Wednesday, May 22, 2013

So I remember this awesome day.

Today was a pretty awesome day. 

We have a new city council member, and this morning the city engineer and city manager introduced the new council member to our department. The city manager introduced me and basically said that I'm an asset to the City and the lives of developers are a lot easier thanks to me. My supervisor tells me I'm doing a good job sometimes, but it is much more awesome when the city manager says it to my face while introducing me - makes me feel like I'm doing my job right!

Then at lunch I went bra shopping. Turns out I've dropped a band size and a cup size in the last six months. No wonder my bras weren't fitting right... This also reaffirms my thought that my boobs are the first place I lose weight. 

And yesterday, I got my tetanus/whooping cough booster at the County Health Department. Apparently I'm the only person that keeps their vaccination record; the county nurse said I should hold onto it because it's a "relic". (I store it with our birth certificates and car titles; I figure my vaccinations are pretty important information!) The nurse that gave me my shot yesterday was the same nurse that gave me my 6 month-newborn shots 28 years ago. She was reading through my vaccination record and kept saying "I gave you THAT shot, and THAT shot..." And she was really good. I didn't even feel the needle go in my arm. In fact, I wouldn't even believe she gave me a shot, except that my arm has been a little sore all day...

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Garden Update 5.18.13


Cherries have set on 
Black beans and green beans have sprouted. It appears some of the corn seeds were eaten by birds.


 The lettuce is finally getting bigger.
Peaches are set on!


Friday, May 10, 2013

Another Lasik followup

Today is three weeks since my Lasik procedure. I'm shocked how quickly my eyes healed.

Before I left for Boston, I had a followup visit with my regular eye doctor. I was concerned about traveling so soon after the procedure. She advised me to stay hydrated, especially on the plane (translation: minimize alcohol consumption), and to keep lots of eye drops on hand. My eyes did feel drier in the air, but one day I woke up in Boston and the dryness was gone. Even after arriving back home, the dryness was gone.

I've still been using eye drops several times a day. My eye doctor said the more my eyes and I stay hydrated, the less chance of a touch-up or enhancement procedure later on.

A couple observations:
Before the surgery, I could see extremely well the first 6 inches from my face. This was helpful when plucking my eyebrows and shaving my armpits. Now, that area is not as clear, but I can see leaves on trees and individual blades of grass. You win some, you lose some I guess. This may be something that improves with time. I'm sure this will make for interesting conversation with the eye doctor. And possibly awkward situations when my eyebrows and armpits go crazy. (No worries, the Hubs will keep me in check.)

I wish the surgery could do something about my floaters. Floaters were explained to me once as small pieces of eye blood vessels that died and are now in the jelly-like part of my eye. When I am in bright light they are more obvious, and look like dirt floating across my field of vision.

I wonder if the Bible verse (Matthew 7:3) was referring to floaters... Take care of the plank in your own eye before helping the speck in your friend's eye. (I'm joking, I know it doesn't refer to that...please don't be offended)

My eyes aren't watering as badly when cutting onions. Maybe I'm getting used to cutting onions without contacts?

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Garden Update 5.9.13

It feels like forever since I've written a garden update. Mostly because it's been so rainy and wet (I'm not complaining!) that I couldn't even walk in the garden.

I was caught up on plan review and my other projects, so I decided to take a couple hours off this afternoon.   There's rain coming in the forecast, and today was 80s and sunny - perfect time to plant!

I planted:
Kandy Korn sweet corn
Illini sweet corn (supposed to be good for freezing and canning)
Black turtle black beans
Soybeans (mmm edamame)
Kentucky Blue green beans
Some sweet peppers - napoleon, and some of the sweet mix I started from seed
The rest of the tomatoes I started from seed - yellow pear, thessaloniki, black cherry, dinner plate, red zebra
Artichoke seed- this is 4 years old so it may not germinate
Transplanted the 2 rhubarb plants
Perennial and annual flowers at the end of the garden to attract pollinators: zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, dianthus, bachelor buttons

I need to remember next year to start the pepper seeds earlier and the tomato seeds later. My tomatoes were getting really leggy, which meant I buried a lot of the stem, but they were REALLY leggy. And the peppers (and tomatillos) were still really small - they could have used another 2-4 weeks inside.

I'm going to try to convince the Hubs to roto-till the garden tomorrow if it isn't raining. I would like to plant cukes, zukes, watermelon, squash, cantaloupe and pumpkins soon, but hoeing the garden when it hasn't been tilled in several rains is backbreaking. (This is possibly evidence that I could not be a pioneer woman- I like my power tools. But, if I was pioneer woman, I also wouldn't be reviewing building plans as my primary job; I'd be planting a garden and looking after children, so I'd have more time to dedicate to planting a garden. I'm 28 and already looking forward to retirement. Hopefully I'll still be in good enough physical shape that I can garden when I retire!)

On other notes:
Our bird feeder is attracting several different birds: cardinals, goldfinches, indigo buntings, mourning doves and (possibly) wrens - or some other small bird.
We put up a hummingbird feeder last week after seeing a hummingbird outside the window. It was back and feeding less than an hour after the feeder was installed!
There is a swallow of some sort (looks like a barn swallow nest but more mossy) on our garage. This morning I saw fuzzy chick heads poking above the nest.
Rembrant tulips are beautiful! I'm going to buy and plant more this fall. I like them better than monocolor tulips.
It appears the Blue Spruce, raspberries, blackberries and cherry bushes from Burgess did not survive. I'll be notifying them I need replacements soon.
Our spruce order from the Missouri Conservation Department came this week. The trees are the same size or bigger than the ones from Burgess. They'll be planted this weekend, as well as the daylilies.

My garden plot looks a lot smaller now with planted rows.

The lettuces and root vegetables are really slow growing. I'm afraid they won't get any growing in before they get too hot and bolt. After they come out of the garden, I'm going to direct-sow broccoli and cauliflower. I started some from seed but am not sure where to put it. Once the cucurbits, more corn and more beans are in the ground, there won't be room for brassicas.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Boston

This week, I was in Boston for several days for a work conference. We are implementing a new city-wide software at work that is rolling out across all departments over the next 18 months or so. The conference was full of training sessions for the new software, and was located at the Boston Sheraton, just blocks from the Boston Marathon bomb sites. Surprisingly, I was not concerned about my safety during the trip. Before the conference started, we were sent emails from the conference coordinators that security was beefed up to protect us. Bag-check points were at all entrances to the conference venue, and bomb-sniffing dogs periodically walked the venue.
Bomb-sniffing dog taking a break

See the location of the Sheraton in relation to the 1st and 2nd bombs! 
Facade of the buildings at the 1st bomb site
There didn't appear to be much damage to the buildings; broken windows were covered by plywood. The sidewalks in Boston are very loud but when we walked by the bomb sites there was an eerie quiet that settled over the crowd. 

But it was a little creepy that there was still crime scene tape in the street gutters. 

We didn't let the recent tragedy prevent us from enjoying the City of Boston, and it appeared the residents and other tourists felt the same as us. We enjoyed a lot of good food: 
Bruschetta at Papa Razzi 

Crab roll with crispy onions and jalapeno polenta at Legal Seafood

A Pilgrim Burger from Boston Burger Company: turkey burger with stuffing and cranberry mayo. This was a recent  stop on Guy Fieri's Diner's Drive Ins and Dives show!

Cupcakes from Crumbs Bakery
We did the tourist "thing" and rode a trolley around to historic sites in Boston, and then took a Boston Harbor cruise (said: Bost-in Hah-bah")
Fenway Park

Me in front of House of Blues

Me and some coworkers on the Harbor Cruise

It's crazy what you see on the wharves - here's a park wharf

Pirate ship

Condominiums that resemble ships

Our last night in Boston we were treated to a comedy act by Wayne Brady. He was on "Whose line is it anyway" as well as other comedy shows. We were all rolling with laughter. 

This was my second trip to Boston and I would definitely visit again if given the chance. My first visit was with the American Institute of Architects Students group, for an architecture conference in December 2006. I saw sites this time that I didn't see last time. There is so much history in this area of the country that you could fill weeks looking at historic sites and learning our nation's history. 

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