One of those days

And yet not all bad.

It started with an early morning trip to take the dog I'm dog-sitting out for a walk. On said walk, I discovered said dog had diarrhea. Upon return to his house said dog shook big old droplets of poop all over the entry way. Which I had to sniff out and wipe up. Then I retreated, quite sure I would return to a house full of poop. Fortunately, that was not the case.

I enjoyed a pleasant trip to the farmer's market where I exercised restraint and didn't buy any more plants to add to the still unplanted primrose and oregano I purchased last week.

Once home I raced inside and quickly changed into lawn mowing clothes. I needed to take advantage of the first and last dry day for a while. But alas, bad mower karma is making the rounds and the mower would not stay running. After three unsuccessful attempts, I was out of ideas and energy. My motivation sapped, I elected to spend the next several hours basking in front of the boob tube while every single other one of my neighbors mowed their lawns to rival professional golf courses.

After another trip to let out Diarrhea Dog (who you'll be pleased to know experienced no further bowel movements, indoors or out) I decided on the spur of the moment to head out to Second Home Nature Center for short walk. Clearly, I could use some fresh air.

So easy even I can make it

If you like peas, I highly recommend this pea salad:

1 bag of frozen peas with pearl onions
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lime pepper
10-12 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

Thaw the peas and onions and then stir all the ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. I don't really measure the mayonnaise. Just throw some in until it looks how you want it. It's a tasty and refreshing side-- perfect for summer!

Score!

One of the temps at my office is moving in with her boyfriend. In combining households she elected to put a handful of items up for sale on craigslist. I decided to buy the gliding rocking chair that had been her grandma's. I've coveted similar models at Target for years that cost about $140 (although that does include an ottoman). For $30 I got one that works perfectly and is quite comfortable. Plus, I helped out a friend and avoided buying new.

I enlisted my sister's help to pick up the chair. How I wish I had a hatchback like hers. You can fit just about anything in there! After we'd loaded the chair into the car, my friend encouraged us to climb to the attic and look over her free garage sale items. I loaded my arms with five throw pillows, a purse, a counter-top wine rack, and a three hook rail to hang by the door from the garage into the family room. I threw her another ten bucks out of guilt and made off like a bandit.

Now I just have to find a place for the chair...

And somehow the stress continues

Silly me, I thought it would end with the last final. But alas, now my boyfriend is piling on the pressure for me to move out to California, or at least to establish a time line. Stress.

I found out that my host teacher who'd promised to write me a letter of recommendation back in November never did. I sent her a groveling email to which she has yet to respond. Stress.

There are virtually no teaching jobs in my field with openings in either my state or CA. Stress.

Not that I could apply for them anyway without 3 letters of rec. Stress.

OK, even I'm sick of my whining. To tell you the truth, it is the first item that is currently the biggest source of stress for me. So much so that I have gotten to the point where I'm dreading his phone calls. That's no kind of fun.

In better news, I installed my new shepherd's hook and hanging basket of candy cane striped geranium after work tonight. The shepherd's hook leans something awful. I stuck it in the ground about 47 timed and each time it looked worse than the time before. I don't get it. I used to hate geraniums because of their smell (there was one in the window behind my chair at the kitchen table as a kid). My nose lost some of its sensitivity as I aged and my love of geraniums continues to develop. I also purchased two Martha Washington geraniums at the farmer's market, which coordinate nicely with the hanging basket. Gorgeous! (See, now don't we feel better after talking about flowers?)

Flex

Now that school is over (both for me! and for the institution I work for), I've adopted a flex schedule of four tens. I work Monday through Thursday and have Fridays off. I'm tired all the time and have no time to accomplish anything in the evenings, but I love having a long weekend every week. I really think Americans spend too much time working. We're missing out on life by spending our days parked behind a desk. I also save money on gas because I don't have to drive into the city on Fridays. That's about 30 miles round trip. I wish we could flex all year long. I am surprised at the number of people in my office that have no interest in flex time. Some of them live much closer to the office, so perhaps commute time and gas money have less of an impact on their decisions. Tomorrow on my flex day I plan to mow the lawn and maybe make a trip to Second Home Nature Center. Much better than working!

The Business of Being Born

If you haven't seen this documentary film, you should.

I am not good at writing reviews. Generally speaking either I like something or I don't. In high school English class I always hated deconstructing stories or poems after we'd read them. For me, it would lose its magic when broken down into a million pieces.

For years I've had an interest in midwifery and a desire for a natural birth should I ever be fortunate enough to find myself pregnant. I think anyone with an interest in learning more about birth practices in America will find this film fascinating.

The Business of Being Born gets 5 out 5 stars from me!

Waiting

My classes are over. My finals are a thing of the past. I am not walking in the ceremonies this weekend. I am waiting for my grades to post. I need to see them posted on-line to know I did well enough. Well enough for this whole grad school experience to be behind me. Two years of stress, exhaustion, and very little in the way of pleasantness. It feels anti-climatic. I need some sort of closure. I need someone to say that I am officially done. I'm waiting for it to sink in.

Please send my diploma quickly.

Hooked

I am now officially hooked on mushroom hunting. I've collected two varieties in the past, but I'd never gone after the morel before today. We didn't find tons, but it was quite addicting. And delicious!