Farmers market

It's finally farmers market season, and today was the opening day of the Bremerton Farmer's Market.  I went, I spent, I met some new vendors, talk to some old ones I recognized, and was cheered up more than you can possibly imagine.

I joined the blueberry club and the peach club at my favorite Yakima fruit stand (works kind of like my CSA - you prepay for a certain amount of pounds for each, and then get a discount per pound.  I paid for 4 pounds of blueberries and 10 pounds of peaches.  CANNOT WAIT for fruit season).  I bought some chai pastries from a new business.  Bought some wonderfully smelling homemade hippie skin balm.  And had a turkey avocado bacon sandwich from my favorite griller, CJs market.  The farm where I bought my CSA last year wasn't there, so I was unable to ask them questions.  I'm deciding whether or not I want to join this year.  It was a struggle to buy $300 worth of veggies last year.

Oh, and it's my Friday.  I couldn't be more pleased.

If the path is beautiful, let us not ask where it leads.
~ Anatole France

Live as you can

So today my before-work nap was interrupted by a neighbor kid who saw a dog stuck in a culvert and thought it might be mine.  It wasn't (whew!), but I spent the next 30 minutes helping get the dog out (who was scared of me and scared of water, not a good combo when its just me, rocks, briers, and run off water as your surroundings).  Thankfully once the dog was out the kid and his mom took him to neighboring houses to see if anyone knew who it belonged to.  I am nursing scratches on my feet and arms from the briers (I had to go barefoot for most of it because my shoes wouldn't find purchase on the mud).  Oi.

Anyways, after 2 weeks of miserableness, I'm feeling much better, had an awesome spectacular weekend, and am not entirely dreading my 3 days left at work this week.  That's positive, right?

Oh yeah, I made these last week.  30 minute no-rise soft pretzels.  Not bad for my first time.  And being lazy.

Saturday I spent most of the day with my friend Kristen, in Tacoma.  We went to a movie, dinner (at Dirty Oscars - recently featured on some sort of TV show), casino (where I won back all the money I spent AND MORE!).  Fun.

Sunday evening veggie sandwiches and dark cider.  

Add trivia and desserts, and it was a pretty spectacular evening.  Oh, and we won the trivia  contest....although I only contributed to like 3 answers.  Apparently I do not know any useless facts.  

"The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you.  Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision.  So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can."
~ Neil Gaiman

Life goes on

I'm feeling better, in case you were wondering.  Good enough to cook for the first time in over a week.

Don't really have anything else to share, including pictures, but here's a poem I found that I think is quite awesome...


Everyone who terrifies you is sixty-five percent water.
And everyone you love is made of stardust, and I know sometimes
you cannot even breathe deeply, and
the night sky is no home, and
you have cried yourself to sleep enough times
that you are down to your last two percent, but

nothing is infinite,
not even loss.

You are made of the sea and the stars, and one day
you are going to find yourself again. 
~ Finn

Titleless

Time passes quickly when you're busy and when you're sick.  That's all the excuses I can muster for the past 2 weeks.  Sometime on the way back from Utah or the next day I started feeling sick, and here I am 5 days later with a full blown chest cold.  Wooo.  Although I am grateful it's not in my sinuses, as its even harder to work when you're constantly blowing your nose.  

I was so busy two weeks ago, and this week has literally been nothing but work and sleep.  I haven't even felt good enough to cook, and have been surviving on fruit and soup, which I am out of, and junk food at work.  Yup, makes for a nice combination.

After I'm done typing this I think I will go outside, because its amazingly sunny, and I really need to do some yardwork.  I don't really feel up to it, but my backyard is turning into a jungle, and my seedlings need planted soon.  

But anyways, here's some pictorial updates from the last 2 weeks...

volunteered at WalkMS 2 weeks ago.  It was amazing how much more cordially I was treated for being a returning volunteer.

 

Flew to Utah for 3 days.  We went hiking in Zion National Park.  This was the Canyon Overlook. 

I can't remember what this was called.  River something?  

The sticker on the back of his vehicle said "Plig Kid".  i.e.  He is the son of a polygamist.  It's a very different culture.

The group in front is a bunch of polygamists.  Apparently you can tell as all the women dress in pastel.  

We went to in n out burger!!!  It was okay.  Don't believe the hype.

Came back to the middle of telecommunicators week.  Go us!!

And "celebrated" Attie's 8th birthday on the 20th.  I found out he really really really does not like fire.  He got extra cheese for his birthday.  

We sometimes underestimate the influence of little things.

~ Charles W. Chestnut

Battles

It's been a weird couple of days.  I don't even know how to describe it.  It's like I'm fighting an invisible battle, but I don't know who or what.

I'm almost officially on burnout from work.  I work too much overtime (if these *&^$%@# people would stop calling out sick!), and I have a big project (or 2...or 3...) on my plate.  I saw a picture of me a coworker took of the back of me, which was enough to make me want to stop eating for about a month.  I had a 1 day weekend in which I got nothing done because I literally just didn't want to do anything.  At all.  I accidentally hit a crow with my car yesterday.  It flew into my path, I didn't aim for it at all.

But then there's good things too.  I hate when people say they "had a good workout", because it sounds so dumb.  Really really dumb.  But I know what they mean, and at the risk of sounding really really dumb, I had 2 great workouts yesterday and today.  I left the gym feeling motivated.  My boss bought me a present...incredibly geeky, but incredibly thoughtful.  I've done some creative things that have happened to work out well.  I got my oil changed this afternoon, and they tested out my radiator (I thought it might be leaking), and it wasn't.  Good stuff.  And...after 3 more workdays, I have 5 days off.  I will be volunteering Saturday morning with WalkMS, and then Saturday evening will be flying to see my friend, Ashley, in Utah.

In other news, my new favorite addition to my Hulu queue is Downton Abbey.  Never thought I'd say that.

My new at home radio.  So I can ham it up at home (this was my present).

Seed markers made of twigs and stamped letters.  These were my contribution towards my work's auction basket for the fallen officers fund.

Raw Mint Chocolate Oat bars.  I subbed chocolate mint and omitted the raisins.  You would not believe how yummy these are.  Sadly, it only made 6.  I can't decide whether to hoard them or share them.  I wish all raw recipes were as easy and delicious.   

And as always, my number one guy.  He'll be turning 8 soon.  

You have to fight a battle more than once to win it.
~ Margaret Thatcher

Meaning

In the past week I have broken 2 wineglasses and in the past 24 hours killed 2 spiders in a formerly spider-free house.

I feel like this means something.  I just don't know what.

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
~ George Bernard Shaw

65 extra pounds

This post comes to you from a 1-handed typer as I have an entire load of Atticus laying on my lap and demanding immediate attention.  Makes me wonder what's going through his head.  He totally skipped over running after the tennis ball and went straight for the lap. Hopefully it's cause I spoiled him with attention this past weekend, not something else...

Anyways, here's a pictorial of the latest happenings...

We had a beautiful Easter weekend.  I mowed my backyard on Sunday, took a nap in the sun...

....fired up the backyard firepit...

...and had another small Boggle tournament.  I won.  

My seedlings are growing!

Food roundup....cauliflower fried rice.  No, it doesn't taste EXACTLY like rice as the post says, but it's pretty close.  Pretty delicious.

I want to say these are black bean pumpkin patties, but since I substituted almost everything in the recipe, I can't.  They're more like "another version of a bean burger, this time using pumpkin".  I used white kidney beans instead of black beans, purple rice instead of brown rice, season-all instead of the list of spices, used rolled oats instead of panko, and cut down the scallions to 1 instead of 3.  So, its almost like it's my own recipe....

"Green" themed potluck at work tonight.  Top down:  spinach artichoke dip, zucchini whoopie  pies, and chicken pesto something or other.  Two days worth of calories in one meal, and all of it absolutely yumm-o.  The zucchini whoopie pies were a huge hit, and they are all gone now (luckily - otherwise I would eat the rest).  

I have 2 weeks until I have a 5 day weekend in which I'm going to visit a friend in Utah.  I can't tell you how excited I am.  It can't come soon enough, as I realize I'm nearing the burn-out stage at work.

I love sleep.  My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake.
~ Ernest Hemingway