Live Each Day Like It Could Be Your Last....

Hey Everyone:

I did actually blog last week but something went wacko when I hit "publish" and my wonderful paragraphs of information didn't save correctly or appear.   I had a little hissy fit in my office and gave up on blogging for the week.   I really hope that people can't hear how much I curse in my office. 

Anyway...I was stunned last night to hear of a death in Waukon.  The mother of a friend from high school was killed in a 4-Wheeler accident.  It did make me think of Nicole immediately because I was just as shocked when she called me about the news of her mother.  It's insane how quickly life can change.  I had a lot on my mind as I drove from Ankeny to Ames. 

So with all of that I've had a lot of things and emotions running through my mind.  I feel so sympathetic and sorry for people in Waukon.  I feel worried because I know I can easily lose someone very close to me at any time.  (The unpredictability of life received a rating of "very uncool" this week.)  I've also thought about how I'm living my life.  It frustrates me that my life focuses on work constantly.  I wish I could switch my focus on the things that are most important:  family and friends.  It sucks that a person's survival so desparately depends on income and salaries. 

My eating has been BEYOND poor lately.  I haven't even thought about Weight Watchers lately.  If I want something salty, I go and buy something salty and eat it.  I've eaten out way too often too.  Sigh.  I hate that tasty food comes in gigantic portions with poor nutrition!!!  I wish I was packing healthy lunches.  I'm actually getting very sick of the Smart Ones meals.  I only like a few of them and those few have gotten very OLD.   I am loving the fact that I won't live so close to a grocery store when I'm in Ames.  Having Hy-Vee across the street has been an issue.  I originally thought it would be a nice convenience but it's actually be a major vice.  Hy-Vee isn't super far from Jon's house but it's more of a hassle to get there.  

I'm excited to bop up to Waukon this weekend.  Sadly I won't make it for the funeral but I'll be able to see the play at LeAnn's high school.   I'm also going to attend the Grand March for prom to see my youngest sister too.  Hopefully my group of friends from high school are willing to get together if possible.   I sometimes hate being this far from NE Iowa....and yes I know Nicole, I really shouldn't whine since I'm still in the same state.  I'm going to have to bring a little work with me (I think) but that's just the nature of the beast since the end of the semester is upon me. 

That's all for now! 

Channeling My Green Thumb

A garden is in the works!  Jon and I broke ground on Sunday since the weather was nice and we both had the motivation to get the task done.  We rented a tiller from a local hardware store and attempted to tear up the ground behind his garage.   Apparently the previous owners had a garden there too.  Tearing up sod with a tiller is difficult.  My arms are still sore from trying to control that machine for the hour or so.   All we did was tear up the ground so the grass could die.  I'll probably end up hoeing and working on the soil more this weekend.   We bought a fence too so the rabbits and the dog stay out of the garden.  

We picked up seeds along with the other materials.   I'm planning to grow tomatoes (breeds undetermined), green peppers, green onion, carrots, and radishes.   Oh yes and burp-less cucumbers. 



I'm planning to lay a piece of fencing along the garage so the cucumbers will grow upward and not out into the yard.   Jon's neighbor actually had an old piece of fencing that he gave to us so it worked out well.  I need to take some pictures so I can show how the garden develops.   I won't be planting anything until the first or second weekend of May but it's nice to get this other tedious work done early since the weather is cooperating. The weather was actually a little too warm on Sunday and both Jon and I started feeling pretty rotten with all the manual labor.   I can't say I ever had heat exhaustion in April before but I guess there is a first for everything.

The moving date has been pushed ahead to June 29 rather than a date in May.  It seems more and more unlikely that anyone is going to take over my lease early.   I scheduled the moving date yesterday with the moving company so that helped to solidify the moving timeline.   It seemed silly to move in May and pay rent for an empty apartment.  We'll be out completely by that June date so I'll technically pay rent for an empty apartment in July but it will be nice to take my time cleaning.   We've started a "to do" list on Jon's white board and have a lot of major and minor tasks that need to be taken care of before moving and and after.  The cool thing is that we only need to buy one piece of furniture.  A larger dresser is needed for the bedroom.  A lot of organization will need to take place down in the basement too since I'll have plenty of boxes accumulate down there for storage or sorting.  I'm trying to get rid of as much stuff as possible.  I've hung onto way too many clothes and papers related to college.  It's ridiculous.  We have a large collection of items for our garage sale too.  I'm going to start taking time to price things so that doesn't sneak up on us either.  I don't want the garage sale to be a ton of work but they usually end up being pretty time intensive.

I'll be blogging again soon as I got my results back from the doctor.   My main concern is my cholesterol but that's a topic for another day.