So I got this book, and combined with the amazing inheritance of canning jars I received a few weeks back, I now have the beginnings of a pantry full of easy-to-make dinners in jars. Today I made 2 each of 5 recipes from the book, following a trip to Winco yesterday in which I scored oodles of bulk foods and inexpensive spices. (Your whole world opens up when you start experimenting with spices. I’m rather appalled now, that I was well into my thirties before I discovered this. I blame my sheltered-in-all-the-wrong-ways upbringing.) Winco even has TVP in their bulk foods bins!

My garden is actually growing stuff! I will be having a nice 3-day weekend this coming Memorial Day weekend; I’m planning on getting some tomato seedlings planted. Most of the seeds I planted directly seems to be doing very well. The spinach is coming up nicely, as are some of the lettuce varieties I planted, and the potato & pea plants are starting to grow like crazy!

The flip side is that almost all the seedlings that I started inside have suffered badly after transplanting. I’ll just keep researching, and doing my best to apply what I learn. I did get some strawberry plants from my late grandmother’s garden, and today I noticed an actual strawberry is growing! I wasn’t sure they would set fruit after being dug out of the ground and put in a planter, but they seem to be just fine.

But most of my weekend will be spent (hopefully!) enjoying the company of my husband, who will be starting his “2 weeks in the summer” part of Naval Reserves duty as of June 1st. I need to get a bunch of cleaning & organizing done too… there are lots of ideas and plans percolating in my head regarding that. [insert maniacal laughter here]

As of last weekend, we are minus one reptile buddy. Nobody died, but unfortunately as Sebastian grew up she became the unfriendliest of kingsnakes (as in “aggressively striking and biting at the slightest movement, and absolutely refusing to let go once she sank her teeth into you”), and after much contemplation, Anxiety (aka Baby, as she’s more often called at home these days) decided to let the pet store where we got her find a new home for the little biting fiend.

I profoundly wish I could take an actual vacation. The last couple of times I took a few days off from work, I did a bunch of housework but didn’t get as much accomplished as planned, since I was unfortunately felled by migraines. (It seems that I get migraines more often than not on my days off — how terribly perverse!) But I’m really, really, really freaking tired these days. And it’s not from lack of sleep… I only have part of a clue as to the reasons why, and no real handle on potential solutions. I think sometimes you just have to resign yourself to less-than-optimum circumstances until other opportunities present themselves. And at the moment, just getting one foot in front of the other is about all I can handle without imploding.

Driving back from running our errands this morning, my younger demonspawn said something that really stunned me. We had stopped at the Dollar Store, and each needed different stuff, so I didn’t see what she’d gotten. She said, “I got a ‘To-Do’ notepad that has each day of the week, and I want you to write down 1 or 2 things every day that I can do to help you around the house.”

Oh my. I instantly got all teary-eyed, my heart felt like it was going to burst, and I had to choke down the enormous lump in my throat so I could breathe again. It was a good thing I was at a red light, so I had a few moments to pull myself together and blink away all the blurry tears.

And now for something completely TMI…

I have been waiting for this for over 8 months: my beloved Geoffrey will be home tomorrow (*knock wood*)! I’ve missed him so fiercely, and rather vocally — making all my friends & relatives sick of hearing about it, I’m sure. We only got married 18 months ago (after living together for almost a decade), but he’s so much more than my husband; he’s my best friend, the great passion of my life, a true partner in every way I’ve asked for, my solace when life knocks me about, and a safe haven when my strength wears thin.

From the time I was old enough to be interested in romantic love, I’ve always said I wanted a love who was like a male version of me, with just enough differences to make things interesting! And I never felt like I truly belonged — not anyplace, or with anyone. There were certainly people with whom I felt comfortable, and deeply loved & trusted, and shared with them a sense of belonging. But, although I don’t believe anyone needs another person to “complete” them, I have felt the most complete as a person in the years since I fell in love with Geoffrey. I absolutely belong with him, profoundly and completely.

And that almost didn’t happen. We were pals who were supposed to have a summer romance, a nice diversion, a delightful little fling and nothing more. Both of us fought the feelings we began having for each another; neither of us wanted to admit to ourselves that not only was love on the menu, but very likely a lifetime of it! And considering how stubborn and tenacious we can both be, that meant a whole lot of resisting those feelings was going on.

Then one evening, his face half-pressed into my neck, he blurted a muffled, “I love you.” I looked at him and said, “What did you just say?” He tentatively repeated it — and he couldn’t possibly have missed the huge amount of relief in my voice as I said, “Oh thank God you said it first!” Four months later, he moved in with me. That was 11 years ago this month, and now I literally can’t imagine life without him.

I don’t know how long he’ll be home, since we currently have exactly zero information on the likelihood of him being deployed in the future (he’s a reservist), but I intend to cherish whatever time we get. And hokey though it may be, I truly believe that, “Le mo ghrása mise agus liomsa mo ghrá” (I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine).

The saying goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” I didn’t want to take that philosophy too far during my recent trip to the Chicago area, so I refrained from wearing too much makeup & hairspray, or indulging in political corruption. I did, however, drive like Mario Andretti on a bender… and still managed to be the most conservative driver on the road most of the time!

Getting to see my beloved Geoffrey (after a separation of 13 weeks!) was heavenly. I knew his commitment to the US Navy would involve sacrifices on both our parts, but not being able to spend time with my husband has been so rough. I guess that’s part of the price I have to pay for being madly in love. Quite the mixed blessing.

We really didn’t do anything “special” — it was more than enough to just be able to snuggle, and talk, and indulge ourselves in that happy “hey, sailor” way. *GRIN* Besides being crazy in love, I just profoundly like him; he’s wonderful company and absolutely one of my best friends.

We did go to see Lake Michigan, walk along the shore and look at various wildlife (frogs, snakes, bugs, and even saw some deer poo, although we didn’t see the deer themselves). I collected a couple handfuls of pretty rocks along the water line. It was so incredibly WEIRD to be walking along a body of water that looks like the ocean but doesn’t have waves or smell like the sea — really jarring!

The flight out to Chicago was fine, the departure was at nearly midnight and the flight went very smoothly. Coming back, however, was awful. Parents who don’t control their little brats deserve every last bit of the horrid karma that will come their way when the kids get older and start making their parents’ lives a living hell. Who lets a toddler scream, shriek, and holler for FOUR HOURS? Have they not heard of Benadryl?! Pets are sedated for their own good during flights, and children should be too! It would be lovely if airlines would have “no children” flights.

Unfortunately, I don’t know when I’ll get to see Geoffrey again. If he’s sent to San Diego for his final training, he might be able to visit if he gets a long weekend. I’d much rather he came home to visit than me fly out to visit him again; I’d rather not get on a plane again for a good long time. Supposedly he’ll be done with training and home by early to mid-December.

I bought some fabulous yarn at a really neat shop called Village Knit Whiz, and have at least half-a-dozen WIPs (works in progress) that I need to photograph so I can show them off. *grin* But unfortunately, today I am in a fair amount of pain from a migraine and the aftereffects of the surprise tooth extraction I had yesterday. The tooth was cracked all the way through, and came out in pieces — but with any luck I’ll feel much better in just a few days. And it really sucks when I’m on Vicodin but get a migraine anyway!!!

Damn, I miss Geoffrey so much. Absence does sometimes make the heart grow fonder; I love him like I never imagined I would be able to love. He is such a huge blessing to me, and I can’t wait to have him back in my life full-time again.

This is one good example of why I have about 40 gallons of water stored in containers at my house. It’s also why I will never live on, or near, a flood plain under any circumstances. (Not to mention that some of my relatives have suffered serious problems from flooding. Luckily my mom no longer lives in that area.)

The Tualatin flood of 1996 was the closest I ever came to being flooded. Just a couple of years before that flood, I moved into Tualatin. I had to choose between an apartment literally next to the river, or an apartment further from the city center but about 100 feet higher elevation. I chose the latter apartment — and thank heavens, because the riverside place ended up flooding to a depth of over 8 feet! The only personal impact that the ’96 flood had on me was, since the post office was awash in several feet of floodwaters, I didn’t get mail for a few days. Here’s a link to some more excellent pics of the flood.

Oh, and I couldn’t take my girls for their usual weekly Happy Meal because the McDonald’s parking lot was underwater. Then-7-year-old Angst wouldn’t believe me when I told her, so we actually walked down (with little sister in a stroller) to the flooded area and took pictures. Of course, Angst wanted to wade in the water, and I had to frighten her with tales of horrible diseases that she would catch if she got a single molecule of floodwater on herself. That was possibly the most fun I had that whole week!

No, I wasn’t in a coma for the last year. That would have been way too restful.

I’ll just sum up the last 12 months by saying it’s been fraking exhausting, with no end in sight. (Not a complaint, mind you — I absolutely LOVE most parts of my life, and I fully expect it to just keep on getting better! But it is tiring.)

Okay, alright, to hit just the highlights –

And now for something completely TMI…

I promise a post about the wedding, with pictures and all that good stuff — when I get a chance to breathe. I’m home sick today, so you just get this meme:

Newsweek’s Top 100 Books of All Time (Orly?)

Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you tried to read & couldn’t finish, and underline those you’d recommend (plus comment freely in parentheses).

And now for something completely TMI…

Happy Father’s Day! Happy Summer Solstice! And…

Geoffrey and I got married today. Still mind-boggled by it. Details soon, but for now I must collapse…sooo exhausted. It was a pretty amazing day, all told.

Florists clearly have an astonishing racket going on — Geoffrey ordered some flowers for the wedding, and when told me how much florists charge for that crap, I almost had an apoplectic fit! $33 for a corsage, and bridal bouquets start at $85?!!!

Are you fuq’ing KIDDING?! That much money for some dead flowers and a stickpin?!

I’m beside myself. Thank heavens he only ordered corsages for the moms and me, and boutonnieres for himself and his dad. (When I heard boutonnieres are only $8, I said he should have gotten those for all of us.) He ordered purple roses, which is really sweet…but, if they have ANY scent whatsoever, I won’t be able to have a corsage, because rose oil is one of my strongest migraine triggers.

I’m still mind-boggled. EIGHTY-FIVE DOLLARS for a bouquet? (Do you know how many books I could buy with $85?!) Clearly, not liking flowers has saved me a fortune over the years. I will never understand how some people are willing to pay that kind of money for something so incredibly useless.

Less than a week until the wedding, eep! Here’s my list of stuff still to get done:

• Buy a new bra (and probably shoes)
• Get some speakers for my iPod
• Dye my hair (I may be 40 but I refuse to be gray!) & get it trimmed
• Buy the sparkling cider & grape juice
• Finish getting the ceremony written
• Order the corsages for the moms & boutonniere for Geoffrey’s dad
• Check the site for logistical surprises & do a brief walk-through
• Finish sewing the dresses!

It may seem like there’s a lot left to do, but actually most of the preparations are already finished. We have a dinner at Geoffrey’s parents house on Saturday night (eve of the wedding), so all this has to be done by late Saturday afternoon. I am hugely glad that I took these vacation days to prepare, or we would be completely FUBAR.

And my sixpence arrived in the mail today!!! It’s gorgeous, and the lady who took my order was so incredibly nice. When I called to order, she asked if I had a special year in mind, and I said no (they stopped making them 2 years before my birth year, which was the only year which popped to mind). Then she suggested one that’s a century old, to commemorate the year of the wedding, and I thought that was brilliant! So I have a 1909 King Edward VII sixpence for my shoe!

So tonight Geoffrey & I will do a bit of wedding-preparation shopping. Normally I hate all shopping unless it’s for books, but I promised myself a bra from Vicky’s, and I don’t mind shopping there too much. Except for all the ridiculous pink decor.