10 years

2013 marks the 10 year anniversary of my service in AmeriCorps. What an amazing 10 months it was! So every so often I'll post a tid bit from the past. If you don't like it too bad. I want to do it :)

This first one is actually a poem I wrote in a English 101. Looking back on a seemingly small but important event.

Red Wings
I opened the box and my eyes lit up
Boots of my very own, Red Winds were their name.
Brand new rubber soled,
With seven inches of leather.
I slipped them on with glee,
They fit just perfectly.

I laced them up good and tight.
They were still a little stiff,
But the day had just begun.
The hike wasn't too long
Only a mile or so, but I could tell
There boots might not do too well.

When we stopped to get ready to work
I took some time to re-lace my boot.
Not so tight this time
I hoped it would help.
There was still a long day ahead
And I was far from a bed.

We worked all morning and afternoon,
I tried to put up a fight.
To forget about the seams
That had rubber their nasty little faces into my foot.
The burning and aching almost made me cry.
Sometimes during the day I thought I would die.

After work we all came home.
I took off my boots with a sigh.
Next off go the socks
Followed by a terrible stench.
I pulled my left foot into my lap
And I saw something and gave it a tap.

That was it, the trial of my day,
A big fat blister on my toe.
I put some ice on it
To ease the pain.
I thought about cutting off the toe.
That would end my woe.

Six weeks went by in a flash.
The blister was a fadded memory.
It was time to leave,
This place we called home.
Now my boots were broken in,
And they were like second skin.


---By the way I still own these boots and love how they feel. 

Eh, maybe

So I officially hit 25 weeks today. And to celebrate I decided to attempt a bump pic, especially since I finally am measuring bigger than I did pre-pregnancy. It's not much bigger a whole inch but it's something. This first pic is me trying to show a bump, and the second is what I look like when I dress normally.It's sort of a bump... but only if you know what you are looking for.

I still am not putting on weight (doh) which when I saw the OB on Thursday he didn't even mention it. Probably because the ultra sound showed a perfectly healthy little girl. Who was in the same position she was for her last ultra sound. Head down, curled up with her hands up by her head. Her face was even the same direction. It was really interesting.

We did have a little excitement this week, if you call it that. I finally gave in and went and saw a doctor for why I've been feeling so sick. Some of it is baby and Fibromyalgia related and come to find out that I have a UTI too. And you may be thinking how could she not see the signs for that. Well that would be because the normal signs weren't there. The doctor was actually quite surprised that's what was wrong. He was glad it was simple and treatable but not an expected outcome based on my symptoms. So I was sent home with a very strong antibiotic and permission to take a little extra pain killers if needed. So I've been taking my meds and resting when needed. And there are actually times during the day when I don't feel like death warmed up.

Not much else is happening around here. The temperature is rising, the pool is open and I don't have a swim suit that fits! It's so sad. I love the water, last year was torture because of my shoulder I couldn't really swim. This year I'm having to be patient until I get my new suit. OI!

Today

Someday I will
--be pain free
--sleep when normal people do
--have the strength to lift things with my right arm and not worry if I'll drop it
--see all the people I've left behind in all my moves
--get a pedicure
--lose my talent for incurring injuries in odd ways
--not get sinus infections because of the air conditioning
--have my house decorated just right (Then I will probably have to move)

but today is not that day.

I will ALWAYS
--love my family (even if at times I may not like it :)
--strive to be my best
--be a hopeless romantic
--enjoy a good laugh
--be fascinated by all things medical especially when I get to watch
--have to be forced to eat
--be just a little odd, but like we want that to change

today is THAT day.

And now for the hard part

Well, the easy part is over now. I have everything planted. Yesterday afternoon I dug a trench for my asparagus and planted the asparagus. Well, this morning when I woke up something made me look up how to plant asparagus and found that I had planted them upside down! So first thing this morning I dug my asparagus back up and and replanted them the right way. Here's a picture of my new trenches. You can't tell from the picture, but those trenches are about 6 inches deep, 4-5 inches wide and about 9 feet long. And I dug them in only 1 hour! After planting the asparagus the right way, It was time to plant my other plants.

Here you can see my bell pepper plants and cayenne peppers. We have 1 purple pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 golden pepper, 3 green peppers, 3 yellow peppers and 3 cayenne peppers. These plants were planted right next to my onions which are still doing very well. As you may or may not be able to tell, the areas between my onions has been freshly hoed. There are several very small plants growing between the plants. I noticed this morning that just raking my fingers through the soil was enough to pull them. So when Crys and I were out this morning running errands we picked up a metal rake and a combination hoe with two prongs on the end. It works very well and you can see my freshly furrowed rows!

I also planted some green beans, cucumbers, squash and tomato plants. You can't see the squash, green beans or cucumbers but I did take a picture of my tomato plants. Below is a picture of my tomato plants and a side view of the pepper plants. Now that the easy part is done, I get to do the hard part, constantly weeding, watering and praying that my plants actually bloom and my hard work actually pans out. Here's to hoping and praying!