Beards and whiskers

I'm pretty sure I haven't seen the sun since the last time I wrote.  Its been rainy and stormy here for the last 2 weeks.  If it does get sunny, it lasts for all of 5 minutes before it starts to rain again.  High temperatures are in the 60s.  Motivation is in the toilet.  Overtime is an average of 8 hours a week.

Dog bearding.  Yeah, I went there.

Well, I'm off to practice the art of napping.  Haven't quite gotten it down yet.

Don't compromise yourself.  You are all you've got.
~ Janis Joplin

Weeds, hair, and a cake.

I thought I'd give you a better look at what happens when I brush Atticus...

Now, imagine that same amount of hair on my carpet and furniture...what happens when I don't brush him every day.  My dyson has been well worth it.

Backyard roses in bloom.  They've lived despite my erratic weed-wacking ability.

Next thing I'm going to tackle...the thousands of dandelions.  I bought a grandpas weed eater yesterday.  Spent about an hour uprooting dandelions and only remained in one spot.  We'll see if it works!

My mint chocolate ice cream cake.  It was delicious.  

Your weekly Atticus picture.  Cause I can't help it.

Never argue with stupid people.  They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

~ Mark Twain

Raise your hand if you believe in karma....

I know I talk about karma a lot.  And not necessarily the middle-eastern religious view of karma.  I truly believe that what goes around comes around.  We receive what we put into anything.  It's very very simple.  Many times I think I would feel quite hopeless if I didn't believe in the power of karma; the nature of life giving back.

Perhaps this is why I like Carl Hiaasen so much.  All of his books come full circle, and the prologue is always a wrap-up of his characters, and karma ALWAYS rules.  The good guy might not win, but the bad guy definitely loses.

When I recently was about to board my plane in Las Vegas, a group of 4 did the whole stand-beside-me-even-though-I-was-here-first-and-eventually-bully-their-way-in-front-of-me-thing.  To be honest, I don't mind.  I wait til the very last minute to get on the plane.  But that's another story.  Anyways, I had a problem with their rudeness and their inability to wait for ONE PERSON to go in front of them.  Oblivious.  Anyways, we step on the plane and they are half horsing around, half trying to get in their seats, and of the group accidentally knocks the drink out of the hand of another person in the group...spilling soda all over them and the floor.  I felt vindicated.

Last week I worked two 12 hour shifts, then was forced into another 12 hour shift when a coworker called in "sick" (insert heavy dose of sarcasm here).  Yesterday, this same coworker was forced to work an overtime shift when someone else called in sick, even though she already had two 12 hour shifts on the books for the week.  I tried hard not to gloat in satisfaction.  Yes, karma, thank you.

Now, I don't wish "karma" on people, and I try not to dwell on it (negative begets negative, after all), but it is still nice to be vindicated in such a manner.

Okay, rant over.  For now.

It's been rainy off and on today, which is great because that means I don't have to drag a hose around the house to the various gardens that need watered.  Also, I went to the gym without the guilt dragging me down that I need to mow the lawn or pull weeds or something.  Poor Atticus though....he doesn't like the rain as it detracts from his daily plan of napping in the sun.

Don't have anything new picture wise,  but here's one I took last week of my lemon seeds - they're growing!!!!

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch.  Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit."
~ E E Cummings

Birds, birthdays, mushrooms, and mothers

I went to a 1-year old's birthday party yesterday.  I wanted to skip it, but at the same time, I knew I would get fed really well.  My desire for good food I don't have to make or pay for far outweighed the knowledge that I would spend 2 hours at a place where I only know the person who invited me.

After I got home I was ready to write a 10 page missive about how ridiculous children's birthday parties are, especially when you are one-year-old.  There were 20-ish adults at the party (yup, I counted), which makes about 10 presents.  I wouldn't doubt that every single package for this kid cost at least $30-$50.  Every single person (except me!) bought multi-step presents, and all of them (except mine!) included at least 2 outfits.  Seriously, this child had over 30 new outfits (15 were from her grandmother) by the time she was done "opening" presents (in reality her 3 year old brother opened them while she sat and ate tissue paper).  It was a good example of excess and ridiculousness.  I mean the food was good, but not that good.

I, on the other hand, firmly  believe in making presents.  When the 3 year old opened the present I brought, he was super excited about it and immediately threw it at his 1 year old sister.  AWESOME.

An owl pillow.  Made with materials I had on hand.  Turned out cute, I think.  Cute enough for a 1 year old at least.

And somehow it has turned into my Monday again.  How?  My weekends go by entirely too fast when there's less than 48 hours worth of them.  And again, two 12-hour days to start off my week.

*deep breath*

I made some fancy stuff so far today.  An ice-cream cake (my coworker requested it for her birthday on Thursday) is sitting in the freezer.

Veggie cornbread.  It kind of looks like a fail, but it is actually very very good.  The mushrooms make it, I think.  If you want to see what it's supposed to look like, see this recipe.  

Teriyaki tempeh with mushrooms.  Hard to tell what's going on because I used purple rice, so there's no variety of colors, but it is AMAZING.  If you don't want to use tempeh, just use the recipe for teriyaki sauce.  

I'm trying a blueberry banana smoothie today.  It is made and in the fridge, waiting for me to head off to work.

Earlier today I had to rescue a tiny bird from my sunroom.  Somehow it got in, but couldn't get out as it was confused by all the windows.  It kept flying head-first into them.  Yikes.  It only took 20 minutes to coax it into a box so I could release it outside.  With Atticus whining on the other side of the door the entire time.  Oi.

Happy mothers day to all the mothers out there!

Especially mine!!!

Love you, Mom!

Sing out loud in the car even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children.  
~ Marilyn Penland

Remaining positive when all you want to do is punch someone

That someone being my coworker who called in sick, forcing me into my 3rd 12 hour shift this week and making me miss the farmers market today.

But it's over and done, tonight is my Friday, I have dinner cooked and ready to be packed, my smoothie made and sitting in the fridge (they have turned into my rewards for going to work this week), and I had 8 hours of sleep.

This week was busy in terms of everything:  yard work, cooking, buying a new coffee pot (I broke the carafe of my old one), working, gym going (I finally fit in some classes!), working, etc.

Last night at work my coworker and I had a potluck, "iris" themed.  We made purple smoothies (the definition color of iris), blueberry carrot salad (blueberry for color, carrot for eye health), and stuffed brussel sprouts (they looked like eyeballs to me.)  It was a varied and delicious meal.  I never would have thought to put blueberries and carrots together, but with a little lemon/oil dressing, it was really good!

This past week I also found out that the 'one ingredient banana ice cream' was not full of crap, and instead, mega-delicious. All you have to do is take frozen banana slices and put them in your food processor til the consistency turns to ice cream.  Didn't take too long.  I added a scoop of raw peanut butter for more flavor. Y-U-M.

I tackled my side yard this week - last year I spent a lot of time cleaning out the flower beds of weeds, laying down newspaper to prevent more weeds (thats an old wives tale or I did it wrong...see below pic), and planting 4 types of lavender.  Well, neglect turned it into this again:

Ugh.

Two hours, and two rootbeer popsicles later, it turned into this:

I found only 2 of my 4 lavender plants.  not so bad...

Atticus has also been loving this gorgeous weather this week, and even hung out with me while I weeded.

So, I guess in the end, to remain positive, just forget work, believe in the nature and order of Karma, and spend time doing things you love to do.

You must learn a new way to think before you can master a new way to be.
~ Marianne Williamson

My selfish definition of unfair

Right now, unfair to me is spending the next 2 days at work, 12 hour shifts each day, with the first two 80+ degree days of the year.  I'd rather break my 3 year streak and call in sick.

"McGuinn broke into lusty pursuit, driven by ancient instincts but also by sheer joy.  Was there a better way to spend a spring morning, racing free through cool green meadows, snapping at a pair of fleeing hindquarters while slow-footed humans yammered helplessly in protest?
Every dog dreamed of such adventure."
~ Carl Hiaasen, Sick Puppy

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