Spring has sprung

Yeah I know the official first day of spring was last month, but it doesn't feel like spring for me until almost May. I guess I'm still stuck in Maine mode; her winters are long and arduous, 9 months of winter and 3 months of damn poor sleddin'. Teehee

Anyway, I finally put up my pea trellis yesterday, I had planted my peas a month ago and the poor things needed SOMETHING to climb. I also couldn't resist while I was at DiGregory's Greenhouse from buying some herbs; pineapple sage, lavender, and cilantro. My cilantro from seed was a fail so I bought a plant. Don't judge me.


Im up early this morning, felt the warm sunrise, saw two rabbits getting friendly, listening to the birds sing.

Yes, Spring has officially Sprung.

Thank. God.

Gardening is FUN

So yesterday I went out to TJ Maxx with some friends, and bought myself a GORGEOUS clay pot with a blye glaze, and a bright YELLOW metal watering can! I would post pictures but I'm currently too lazy. This recent purchase has made me a little more excited about gardening this year, despite our lack of land to garden in. What has really helped me not feel sorry for myself for lack of said land is a book called The Vegetable Gardeners Container Bible by Edward C. Smith.  It is a veritable cornucopia of information, his instructions for making self watering containers are going to be very useful this year. I found that planting my peppers and tomatoes in traditional containers was less than ideal. See, peppers and tomatoes are greedy with their water and fertilizer, so they dry out FAST. Anyway, I highly recommend his book.

This years garden is going to at least on my part focus  mostly on peppers and tomatoes, since we eat ALOT of those. I might take a stab at growing a cucumber and squash plant if I can manage the space. I currently have peas sprouting. My cilantro failed, probably because its seed from last year. Speaking of which I should bounce over to Seed Savers Exchange for some Santo Cilantro. Good stuff. My pepper sproutlings are coming along nicely, their true leaves are lookin' gorgeous! I'm going to be starting my tomatoes and basils this next week as well.

Updates on the gardening endeavor will be rolling in now that the weather is nice and warm!

Back to normal

This past week, B and I went downward to Owensboro, KY with my parental units to visit with my dear sister and house hunt in anticipation for their Great Exodus to the Midwest. It was a lovely visit, I played with my nephew an obscene amount of time, making exaggerated faces and snuggling his belly with my head every chance I got. B played well with D(nephew), at least when he wasn't literally on top of him pulling his hair (D doesn't have much, but my son has a talent for finding enough hair to pull).

Unfortunately my parents did not find a place to live, realtor's don't like holding things for rent for 2 months when they could be moving the property. Meh. Such is life. Amy is going to scout it out down there for them.

So now you know what I mean about getting back to normal, getting back into routines is hard after a long visit. I did get caught up on laundry, kind of. Anyway, I won't bore you with my chores. Heh.

In closing I would like to post a completely unrelated link that has nothing to do with the title of this entry, because its my blog and I do what I want with it.

I want this and I will have it someday. ( a house we outright own on land we outright own.)

It...is...ALIIIIIVE!!!!!!!

Wow, I am so not good at the blogging thing. Glad I got that out there, I didn't want you to think otherwise and feel lied to by me. Why the sudden come-back? Well, my sister inspired me, http://homegrowncatholic.blogspot.com/, and her blog totally pwns mine, and what kind of little sister would I be if I didn't compare myself to my intelligent, creative, LOVELY older sister? (K now that I said all that Ame, link me in your list of blogs, kthnxbai.)

I definitely have issues with consistency, I always have. Throw a lovely husband, a bouncing baby boy, a needy loyal mutt, and a household into the mix...well...

Needless to say, I've just gotten MORE busy with life since I started this whole soiree. But, I have also grown to learn how to manage my time a little better, thanks to FlyLady. While I don't follow her routines and tips to a T, I have somewhat made them my own, which has been a serious Godsend for my family and I. The house is clean most of the time, the laundry is done most of the time, and dinner almost ALWAYS gets on the table before 8pm. Yeah I know I didn't say its like this all the time, I don't like absolutes, 'cause I'm a jedi. Hah.

My hope for this blog is that I will be able to post an entry a few times a week, once a week at least. I'm pretty sure only family and a smattering of friends read this thing, but thats cool, I'm a middle child and don't mind not getting a lot of attention. :-P

Beautiful day!

So B and I went to the Pittsburgh Zoo today with some of my mom friends, it was so much fun! He's still pretty young, but at 6.5 months old he seemed to get a lot out of this trip. His favorite part was the fish. I really enjoyed myself too, I think that doing things with kids is more fun and interesting because they are so fascinated with everything. It was really neat when the polar bear was right up against the glass, and when the howler monkey jumped onto a slant in the glass and made faces at us! One wicked funny thing that happened was the orangutan picked its nose and pulled out a massive booger. Hilarious! It was a lovely day, and I'm exhausted.

I'm making a Bean Chili from a cool cookbook called Perfect Vegetarian by Parragon Publishing, super yum. Can't wait to eat it!

Seed starting

So I started some seeds a couple weeks ago, and they are doing splendidly under our handy dandy grow lights.

Here are some of the bell peppers. There are 7 of these babies already.

These are my garlic chives, they are amazing growers, they're touching the grow light that is 3 inches above them. Crazy.

Here's the oregano, I only planted like, 5 seeds, so I have no idea where all these seedlings came from, I'm guessing they make extra sprouts underneath. *shrug*

And here is my lone rosemary seedling. I read somewhere they have a crummy germination rate, around 50%, so we're doing okay with one out of 4 considering that they are temperamental little things.

I have some Johnny Jump Up violas sprouting too, but I couldn't manage to get a good picture of them. Ah well. Also, my cherry tomatoes are coming up like crazy, almost every seed I planted is poking through the seed starting mix, I am much pleased. I have high hopes for this container gardening endeavor, and with this increasingly warming weather, I think I might go mad with anticipation. Mad I tell you.

Is it spring yet?

Have seeds, will plant...them. So I finally got my seeds from www.highmowingseeds.com and www.seedsavers.org and I've so got the itch. They have overtaken my dining room table and I've managed to organize them by how I plan to combine them in pots. Some I'm not 100% sure where to put what with what(wow grammar), so I'm going to play that by ear. I'm super excited to get some seedlings going, one more month to go!

I'm also very excited about the containers we scored at Big Lots for a decent price. I love these overstock/defect stores that sell stuff waaay below the suggested retail price, I feel like I'm beating the system somehow. Anyway, they look fine to me, and I think they'll look pretty with my gorgeous cherry tomato in the "terra cotta" plastic beast pot. The blue glazed matching pots in varying sizes are also preddymus. I'm not sure if I'm going to do herbs or flowers, or both in the blue ones, again, playing it by ear.

HEATWAVE!

I think God is blessing me today, as it is 45 degrees on this mid-winters day. That's our German Shepherd, "Puppy" looking outside. I have a bunch of windows open and we have turned off our heat! With weather like this it makes me yearn for spring, only a few more months to go until then. *smirk*

I was musing on how much I enjoy the outdoors, nature is such a wonderful gift and I don't appreciate it enough. Sunlight has a very large effect on my mood too, I think it's very important to get sun while its out. I realized I might have a vitamin D deficiency, which could account for my foul mood since the dead of winter hit. Even if you just stand in a window for a few minutes, it can be very beneficial.

Our little family is going to go for a nature walk on the WV Panhandle trail later this afternoon, I'm looking forward to getting some excercise, breathing some fresh air, and soaking in some much needed sunlight! :D

A new year

Well, its 2010. I can't believe I remember the past decade so vividly, being 23 and all. I'm sure my older peers will laugh at me for talking about it with such wonder; glad to give someone a chuckle.

So this year, I have resolved to actually get started on some hobbies. Benedict doesn't take up my ENTIRE day, he is actually pretty low maintenance. I've actually gotten wicked excited to start our container gardening full force this year! I was a timid gardener last summer, so I'm going to plant what I want and hope for a moderate harvest when the time comes.

I plan to plant as follows: Impatiens (shade flowers, 5 types), lavender, begonias, dill, chives, sage, cilantro, basil, oregano, thyme, Italian parsley, marjoram, rosemary, sweet cherry tomatoes, 2 types of heirloom tomatoes, red peppers, jalapeños, snap peas, green beans, summer squash, radishes, pansies, and nasturtiums.

All of these will be planted in different containers all over our little rental property. I don't expect everything to thrive, but I am hoping for a lovely "garden" this spring to fall growing season. I'll be posting my progress as the year continues.

Have a Blessed and Holy New Year!

A little Jane Austen please...

I must say, my appreciation for Jane Austens works has grown immensely in the last year or two. I've realized how much my heart yearns for good, wholesome, and noble forms of entertainment, which in this day and age is very hard to find. I so enjoy the purity of her love stories, the strong female leads, and the nobility of the men. These stories remind me of the truely good things in this world, they really do.

Food, Glorious Foooood!

I'm sure this might come off to some as "food worship," but I give myself permission.

I love food. I like to fancy myself a "foodie". One of my favorite pastimes when I get home from work is looking at my cook books, imagining myself in a ADORABLE apron, mixing and baking all kinds of fancy confections. Since it is the New Year, and for some reason it inspires one to make some sort of fresh new change in ones life, Sean and I have decided we would like to incorporate more "whole foods" into our diet. I had forgotten how much I loved fresh veggies and fruits when I was in the bad habit of cooking our dinner from a can or frozen food bag. I had also forgotten how much I enjoy cooking fabulous meals for Sean and I. Am I any good at it? Well, Im no Emeril, but I can hold my own methinks. I would love to be able to devote more time to cooking, but there are only so many hours in a day, ya know?
My Mom, the wise woman she is, bought me for Christmas, a lovely book called "29 Minute Meals" by Pampered Chef. I was muoy pleased with this one. It is full with delicious meals that I can make in under a half hour, which for me, very appealing due to my 45 hour work week.

Anyway, wish me luck on this venture into KitchenLand.

8-5 Mon-Fri

I have a job now. I work as a secretary at Nelson's Woodcraft. They sell neat Catholic stuff. Basically, I answer phones, process orders, ship ALL the products, and charge credit cards and whatnot. Its a full day, it flies by more often than not. The work enviroment is usually laid back, I can wear flip flops to work. It's great fun.

Beer and Cake

Actually, I don't really like beer, I just thought it sounded better than booze and cake, or wine and cake. Liquor and cake doesn't have a nice ring either.
Anyway, here's a big piece of cake for me, because today is my 21st birthday. Cheers!

Stuff 'n' such...

What a crazy week it has been, and its not even halfway through! Crazy as in major socialization. I'm so glad that I'm finally getting to know the awesome families out here in Steubie. I have discovered that I have awesome neighbors, the Welkers(sp?) Wicked nice family. They have 7 children, which is cool when I feel like this neighborhood is waaay too quiet. I'm sad though, because our other neighbors are moving away, the Starks. I love their girls. :(
Anyway, this week is also busy because Fr Paul Dumais is here for the conference this weekend at the Fran, Defending the Faith. We're going to dinner at the Rylands(the family he stayed with when he went to school here) to see him and also 3 ladies from Maine who are staying at our house for the weekend. Really cool. And, apparently I have the honor of cooking dinner for Nick and his house guest, Dave Armstrong! Hes a famous apologist, so I'm kind of nervous about making him a meal. I hope he likes chicken.

Oh, and this has nothing to do with socializing, but it needs to be mentioned.

I have four tomatoe plants now. FRESH VEGETABLES ROCK!

Chores and EWTN

So earlier this evening, I was ironing my husbands shirts and watching Mass being said on EWTN on my computer, and I thought to myself, "Man...this is the life." I usually don't look forward to chores, I will be the first to admit that. But when I actually get into doing them, I like them! It's so strange to think that I was completely content doing housework. The more I tend to things that could definantly be thrown into the category of drudgery, and seen as unfullfilling, the more I see how that isn't always true. I find that when I do dishes, or laundry, it can be very theraputic! Maybe it's because, like people claim, it is not intellectually stimulating in itself. I don't that that is such an awful thing! It allows me to put aside the noise and distraction of being on my computer(EWTN doesn't count, 'cause its awesome), which is what I tend to do to spend my time sadly, and do some serious introspection. It allows for me to examine how I am going about my day. Could I be kinder to my husband? How will I practice patience when I become a mother? How can I love God more today?
I hope that I can always remember that my vocation is so meaningful, and that dish by dish, I can become holier and get my lousey self to Jesus in Heaven! :)

Dissident Views Giving You Tummy Troubles??

Here is some relief! Nice post Curt Jester!

Stomach cramping your style

Have you identified yourself as a progressive Catholics and have looked forward to every issue of the National Catholic Reporter and other organs of Catholic dissidents and yet feel yourself moving towards obedience to the Church! Do the words "institutional Church" just not come out of your mouth the same anymore? Is the sneer when you say "hierarchical Church" just not what it was? Do you feel yourself even warming to Pope Benedict XVI and even found his book Jesus of Nazareth brilliant? Have you actually read the documents of Vatican II and actually see the purported spirit of it was a false spirit?

Have you found progressive ecclesiology to be defective and ultimately it leads only to confusion and to everybody being prophetic, but no one being obedient? Have you experienced any of these signs and yet your stomach starts to ache when you even think about obedience to the official teaching magisterium of the Church? Just the thought of a Mandatum still would give you an ulcer? That "Religious submission of mind and of will" makes you grab for a bottle of Pepto Bismal, but to no avail?

Nobody says that obedience is easy, but there is a way to make it easier! The problem is caused by exposure to too many column by Fr. McBrien, Gary Wills, and the like and a resistance to orthodoxy that shows itself in a upset to the stomach lining. This is a common mind-body response that unto now you just had to offer it up!

Introducing Milk of Magisterium from your local Latin Rite Aid.


Milk of Magisterium is primarily used to relieve that upset stomach when your will aligns with the will of the Church. Milk of Magisterium immediately starts acting on tiny bacterial critters know as dissidentium. Often times this can also result in painful cramping and severe diarrhea calleddissentery.

Milk of Magisterium is dosed at approximate 500mg to 1.5g in adults and works by simple dissidentium neutralization, where the Magisterium ions combine with progressive and acidic dissidentium bacteria producing progressive antibodies that works to root out disobedient bacteria and relieve any dissentery.

A half an hour after taking a dose try reading Dominus Iesus and if you experience no stomach upset than you know Milk of Magisterium is working! If you can subsequently say "The liberalization of the Tridentine Rite is a great idea" than congratulations you are cured. If you still have a stomach reaction try prayer and another dose of Milk of Magisterium.

Now to be honest if you are already faithful to the Church and just experience nausea reading some progressive Catholic articles, you don't need Milk of Magisterium - this is a normal reaction.

Milk of Magisterium also works as a Paxative bringing peace to you system by destroying dissidentium and letting you come to have the joy of not only being faithful to the authentic (accept no substitutes) teaching authority of the Magisterium, but also the joy of digger deeper into the plentiful mysteries of the faith.

So stop by your local Latin Rite Aid for a bottle of Milk of Magisterium and put problems behind you.

Warnings:

Ask a doctor before use if you are still subscribing to dissident magazines or are a member of groups such as Call To Action.

Do not use with contraceptives - severe moral interactions will occur.

May cause alertness making you realize just how silly some of your previous views really were. Best if taken with a high dose of humility.

If pregnant or breastfeeding: Congratulations!

http://www.splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/archives/008182.php

Rage about a Lost Penny

I love this piece, I wish I could play it like this kid.

All candy commercials should be this awesome.

Smart kid.

Greece vs Germany

This one is for my husband.



http://www.youtube.com/v/xrShK-NVMIU

What if...

...George Lucas directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy?




Yeah I was pretty much laughing my tush off.

http://www.youtube.com/v/lv4Potdpjhw