicines! We can all sleep better tonight...

Late night drunken ramblings..

Bah! I want my life back!
I am sick of working soooooooo much (and really, I usually am off at least 1 day M-F, but it's not enough this time of year); I want my life back of having a clean house, planned menus, organized children-- life is too chaotic these days, and for what, I ask you? For money?
I come from a nominally wealthy family, and I can tell you, when you die it doesn't matter how much you've banked during your lifetime...someone is going to be an asshole to get their hands on it, and you were too busy earning it to enjoy spending it while you were still alive-- and why work so hard to make some asshole happy? Besides, my wealthy family were miserable so and so's, and they all died in some manner of coveting their cash with almost no happiness to show for it. Sorry bastids... I wouldn't wish wealth on anyone. Give me contentment and a wee bit more than hand-to-mouth... keeps you honest and forces you to be creative.

I enjoy working casual in Burlington, I absolutely, positively do; no commitment, work only until 12 or so, happy faces all around. No politics, no weekends, no call. How much more fabulous can you get? Plus, it's relatively predictable, somewhat easy, and the staff is super nice. Awesome! I could work there and be happy forevermore. But nooooooooo.....
I calculated how much Grace's schooling will cost for the fall, and it's somewhere around $9000-- ack! I am soooooo sick of chasing the jobs, hours and $ around to make those tuition payments. I sure do wish I could trust my girrrrl to cope in the public school environment (I know *I* would hate it, but Grace is more of a culture-chaser than I was at her age), and BHS is more diverse, yet smaller, than my alma mater, providing a safe and interesting HS experience. It would appear that the classes at BHS are more varied in their offerings, as well, giving Grace a better opportunity to try new things on the taxpayer's dime, so she can spread her wings before her education and foibles into adulthood/self discovery become more expensive again.

Unfortunately, Grace has already bought into the crap that the other kids won't like her (yet, why should she care?), which really makes me sad. Already, at 15, my girl is defeated into thinking people will give her a hard time, right off the bat. Boo. I think she's waaay too much like her mother, who only had a small repertoire of casual friends in HS and the permanent boyfriend, who took precedence over all... which isn't SO bad, but makes for lonely times when you're between boyfriends (and when you've been married for a lot of years and your husband lacks communication skills, sadly). I wish, oh how I wish, that teenage girls weren't such shits, and didn't use my kid for a scratching post, but adults are shits, too, and shit repelling skills are useful to establish at any age. Best to start now...

On an funny note (not so funny for Jacob, tho), some girl has been giving Jacob troubles at school of late. I've tried rationalizing with him, letting him know that she probably has a secret crush on him (man, could I kick serious 3rd grade boy butt when I was a 9 year old in LOVE), but he isn't convinced. He says that this vixen has the staff duped by using some sort of "I statement" crap to keep Jacob from complaining to the teacher about her harassment... so I pulled out the old "my big sister will kick your butt" chestnut, which Jacob dismissed out of hand. He said that he's pretty sure that Grace wouldn't rough up a 9 year old girl, no matter how much grief she's causing her little brother.... such the rational little dude, sadly. He'd rather suffer in silence than enjoy the fantasy of his nemesis getting her due. Is being a softy an asset, or a liability? Hard to say... but when you're continuing to fight the wads at the local landscape company, standing up for yourself can be pretty empowering (even if said wads threaten legal action for posting photos of the damage they did to your property, as if faeries in the night did it, instead of a bozo with a dumptruck).
Time for bed...

Happy, Happy Monday (Tuesday, really...)

It's my first day back at work, and I am absolutely, completely exhausted! My eyes can't adjust to the fluorescent lights, since I haven't been inside more than a few minutes during the day the past several days. I feel like a stranger in a strange land.
The acoustics on the unit are disconcerting, too, as it's really hard to hear what people are saying unless they're right next to you; if you're being nosy and try to eavesdrop, most of what you hear sounds like a different language, causing your brain to scramble.

On a positive note, I was made late this morning by the Fed Ex guy, who was delivering my NEW CAMERA just as I was trying to speed out the driveway-- I can't wait to get home and take photos of the new gardens and of the blooming plants; the foxglove is STUNNING, and some of the new clematis is unbelievably beautiful. If I don't get them photographed before they fade, I'll feel like I've missed out.

To recap, this weekend we: purchased 55 more landscape blocks and topped off the coop wall; purchased 100 cobblestones and laid a walkway to the coop; dug up about 30 plants from the various gardens and transplanted them into the coop garden (including a new spirea); planted a Japanese Maple in the shade garden; moved several plants around the shade garden to balance it out; jacked up the chicken coop about 6-8 inches and blocked off the chicken girl exits (those girls saw their opportunity and escaped as soon as they could.. and of course, started trashing the strawberry patch right away. BAD BAD chickens); amended the coop garden soil with 400# of composted cow manure and a few loads of chicken pen poop; had a great barbeque with one of last year's chicken boys, and wateredwateredwatered everything and prayed the grass would start to grow.
Life is good, and ibuprofen is my new best friend.

On the horizon: we're talking about installing a brick patio next to the shade garden-- fun! At least bricks weigh substantially less than a patio block, and hurt less when you drop one on your toe! I can't wait, it'll look so cool...

p.s. I couldn't have made those pups 'o mine gobble down those worm pills fast enough tonight; it was all I could think of today, and the store almost closed before we could get them, we were so dang busy this afternoon.
p.s.s After 11 stinking years of cajoling, Jake FINALLY put me on his checking account tonight. I wonder why...

Je'taime Zoloft:

mon ami!

Memorial Day Weekend

By the light of the moon, I placed the very last block on the chicken coop garden, and then I did a wimpy dance of joy as I limped into the house.
Wahoo!
In the past two days, I have lifted (and re-lifted, and then lifted again..) over 100 patio blocks, each weighing 25 pounds (=2500 pounds), 10 40# bags of manure (=400 pounds), 50 5# paving stones (=250 pounds), so, right now, if I absolutely had to, I bet I could totally kick your ass. Tee hee.

But seriously, I have to tell you; never haul heavy loads shortly after you get home from a fabulous Memorial Day picnic... You will barf. Probably more than once. And then your dog will eat it and you will barf again, or you will wish you could.

And speaking of barf, as long as we're gettin nasty here-- my new, sweet pup got a little carsick on the way home from the picnic, and she barfed up some wierd stuff: grass, bits of bark, and some squiggly thing. It looked like a rubberband, but WAIT! It was a long-ass, barftastic, WORM. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I pretended to find it fascinating to keep the kids from freaking out, but the kids just thought it was wierd, and didn't get too excited, bless their neebly little hearts.
Mr Worm was dead, so I'm hoping it's a remnant from when she was last wormed before we got her. But, geez-- how completely nasty!
Real life can be awfully gross sometimes, and no amount of alcohol is going to erase the vision of that thing from my memory... but I'm sure going to try.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend; I'm so damn glad we're close to being done with this project, I 'm just praying I don't need too much more compost or amendents before I can transplant the plants into the coop garden. I purchased a pretty, gnarled Japanese maple today as well, and need to get that in the ground tomorrow, but will have to do some major shuffling first. Thank god it's still early enough in the season to pull that off without too much trauma.
They had some great spireas at the Menard's on sale for $5; I'm going to have to look and see if they'd look ok in the coop garden. I'm not much of a bush girl, but I'm willing to try anything, at least once (winky winky, but let's not be gross here. This is a family blog, goddammit).

Why I am a Foodie:

nataliedee.com

Saturday

Ah! Lazy Saturday... a day off with NOTHING to do (well, except broadcast grass seed, lay down straw, get the watering done and go to the store to get some compost to amend the crap soil we got last week...) Where to start?
I put the old landscape blocks on top of the new ones by the coop, but I don't like the way it looks. I really need to get enough blocks to complete the job properly, but then what do I do with the old blocks? I haven't resolved 100% to using the blocks around the shade garden, it looks funny because the garden is flush with the ground and the blocks make it look sunken. Maybe if I sink the blocks a bit, and throw the spoil onto the crap garden... I'd really like to get all the seedlings and extra plants into the coop garden before it gets any drier and hotter and I'm off to camp.
I'd also like to get some cobblestones this weekend since they're on sale, but I have no idea how many to buy, or in what combination... I wish my hubby and I weren't fighting, so he could work his magic and get the ball rolling with that project before they go off sale.
I have a bad habit of losing interest in gardening pretty quickly after it starts getting HOT, so I'd better get a move on and get this stuff done while it's still 60 degrees!
UPDATE 9:25 pm
After much sweat and swearing, I was able to get the edging done around the shade garden. Of course, there were a lot of tree roots and rocks to contend with, which were noticably absent when Jake and I were doing the coop garden.
When my husband is around, all projects flow like a dream, but when I'm trying to do something myself, nothing goes quite right. I tell him that it's just evidence that I'm not cut out for this kind of work, but he just laughs at me:-(
Right at the end, I had 4 inches of gravel to dig out, as the previous owners must have had an extra load they needed to dump somewhere... do you know how HARD it is to shovel muddy gravel? Needless to say, the end of the edging looks like CRAP, but I'll plant something there that'll flow over the edge so no one can notice (nepeta?).
Jake got the grass seed broadcast and the whole mess covered with straw; hopefully my camera will come soon so I can get this all on film.

Ack!

I caught my husband this morning in the act of SMOKING... blech! We both quit over 5 years ago, and even tho I've smelled it on him on a few occasions, he's denied it up and down (kindof like when I discovered his Playboy subscription).
Funny how men can lie with such straight faces...
Anyway, I told him he'd better watch out, or I'll have to hire an ugly nurse to wipe his crippled ass when he has his first coronary in a few years. It's bad enough I had to marry a crabby old guy, but now it seems I'm going to be stuck with a sickly one, too.
Fucker.

How Do You Know it's Going to Be a Good Day?

It's only 9 am and you already need a shower.

p.s.
THE DIRT PILE IS GONE!!!!
I went outside early this morning to let the puppy out and was shocked to find that the pile is no more. I'm sure it was completely frightening looking, as I was dressed in an odd, early morning concoction of a nightgown, pyjama bottoms, and a sweatshirt, but I was freely and unabashedly doing the happy dance. I sure hope the nuns weren't looking...

UPDATE: (11:22 am)
Now that the pile is gone, I was able to rake all the remaining dirt off the grass so it doesn't die. It feels spectacular to be done with the awful mess; I can't wait until the grass seed gets broadcast and starts to grow, so all evidence of this fiasco are erased.
Man, am I filthy...

Customer Service

Finally, when I turned on my camera today, it gave me an error messge for a fleeting moment; it doesn't give you the message each time, just every so often when you try to turn it on. "Lens Error 527-12".
After speaking with the customer service staff at HP, they determined that my camera is irreparably broken due to a fault with the hardware, and they are sending me a BRAND, SPANKING NEW CAMERA, *FREE* of charge!!!!!

Now THAT, my friends, is customer service!

p.s.... my goodfriend Tracey sits on the business committee of a church in Waterford that is selecting a company to do extensive landscaping of their property. Apparently "anonymous company which shall remain nameless" was #1 in the running; but no more. After viewing the photos of the damage to our property, and learning of their poor customer service, she's contacting the board to make sure they choose another landscaper.
Whachaaaaa! Score one for the little guy!

UPDATE, 5/23:
My complaint with the BBB was reviewed, and I'm eagerly awaiting a response from the Landscaping Company (Which Will Remain Nameless): http://67.39.58.242/complaint/view/44030658/c/bszixi
If the company makes an 11th hour decision to refund my money, I'll be the first one to let everyone know that they were cads, but made good in the end, which will put an end my incessant whining.
Here's hoping this nasty ordeal can be resolved, and I won't lose any more faith in humankind...

Synopsis of a Garden

Jake and I worked for a few more hours tonight, and are nearly finished spreading the soil into the ruts left by the landscaper. The dirt pile is *almost* gone, and I couldn't be more thrilled. It's good to know that when my hubby and I work together, we can overcome whatever messes come our way-- that man can fix almost anything, even a broken heart at being treated badly by people who don't care how much they wreck the land you've worked years to beautify.

If anyone had seen what a disaster our property was when we first moved in, they'd never recognize it; I turned the front acre of ugly, sickly grass into a prairie 3 years ago, hand planting hundreds of echinaceas and rudbeckias and broadcasting *pounds* of native prairie seeds. When the plants start to bloom early this summer, it's going to be breathtaking. The wildflowers are finally starting to take over the grass, getting the foothold they need to flourish.

We've taken down a few trees, removing the stumps and filling in the low spots; moved 1/2 dozen trees and planted at least 50; repaired the damaged, neglected landscaping in the front of the property (I shoveled at minimum a TON of lava rock, one wheelbarrow at a time waaaaaaaay down to a dumpster by the garage, which I had to LIFT to dump the rock inside. This girl's got MUSCLES!) We fixed up the rotting playhouse and turned it into a pretty little chicken coop, fully landscaped, complete with strawberry patch and trumpet vine/clematis covered pen.

I hand turned two enormous gardens in the front of the property 3 years ago as well, and the root stock I planted has matured to the point that I've had to dig *new* gardens and enlarge existing ones just to have places to put the divisions. I dug 4 gardens in the back of the property, 2 a couple years ago, one last fall, and one this spring... the south west garden is one of my favorites, as it includes many of the same shade plants I grew to love from the large gardens I planted at our old house (minus the most invasive ones!). I think I seriously overplanted that spot, tho, and will need to expand the garden to accomodate the plants that will surely be crowded by fall. I actually started the garden 2 years ago, when I rushed to get over 1000 bulbs in the ground in November, just in time for the first hard frost. The following spring, after the bulbs bloomed and the foliage faded, I was finally brave enough to get my plants in the ground.

I was especially proud of the chicken coop garden, as it was the first garden I actually took the time to "hardscape"; I was so pleased with myself, counting out the # of patio blocks I'd need and taking the initiative to order them and have them delivered, which went off without a hitch. I wasn't sure why, but I've usually relied on Jake to take care of these details; but now that I've been burned it's clear: I don't think men get taken advantage of as much as women do in such matters.
Jake and I took a lot of care with the coop garden, to level out the ground so the blocks would sit correctly-- the effect was absolutely stunning, and very professional looking. I couldn't wait to get some topsoil into the garden so I could move the plants from the butterfly garden into their new spot. We're going to be busting up the concrete soon so we can pour a new patio to replace the damaged one, so I had to move the perennials to a new spot asap.

And wow! Landscaping by yourself is hard enough without having to fix other people's screw-ups, but I'm hoping that when the coop garden has become established, it will seem even more lovely, for all the sweat and tears and life lessons that went into it. More photos of the restoration to come: my new camera decided to die, as if this week wasn't bad enough! Bah!

p.s. Jake ordered a new tipi skin today, which should arrive in 2 weeks... yay! Tipi party, anyone?

Introducing...

Miss Molly!

Molly is a 12 week old Brittany Spaniel from a local breeder. She was born on Valentine's day and, of course, is a real sweetheart

I really enjoyed having a large dog in the house, one you could put your arms around (and one that wouldn't take your face off). So, with Sixy no longer with us, I just couldn't stand the thought of being without a "real" dog (Daisy is a good girl, but Rat Terriers aren't the greatest companion dogs...they're incredibly high strung and have a *very* nervous temperament).

Brittanys are very smart and gentle dogs, and we chose Molly because she was the calmest of her litter. So far (and I know this isn't going to last...), she hasn't barked or gone after the cat, but she sure likes to chew on stuff, so I've been trying to puppy proof the computer room as she finds things to munch on (the phone, the computer cords). I got her one of those thick rubber chew toys, which she loves, but she seems to favor cloth chewies and I'll have to pick her up a few more toys to keep her occupied, 'cause I suspect if I'm not careful, she'll have the room pretty torn up when I return from work on Tuesday.

Ah! Puppies! I know Jake isn't 100% happy about having another baby in the house, but I tried to explain to him that this is usually the age in a woman's life when thoughts turn to one last baby (that biological clock is winding down), so at least I'm yearning for fur babies and not the expensive ones you have to send to college someday. And besides, this baby likes to hunt!

I let Jake make the final decision about which pup would be best, since he's has a good sense with dogs, and I'm hoping he will help with the training, esp if field training is in her future. MMMMMmmmmmm...... pheasant! What a great father/son activity, and with Bong so close, I'm hoping for many fun family trips with an obedient, well trained dog. Molly warmed up to Jacob right away; rambunctious boy activities are right up her alley!

I've tried to take some photos, but puppies don't sit still very well:

Question:

How do you turn $100 into $1000???

You invite a local landscaping company (who for now, will remain anonymous)
to your house to dump a small load of dirt, and voila! You have $1000 in repair work to do on your lawn!
You hire a company to do something you clearly have no knowledge, ability, or resources to do yourself, and you trust that they have the skills to do their job well.
As a nurse, I don't expect my patients to tell me how to do my job competently and safely; I understand that they are entrusting me to perform the skills I need to, and protect them from harm. If I screw up, is it the patients fault for not telling me how to do my job, or mine, for lacking the appropriate skills?

Why oh why can't people just do their jobs and be accountable for the damage they do? Why does such a simple job like getting a load of topsoil turn into such a nightmare?

I told the dispatcher on the phone that we had a big turnabout in the driveway, and I even put my car on the front lawn so the driver had even MORE room to turn around... but for some reason, the driver chose to drive onto the lawn and turn THERE, leaving untold numbers of up to 6 inch deep ruts in the lawn-- all while I watched in horror. The truck was huge, should I have jumped in front of it and took my chances? My husband STILL isn't speaking to me; I know he wishes I would have at least took the risk.

You'd think a skilled Driver/Landscape Professional would have known that paying customers wouldn't be happy having so much damage to their property, and would have seen the LARGE driveway turnabout as an obvious choice to make a turn vs. destroying someone's lawn-- that's where I was wrong. I didn't realize I had to walk this Landscape Professional through the basic steps of his job in order to prevent costly, time consuming repairs.

And of course, the manager hasn't returned our call...

UPDATE: Jake spoke with the manager the next day (Friday), who assured us he'd call on Saturday and make an appt to come out and survey the damage. Saturday came and went, and no call. Jake even called and left a message Sat. afternoon, but we haven't heard from him. Nice...
We'll certainly take or business elsewhere in the future, and share our story far and wide.

P.S. and even though I paid premium price for top soil, the dirt they brought was stony, sandy fill dirt that dried to hardpan around my plants in the beautiful new garden we planted. I couldn't be more disgusted with this company.

UPDATE #2:
I spoke with the manager today, who refused to take responsibility for any of the damages, and is also refusing to refund my money for the poor quality topsoil.
I informed them that I will also be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau regarding their unprofessional conduct and poor quality materials. And folks, signing a waiver really doesn't hold water when the damages exceed what would be considered "reasonable, anticipated damages for the specified job" (the key word here being REASONABLE). We anticipated two ruts in the lawn to repair, not 20. We did not anticipate having to haul 70+ wheelbarrow loads of dirt, level it, broadcast grass seed, purchase straw, cover it, and keep the whole mess wet for a few weeks until the grass was established. I doubt any rational person would consider the damages to our lawn to be REASONABLE for the minor job of unloading a small load of dirt.

On a side note, Jake and I spent long, hot hours yesterday filling in the ruts, wheelbarrow load by wheelbarrow load. I only hope that grass seed will grow in this soil, which has almost no organic matter and consists primarily of clay, sand, and $.50 sized pieces of stone. The manager reported to me that we were not the only customers who complained about the quality of the soil, yet the owner of the company is refusing to refund my $117, which is the **ONLY** compensation I'm seeking (which I think, given the damage, is more than reasonable).
It's going to take an incredible amount of organic matter (taking more of my $ and time), to amend this dirt to the point where my plants will grow in them. Grr!

In light of the need to get the grass growing in the damaged areas asap, I'm taking my dirty, smelly self to the TSC to purchase a 50# bag of grass seed (photos of the restoration coming soon; my batteries died in my camera last night). And when the staff ask, "why are you so dirty?", I'll have to reply: "Well, I had this load of dirt delievered last Thursday..."

UPDATE #3:
I filed a complaint with the BBB and so, for now, I'll let them handle the remainder of this fiasco. I previously told the manager that if the company returned my money, I'd remove the photos of the damage from my website... but you know what? I'd rather not.
This was a HUGE experience for us, involving much angst and sweat and callouses; there's no way I'm *not* going to blog about it.
Every time I look at all the photos of the damage and all the labor that is going into the repairs, I'll think about how I'm going to have to make absolutely sure that the people I hire to perform services on our property are skilled and trained, and not create a gigantic mess they have no intention of fixing.

Yay!

The flax is blooming! The flax is blooming!

Mother's Day, 2007

Mother's Day started with a bit of a fizzle... I waited in bed until almost 9:45 for one of the joys of my loins to jump into bed and wake me with a festive "Happy Mother's Day", but I finally had to pee and got up, somewhat disgruntled. Of course, Jacob had been up for hours already, playing his new video game, and Grace finally had to be tossed out of bed after I was ready to chew my arm off from hunger at around 10:30.
After much whining and complaining, cajoling, coercing, and threatening, my husband and I were able to rustle up the children to have a lovely brunch at Antigua Real, a South American restaurant in Mukwonago, aka "God's Gift to Mexican Food".
I had a wonderful spinach and pepper omelet with black beans, red potatoes, and plantains, and we all shared a plate of crepes stuffed with a rice milk pudding and topped with berries, bananas, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. Fab-U-lous!
We spent a good part of the afternoon cleaning up the humongous tree mess from Jake cutting down the dead popple tree, which was kindof fun, even tho I had to drag grace, kicking and screaming, out to help. "No, none of us want to work. We all would like to lie on the couch all day. Trust me..."

Emily showed up right about the time I was dozing off on the couch, and we all had a great time
Michael loved playing outside, he's a real fan of the swings:-) And the dogs playplayplayed all afternoon. Emily surprised me with flowers, chocolate dipped strawberries and a fantastic chocolate cake (does that girl get me or what?), and it ended up to be a lovely day.
Jake purchased me an Endless Summer Hydrangea, which I planted in the west garden in the line of hostas; hopefully I can train the bush up the side of the house. I'm not 100% sure of the growth habit of this particular hydrangea, but I can always move it if it doesn't work in it's spot. I'd really like to get a Japanese Maple in the west garden as well, but they're $70... and considering how much the rabbits like to eat them, I'm not sure I want to take an expensive risk.

Happy Mother's Day to All!

Chicken Coop Garden

Jake and I busted our backs today getting the chicken coop garden wall in place, and I know what you're thinking... "sure, you're not even in a single photo. It looks like your poor husband is doing all the work." And yes, I'd have to agree with you... he's a much better shoveler than I am, and anyway, who would take the pictures, I ask you?
Naaaah, just kidding. I helped out plenty. My job was mainly to haul the 124 patio blocks, 7 at a time, from the driveway to the coop via wheelbarrow.... ooh, my aching back! But it's a good ache. It's amazing what you can get done in one day, especially considering how long I've wanted to get this project done.
My next step is to get a load of topsoil dumped into the garden, hopefully sometime next week, and then dig up all the plants from the butterfly garden and the seedlings from the front gardens and get them planted... and then get my spot ready for another little kitchen garden.
The reason for all the effort is because the garden is usually under 3-12 inches of water all spring, and all the plants I put in are in various states of decomposition. Hopefully, putting in a raised garden will ensure the survival of the garden. I'm leaving the strawberry plants on the west side of the garden at swamp level; they seem to really like the dampness, and are covered with blossoms... it's hard to believe that the entire patch was started with 5 sickly little plants. It must be the combination of the water and the worm castings... I'm going to have to expand the patch after the berries are done and the plants start to spread again. Fun!
No more blahs for me! I am sore, and filthy, and smelly, and completely satisfied.
What a fantastic spring day!

Friday:

I've been having kindof a blah week, followed by a completely blah Friday; things are awesome, couldn't be better-- but I still feel... blah. Maybe the strawberry margarita I'm drinking right now will help.

The lilacs opened fully this week, they look and smell intoxicating (we have about 10+ ginormous bushes throughout the property)
I'd say the tulips are done, sadly. They looked so beautiful.
Jake and I picked up some plants this afternoon, and I rushed to get them in the ground:
A yellow pear tomato plant, a jalepeno plant, a roma tomato and cherry tomato plant, a grouping of poppies, 2 scabiosas (one blue and one pink), a delphinium, and a rosemary plant. The rosemary probably isn't hardy, so I planted it in the west garden by the house and I'll hope for the best-- maybe it'll make it thru the winter if it's close to the house.
The west garden is jam-packed and will probably need to be divided as early as this fall/next spring, but how cool is that? I guess I'll just have to dig another garden somewhere...
I'm hoping to get the patio blocks placed around the chicken coop, and level out the blocks around the west garden; maybe I'll get started on that tomorow, esp of the weather's supposed to be colder. I'll be very glad to get the small butterfly garden dug up and relocated to the chicken coop, so I'll have a spot to put all the seedlings that have sprouted in the front garden (those that don't get put in the prairie. And WOW! I can't believe how many seedlings are coming up in the prairie!! There are clearly spots that are going to need to be hand planted, but the areas that already have plants thriving are going to be doubly stuffed with flowers. I absolutely can NOT wait for the flowers to bloom.) Plus, it'll be nice to have another kitchen garden spot.

I think I'm also a little blue 'cause I'm sick to death of my husband working six 9 hour days/week, and then helping out at church on Sundays.... I think it's crap. I'm so resentful of those nice Christian people I don't even know that I can barely walk through those doors without sneering at them... and it's not even their fault.
I'm working a ton, too-- and for what? So Gracy pants can be an expensive brat? She's been a stinker all week-- if I hear the words "shut up, mom!" one more time, I'm gonna pop her one, right in the kisser! (no, I really won't. But I really *will* be fantasizing about it.)

Plus, I need a vacation in the worst possible way-- and I am SO not talking about some camping excursion with ticks. I want an all inclusive trip to a resort somewhere, with cocktails and massages-- maybe another cruise. Why o why do I have to work so hard and then live like a pauper? Because I'm a dumbass, that's why.

I *DID* get a couple cute shirts in the mail today: I especially like the "will knit for tattoos" one: http://www.nataliedee.com/gallery-knit.php
Not that I *really* would knit for tattoos, but it's fun to put that out there (even if it's not true. That must make me a poseur tattoo chick. Or something.). Since my knitting is not so great, the best I could expect would probably be an amateurish: "I heart mom" or something really uncool like that.

This comic makes me feel better, on some deeply seated level: