this and that
I've been so neglectful this month yeesh. I hope I don't blabber on too long trying to note everything down.
This month is flying, it's so weird that it's already half over. Esmond had a simple birthday but he loved it. His dad & step mom sent him the skate sliding gloves he wanted so bad, also some new clothes. I got him the cheesecake he asked for and after he got home from school I took him to Zumeis so he could pick out the exact long board he wanted. $200 later we left with his longboard and knee & elbow pads. He loves his board so much. So now at some point I want to get him a Gopro so he can take video of his skating. He uses his phone but drops it sometimes and it's cracked now, so really he just needs a proper adventure cam to use. I hate that skating can be dangerous, but I also realize that I am often over bearing and controlling and I need to learn to let go and allow him to experience life and make mistakes and know adventure.
Most of April has been perfect weather. We have accomplished so much in the garden. One of the beds in particular is doing absolutely amazing. The bok choy and cabbage in that bed are already huge and it's only April! We've got tomatoes planted in a raised bed and protected from the cold and nights with plastic and a makeshift hoop house. This is much earlier than last year so my hope is, that they all do great and we have tomatoes much much earlier this year.
Still left to do is de-weed the backyard and finish the drip irrigation. Once it is warmer, hopefully in May, I am planting my gourds, pumpkins, eggplant, tomatillos, and squash plants.
Our fig trees out front look great and there are 6 little tiny figs growing on them! Two of the fruit trees in the back that we planted last year appear to have the beginnings of baby fruit on them. I am not sure yet, we still need some time to see, however, if they do it will be a surprising delight, since we did not expect fruit for another year.
Also the 4 grape plants we have on trellis all look so vibrant, and they have countless clusters of grape buds on them. So that will definitely be a fun one to watch.
Esmond is on track now and his first meet is this afternoon, and of course it would happen to be pouring all day. I am not looking forward to sitting in bleachers for 3 hours in the wind and rain and cold :( but still it's important to be supportive so I'm going to sit through it and cheer him on.
Then after the match we have a play at the University to go to that I'm pretty excited about. If we're lucky we'll be home by 10. It's going to be a busy day! Then tomorrow my mom & uncle and mom's boyfriend are all coming over for dinner. We are going to make grilled chicken with a mushroom sauce, roasted red herb potatoes and some asparagus with a kale carrot salad. Yum! Saturday is farmers market day and I need to force myself to hit the gym as well.
I have been such a slacker ever since the weather turned nice. Chris and I went yesterday during my lunch break, and man it was like a slap in the face because my workout was so horrible. I have been having way too much wine, sugar and fatty food. Time to get serious and get focused. Earlier this year I had amazing workouts and felt great. I need to get back to that point and not give in to lazy tendencies and food cravings. Tomorrow since Chris doesn't have class we're going to the gym on my lunch break again. I need to make a nice detox tea in a little bit too.
In other news, I've begun reading the Game of Thrones series (Well I already read the 3rd book a whole back, but I hadn't read any others) and I am totally in love with it. I love the details, the writing, the descriptiveness, the feeling of being so completely immersed in that world! And I like knowing what happens to certain characters already (from watching the show) it's less suspenseful that way and I can just enjoy the story for what it is and pay attention to hints, details, prophesies and dreams. I've learned so much more about the story as a whole, the significance of certain dreams and imagery and characters that I could have never ascertained just by watching the episodes.
Chris just found out he has enough credits to walk and get his associates degree in June. He's pretty excited and I am too. It's nice to reach such important mile stones like that. Then he has to start at this technical school nearby for engineering. But he's taking the summer off so at least he can devote more time to the garden and to some nice vacation days with me until he has to bear down with tough engineering classes later. I have 26 days of paid vacation I can use up! That's an awful lot. I'm not going to use it all, but I want to use maybe 15-20 days at least. My 2nd job I recently quit. They were irritating me and I stopped enjoying it. Not only do they do things inefficiently, but I hate the way employees are treated. Not malicious, don't get me wrong. Just on a corporate level, it's ridiculous. They pay everyone minimum wage only and don't give anyone but managers full time status (so they don't have to provide healthcare), so every single person I met who worked there had to work a second job too. Then they have all these ridiculous meaningless morale events like days to honor the "support" employees who work in the warehouse, or other "appreciation" days and they give out bags of candy or order pizza. But it's frustrating, because every time I was thinking "why don't they just stop with this stupid extra meaningless shit and pay people a living wage and give them more hours and healthcare??" That would be showing your appreciation, not giving them all crumbs to live off of and then hoping they are ok with that because you throw a fucking pizza party a couple times a year. This is exactly what's wrong with corporate America. And I guess I'm just spoiled because I have worked at an amazing place for over 10 years and our boss is awesome and gives actual incentives, and so many sick days, vacation days, holidays off. He honestly shows his appreciating for everyone working there. I guess I'm lucky that Macys was such an unnecessary job for me. I took it because it was fall, cold, Christmas was nearing and I wasn't doing much with my evenings anyways so why not? It was good though, I am glad I saw the extreme opposite of a workplace. It opened my eyes to what most people have to deal with everyday.
Anyways this is long enough so I better get going. I need to post pictures soon.
TTfn!
This month is flying, it's so weird that it's already half over. Esmond had a simple birthday but he loved it. His dad & step mom sent him the skate sliding gloves he wanted so bad, also some new clothes. I got him the cheesecake he asked for and after he got home from school I took him to Zumeis so he could pick out the exact long board he wanted. $200 later we left with his longboard and knee & elbow pads. He loves his board so much. So now at some point I want to get him a Gopro so he can take video of his skating. He uses his phone but drops it sometimes and it's cracked now, so really he just needs a proper adventure cam to use. I hate that skating can be dangerous, but I also realize that I am often over bearing and controlling and I need to learn to let go and allow him to experience life and make mistakes and know adventure.
Most of April has been perfect weather. We have accomplished so much in the garden. One of the beds in particular is doing absolutely amazing. The bok choy and cabbage in that bed are already huge and it's only April! We've got tomatoes planted in a raised bed and protected from the cold and nights with plastic and a makeshift hoop house. This is much earlier than last year so my hope is, that they all do great and we have tomatoes much much earlier this year.
Still left to do is de-weed the backyard and finish the drip irrigation. Once it is warmer, hopefully in May, I am planting my gourds, pumpkins, eggplant, tomatillos, and squash plants.
Our fig trees out front look great and there are 6 little tiny figs growing on them! Two of the fruit trees in the back that we planted last year appear to have the beginnings of baby fruit on them. I am not sure yet, we still need some time to see, however, if they do it will be a surprising delight, since we did not expect fruit for another year.
Also the 4 grape plants we have on trellis all look so vibrant, and they have countless clusters of grape buds on them. So that will definitely be a fun one to watch.
Esmond is on track now and his first meet is this afternoon, and of course it would happen to be pouring all day. I am not looking forward to sitting in bleachers for 3 hours in the wind and rain and cold :( but still it's important to be supportive so I'm going to sit through it and cheer him on.
Then after the match we have a play at the University to go to that I'm pretty excited about. If we're lucky we'll be home by 10. It's going to be a busy day! Then tomorrow my mom & uncle and mom's boyfriend are all coming over for dinner. We are going to make grilled chicken with a mushroom sauce, roasted red herb potatoes and some asparagus with a kale carrot salad. Yum! Saturday is farmers market day and I need to force myself to hit the gym as well.
I have been such a slacker ever since the weather turned nice. Chris and I went yesterday during my lunch break, and man it was like a slap in the face because my workout was so horrible. I have been having way too much wine, sugar and fatty food. Time to get serious and get focused. Earlier this year I had amazing workouts and felt great. I need to get back to that point and not give in to lazy tendencies and food cravings. Tomorrow since Chris doesn't have class we're going to the gym on my lunch break again. I need to make a nice detox tea in a little bit too.
In other news, I've begun reading the Game of Thrones series (Well I already read the 3rd book a whole back, but I hadn't read any others) and I am totally in love with it. I love the details, the writing, the descriptiveness, the feeling of being so completely immersed in that world! And I like knowing what happens to certain characters already (from watching the show) it's less suspenseful that way and I can just enjoy the story for what it is and pay attention to hints, details, prophesies and dreams. I've learned so much more about the story as a whole, the significance of certain dreams and imagery and characters that I could have never ascertained just by watching the episodes.
Chris just found out he has enough credits to walk and get his associates degree in June. He's pretty excited and I am too. It's nice to reach such important mile stones like that. Then he has to start at this technical school nearby for engineering. But he's taking the summer off so at least he can devote more time to the garden and to some nice vacation days with me until he has to bear down with tough engineering classes later. I have 26 days of paid vacation I can use up! That's an awful lot. I'm not going to use it all, but I want to use maybe 15-20 days at least. My 2nd job I recently quit. They were irritating me and I stopped enjoying it. Not only do they do things inefficiently, but I hate the way employees are treated. Not malicious, don't get me wrong. Just on a corporate level, it's ridiculous. They pay everyone minimum wage only and don't give anyone but managers full time status (so they don't have to provide healthcare), so every single person I met who worked there had to work a second job too. Then they have all these ridiculous meaningless morale events like days to honor the "support" employees who work in the warehouse, or other "appreciation" days and they give out bags of candy or order pizza. But it's frustrating, because every time I was thinking "why don't they just stop with this stupid extra meaningless shit and pay people a living wage and give them more hours and healthcare??" That would be showing your appreciation, not giving them all crumbs to live off of and then hoping they are ok with that because you throw a fucking pizza party a couple times a year. This is exactly what's wrong with corporate America. And I guess I'm just spoiled because I have worked at an amazing place for over 10 years and our boss is awesome and gives actual incentives, and so many sick days, vacation days, holidays off. He honestly shows his appreciating for everyone working there. I guess I'm lucky that Macys was such an unnecessary job for me. I took it because it was fall, cold, Christmas was nearing and I wasn't doing much with my evenings anyways so why not? It was good though, I am glad I saw the extreme opposite of a workplace. It opened my eyes to what most people have to deal with everyday.
Anyways this is long enough so I better get going. I need to post pictures soon.
TTfn!