Today I said goodbye to the class of 2006...the students that I inherited from Tharpa when they had 6 more weeks as 1st year students. I avoided telling them I wouldn't be there for graduation until today...and I'm sad that I won't be there. I did get choked up and teary when the last student was at our farewell tea. Writing about it now, I'm getting a little choked up and teary...I'm so proud of them all.
And continuing with the pre-travel freak out, I did run a few of my freak-out errands: I purchased bath products I don't really need to travel with, got snacks for the plane, mother's day cards, birthday cards for birthdays that won't happen for weeks, and new sunglasses. Tomorrow, I have many more errands planned.
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Monday, May 8, 2006
ready...the pre-travel freak-out begins
I leave on Thursday for my trip to Nashville for my BFF's graduation.
I typically freak out right before I travel. This pattern of freak-out started very early....I remember that when I was little and my family would take a summer vacation, I would say good bye to all my stuffed animals in case I never saw them again. In highschool one time, I wrote letters to a few friends and put them in sealed envelopes on my dresser right before I left for a week in case I died while on vacation. My frosh year in college, I stayed up all night before I went home for Thanksgiving...I was worried I might miss my early morning shuttle to the airport, worried that the power might go out and the alarm clock wouldn't go off, worried that while I was gone the power would go off and my my mini-fridge would get weird, so I spent the wee hours of hte morning defrosting my mini-fridge in my dorm room. There are more stories, but I think you get the point.
My pre-travel freak-out manifested this weekend in the form of a mini-cleaning rampage. Today I wrote my BFF an email with a bunch of questions that I know I already have the answers to, but I just want to be sure. I'm already planning an absurd number of errands that must be done before I leave town. And I have to find time to finish reading the book I started so I can get a new book for the airport.
So, yes, I recognize the freak-out, but if you were leaving town for 5 days, wouldn't you freak out too?
I typically freak out right before I travel. This pattern of freak-out started very early....I remember that when I was little and my family would take a summer vacation, I would say good bye to all my stuffed animals in case I never saw them again. In highschool one time, I wrote letters to a few friends and put them in sealed envelopes on my dresser right before I left for a week in case I died while on vacation. My frosh year in college, I stayed up all night before I went home for Thanksgiving...I was worried I might miss my early morning shuttle to the airport, worried that the power might go out and the alarm clock wouldn't go off, worried that while I was gone the power would go off and my my mini-fridge would get weird, so I spent the wee hours of hte morning defrosting my mini-fridge in my dorm room. There are more stories, but I think you get the point.
My pre-travel freak-out manifested this weekend in the form of a mini-cleaning rampage. Today I wrote my BFF an email with a bunch of questions that I know I already have the answers to, but I just want to be sure. I'm already planning an absurd number of errands that must be done before I leave town. And I have to find time to finish reading the book I started so I can get a new book for the airport.
So, yes, I recognize the freak-out, but if you were leaving town for 5 days, wouldn't you freak out too?
Sunday, May 7, 2006
farm tales and fox tails
Today was a farm chore day. We finally separated Dash from the girls. We separated him a while back to wean him, but he was with another little one, and after he was weaned we put him back with the girls because he was still too little to be with the boys. So we separated him for good today. It was heartbreaking for me. He spent all day crying and freaking out, running around trying to figure out how to get back to the girls (and his mom).
Michael finished the irrigation system for the garden, and I planted in the garden soybeans, greenbeans, brussel sprouts, beets and chard seeds. We also planted some gladiolus corms, finished weeding the strawberries, and started hardening off the seedlings (tomatoes, bok choi, brussel sprouts,and cilantro). I also started cukes, okra, pumpkins, and jalepenos in pots in the little indoor green house.
We saw a fox in the pasture early in the day, and again two more times later in the day. They are amazing, beautiful animals, and I'm glad we've got a safe place for our hens. 5 eggs today.
Michael finished the irrigation system for the garden, and I planted in the garden soybeans, greenbeans, brussel sprouts, beets and chard seeds. We also planted some gladiolus corms, finished weeding the strawberries, and started hardening off the seedlings (tomatoes, bok choi, brussel sprouts,and cilantro). I also started cukes, okra, pumpkins, and jalepenos in pots in the little indoor green house.
We saw a fox in the pasture early in the day, and again two more times later in the day. They are amazing, beautiful animals, and I'm glad we've got a safe place for our hens. 5 eggs today.
Friday, May 5, 2006
ratna madness
This evening I experienced a case of ratna madness. We had dinner at our favorite little hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant near our house and had ordered a spicy tuna roll to share. The texture of the roll...the sauce...the crispy tempura bits...and the amazing melting quality of the fish...AMAZING.
We then went to the Flower Bin and I went into the very large greenhouse filled with dozens of varieties of roses...where I savored the colors and shapes and scents...and then went to look at the baskets of annuals and and the abundant rows of plants...so many beautiful plants...and the veggie seedlings sent me reeling because they were so huge compared to my little puny veggie seedlings that I started from seed weeks ago and I felt totally inadequate until I remembered that I started them from scratch and didn't need the more instant gratification of giant seedlings. And I decided to buy gladiolus bulbs. Michael and I were going to each pick 3 bulbs...and I got 12. I am just so excited by the idea of having these gorgeous multicolored flowers in late summer!
I do want to point out that my gardening passion is almost entirely focused on "useful" plants (those that produce food), so my ratna excitement about the flowers is quite unusual.
We then came home and satisfied Michael's arbor day indulgence by planting 10 tree saplings.
We then went to the Flower Bin and I went into the very large greenhouse filled with dozens of varieties of roses...where I savored the colors and shapes and scents...and then went to look at the baskets of annuals and and the abundant rows of plants...so many beautiful plants...and the veggie seedlings sent me reeling because they were so huge compared to my little puny veggie seedlings that I started from seed weeks ago and I felt totally inadequate until I remembered that I started them from scratch and didn't need the more instant gratification of giant seedlings. And I decided to buy gladiolus bulbs. Michael and I were going to each pick 3 bulbs...and I got 12. I am just so excited by the idea of having these gorgeous multicolored flowers in late summer!
I do want to point out that my gardening passion is almost entirely focused on "useful" plants (those that produce food), so my ratna excitement about the flowers is quite unusual.
We then came home and satisfied Michael's arbor day indulgence by planting 10 tree saplings.
Thursday, May 4, 2006
post script
I've been thinking more about the intersection of yesterday's adventure with my weekend exploration into living a life that is free and well favored. Would so many people have stopped to offer me a ride if I was not a middle class, caucasian, short, young-ish woman? If I were dressed more poorly, if I was older, if I was a man, if I was large, if I wasn't white...would people still have stopped to offer me a ride? I'll never know. But it was a nice chance for the universe to say to me once again that being a petite, young, white, woman is still a place of immense privilege.
and I was right...my mother was horrified...I forgot to tell my sibs not to tell her.
and I was right...my mother was horrified...I forgot to tell my sibs not to tell her.
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
my mother would be horrified
After work today I took the truck to get checked out and since Miko was staying in Boulder, I decided to take the bus home. As I was walking from the Firestone to the bus stop, it started to rain. It took me about 10 min to walk to the bus stop and as I was getting close, my bus went by.
So I waited in the rain for a few minutes when another bus pulled up. It wasn't my usual line, but the driver assured me that he went to my stop, so I got on. I ended up being the only person on the bus for my 45min bus ride though parts of town I didn't even know existed.
I had a pleasant time talking to my bus driver who came to the US from Yugoslavia in 1996. When the bus did finally get to the right part of town, the rain had only gotten worse. Normally when I take the bus home, I have a car stashed at the bus stop so I can drive the 2.5 miles from the bus stop to my house. Since I left the car at Firestone (a 15 min drive from my house, 45min on this crazy indirect bus), I had planned on walking back to my house. At the time I formulated the plan, there was no rain. By the time I got off the bus, there was a lot of rain.
I actually was having a rather pleasant walk along the shoulder of the highway in the very heavy rain. I really enjoyed imagining the reactions of all the people driving by wondering what in the world I was doing.
Three cars stopped to ask me if they could give me a ride. Since I was already thinking how much my mother would be horrified at the thought of her drenched daughter walking home in the fading sunlight in the rain on the side of the highway, I declined the first two offers. The third was a woman who was very persistent, and when I gave my "Oh, I'm just up ahead" she said, "near Charlene?" so since she knew my next-door-neighbor without me prompting, I decided that she probably wasn't an axe murderer and gave in and let her drive me the rest of the way home.
I had a fun adventure, learned that there are some really nice people out there, and that the streets in Yugoslavia are much cleaner than they are in the US. And when it looks like rain, bring a coat and/or umbrella.
So I waited in the rain for a few minutes when another bus pulled up. It wasn't my usual line, but the driver assured me that he went to my stop, so I got on. I ended up being the only person on the bus for my 45min bus ride though parts of town I didn't even know existed.
I had a pleasant time talking to my bus driver who came to the US from Yugoslavia in 1996. When the bus did finally get to the right part of town, the rain had only gotten worse. Normally when I take the bus home, I have a car stashed at the bus stop so I can drive the 2.5 miles from the bus stop to my house. Since I left the car at Firestone (a 15 min drive from my house, 45min on this crazy indirect bus), I had planned on walking back to my house. At the time I formulated the plan, there was no rain. By the time I got off the bus, there was a lot of rain.
I actually was having a rather pleasant walk along the shoulder of the highway in the very heavy rain. I really enjoyed imagining the reactions of all the people driving by wondering what in the world I was doing.
Three cars stopped to ask me if they could give me a ride. Since I was already thinking how much my mother would be horrified at the thought of her drenched daughter walking home in the fading sunlight in the rain on the side of the highway, I declined the first two offers. The third was a woman who was very persistent, and when I gave my "Oh, I'm just up ahead" she said, "near Charlene?" so since she knew my next-door-neighbor without me prompting, I decided that she probably wasn't an axe murderer and gave in and let her drive me the rest of the way home.
I had a fun adventure, learned that there are some really nice people out there, and that the streets in Yugoslavia are much cleaner than they are in the US. And when it looks like rain, bring a coat and/or umbrella.
Monday, May 1, 2006
4 eggs today
So there's a bunch of stuff that I would vent about today if I felt like doing something stupid that could get me in a spot of trouble since I never really know who is reading this thing. So instead I'll just say...4 eggs today.
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