Lettuce

I harvested my first crop. Lettuce. When we were regulars at the farmers market or when we belonged to the CSA, I always lived the lettuce in early summer. It's so much better than the store stuff.

So I watched a video on YouTube and decided to pull some before it bolts. And I'm darn close. It started getting that milky discharge at the base of the plant when cut, a sign that it's reached maturity.

But it looks pretty good. I cut three plants and got more than I think we can eat. Although, I can eat a lot of salad.

Summer vacay

The girls finished school Friday. So we did what everybody secretly wishes they could do. We went to Michigan.

It was a lovely trip. We saw our Battle Creek buddies. We went to the farm. We saw Julia. And, best of all, we played volleyball. In the sun!

It was a nice trip. And a good reminder of how fun the farm can be, especially when you're 9. Carol had so much fun exploring out there, especially the old hay loft, my favorite childhood hiding place.

Let's just hope it takes a few years before she realizes it's a good place to smoke cigarettes and kiss boys. Although, I have no idea how I know it's good for that.

Growing like a weed

I went out to weed today because A) it rained last night and the ground was wet, and B) the community garden lady sent out a very friendly reminder that weeding was our responsibility. Something like, "Get out there and weed before you go jaunting around the Midwest this Memorial Day weekend or you'll be sorry."

Anyway, it needed it. As seen here.

But it looks nice when it's done. As seen here.  (Notice the empty plot next to me and its weed patch. I think this is very bad for me.)

I saw a few small victories while I was at eye level with the plants. My first tomatillo flower.

My first sign of broccoli. This crop has pretty much been a failure for me. I think most other broccoli plants are much further along. But I was still happy.

My lettuce looked very pretty.

But an hour of weeding provided me with a very good lesson. Number one, I need one of those little foam knee thingys. Also, there were A LOT of ants in my garden. I don't know if ants are good or bad or neutral in a garden, but I need to find out. Also, they were the biting kind. Ouch.

 

Also, yes I am wearing shorts. Stop judging me. 

Anniversary garden

In honor of my and Steve's 12th anniversary, here are some pictures of my garden. A garden that needs to be weeded.

A metaphor for marriage? Probably not.

But I'm glad to have the day off to look at the garden, hang out in the backyard and eat a steak off the grill.

Almost summer

Fishing

Carol has moved on from virtual fishing on the Wii to sort-of-real fishing at Normal Circle. Every year, people populate the deep pool with fish. And sometimes those little fishies get carried away by the current and sucked into the drains. That was about to happen yesterday.
But a group of brave teenagers was trying to rescue it with a styrofoam cup. After a couple minutes of failure, Carol jumped in, grabbed the fish with her hands and stuck it in the cup.
"And that's how you catch a fish about to get sucked into a drain, " I'd like to imagine is how she explained her actions to her new teenage friends as they admired their work.

Garden in May

Not the best garden of the lot, but not the worst. Things are growing steadily despite a frost (freakin' May frost? For reals?) last night.

Thanks

The weekend, Penny came over and straightened out my shirt. Girlie is always fixing me up.

So I pulled my shirt up and struck my best awesome pose and asked if I should wear my shirt like this, with my big old belly hanging out.

Carol, who happened to be walking by said, "You don't have the right kind of body for that. "

Oh. Thanks.

Chores

For a long time, we have used a point system for allowances. For every chore the girls do, they get a star. For every star, they get a quarter.

I know. I'm a genius... Right!!!

But it was a flawed system. The girls, carol on particular, aren't all that concerned with money. There is rarely an instance where they feel compelled to buy something. They like having extra cash for the ice cream truck and maybe a toy,but they just weren't all that into it. And as a result, they weren't very concerned with chores.

But all that as changed. I've decided to change the system. For every star they earn, they get 15 minutes of video game time.

My house has never been so clean.

But after this weekend, I'm thinking it might e TOO good of an idea. They were literally doing one chore, playing 15 minutes, for a big large of the weekend. I created two monsters. Or two addicts. Or maybe a combo.

And this picture doesn't have anything to do with video games, other than to document they did make it outside briefly this weekend.

Community garden

Normal is, like, the best place in the world to live. Other than the harsh winters, harsh summers, unattractive landscape, lack of water and relative isolation, it's totally perfect.

I have already penned my love of Normal's great biking, great schools, great electric car access, great trains (more on that later this summer), great restaurants, and so-so parenting scene. And I think I've mentioned once or twice, great vegetables.

Now I'll go ahead and talk about the (hopefully) great community garden. For $15, I got a 10x10 plot. Bonus it's only one block from my house.

Because of the close proximity, last year we watched the garden prosper during its first season. So we decided to give it a try. Of course, we were 3 weeks late on sign up, so all the 10x20 plots were gone. But perhaps, this was a blessing in disguise.

I'm actually not a great grower (I would have said Gardener, but the joke seems a little played out). I'm ambitious in May, but I lose interest in those hot, dog days.

So, in an effort to create accountability. I've decided to do some blogging.

So far this year, we've put in lettuce, broccoli and cabbage. We've also planted onion bulbs and spinach seeds. It's about 60 yards to a playground, so no excuse not to bring the girls.

So here we go. Another reason to love Normal.

Circus

Carol just finished her first circus. For those of you who think I'm talking about a slumber party or some other parent-maddening adolescent activity, let me assure you I truly mean circus. With clowns and juggling and popcorn and everything.

Illinois State University is home to the oldest collegiate circus in the country. The Gamma Phi Circus. It's a local gem. And because Metcalf is a lab school of ISU, they have the Junior Gamma Phi Circus for students in 3rd through 8th grade. It's sort of a big deal. Carol did unicycle, cylinders and diablo. She was fantastic.

But that's not why I'm talking about it. There was hardly a moment during the 2 hour performance that I wasn't on the verge of sobbing. To see all these kids, who have been practicing for months, perform as one group was very emotional for me. Whether they were awesome or horrible, whether they pulled it off or failed, they went out there together and smiled. And there wasn't one star of the show. It was the group and they were there to make the crowd happy. A
nd they did.

And when the blind kid did the tight wire, I about lost it.

Unfortunately, my picture taking abilities were clouded by emotions. So basically, my photos suck. I'll try better next year.

Peepers

I doubted it for a long time, but Carol really does have eyes. Pretty ones, too.

Jake

Scaring away Jehovah's Witnesses since 2013..

How does this always happen?

It's Saturday morning and the kids are like, "Mom!! How do you spell Diablo?" or "Mom!!! What did we do after we ate lunch on Wednesday?" or "Mom!! I want to eat. I want to eat. I want to eat."

So... Any hope of sitting on the couch for 5 minutes with Pinterest is completely lost. So I make breakfast, send Steve to the gym (and the grocery store, so don't think I'm no saint or nothin') and organize a very pleasant project of coloring plants and flower and birds and butterflies. We are jamming to Taylor's Swift's "Red" album and doing art and I'm not even upset that I lost my 5 minutes of couch time.

Then, just as I'm getting ready to try out a cute new hairdo on Penny, the girls are headed downstairs for some sister/Barbie time.

So I start putting away the art and cleaning the kitchen and picking up the newspaper all over the house... and I realize this....

I'm still listening to Taylor Swift. And singing out loud. How does this always happen?

"And loving him was Red..... "

Quick pic trip to southern Cal

Because its better than drinking my way thorough the airport... Maybe.

5k First

Carol ran her first 5k yesterday. I couldn't have been more proud. While we finished at a 11:30 pace, carol ran the first mile in 7:30. What!! Obviously, I was a full minute behind her.

But Carol, who said she thinks it's harder to run slow than fast, ran out of steam about half way through. But we rallied and I was so happy she joined me on such a cold, long run.

Birthday suits

I forgot to do Penny's birthday dress this year, so I decided to do both on the same day. This year, I took pics of them hanging around the house, playing video games and just
being kids on Sunday afternoon. Not my best effort, bit viva la tradition!

Resolutions + Lent

So some of you (OK... two of you) wondered where my New Year's resolution list was hiding. Turns out, I'm resolutioned out. After 2011's epic failure, and a life I planned as my end-goal life, and not my early-goal life (I'm sort of an underachiever), But... I have an awesome job as a day-shift ICU nurse (that's right... I save lives), my kids are in an excellent school and they are both super happy, my husband is pretty much the best man to ever live and New Girl is the best sitcom to come around in a long time. It's really the perfect life.

I don't have much to resolve. At this point in my life, I no longer want to get better. I just want to sleep eight hours a night and not forget where I left my car keys.

To boot, it's Lent. Again, I'm not resolving anything. Not less wine. Not less hamburgers. Not less yelling. I'm not giving up anything I love.

But, sure. There are things I want. Let's start there.

I want an electric car. Done. And it's so fun to charge it up while I go grocery shopping.

I want to run a half marathon this year. Well, awesome Julia (soon-to-be East Lansing MICHIGAN Julia who loves to go camping with us and doesn't mind at all if the girls want to sleep in her tent) wants to run one. And for someone who's moving from one of the coolest cities in the world to East Lansing, I thought this was the least I could do for her.

So I've been running every day I'm not working. Which is four days a week. Well, I run three days. At least two days. And I take Jake with me. And recently, Carol. We're running a 5K in two weeks.

I want to be a better nurse. So I work my scheduled shifts and, mostly, I screen my calls when work wants me to come in extra. Because I'm almost 40 and I'm tired. But I will try to become certified (haha... Not that kind. The excellent kind that requires a test and makes me certified in critical care) later this year.

I want to eat great food, drink wine, watch TV, spoil my children (but not too much) and sleep at least 8 hours a night. I think I've hit my laid back 40s.

Finally... .

I do want to stop leaving several glasses of water by my bed. It's just weird.

And one day later....

Almost 9, with newly pierced ears