I was really considering taking a blogging hiatus after this weekend. So much, so full and tons of pictures to be sorted and edited. But then I realized that today’s entry is practically written, so it would just be lazy of me not to post.

• Getting told that my priority is the microscopy (not the Western Blots)
• Seeing heads turn as I scooter past
• Fixing my shoes with Gorilla Glue
• Subbing a yoga class for new people where I can just share my practice
• Peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast
• Spending all day  and night with the Jens
• Thai language class
• Setting up the tent to air out so we can use it this weekend
• Pina coladas at Taruhumara’s
• Avocado enchiladas
• Gay Pride Parade!

Pictures are coming eventually from the parade. Garden Diaries has been postponed. I have tomatoes. They are green. We are eating bell peppers. That’s about it on the garden front. Have a great day!

I’ve been reading Eat, Pray, Love and recently got to a part about being grateful for what you do have. I’m not ready to write any thoughts about the book yet. That’s a whole other entry. But today in meditation I decided to switch things up a bit, in pondering the grateful for what I do have. Instead of 24 rounds of a mantra, I listed 24 things that I am thankful for. It started out with the usual things like Chris, family and friends, but I also included some simple things like the ability to just get out of bed this morning.

It’s so easy to be grateful (and even take for granted) the big things in life like loved ones and friends. I think it’s more difficult to remember to be thankful for the simple things. Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that are keeping me together. The simple act of riding the scooter, teaching a really good yoga class, making pizza from scratch with veggies from our garden, all of these are reasons enough for me to get up each day. The loved ones and friends are the sprinkles on top of the ice cream.

Have a wonderful weekend and thankful Friday.

These people are my family and they were troopers last Saturday. I had decided to take Dad to the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show for Father’s Day and when I mentioned the plan, the rest of the family willingly joined in. And I love them.

They sat through hours of sun, heat, dust and copious amounts of snow-cones while we watched chariot races, Indian dances, rope tricks, trick riding and even belly dancers. But it was all in good fun and Dad really had a good time. I think we all had a pretty good time.

You can see all the pictures here. Happy, happy, Love Thursday.

The dog days of summer have officially arrived. I’ve begun to feel a little grouchy and depressed lately with a side if malaise. After looking through old entries, I realized that this seems to happen every year around this time. Is it the heat? Is it the fact that it seems like everyone is on vacation except for me? I have a list of things I want to do, but no gumption to get up and do them. And I’m tired. Wah wah wah. This is when the happy list becomes really important.

• Planning my trip to New York
• Chris’s sense of humor
• Seeing new faces in my yoga classes
• Easy work days
• Chris’s mom eating and liking my spaghetti
• Chris’s mom for no reason making us fried rice for dinner (she didn’t even eat, she had already eaten)
• Taking dad to the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show (I think he had a good time)
• Watching an entire season of WEEDS in two days
• My new sunglasses
• Tomatoes! Green ones!
• Lucas’ little gun holster and cowboy guns
• Getting sunscreen I am not allergic to
• Hot summer
• Catching bits of the air show as we drive around our side of town
• The junk I ate for “dinner” at the Wild West Show (so not a pro-veg area)
• Making up for the crap I ate the night before with a smoothie from 105degrees
• Making plans to meet up with my sister for lunch
• Picking a red hot chili pepper from the garden
• Beans!

Ah…that feels better.

Beans! We’ve got beans! We are on the cusp of being able to eat more then just spinach and lettuce from our garden. I can’t believe we have a garden! With shit growing! With FOOD! We have tomatoes and bell peppers and chard. Actually, it’s a good thing we have the chard because the spinach is kaputt.

A few weeks ago Chris talked me into planting a potato that had sprouted in the pantry. I didn’t know to chop it into pieces, so I planted the whole thing. We’re going to have lots of potatoes. And the pineapple I planted is green. No pineapples, but it’s growing. What more can I ask for? And don’t even get me started on the cucumbers. Blooms galore. We’ve got a bounty.

We have plans to fertilize and eat. Of course we’ll wash every thing first.

Well, I guess I can say that there are a lot of things I’m thankful for this week. The boss has been away, so things have been a bit lighter at work. I’ve been able to ride the scooter most of the week. We survived the flood and my health has returned to normal again.

This weekend is Father’s Day and in celebration of that day we are taking my dad to the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show tomorrow night (YeeHa!). I am thankful that I heard the commercial for the show on NPR just in the nick of time. Dad’s a simple man and not too easy to shop for. I am also thankful to the rest of the family for pulling together and joining in on the festivities. I didn’t really plan this event. I just said I’m doing this and you’re welcome to join us. And so they are. I can’t wait. I’ve been looking forward to this all week. Oh, the photo opportunities!

As always I am thankful for Chris, the temporary roof over our heads, the dog, the lush garden, and the promise of something fun. Have a wonderful weekend and thankful Friday.

I noticed that once we reached the balmier side of Texas on our way to visit my friend a few weeks ago, that all the hydrangeas were in bloom. Big blue popcorn balls of flowers. I know the magnolia is the true southern bell, but the hydrangea will always be the true flower of the south and the official signal of summer.

The hydrangea always congers up memories of summers spent visiting family in Mississippi. I can feel the pillowy hug from my Aunt Martha and hear her raspy cackle and the way she and my uncle says my mom’s name, Patsy, as if it has four syllables. I can feel the thick muggy air on my arms as we trek around the yard, getting a tour of the newest plant additions Aunt Martha has planted.

I remember one summer when Aunt Martha gave mom a clipping of her hydrangea to take home. Mom planted it and babied it, but for the next two summers, it refused to bloom. The next summer rolled around and Mom went out and threatened the plant. She told it if it didn’t bloom this summer, she was pulling it out and tossing it in the garbage. That summer, her hydrangea bloomed.

Happy Love Thursday!

I went to grab my list today and realized that I had written nothing down for last week. The stress of the work day toppled with the new illness (all better now!) just zapped me. So today I am making up the list as I go.

• John’s fern (named Fern) has bloomed in the lab
• Cia Bella’s Blood Orange Sorbet + Orange San Pellegrino + vodka = new favorite summer drink
• The expectation of taking Dad to the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show this weekend
• Having the whole family decide to come along to the Wild West Show too
• Ice cream for dinner
• Canker soars healed
• Clean sheets
• Clean bathrooms
• Bean plants as tall as me
• Looking in farmer magazines and reading about chickens
• A boss free week
• Watching them install the wind turbines on the new building

I’m sure there’s so much more. I promise! I’ll do better for next week. Enjoy the day!

The other night I dreamt that something was attacking my bean plants, the whole garden really. But my focus was on the black, shriveled leaves of my bean plants. Of course this could have really been a dream about the state of my health, because the garden is doing just fine.

Things are starting to bear fruit. Any day now we will be able to make a salad of tomatoes, lettuce, and bell peppers. The spinach is slowing down, soon to be replaced by chard and my cucumber plant has pretty star shaped flowers popping out all over. Chris’s mom is most excited about her Thai peppers that have shot up over night.

It’s hard to believe we are still going strong. I like to look back at the beginning pictures just to see how far we’ve come.

Well…it seems that I’ve come down with the crud again. This time my throat hurt bad enough for me to just give in and go to the doctor. Canker soars on my throat. Could be viral related or bacterial, but the strep test came back negative. So, I am thankful for that. I am also thankful that I had very little to do at work today. I was able to go in, get it all done and leave.

I am thankful that this is a no obligation weekend (with the exception of Thai language class on Sunday…more to come on that later). I can really focus on rest. Since my throat hurts so bad, meal planning will be easy. Ice cream for dinner, pudding for lunch. Ta-dah! I am also thankful for the antibiotics that are starting to kick in and make me sleepy. So…lethargic…hard to ….type.

Have a good weekend!