Squash

Our veggies are going great guns! Tomatoes a-plenty! The cucumber plants have tripled in size and are putting out their 'viney' things that the cucs grow on. Pepper plants have doubled in size - no 'blossoms' yet but they are doing well. I had all but given up on the squash but went over today just to confirm how pitiful they look ('cuz the last time I checked on them, I was pretty sure they were not going to make it) and they look FANTASTIC! They have blossoms and are growing much better. Fixing the over-watering did the trick and they are officially taking off. We should have squash in a couple weeks! I can't wait....

I had to use insecticidal soap on the plants today as they are getting invaded by aphids. I will buy a bag of lady bugs and/or a praying mantis at Home Depot this weekend and see if that will address the issue. The plants look fine but they are starting to show the 'wear' of being buggy.

I made a new recipe for dinner - and there's no one home to eat it! J. is heading back from Hayward, driving the newest family vehicle. He took the ACE train to Pleasanton, then a bus to the BART station - then took BART back from SF (after working all day) to South Hayward. Met the seller of the car at BART and closed the deal. H. is stoked...only he's not so stoked that he's waiting at home - he's at a friends house. B. is working. I was home 'early' today - worked 1/2 day at home (really got a lot done and wish I had an excuse to do that more often - it is so quiet and the dining room table is the perfect place to spread out my papers, data sets, reports, etc. and just plow through). I find it hard to 'justify' working at home these days, given the 1.7 miles 'commute'. But it sure is nice when I can manage to....

I need to unload the rest of the groceries that I bought when I went to the store for sour cream and lemons and left with $39.49 of 'stuff'. I was hungry. Big mistake. And I'll need to clean out and/or organize the fridge 'cuz there's not a lot of room in there...

I ordered my birthday gift 'early' - a yogurt maker! I have been eating good 'greek-style' (thick and plain) yogurt with honey most mornings for breakfast and decided I could make my own! So I ordered a yogurt maker from King Arthur Flour Company....can't wait for it to arrive. I know it's 'just another gadget' but the last gadget I bought was the LeCube espresso machine and I use it every single day and love, love, love it!!! Sadly, though, my Aeroccino milk frother died yesterday - I think the cleaning crew got the 'power' base wet (or dropped it) 'cuz it won't turn on anymore. So I ordered another one of those, too - and now they make a larger size (good for making lattes for two (which I frequently do) and also has a special coating inside to make it easier to clean). I miss it and am counting the days to when it gets here. Espresso with cold milk is just not the same. Will microwave my milk in the AM to at least get it hot - then I'll just miss the foam.

I'm just reading back that last paragraph and think 'hey, maybe we should get a bee hive and make our own honey'. A 2lb. jar of honey was $8. How many bees would it take to make that much honey and how long would it take? Research..... This 'growing your own food' is sort of cool and pushes me to dream of a different life - simpler. Someday....

But I can't give up my LeCube. Or my Aeroccino. So maybe simple is good....but simple plus some 'extras' is better?

Need to unload the dishwasher and reload (cooking creates a lot of dishes, doesn't it?). Then get a load of laundry going. Then sweep the kitchen floor 'cuz I dropped some dry spaghetti on the floor as I was getting it out of the package....then take the new car for a test drive as soon as J. gets here with it. Then ponder the reduction of our savings balance and plan for how to replenish it as quickly as possible.

And lastly, sleep. I hope. Not sleeping well these days...makes me emotional and 'fragmented' which as anyone who knows me will tell you is a 'bad' combination.

It will pass....all things do.

Skipping

I think I've 'gotten out of' going to the birthday party this weekend by being honest with my husband. Shocking, I know....

The thing is: I have met this couple once...at a wedding. And I finally confessed to J. today 'well, she wasn't really very nice to me that day'....and shockingly, it didn't seem to surprise him. He said 'I guess you enjoyed talking to her husband more'. And I thought 'yes, because he actually TALKED to me. She ignored me most of the time - and the only time she made any effort to talk to me, she asked what I did for a living. So I said 'I'm a Chief Business Officer for a school district'. And she said 'ok, but what do you DO?'. And I explained 'manage budget, purchasing, accounts payable, payroll, etc. for a school district'. 'OK - but WHAT DO YOU DOOOOOO' (emphasis on 'do' with a lot of arrogance thrown in - like that was her 'best' interview question and I'd just lost the job). I said 'I do too many things to list'. And left it at that.

Her husband was a pleasure - he's the 'solar physicist' guy who frankly, fascinates me. And I'd love to spend hours talking to him about all things solar - he was a good conversationalist and friendly and very 'down to earth'. She was the opposite of those things.

I told J. 'really, I'd rather come home from my Lions thing and work on work stuff. I'm starting to freak out a bit about all I have to do and going to SF to spend time with people I barely know (1/2 of whom I'm not sure I like all that much) doesn't sound all that appealing to me. Even IF they have the most adorable 3 year old boy genius on the planet'. Not to mention that she's issued a 'no gift' edict. 'He has all the toys WE think he needs'.

He's THREE. If I can't shop for a little boy, then what's the point?

So I think I don't 'have to' go at this point - J. can go alone and even better - he can now stop by and visit his brother who is convalescing in Oakland and needs J. to bring him some stuff out of storage. J. is also now handling his mail and his finances....

I would love an afternoon in SF with my hubby - but not at a birthday party with people I barely know.

PS - my Lions event happens to be very, VERY near a casino that I frequent.....so there's a small, slight chance I might stop there for lunch after my meeting before heading home. Small. Minutely small....but it could happen.

Thanks, sweets.

Mother's Day

First, I have to state publicly that J. thinks I took 'creative liberties' with the previous post. He's sure the sprinkler wasn't a problem for WEEKS. He's positive my car has been washed at the full service wash as much as his.

All I know is this: I mentioned the sprinkler thing over multiple days over more than one week. By definition, that's WEEKS. And we purchased 'cards' for the car wash Christmas of 2007 - 4 or 5 washes for a flat price. We bought two. Until the car wash he just did for me, my car had not used a single 'punch' on those cards. (And his generous gift to me of getting my car done resulted in him filling the last 'punch' on his 'bonus card' so he now gets a free wash!). SO, it sure seems like 8-10 washes of which my car(s) had ONE of those is a ratio that is pretty fair in terms of 'your car gets washed a heck of a lot more than mine' argument.

Onward.....

Mother's Day was fun - we opened Texas Roadhouse for an early morning brunch. Leftovers for dinner. I took a little nap. I have not worked, which I will regret....but it will be OK. I know everything that needs to get done will get done - it always does and it's me that does it...and I know me. So it's fine......(right?).

I am not at home 3 evenings this week - and then gone 1/2 day Saturday for a Lion's group training - I'm the treasurer of our club starting July 1st....not sure how that happened but it did. And then I'll rush home and we'll head to San Fran for a birthday party. Next Sunday I will likely be working....every spare minute will be spent working between now and June 12th....it's budget time!

Every weekend between now and June is booked solid. Graduations, parties, trips to visit relatives who are in town (driving up to meet them)....it's going to be a hectic few weeks around our house. We're taking Chloe to the puppy spa for Memorial Day weekend just to be sure we have all the flexibility possible.

We made an offer on a car for H. today and it was accepted. The seller cautioned us to get a quote on insurance first - so we're doing that tomorrow. Hoping that won't crush the deal - but the seller said he had a 'deal' before and the buyer backed out when he got quotes on insurance. That may be a deal breaker for us, too.....but we'll keep our fingers crossed. It's a 2005 Scion tC - dark blue (like my old Honda Accord). H. really likes it and it is a very nice car....

B. heads to Disneyland next weekend. He takes his final IB test this week. And he has to stop by the Fine Arts department head's office to pick up his 'honor cord' for the Performing Arts Magnet - his two years of marching band, jazz band and symphonic band qualified him for the cord - to wear around his neck on graduation day....only three weeks away.

Time to get ready for the week. Yesterday was my errand day - Petsmart, haircut, went to the UPS store to FINALLY ship gifts to my sister and niece (should be there Wednesday, K.)....so now I need to color my hair....plan what to wear....etc.

Have a great week. I don't anticipate posting much 'cuz I won't be home much. Hope you enjoyed Mother's Day -

Car Wash

Today, my husband did a very nice thing for me - a mother's day gift in advance, I guess. He cleaned out the inside of my car (meaning he culled all the Starbucks straw wrappers, various odds and ends of papers, etc. - really not many compared to the wreck the van used to ALWAYS be) and then he took my car to the 'full service' car wash - where they vacuum, wash, Armour-All, and otherwise completely detail the car. It has not had a 'full service' car wash since the day we picked it up from the dealer. Mainly because I'm too thrifty to rationalize the expense but also because I lack the time and motivation to drive across town and spend over half an hour sitting around waiting for my car to be done. It has been washed - trust me on that. But usually, I take it through the Chevron drive through car wash. Which is only $5 and a trip down memory lane - I lived with my brother and his wife my 2nd year of college and I introduced my two nephews to the drive-through car wash. They were ASTOUNDED that you could SIT IN THE CAR while it was being washed....and it became a favorite 'let's go with Aunt Majah to the car wash!'. I also used to spoil them rotten by allowing them all kinds of sugary treats from the grocery store bakery. They thought YOGURT was ice cream until I moved in....and introduced them to cookies, cupcakes, etc. I didn't ruin them - but I sure had fun trying.

We have a running joke in our house - my car never gets washed. My car does not receive the same TLC that J.'s car does.

Another example revealed itself this week....our ongoing comedy routine ensued and I realized 'I really could do stand-up' 'cuz this stuff happens everyday.

J. had my car earlier in the week, making trips to Hayward to help his brother move. My 'truck' (small SUV but for some reason I've started calling it a truck - I just like the sound of it) has more room than his Camry - so we traded cars for a couple days this week. Upon returning home, I parked his car in 'my' space in the driveway - closest to the lawn. It's not where the Camry is usually parked - but old habits die hard and I just automatically pulled into 'my' space even though I wasn't driving 'my' car.

The next morning, J.'s car was soaking wet.....covered (every inch) with water. As mine has been for WEEKS. I've been complaining for weeks that we must have some kind of sprinkler problem - the sprinklers go on at 5:00AM out front so we never see it - so my car has been regularly soaked. Like a rainstorm just over MY car. Only now, the rainstorm was over J.'s car....and you know what happened, don't you? He immediately - within less than 7 hours - drove to Orchard Supply and bought a new sprinkler head and fixed it. The problem had existed for OVER A MONTH - but if it's MY CAR getting regularly soaked, water-spotted, it's 'OK, I'll fix it as soon as I can'. When it's HIS CAR getting soaked, it's done that same day.

Men.....

It's fixed now. And to make amends, he took MY CAR to get washed and cleanup up today. For every four full-service washes his car has, mine gets one. If it's lucky.

Felines vs. Canines

My early morning rising, my peaceful mornings of quiet tap-tap-tapping on my laptop, latte in hand listening to the sounds of the morning - garbage truck rumbling down the street; birds waking up; sprinklers coming on - have been anything but quiet lately.

Klink - our huge gray cat who has been an 'indoor' cat all his life - has started coming downstairs regularly in the morning. First it was once in a while. Now, it's daily. And he now ventures outside. Instead of sitting and watching from the safety of the kitchen, one day he jumped through the railing (our family room is two steps 'down' from the kitchen and there's a rail near the sliding door between the kitchen and family room to keep people from falling about a foot and a half) and outside. Just like that. Like he'd been going outside every day - only he hasn't. Ever. It's now a daily thing - he'll hang outside for awhile, exploring the yard. Sniffing everything....

And Chloe 'defers' to the cat - she loves him and so wants to play with him. She tries to get him to play - but he's a cat and he's having none of that 'interspecies interaction'. Chloe turns on her doggy charm and rolls on the floor, wriggles across the carpet and BEGS Klink to play....he's having none of it. He's a cat.....I try to reassure Chloe that it's not personal....So now it's trying to wrestle getting Chloe in and out to do her thing(s) - twice 'cuz she has to have her bite of biscuit to get her ready for #2 - and Chloe will 'wait' for Klink to go outside first. Or 'wait' for Klink to move away from the door. Or 'wait' for Klink to move 2 inches to the left so Chloe can walk by him without bothering him. It's nuts. It's like herding 'cattle' - only it's a cat and a dog.

My peaceful mornings are anything but lately....I'm up at 4:30 for a little 'quiet' time and Chloe immediately wants up and out of her kennel...and then Klink realizes 'yippee, we're going outside again'.....and that's the morning.....herding them in and out; keeping an eye on Klink to make sure he doesn't attempt to make a break over the fence into the neighbors yard or into the front yard. He's done that before, years ago - and spent 2 nights outside stuck under a wire 'plant containment' fence until J. rescued him. I'm hoping he learned his lesson but even if he did, he's a cat and he'll do what he likes, thank you very much.

It's been an hour of this 'orchestrated chaos' and now I'm heading upstairs to shower and dress for work. Never a dull moment around here. Either it's kids or pets making me nuts....

Same stuff, different day.

Oddities

I realized today that for months, I've been putting an extra 1 cent stamp on my letters, etc. for no reason. My Christmas stamps (that I bought to use on the Christmas letter that never happened) were the current first class rate - yet I've been adding a 1 cent stamp to every letter I've mailed with those stamps since Christmas. Bugger! I don't know why.....

We sort of lost a cat last night - but we found him again. Snow - the more quiet, reserved, mellow of the two - the one who rarely ventures anywhere more than one room away from his bowl of food and his favorite sleeping place - was nowhere to be found at his dinner time last night. I searched everywhere. I enlisted help searching - still no sign of him. Got out the treat jar.....shook it. That ALWAYS brings them BOTH running. Still no Snow. I was freaking out....sure he must be gravely ill and has done what cats do - hides. No matter how sick they are, they hide. J. came upstairs to help look - and we checked the closet, which I'd already done. And there he was....apparently locked in there most of the day and not too sure why or what to do? Poor thing. He was so 'freaked'. He came out begrudgingly, barely moving. Sort of slinking. Tail 'down' and under him, basically. I was sure he really was sick - he went straight under the bed. But J. coaxed him out a bit - 'talked' to him and he finally emerged. He went in and ate a bit, then I brushed him and we 'made up'. He was just PISSED and wasn't sure why he'd ended up in the closet all day. Poor baby. He seems fine now - back to his old self. So relieved. They are both long overdue for a vet visit - but it's so impossible to get them into the carrier - and then it's a miserable trip there and back. And I've been out of the office more than in these past few days - so I was worried about missing work AGAIN....but he's fine and we're back to 'cats as usual'.

I've been in a baking craze lately. Latest is the 'Amish Friendship Bread' - got a 'starter' 10 days ago from a friend and realized last night it was the 'baking day'. I was planning to color my hair - but I'd already sort of messed up the 'adding to' steps during the 10 days....and I didn't want to risk 'wrecking' it. So I baked instead of doing my hair and it is DELICIOUS. Now I have 4 starters sitting on my kitchen counter. Anyone reading this who wants one, let me know. The bread is GREAT. I also made a prune cake - and I know you're thinking 'YUCK' and 'it'll give you the runs'. It is FANTASTIC and no, it won't. The kids LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it and it disappeared in record time. B. is not 'happy' that there's all this temptation around....but I'm having fun trying new recipes. And so far, I haven't gained any weight!!

We have three tomatoes! One of the pepper plants is also really taking off and I'm pretty sure one of the squash plants has blossoms close to appearing! Veggies!! in our garden. It's really fun to 'see' the payoff for the work. They seem to be doing pretty well. We're having a hard time getting the water right on the squash - J. adjusted the sprinkler near them - and then it rained for three days..so they're still suffering from too much water. But the weather was a beautiful 78 and clear today so we'll hope the rain is over for now. We're more than ready for some swimming weather.

Our trip to Mexico is 'on hold'. We actually canceled the condo today - there are dozens of other units in that development available (better units for less $ than we were going to pay - they are having a hard time getting people down there so there are some great DEALS at this point) - and we were going to have to make our 'final' payment which was then not refundable...we weren't willing to do that. The airline is currently not flying from SFO to Cancun through June 4th. So we're waiting to see if that situation stays - which would be good for us because they will refund every mile/every penny that we spent on the tickets if it's their issue that's affecting our flight. So we're sort of giving it some time.....and thinking of other options. A beach seems to be the common criteria/theme. Bahamas? Costa Rica? Or the never-not-a-good-decision Hawaii?? I'll keep you posted.....I just need waves, surf, salty-wind and sun...and umbrella drinks....worst case - San Diego for a few days and then possibly another Southern California destination for a few days. We'll see....

Crazies

J. and H. worked in Hayward all day yesterday at the garage sale of J.'s middle brother. His brother is moving into a care facility - his home of 30 years has sold and there's a lot to move out. He will be eventually moving into a 'retirement community' but for now, he is in a care facility in Oakland, getting some physical illness things resolved.

J. returned home late yesterday afternoon with a lot of 'stuff'....things we wanted (a Kirby floor cleaning 'system' which I cannot figure out for the life of me but looks pretty darn powerful; a wine cooler that we will use for both wine and bottles of water and Gatorade - likely in the garage). And things we didn't know we wanted until J. saw them. Various kitchen items, some miscellaneous clothes [sweat shirts and sweat pants because you can never have too many of those; a Cal Berkeley knit scarf; shirts, etc.].

We were able to sell a few of our things at the sale as well - a dog Igloo that our dogs never showed any interest in. A couple old bikes and a GoPed scooter. Didn't make a lot of money but that wasn't really the point of the sale - just getting the stuff out of our home permanently feels good.

This morning, J. showed me one of the 'treasures' he brought home - a meat thermometer. We have a couple - but oh well. He showed it to me, along with a set of cooking shears (which I've been wanting to buy so that was a great find) and other assorted kitchen stuff. I nodded affirmatively and assumed he was taking them into the kitchen. Which I think he did - except I was just upstairs getting showered and the meat thermometer was sitting on the bathroom counter! WHY???? I have no idea - and I can't ask him because he's on his way back to Hayward to make another trip of more 'stuff'. Thus (sort of) defeating the purpose of cleaning out some of our stuff 'cuz he's brought that amount and more back!. Oh well - some of his items include a set of books that he said 'I want to read to my granchildren someday'. Can't really say no to that, right?

But that thermometer thing? How did it end up in the bathroom? I brought it BACK downstairs with me and put it in the sink where it will be washed and then put in the appropriate drawer.

How it ended up there, I have no idea. Those kind of things happen ALL THE TIME AROUND HERE.