Unhistoric Acts

gardening

Soccer game this morning at 9:30 (pic is from my iphone at Wednesday night's game). I adore 9:30 games, mostly because we've had a whole slew of 8 AM games this season. I think next Saturday is our last game...and then poof! Spring soccer is done.

I spent ALL day yesterday with my brother Helmut and my SIL Debbie prepping our square foot gardens. Yes, I'm starting another hobby. Yes, this is par for the course with my attention-deficit-hobby disorder. But this is a good one. It's even going to produce food.

I picked up this book yesterday (at Lowe's), but I've been cruising the web reading about square foot gardening for a while now. Plus, my brother has already produced a successful square foot garden, which he had to leave in Holland...cuz apparently...you can't move your garden across the ocean.

Today we will finish with construction (it's a raised bed (actually it's more like a table)), and we will finish mixing our gardening medium. The medium is really called "Mel's Mix," Mel being the brains behind square foot gardening. Whatever you do, don't call it soil. Or dirt. That make my brother really mad. And annoyed.The genius behind square foot gardening is really in using this medium, which is made up of compost, vermiculite, and peat moss. See? No dirt. Or soil. Which also means no weeds. I can't tell you how excited I am about the no weeds. And no need to fertilize either. Also, Mel's Mix circumvents all of the messy chemical calculations that come with varying soils. No need to worry about ph, or lots of clay, or lack of nutrients. You build your gardening medium from the ground up (no pun intended).

Here's what we found yesterday. Both Lowes and Home Depot carry peat moss and compost. Mel insists that the compost be varied, meaning you can't just buy one bag of organic compost and call it good. You need variety so that your vegetables will have access to a variety of nutrients. We found mushroom compost and two different kinds of "organic" compost (we call those "mystery compost) at Home Depot and Lowes. We also purchased cow manure compost (yes, gross) and cotton hull compost at Plants For All Seasons (a local gardening store). Neither of the big stores carries vermiculite, so we picked that up at our local gardening store as well (although we also found some at Ace Hardware). Our gardening store also carried pre-mixed bags of Mel's Mix (under the brand name LadyBug) but it cost about 2 1/2 times as much to buy the pre-mixed. So we didn't.

The first thing we had to do was mix all of the different kinds of compost together. So, while Helmut was constructing the garden boxes, Debbie and I tackled the compost mixing. We laid out a huge tarp, dumped about 15 cubic yards of various kinds of compost in the middle and set to mixing. The mixing was kinda hard. And hot. And sweaty. But we were mixing for 60 square feet of garden (20 for me and 40 for Helmut and Debbie), so it was alot. Imagine Debbie and I, still in our workout gear (but barefoot because we didn't want to get our running shoes compost-y), with giant shovels scooping up mountains of compost. I know. I can hardly imagine that myself...and I was there. It certainly doesn't fall into line with our ladies-that-lunch-persona, but it does meld nicely with our penchant for Steel Magnolias.

So the compost is mixed. Today we will mix equal parts compost, vermiculite, and peat moss...and THAT mixture will actually go in the boxes.

We also have to finish painting. We painted the legs yesterday (it's like a table, remember?) and today we'll paint the outside of the box itself. We won't paint the inside because we don't want to poison our families. We are super thoughtful like that. And that, my friends, is the beginning of my square foot garden. Anyone else want to join in? It's going to be super fun...I think. Oh...and check out my Virgin Harvest button on the left column. Click on it if you want to join in.

it figures

I promised a draft to my dissertation chair today. Thursday. I promised a draft by Thursday.

And I've been working on it. Seriously. I'd hoped to finish up my revisions by last night. But after an orthodontist appointment, a hurried dinner of taco salad (hurried in the prep), and a soccer game ... I was beat. I figured I had from 8 the next morning until the kids came home at 2:45 to knock it out. Easily doable. No problem.

After working out with Debbie I returned home ready to finish the job...only to find that we had no power. Hmmm. I called the electric company to report an outage and then began to query other people on the street. Nope. No power anywhere.

The power was out from approximately 8:30 - 2:30. Just when I needed it most that darn outage locked my paper inside of my inaccessible Mac and mocked me. I decided to take a shower...thinking the power would be up in just a few minutes. But then, as I sat there with dripping wet hair and no way to blow it dry (which left to its own devices would frizz up like a poodle) I felt doubly mocked. I was anxious. I packed up my round brushes and headed to Debbie's.

I've been revising like a madwoman since 2:30. Why is it so much more difficult to revise than to write? There is nothing I detest more than throwing away entire paragraphs. And yet, it must be done. So I do it. Then I cry.

But hey. I got my hair cut yesterday. Getting my hair cut always makes me feel like a new woman. This time I went short. Quite short.

And yes, this is what I do when I'm revising. I horse around. It's part of my process. I need time to think. Then, after all of that processing, I write/revise some more. Then more horsing around. It's a painful circuit...but it seems to work.

Wish me luck.

hippity hop hop

Check it. My friend Tracy invited me over to her house this morning. Not only did she have a McDonald's Diet Coke and Egg McMuffin waiting for me, but she had all the goods to put together this awesome Easter decoration. Seriously, food, Diet Coke, and a craft I didn't have to imagine, coordinate, or shop for...now that's an event. I insist on calling this delightful Easter concoction a decoration in an attempt to keep my kids (and husband) from eating it. As you can see, it's layers of Easter candy...built around a core of marshmallows. Tracy and her daughters-in-law make these for every holiday. I guess I'm in like flint now...cuz I got my jar and I'm ready to roll. Thanks Tracy!

After Tracy's I came home to work. And work I did. I'm thinking of making a sticker chart for days I actually write...I need some positive reinforcement. Or, I'll just talk about it ad nauseum on my blog. Yeah, that works for me. Although...I do love me some stickers.

For dinner tonight? This lovely...

A burrito bowl, recipe (and photo) courtesy of Annie's Eats. Check it here. [All of my kids loved it. Even Becca, who while claiming to "love" the beans, refused to eat the beans.]

I have some serious writing to do by Thursday, and should I accomplish writing-til-Thursday, I plan on making this:

I have the perfect spot for it. Also...saw that Hobby Lobby does, in fact, carry burlap by the yard. Instructions and more photos found here.

Tomorrow? Seminary. College Station. UIL choir competiton (not me, but you know). Excellent.

 

weekending

I'm always glad for the weekend to come, and I'm equally glad to begin a new week. I have much work to do, and as of 7:22 on a Sunday evening, everything is still a possibility. Let's not think right now that by this time tomorrow I won't have accomplished as much as I'd like. Right now...it's all about infinite possibilities.

This weekend was pretty much all about kiddo entertainment. I have come to a peaceful acceptance of the fact that a "lazy weekend" is not much of a possibility with three teenage girls and a ten year old night owl. Even when there is not a lot on the schedule, those youngsters have a way of filling up a day...right into the night. Sterling was good enough to pick up the last of our chickens last night around 11. We were both laying in bed watching tv and I offered to pay him $2000 to pick them up. He said he'd do it for free...cuz he's nice (and thrifty) that way.

Parker took some friends to a rock climbing place to celebrate his birthday (yes, I know that was last month). As it turns out, the rock climbing place is an excellent venue. They demanded nothing of me other than my presence and payment. I was more than happy to provide both, provided I didn't have to strap one of those harnesses around my thighs. Many thanks to our resident teenagers (and Sterling) for belaying for two straight hours. I think our family might have a new-found hobby.

As it turns out, I didn't get many good pictures. The rock climbing place, while super well-managed, turns out to have abysmal lighting...particularly towards the back where the high walls are located (and where the kids spent the majority of their time). So...this means I gave up on the picture-taking early in the activity. Yes, if things aren't going my way I just give up. You could also look at it as "going with the flow." I'm either a quitter or extremely flexible. You pick.

Parker was a pretty decent little rock climber. Perhaps long, skinny limbs are especially suited to an athletic pursuit after all. I especially loved it when he stood under other kids instructing them where to go next. He would shout things like, "Put your left foot on that peanut." Or "switch feet and grab the red amoeba." He had a great time, and I was glad to "chalk up another childhood memory for the momma." Those memories are important, especially if said child chooses to contrast them with less stellar parenting moments...like when I "almost" forgot him at the school.

Jordan missed the rock climbing because she was at the UIL Academic Meet. She won first place in the Literary Criticism event (and her team placed first as well), which makes me all puffed up and excited. The first three individual finishers and the first place team finisher moves on to the Regional competition in two weeks. I have a strong desire to go all Tiger-Momma on her and lock her in a room with her flashcards for the next two weeks. After regionals is the state competition...and if she could place there she could get some serious scholarship money. In actuality, I'll probably suppress my Tiger-Momma tendencies and just worry in silence. That's one of my special talents -- "worrying in silence." I would definitely get a first place for that as well.

I think I'll go unbury my kitchen as a special present to myself. I'm all about spoiling the inner me. Later.

friday!!

I'm sooo happy for Friday. So are my kids. Maddie is at her cousins' house making Oreo balls. Rebecca is at a friend's choreographing a dance to Thriller for a school project. Parker is swimming at the neighbor's, and Jordan just left because she NEEDED a Chipotle burrito. I'm trying to keep from gnawing my arm off since Sterling and I have a planned dinner date. At 7:30! I sure wish he'd hurry.

Our family is photographer-heavy, which is just fine and peachy with me (I do wish we could get a pediatrician or two in our family circle). Debbie took these pics of Jordan for an assignment for a photog class she is currently working on. I love having another photographer take pics of my kids. I seem to take the same pictures over and over again, so a fresh perspective is great. I often think about my great-great grandkids, and how many family pictures they will have. I mean, it's cool to have a picture or two of long-ago relatives. But what if you have thousands? Then what?

They better plaster them all over their houses. That's what. They can thank Deb for these beauties. Thanks Deb.