Day 419

I've been feeling a tinge of jealousy here and there lately.

Jealousy over the power bill. Over the past seven years, our average has gone down. (I'm still obsessively tracking it.) While we had a lower March month this year compared to last, our daughter had a lower one than we've ever had since my tracking began.

Jealousy over the weight. Hubby is catching up to me in the weight loss department. While he and I don't differ in the juice we're drinking, he does eat more of the "sensible" dinner. And he's still losing weight at a faster rate. It's probably my own fault - he's more active with his teaching and I've backed off the obsessive bike mileage.

Jealousy over the energy level. Hubby is also feeling great and I'm trudging along. Not good, not bad. Just okay. I thought by juicing and hitting the plant strong diet my rheumatoid arthritis would be cured (or at least getting lots better). I'm not sure it's made that big of a difference.

Jealousy over the flowers that were dropped off at my house. Our vegetables are being grown in the greenhouse at the high school, but it was hanging baskets of flowers that arrived yesterday. The cooling system in the greenhouse is on the fritz and they needed somewhere to store the plants for the end of the year celebration for those teachers who are retiring/leaving. Sure are pretty.

Jealousy over the neighbor's tree. I don't know why I didn't notice how pretty the tree was last year, but it sure is nice against the blue sky.

Guess I better get more obsessive about my power bill and about biking, hope for the best at the rheumatologist's appointment this week, plant some hanging baskets for my house, and stop looking over into other peoples' yards.

Day 418

When I can't figure something out or have a question I seem to come here. Just last week when I couldn't figure out what tree was in the park, I posted the picture on Day 413 and you came through. The tree on that day - the one with all the pods - is a sycamore tree.

Here's another one for this week. Last year on Day 72 I took a picture of a tulip. Now this year I've gone crazy taking pictures of about every kind of tulip I have. All my tulips are multi-colored inside - I have none that are one solid color. So for those who have tulips or know anything about tulips, are all tulips multi-colored or are there tulips that are all one color inside? I usually just buy grab bags without paying much attention.

Guess I got lucky on those cheap grab bags.

Day 417

The cat needs to learn the hot mustard lesson.

When our daughter was little - only 3 or 4 - we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. At that Chinese restaurant we had a little plastic cup of hot mustard sitting on the table. That little girl stuck her finger in the hot mustard. Stuck her finger in it and put that finger in her mouth. You can imagine what happened next, but that experience did teach her a lesson. Hot mustard was something not to mess around with.

Fast forward to the cat.

We've been seeing her go into the neighbor's yard. Every time the cat heads over there I tell her she's asking for trouble but she doesn't seem to listen. She's been jumping their chain link fence and roaming around in there. It's a big enough problem with her hanging out in someone else's yard, but an even bigger problem is that they have dogs. Several dogs. Small and noisy dogs. The cat is smart enough to only go in their yard when the dogs are in the house, but I'm a bit worried for her. If they happen to open the door and let the dogs out when she's in the backyard she's going to be in for some trouble. She climbs paw over paw, using the holes in the fence to get back over. A slow process. If those dogs come out, she's going to need to find a faster way back.

I had to stop watching and worrying. She made me too nervous. The hot mustard is going to get her soon.

I started watching the clouds instead.

Day 416

Busy as a bee. Busy as a beaver. I'm not sure which saying is the most appropriate, but one of them just has to fit. Yesterday and today (and tomorrow as well) are being spent outside prepping for summer.

Prepping the vegetable garden (which now, thanks to my daughter, has old the landscape timbers from the rose garden outlining the vegetable beds)...out come the weeds and the grass, in goes the Miracle-Gro garden soil, with seeds soon to follow.

Prepping the rose garden...clipping back the winter damage, getting rid of the weeds, adding in some fertilizer.

The never-off-my-to-do-list wildflower bed...dig out the daisies that have taken over, get those weeds out, clip out the old dead stuff, put sand in the paths to cut down on the muddy walks.

Tulips, tulips, tulips. Those lovely tulips have sprouted grass all throughout them. Grass that is doggone hard to get up without disrupting the pretty flowers. Patience, patience. And time.

Actually, busy as a wasp seems the best word today.

Day 415

It has been a rough year for the teachers and students at Marsing High School. A small school with large losses.

It started with my husband's mom.

Then it was the English teacher's mom.

Then it was the Science teacher's dad.

Then the school secretary's husband.

A recent graduate.

Another recent graduate.

And just this week a current student.

All during just this school year. All funerals.

When my husband received the call this week all he could say was, We need to get this year over with.

On this day with no school he should be at the funeral right now. A funeral for a 14 year old student. But hubby couldn't do it. Not again.

How do you explain such a rash of heartbreaking losses? It certainly makes everything else seem insignificant.

Day 414

I think our yard has become some sort of a playground this year. Every morning it's either the ducks or the squirrels or the quail or even the pheasant. Every morning some kind of creature is hanging around our yard.

Today we have a chubby Mrs. Quail (or is it a Mr. Quail?) and Mr. Pheasant. I don't know what we're doing to attract all these folks, but I'm not complaining.

Day 413

A little over a month from now hubby will be home for the summer. Last year I had all those days at home, by myself, with no one to talk to and I loved it. This year, even though I'm only working part time I didn't get many of those alone days. With the countdown to hubby being around 24-7 I wonder...how did I spend those few days I had alone this year? Couldn't tell you. How sad is it that I've already been back to work for nine months and never came up with a routine for my days off?

I think that's what happens living a day at a time. No thinking ahead, no planning. The day just happens and before I know it, it's over.

But hubby and I have started settling into a healthier routine. Juice for breakfast, juice for lunch. Walking afterschool. A sensible dinner. Tonight will be scrambled eggs with some vegetables wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla with some fresh homemade salsa.

Speaking of walking, when we're at the park there is this tree I don't get. It has these pods on it. Can anyone help me out on what kind of tree it is?