Things Fall Into Place

 For the last 1-1/2 years, I've had this white board on my wall listing target dates for exams and the actual date of taking each exam. Half a lifetime ago I read a statistic that goals that are written down are 70% more likely to be achieved than those that aren't written down. I have a pretty good success rate, even for the "To Do" items listed on the right hand side.


I've been working toward a goal for the last several years, a goal of moving back home to be closer to family. When I failed that last exam in March, I felt like my life had been put on hold for 6 months.

(Tangent here: On the lower right are names of four bands that my BFF Melissa and I want to see in concert: Guns & Roses, Lenny Kravitz, Lady Gaga and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Now I need to work on achieving those goals!)

I've been looking at job listings for awhile now. A couple weeks ago, my Mom called with a job ad that sounded right up my alley and it was in my hometown. I think I had my resume revised and application filled out and all mailed before I remembered to talk to the Hubs about the opportunity.

And then I got called for an interview!

And then I got offered the job!

And now I'm moving back home. I'm sad to leave Springfield, but so excited to be closer to family.

There's a lot more that needs to happen:
The Hubs graduating college
Our house selling
Finding/buying a house back home

But it's finally falling into place. Kind of like the illustrations on these U-haul boxes - they're like Legos for adults.

 Look - they even stack perfectly in a truck!

 

 Tonight on the way home I caught a glimpse of the sunset and luckily stopped at a stoplight long enough to snap a photo. Such a beautiful reminder that life keeps going, that it all fits into place.

 

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Music Monday - Jagger

Several years ago, when the Rolling Stones played the half time show for the Superbowl, I remember saying "I hope when I'm Mick Jagger's age I move like that".

Imagine my laughter when I heard this song by Maroon 5, off their newest album (Hands All Over), called "Moves Like Jagger".

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Book: The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball

I've been reading a lot these last two years, and this year I started a reading list to keep track of everything I've read. It drives me crazy when I remember reading a book about something but can't remember the name of the book or who wrote it. (Luckily, my account at the library has a digital reading history and if I can remember about what month I read the book I can figure out the book.)

I've dreamed about having my own CSA farm at some point. This is probably just a pipe dream, as working a farm for sole income is rather taxing. This dream is fueled by my homesickness for the farm I grew up on, and for green country in general.

I recently finished The Dirty Life by Kristen Kimball. I don't want to forget some of what I read, so here are a couple things she wrote, emphasis mine:

"As much as your transform the land by farming, farming transforms you. It seeps into your skin along with the dirt that permanently abides in the creases of your thickened hands, the beds of your nails. [...] Your acres become a world. And maybe you realize that it is beyond those acres or in your distant past, back in the realm of TiVo and cubicles, of take-out food and central heat and air, in that country where discomfort has nearly disappeared, that you were deprived. Deprived of the pleasure of desire, of effort and difficulty and meaningful accomplishment." (pg 5)

My stash of seeds, accumulated over the last couple years, but pared down from my original desires.

"Food, a French man told me once, is the first wealth. Grow it right, and you feel insanely rich, no matter what you own." (pg 16)

"The seeds arrived in February, a whole farm in a box. Of all the mysteries I'd encountered on the farm, this seemed the most profound. I could not imagine how several tons of food could come out of a box so small and light I could balance it on one hand. Mark and I spent evenings poring over the seeds catalogs that had arrived during the darkest week of winter, piling up next to the bed like farmer porn." (pg 119)

I force myself to recycle seed catalogs about mid-summer, when it wouldn't do me any good to order new seeds anyway. However, I keep the catalogs from Baker Creek because they really are like looking at seed-porn. I'm addicted. That catalog in the back? That was a late comer, not a Baker Creek catalog, like didn't arrive until early summer. It's still hanging around because I'm already thinking about next year's garden.

 I start receiving seed catalogs around Thanksgiving and am completely guilty of poring over them like porn. I read and re-read descriptions, trying to figure out the best variety for my area and tastes. I bookmark, highlight and turn down pages. Then I map out a new garden layout to figure out just how many of those plants I have marked will actually fit in the garden. Then, the sad part of paring down the list, so that I can order without feeling guilty about buying seeds that won't ever get planted.

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Garden Report 10.06.2011

 Finally, I have lettuce sprouts that aren't being devoured by birds.

 The garlic is sprouting. The onions aren't though.

 You can see a couple garlic sprouts in this photo; one is just left of the center.

 I thought about finishing painting the greenhouse tonight, but then I saw a praying mantis and thought I'd let him hang out.

 Honestly, praying mantises give me the creeps, but I also think they're kind of cool.

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Music Monday - Cher "If I Could Turn Back Time"

The last of the music posts where I look back at songs I remember from my childhood.

And wow... was not expecting Cher's outfit!
I remember singing along with this at the top of my voice with Mom, too!

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Last exam = Pass!

Guess what arrived this weekend while we were at the car show???

 The passing score for the last of 7 exams!!!

You can see it took about a year and a half to get through them all. That's because I had to retake SD. I took it in March and failed, and there's a mandatory 6 month waiting period to retake an exam.

The rest of it was slow going because I got laid off right after I took my first exam. There was a mixture of depression from losing my job, and the pay reduction (unemployment is a joke, really) that made it take so long to take the others.

But I'm finally done! Now I have to wait for the Missouri State Board of Architecture to receive all my information from the national organization, but I should be a licensed architect before Thanksgiving! (Maybe even before Halloween?)

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Great Plains Round Up

 This weekend we went to a Corvair show up in Excelsior Springs, MO called the Great Plains Round Up. We went last year, too, when it was in Tulsa. This show moves around to different cities, so different car clubs take responsibility for showing off their city and coming up with fun things for attendees to do.

The main draw is the cars. There were 62 cars this year, all Corvairs. Corvairs are not just cars though, there are also rampside trucks and vans, and the cars may be coupes or sedans, hard top or convertible, or station wagon.

And then there are the custom cars. Corvairs have a flat 6 engine in the back of the car. See the difference with this motor? A V-8 in the front of the car!

 We stayed at the Elms, which is an historic hotel/resort/spa that was first built in the late 1800s. This is actually the third version of the hotel as the first two burned to the ground in the early 1900s.

 Glad to see we weren't the only half-finished car in attendance.

 Remember which one is ours?

 Downtown, the local museum had a Corvair show up. These are "people" made from various Corvair parts.

 Excelsior Springs was known back in the day for their healing waters. This was one of the bath houses. I was told it pretty much shut down after the flood of 1993.

 One of the big events is the valve cover races.

 The hotel is a little creepy looking at night, huh?

 Saturday we went to Van Till Winery to eat dinner as a group. We met some new friends and split a bottle of wine - Ponderosa Mist. The pizza was baked in a wood fired outdoor oven and the toppings were all local/organic.

 

 The hubs finished the suicide door on the passenger side. Definitely got some "wows", even from the old guys. Last year, our first year, we were a little worried about getting shunned for having such a ratty car. But everyone loved it!

 

Saturday night was the awards banquet, and dessert was this custom cake!

Can't wait for next year when it's in Oklahoma City (except for the long drive!)

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