Category Archives: Random Thoughts

>Yet Another Favre Post

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>And on it goes, the never-ending saga of Brett Favre’s retirement – or not.

Let’s see. He debated and thought it over and, for a few years, made his fans happy with One More Year. In the off season, we called it the biggest non-story.
Then he took a deep breath, shed a few tears, and called it quits. Packers fans waved goodbye, paid tribute to the quarterback and the man, and started looking ahead to the future with Aaron Rodgers.
Then Brett panicked. Without football, who was he?
Let’s jump ahead, past a season with the New York Jets and one with the (hated) Minnesota Vikings. Let’s look at the big picture.
Brett Favre has always played football. He doesn’t remember a life without it. Even his childhood revolved around the game.
Brett Favre, bless his heart (my Southern friends know what that means), never really had a chance to grow up without that pigskin in his hands and in his heart. Dare I say it? Yes, I do: Brett is still a kid. He still hasn’t grown up. Think about it.
He’s 40 years old and he works out with the local high school football team.
When he doesn’t get his way, he blames others (Ted Thompson, Green Bay general manager, can vouch for this).
After it’s clear that he won’t get in, he badmouths those who supported him in the past.
He has trouble making decisions. This has made him a laughing stock, even as it’s gained endorsements (Sears television commercials, anyone?).
He publicizes his decisions or pseudo-decisions by text message. Text messages, people! In any field, sports or business, text messaging is not a serious form of communication. I don’t even want to know if he abbreviates his spelling teen-text style.
For years, we fans have praised the gun-slinger, the play maker, the childlike athlete. It’s time for that youngster to grow up. What will he do now? Here are a few suggestions:
  • Open a bakery and specialize in turnovers!
  • Join the BP management. They could use a good ole boy from Mississippi to handle PR.
  • Cell phone company spokesperson: for plans with unlimited texting, of course.
  • Waffle maker.
  • Shoe manufacturer, specializing in flip-flops
Other ideas, people? Suggest in the comments, please!

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>Internet Solutions to a Moody Summer

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>It’s been a moody summer. Rain, rain, go away. Teenager, quit grumbling. Collegiate one, we know you’re busy, but does it really take two days to call us back?

And remodel? Remodel should be a four-letter word. Seriously. At least until the project (another potential four-letter word) is truly finished.
When I need to retreat into my laptop and cheer myself up, here are a few favorite places.
Check out July 16; so, so adorable. July 14th’s video is outrageously cute, too. Daily means daily; this site updates every day.
I refer to this site often, so it won’t come as a surprise that I enjoy browsing their many pages.
Swagbucks.
I didn’t add a hyperlink to this one; there’s a better link in my sidebar. Swagbucks is a search engine that generates virtual “bucks” for regular users. The bucks can be traded in for gift cards and other “Swag.” I usually trade mine in for Amazon gift cards. There’s no cost; check it out, using the sidebar link, please. Disclaimer: Swagbucks did not pay me to say this. I really do use their search engine and earn a few gift card $$ by doing so. If you choose to sign up through my link, I will get a few swagbucks in credit for the referral. There’s still no cost to you.

You probably know Twitter. Plurk is another social networking site, but the structure is a bit more conducive to conversation. I’m Ddaisy; there was already a Daisy signed up. It’s okay; she’s in my network and I like her.
Ah. I feel better already. Now if only the rain would stop for a few days and my pond, er, garden were more accessible….

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>My Garden Show – beyond the backyard

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>Looking outside has been a little scary lately. After a recent hailstorm, my tomatoes were draped weakly over their supports. I had to get up my courage and prune the broken stalks, tie up those that were salvageable, and hope for the best. Our fair state and my lovely county have received triple the normal amount of rain for July. If we get a little sun to balance it, the garden will be fine.


But in the meantime, I just have to live vicariously through my Internet garden friends. Here’s a fun site for gardeners of all types, all zones, all sizes of yards or no yard at all.

Your Garden Show lets readers show their own gardens, see others’ gardens, and see all kinds of green thumb results. The features an expansive 6,000 vegetable database developed by Cornell University (778 varieties of tomatoes – I didn’t know there were that many varieties!) and a 5,900 ornamental database powered by Missouri Botanical Garden, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the U.S.A.

Uniting the 25,000 square miles of America’s gardens and beyond, YourGardenShow.com encourages passionate gardeners to “show and tell.” Maintaining local roots in California, Iowa, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy, the YourGardenShow.com team includes “Groundskeeper” Mark Kane, the former Executive Garden Editor of Better Homes and Gardens. (But does he use a smiley coffee mug like Groundskeeper Daisy? I’d guess not.)

Like many hobbies and interests, gardening has a strong following on the Internet. YourGardenShow.com is a good site on which to share the fun of playing, er, working in the dirt. Enjoy!

This is not a paid post. The PR people at YourGardenShow.com sent me an email inviting me to check out the site and share it if I saw fit. I liked it; this is my way of sharing. I hope your garden is growing well, your rain barrels are full, and the sun is shining on your zucchini. Well, maybe on the zucchini. Never mind.

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>It’s in the bag – or it was in my bag.

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>Once in a while, the purse gets so heavy I feel compelled to clean it out. Just because I can fit a lot in it doesn’t mean I should fill it up.

Look: even Sadie is disgusted with the junk.

I sorted, recycled, removed, and replaced. The stack looks much better now.

It’s much lighter on the shoulder, too.
Maybe I can fit that new book inside now…

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>Lucky seven: a list of seven links

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>I subscribe to ProBlogger not because I’m a professional (far from it) but because his suggestions and discussions are fascinating and useful even to a small-time blogger like me. His latest challenge is a list of seven: seven links. Here’s mine.

My first post, It’s not easy being green, briefly discusses the name of my blog and my gardening philosophy. If I rewrote this today, I might rephrase it a bit. I’m not so much a lazy gardener as I am a practical planner. I plant in such a way that weeding isn’t necessary every day, I use rain barrels for watering (so easy and so frugal!), and if something doesn’t grow well, I’m okay buying it at the farmers’ market.

A post I enjoyed writing: I enjoy blogging in general. If I didn’t enjoy it, I would close up the blog and spend my time elsewhere. Many posts that related to the 2008 election were fun to write because they were fun to experience. Volunteering at Democratic headquarters. Election reactions. My favorite, the Recipe for an Historic Inauguration.

A post which had a great discussion: This post about work email didn’t generate a lot of comments, but it certainly described a great conversation. The funniest part? It was all true. All I had to do was copy, paste, and report. And laugh.
A post on someone else’s blog that I wish I’d written: This was easy. I went straight to PunditMom and searched her archives. The woman is brilliant. Her open letter to the New York Times after a reporter thoroughly disrespected women bloggers – well, read it.
A helpful post: I searched the archives for “advice” and found this post on increasing backyard composting, the tale of my failed adventure in making marmalade, and this post about pseudo-professional attire.
A post with a creative title: The recent “No bladder left untested,” despite its tendency to make people cringe, gathered a lot of attention.

I wish more people had read my response to the Republicans’ response to BP. Accountability is still important in my world. Is it still important on both sides of the Congressional aisles?
A list of seven with more than seven links: done! It took a while, but I enjoyed the journey through my archives. Readers, I hope you enjoy the journey through the links.

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>Increasing the iron: the research

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>I have anemia. Yes, all the garbage my body’s thrown at me lately has drained me of iron. In my own locavore way, I’m planning to increase the amount of iron in my diet, too. It can only help.

So far, I’ve found that red meat, egg yolks, seafood, shellfish, oysters are high in iron. Some of these are also high in cholesterol, so I’ll need to balance this. Shellfish and oysters are not exactly plentiful here in the great lakes, but I can get other fish. Did you notice I left out liver? It’s high on the iron list, but it’s not going on my shopping list. Nope.

On the plant side, we have dark green, leafy vegetables (grow, spinach, grow!), dried fruit, beans, lentils, chickpeas, soybeans, and artichokes. Blackstrap molasses is another iron-rich food option. If I make grandma’s baked beans with molasses, that would be a great side dish. Red beans and rice would be good, too. I wonder if the rest of the family will eat artichokes? I like artichoke hearts in pasta dishes at the local Italian restaurant. Am I gutsy enough to cook them myself? Maybe.

The good news? Adding vitamin C in the form of orange juice, tomatoes, or berries can increase your absorption of iron-rich foods. Homemade jam with organic berries! Homegrown tomatoes! Berries from the Farmers’ Market on top of iron-enriched cereal – with orange juice on the side! I can do this.
The bad news? Coffee can actually interfere with the absorption of iron. Hm. Must think on this one. Sob.

Before I take any more action, I think I’ll take a nap. Rest is good. ZZZZZZzzzzzzz.

Much of my information came from Everyday Health’s collection of articles on iron in diets. I’ll keep working on it and discussing this with my doctor. No worries, bloggy peeps. And you know it: if I find a good recipe, I’ll post it here.

And you also know this: I’m open to suggestions. Leave me a link to a good iron-rich recipe, and I just might try it!

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>No bladder left untested

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>It is a cruel, cruel world.

I needed an ultrasound to help figure out what’s going wrong. If you’re familiar with ultrasounds and uteruses (uteri?) you might know that these are done with a full bladder. According to those in the know, the full bladder makes it easier to distinguish the uterus and recognize what’s in it. Hence, the pre-test instructions noted that for a 12:15 appointment, I was to empty my bladder at 11:00, drink 40 oz. of liquids between 11:00 and 11:15, and then refrain from emptying the aforementioned full bladder until after the test was completed.

Enter Teacher Bladder!! Educator humor always mentions teachers’ superhuman bladders. I can look at the clock during class, register that I have 40 minutes until the recess bell, and say to myself, “No problem. I can hold it.” An ultrasound shouldn’t be any different. Or should it?

Well, I was nervous. Nervous about the tests and nervous about the potential results, although I hadn’t yet admitted that to myself. Nerves + full bladder = added nervousness and an increased need to go.

Upon arrival at the clinic, I had to wait in not one, but two waiting rooms. Nervousness + waiting + full bladder = even more increased need to go.

After completing the final registration and getting my fashionable wristband, I had to walk past no fewer than two large, prominently labeled restrooms on the way to the radiology department. Oh, the torture!

Yes, I called on my inner teacher – in July. Now that’s just cruel.

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>Many moons ago, I thought I was done.

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>I thought I was done timing these lunar cycles. Not the full moons that send my students’ behaviors into the stratosphere, but the cycles that most women know and tolerate and handle with an aplomb that very few men could face on a monthly basis, thank you very much.

I thought I was done facing the dementors, those Potter-esque creatures that make their victims chilled to the bone, feel like they’ll never be happy again, and after the attack, head for the chocolate.

I was rejoicing, cleaning out the bathroom vanity and saying, “I don’t need these supplies any more!”

Enough euphemisms, readers? I thought I had reached the big M: Menopause.

I was wrong.

After restocking the bathroom and heaving a deep, heavy sigh, I realized this had gone on a bit longer than normal. I made note of the start date and kept track of unusual traits. Three weeks in, I called the clinic.

We scheduled tests. Blood tests, ultrasounds, the works. I thanked my lucky stars that I have good coverage. I thanked my lucky stars that I didn’t decide to teach summer school this year; I had the flexibility to schedule appointments without making sub plans and using up sick days. I could even — well, anything more borders on TMI, much too much information.

Results came in:
I’m anemic. Not surprising, to be honest.
I have a few abnormal cells here and there, but nothing serious.
These should not be problems. But should, you know, is a bogus word.

Based on this, we move ahead. I’ll keep you informed, readers and friends. So far, rest easy in the knowledge that I’m resting and recovering, too. And I’m hiding that box of fudge in the refrigerator.

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Top Ten Reasons I Adore Fleet Farm

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10. Fleet Farm had the tomato supports I needed when no one else in town stocked them.
9. My receipts come with a discount on gas at their gas station. If I fill up the minivan there after making a purchase, I save. I fill my van so seldom; if I can wait to fill the tank when I’m at Fleet Farm, it’s a winner.
8. The clerk at the Fleet gas station resembles a young Brad Paisley. If the teen girls start hanging around the bait counter, we’ll know why.
7. I can resist most impulse buys because of the unique merchandise. I do not need a blaze orange negligee. Really, honey.
6. I said most impulse buys, not all. I did buy a small funnel for my jam. It turned out to be a perfect fit for the tops of the jars, and it prevented waste and messes. I’ve never seen this little gizmo anywhere else – only at Fleet Farm.
5. It’s a huge store; getting what I need requires exercise. Who needs a treadmill? Who needs to walk the mall? I just shop at Fleet Farm.
4. It’s easier to say than Farm and Fleet.
3. Chuck and I bought our bikes there three years ago, and they’re still going strong.
2. It keeps me humble. Walking from the canning supplies to the garden center I passed through the equine section. There are things on the shelves that a city girl like me will never need. Need? I don’t even know what most of the equine equipment is!
1. At Fleet Farm, I found everything I needed to make my first batch of jam!

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