…I should just chuck this calla and start over. But LM gave it to me for Christmas (he ordered it from Smith and Hawken, the delivery was a nightmare (I had to meet the FedEx guy in the next town up late one night because it had to be signed for and couldn’t be left at the door…) and it was in BAD shape when we finally got it home (although I wasn’t allowed to actually SEE it, I had to wait until Christmas morning). I have done my best to keep it alive (put it in special soil, ensured it had good drainage, gave it lots of sunlight) but all the leaves except one recently died off. I moved it out to the deck to get all the sunshine it can and still be protected from the wind and rain.

The one last leaf looked to be alive so I tried to be optimistic.

I wouldn’t want to proclaim it resurrected just yet, but suffice it to say, LM is much happier with me now than he was before.

Perhaps this is why my sister has absolutely NO plants in her house and I have, well, I have a lot.

Grow Calla Grow!!

Last night was the last night for Kid In Charge of the Kitchen Night (KICK’N). Jacob is supposed to cook dinner once a week, but it probably only happens once or twice a month (often times I just let him off the hook so he can go play, sometimes homework just runs too late). I’ll give him the summer off since he’ll be off to grandparent’s homes and summer camp and whatnot.

Last night’s menu:

Hamburger Casserole
Corn on the Cob
Fruit Salad

Recipe for Hamburger Casserole:

1-2 pounds cooked lean ground beef
2/3 can stewed Italian style tomatoes, drained
mushrooms
green pepper
2 cups 2% mozzerella cheese
sprinkle parmesean cheese

Layer ground beef, tomatoes and vegetables in bottom of glass baking dish (a pie plate also works well). Cover with cheeses. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is slightly golden. Serves 4 (or two with leftovers for lunches!)

Yes, we ate at the coffee table. We were in the middle of a heated Yahtzee! tournament and wanted to eat and play.

Suffice it to say, the meal was DELISH!, the cook was praised, the tourny was a success and another fun Monday night was had at the EJ household! Boy, am I going to miss this kid this summer!

This is really for Newly:

I said I wasn’t going to read it. I lied. I just can’t NOT finish a trilogy. Besides, it said it brought the two main characters together from the first two novels. Surely that would make for a good novel.

I should have stuck with my gut. I actually finished Cities of the Plain a week ago or so, but it was so incredibly forgettable that I didn’t write a review. I’ll just say this:

I didn’t like the third any more than the second and it was only for love of the first that I even finished the trilogy at all. Maybe I am just too set on finding redemption where there isn’t any, or finding hope when all is lost, or believing that all of Mexico just cannot be evil…

I’ll just suffice it to say that All the Pretty Horses was a good book, a good movie (in my opinion) and the rest need to just sit on the shelves and collect dust.

Cell phone, small wallet, glasses, chapstick (that’s as much makeup as you’re ever going to see me toting around. Whatever I put on in five minutes or less in the morning is it for the day – perhaps reason #54 why I’m still single…), keys, pen, hair band, receipts for things I might want to return yet, bookmark and the long zippered pouch holds my money. Well, some of it. Let me explain.

The long zippered pouch (given to me for no apparent reason from a co-worker) holds my spending money. I get paid once a month, so at the start of the month, I divide my grocery (gas, and “extra”) money into four groups (with paperclips). The green paperclip is the money for the week I’m currently in. Right now, a week before payday, I have $30 in this wallet and that’s IT. Of course, the fridge is pretty full and the gas tank is half full, so we can get through the week just fine right now.

The little black wallet holds all kinds of things. Insurance cards, library card, SS card, Debit card, etc. In the top zippered part, I keep all the single dollar bills I receive in change. This money (along with some fives and tens I sometimes throw in) goes into a box for spending money on our vacation. There’s also a little side zipper part where I keep change. I NEVER give a clerk change. If the total is $3.17, I give $4. All the change I receive goes into a mason jar that goes back to church to give to the missionary families so they can buy Christmas presents. It’s May and our jar is already half full.

Last but not least, and again, blurry with no explanation, are my pictures of my boy. He is six in the picture on the left and nine in the picture on the right and I know that puts me two years behind, but hey! At least I have a photo of my kid on me! These were both taken on my dad’s boat in Tennessee. Too bad the kid doesn’t enjoy being captain, huh?

So, there you have it. Exciting, huh?

Now, for some Red Sox baseball.

(But first, to write a thank you for the interview I had yesterday. No great news there, but I’ll keep you posted, of course.)

“Mom? You know how Grandma Jenny’s favorite bird was the cardinal, and now that she’s in heaven, whenever we see a cardinal we think of Grandma Jenny?”

“Yes…”

“Well, what do you think Scout’s favorite animal was?”

“LM, I think Scout loved birds as much as your Grandma Jenny did.”

“Mom? Do you think Scout had a favorite bird?”

“I think Scout’s only preference in birds was the bigger the better!”

“So if we see an ostrich on the balcony, we should take that as a sign of Scout?”

“LM, if we see an ostrich on the balcony, we should take that as a sign from God himself!!”

“Hey, George? In your ant farm, do you ever see little parts of ants in any of the tunnels? Like a leg here, a head there? LM seems to have ant parts in his some of his tunnels.”

“No, Aunt Fred. I don’t have any ant parts.”

“Hmm…I wonder what’s wrong with LM’s ants…”

“I think it’s maybe that the ants are making their tunnels to small, OR, that the ant parts aren’t sticking together like they should.”

(I wonder if you can use Gorilla Glue to keep an ant’s legs attached.)

“George? How many tunnels have your ants made?”

“Let me count. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6….7….8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13…”

“Wow, George! That’s a lot of tunnels!”

“…14, 15, 16…17, 18…19…20, 21, 22, no, 21. No, 22. Wait.”

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13…14, 15, 16, 17…18, 19, 20, 21. Twenty-one.”

“No, 22. No, 21.”

(Julie thought he was counting how many ants there were in his farm. She laughed when she found out he was counting the tunnels. “Does one tunnel keep disappearing?”)

Oh, George, you are so good for my soul.

Last night, inexplicably and without warning, Scout died. I could write an entire post about how much I loved my cat and how shocked and upset I was last evening, but I won’t. For those of you who have loved a pet, you already understand. For those of you who aren’t animal lovers, there is nothing I can say that will help you understand.

What I want to write about this morning is about who I called first. In my panic, my unbelief at what had happened, while uncontrolably sobbing, I called J. “I need your help,” I sobbed. He was calm, he was understanding, he was reassuring. He would come immediately. “Don’t bring LM,” I said, “he doesn’t need to witness this.” In that breath and many to follow I was ever so grateful that last night LM had been with his dad. J said he would call the neighbor to come sit with LM and he’d be at my door in 25 minutes. Would I be okay until then? Yes, I sobbed.

Having a DVR has afforded me the ability to watch shows at my leisure. It has also allowed me to be remarkably behind on celebrating events such as Earth Day. It was only just today that I finally watched the Oprah episode on going ‘green’. I don’t watch every Oprah episode, perhaps only one in ten, but often the ones that I do watch require me to take notes, especially this one! I thought I would share with all of my (six) readers some of the tips that were suggested on the show and ask for any and all comments about ways that you and your family are helping to save our environment. Whether you subscribe to the global warming warnings or not, saving our natural resources is a cause we can all stand behind.

1. Use reusable (organically made) grocery bags, including cloth produce bags.
2. Choose items at the grocery store with the least amount of extra packaging.
3. Buy recycled aluminum foil, toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, etc.
4. Use reusable water bottles made from recycled plastic or aluminum.
5. Visit www.greendimes.com where you can donate a dime a day to stop junk mail from coming to your home and have trees planted as well!
6. Stop using (or greatly limit your use of) paper napkins.
7. Don’t take a receipt at the ATM machine.
8. Use the same cup or glass all day long at home or at the office.
9. Buy clothes at resale shops. Never throw away clothes or shoes, donate or give them away.
10. Use Smart Power Strips – really turn things off when not in use.
11. Change lightbulbs to energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
12. RECYCLE everything you can. Visit www.earth911.org to find out what is recyclable in your area.
13. Take extra styrofoam from packages or meat trays to a local packing place to reuse.
14. Don’t leave the water running while you shave or brush your teeth. Also, take shorter showers.
15. Wash clothes in cold water.
16. Trade your SUV for a hybrid.
17. Take your own coffee mug to the coffee shop each morning.
18. Keep your water heater on 120 degrees.
19. Put gaskets in your outlets on outside walls to help insulate.
20. Recaulk windows, add weather stripping to doors.
21. Keep thermostat at 78 degrees in the summer.
22. Visit www.americanforest.com. They will plant a tree for $1. (It takes four trees to replenish the air for what we take out of it every month.)
23. Buy eco-friendly, all-natural cleansers and products (New Wave, Seventh Generation, Meyers, Method, etc.)
24. Buy bio-degradable trash bags (and doggy bags!)

The amazing statistics that follow from each of us just doing one of these items, or just changing one lightbulb, or turning off one appliance are astounding. I am certain you all have some great tips to add, too!! I can’t wait to make some changes and to hear what ideas you all have!!

(First on my list is to purchase bio-degradable doggy bags. We’ve been using the leftover plastic grocery bags, but then we don’t recycle those, we put them in the trash. That’s HORRIBLE!!)

Office Manager comes over to my desk today. Talks with me about a template I was working on for her. Then hands me a box and asks me if I’d like this Pocket PC. It has a camera, color display, blahdayada… she doesn’t use it (it’s still in the box). The company bought it for her, but since she isn’t going to use it, she thought maybe I would like to.

She can tell I’m hesitant. She leaves it with me and says to think about it.

Kinda hard to accept a freebie of such value from the company when you’re sending out resumes over your lunch hour, huh?

(Don’t worry, I’m not keeping it. I’m just going to let it sit on my desk for the afternoon.)