2nd Anniversary of Being Not Alone

Valentine's Day IS fun when you've got a Ben. Every Valentine's before him, I'd morph into this very girly girl, and dress up to the nines - did my hair, put on makeup, wore a fabulous outfit and just live it. I never failed to get asked where and with WHOM was I going out with that night, and I'd always have to admit, "no one". I think I was a glutton for how miserable can I make myself, but damn it, if I'm going to be miserable, I'm at least going to look amazing doing it.

So, today, in stark contrast to V-Days past, I'm in jeans and a tshirt, flat hair, makeup-less and loving it. I cleaned furiously, and even rearranged the bedroom. AND, just stopped to pull the chocolate cake I'm making out of the oven.

Vegetables - Part Deux

I finally dug out the camera and took pictures of el vegetables. You get to see a progression from pre-tupperware storage container to post. We've also...well, Ben, has made self-watering containers for us to transfer everything to once they've grown to adult height. Right now, they're preteens - starting to take on their adult characteristics, but only slightly. They're all like, "We want to go to the mall!" and stuff.

In other slightly more domesticated news, I've checked out www.subversivecrossstitch.com and was inspired to create something of my own...to grace the home of a dear friend of mine....who doesn't know it yet. Ssshhhh. Loves it.

Yes Aaron, your sister does blog.

For rizzle, naysayer.

And we shall call him Barack

Waiting for this orchid to bloom was like waiting for Barack Obama to finally become president; it seemed to take forever. But look! It's bloomed and isn't he gorgeous?? I am absolutely in awe of the growing world, and I don't even have to smoke pot to be completely serious about that statement.

Ben and I have reordered everything to be able to embark on this great experiment we like to call "self-sufficiency" , or i.e. indoor farming. Above are our first mesclun plants, sprouted and transplanted today to a larger windowsill container. Ben looks admirably on. Our peas, tomatoes, and basil finally sprouted, and Ben planted our carrot and broccoli seeds this morning.

I, to speak for myself, have been inspired as of this weekend. Thanks to a friendship with two great people, we've met another kindred spirit in Richmond, who gardens in a street median! Our great search for land is back on, and if the indoors don't work, we're posting a want ad on Craigslist for unused land. Or guerilla gardening behind Legends. Or on the roof...

Boobs

One thing I never want to forget from spending time with the WHOLE family at Grandma's funeral:

My cousin, Anna: "Yeah, I sent a Christmas card to Grandma with a picture of me on the front doing this (She pushes her boobs together and up) and wrote on the inside, 'Thanks Grandma for my boobs!'"

Which was greeted by an overall consensus that yes, my grandma had a set of knockers on her to rival any playboy, and wasn't it funny, we all inherited them?

I, however, thanked my grandma for her love of polyester.

New Beginnings

Here's a breakdown of last week:
- Grandma passed away
- I got a cold and couldn't sleep all week
- Work went south; two people laid off as well as my boss's wife.

Hellish week. On the bright side, we've just rearranged the living room and "library", and Ben is currently wandering around me puttering with potting soil and newly purchased mesclun mix, peas and tomatoes for the beginnings of our indoor garden. Who needs land when you have a 3 x 4 window that gets great sunlight? Oh yes!

I'm lounging in our "Man just walked on the moon!" chair found at the now defunct EQ3, and basking in the sound of Nick Drake, my favorite sensitivo. The house is clean and really feels good. The kind of good where I visibly feel myself sigh and think, "ok. Things are possible." It's always the small but very important things. The I-can-make-it-when-the-world-feels-like-shit good. We can make food! I can wash clothes without shrinking them! We can pay our bills!

I don't ask for much.

Playing hooky from wanting to poke my eyes out

Yes, I am. I went into work for a couple of hours, and due to a slight throat pain, and lack of work available, I came home. And what glorious things I've to do here!

Cleaning is my escape when things suck. And for when they're good. Instead of a compulsive eater, or drinker, I clean. Double-fisted with 409 and Windex. While pushing a vaccuum cleaner. Hell yeah.

And rearranging. Ben and I are on a great urban experiment. Armed with a fabulous book I bought us for Christmas, "The Urban Homestead", we are bound and determined to grow vegetables using only the windows in our living room. I have visions of stepping the 5 steps from the kitchen to the living room in a search for the newest argula leaves for our Giada de Laurentis style salad, or plucking green beans for steaming. Yum. We'll see. Ordering seeds will come once I figure out when it's good to start them here....