Well, you all know I kind of drop off the face of the map here and there, and this spring has been an incredibly... well, let's use the word "interesting"... time. Going through my photos, I can gauge that it's been roughly over a month since I've posted something, so I've got a lot of catching up to do. That means either a super-long post, or very brief ramblings and more focus on photos. I think I'm a bit more drawn to the second option.
First things first--in early March I went to DC to appeal to the powers that be to deem me "Broken." Still waiting to hear back on how that went. But let's just say it was an ordeal, and it was kind of a nightmare. I think I slept for two days straight when I came home.
One of the amazing things--and I have taken tons of photos--has been the progression of my flower bed. The crocuses have stopped blooming, unfortunately, and I'll miss them; however, the wild tulips are starting to come in and they are just gorgeous. I've planted a ton of stuff since the crocuses bloomed; they kind of got me inspired. I've got bleeding hearts, a strawberry, dahlias, and some lily of the valley in pots around my front yard. I also added some gladiolus and lupine to the back of the flower bed, as well as to some planter boxes in the side yard. Most recently, I sowed some lavender, columbine, and alyssum, and I cant wait to see them sprouting. I've ordered some hens-and-chicks to fill out the ones that exist, and I picked up some red ones yesterday. I also found a "black" columbine and some wormwood, so those need to be replanted.
Perhaps the biggest change from last month is these guys. John Snow the Betta finally passed on after a couple weeks of looking really sickly. I had a couple days with Liu Kang, who unexpectedly died. He has been replaced with Gorgeous George [
get the reference?]. He's a dragon-scale Betta, and the picture doesn't show how iridescent and shiny he is. On the other side, say hello to Cash. I've been thinking about getting a dog for a long time--and looking around the past few months. When I saw his face I fell in so much love. He looks a lot like my Nelly, who died a couple years ago. He is Australian Cattle-dog, Dachshund, and American Staff [which is so painfully obvious]. He is amazing and hilarious, but he has a little to work on in the manners and kitty departments. It's a slow process, but we have classes later this week and he is really bright. I forgot how exhausting and consuming it is to have a dog... but I also forgot how good their love feels.
Another side project I have been focused on is making my desk a more inviting place to work--for homework and to help keep me from laying in bed on the internet all day. I found this old wicker shelf at Goodwill for like $5, but when I bought it, it was solid white. A bit of black spray paint and a silver paint marker, and voila, much better. I'm working on complementing it with trinkets and such lovelies, but currently the bottom shelf mostly houses my laptop. I had a hard time doing homework with the lights not quite reaching, so I bought this cute little hanging thinggie over at Big Lots and filled it with Christmas lights. now that I look over, half the lights are burnt out, so I may switch it back to a candle. But it was a fun and easy project.
This beast hear though... It's technically a three-part project, and completing one set of candles was so exhausting that I didn't finish the other two. It was fun and interesting, but my plan for the small set of candles isn't going to work, so I'm back to collecting glassware to repurpose. The good news is it gave me a chance to experiment and refine the technique, so when I make the smallest and largest set, I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing. This project deserves it's own post though, and I'll be following up on that... uh... eventually.
Lately I've been on a muffin kick. Banana muffins in particular, but if you can make it, I can make a muffin out of it. The pomegranate blueberry ones were perhaps the biggest hit, but I also played with apple-cinnamon, blueberry-chocolate, carrot-raisin-oatmeal, and many others. They are great for a quick breakfast on the run, and they last a week or so in the fridge.
Two last items, and that'll do it for today. I saw this guy on the street corner, by himself, with what I feel is a very powerful sign. If you can't read it, it says "Pain is not Recreational. Support Medical Cannabis." Basically, WA is now trying to force of of the MMJ shops and retailers to comply with the recreational rules--which basically hurts their business and their customers. In a nutshell, WA's legalization has kind of backfired because they didn't plan enough before they passed it. Some of us predicted this, and it's a damn shame. But we are seeing a lot of states following suit, and I feel that we will see at least MMJ legalized on a federal level within my lifetime, if not medical and recreational.
The new quarter has started, and even though I haven't been properly released yet, I decided to go ahead and take a full courseload. I never know when I'll get the word that I'm finally free, and I don't want to land on my face when that happens. So I got set up to go to school so I can both use my GI Bill [have income] and work towards a BSEE [do something mildly useful with my life]. It worked my way through college about 7 years ago, so hopefully I can do it again... but this time the schedule isn't going to be as flexible. One of my favorite things about this campus is the rock-stacking. This pile of rocks is stacked differently almost every day I walk by it. I think I want to do something like this in my yard... but I'm not sure where I should try to get the rocks from.
Okay, so, somehow in the past year or two, my skin has decided that it no longer appreciates what I do for it. It has given me hell almost every day, no matter what I try. This is pretty impressive, since I managed to get through a high-stress, super-dry deployment with minor issues--once I discovered daily moisturizer. Over the past year I have also discovered toner, charcoal, and facials. I've been going to the same spa pretty much since I started acting like a girl... but my usual gal is out for medical reasons for a while. Bless her heart, I love her to death, but it turns out Ms. A is actually way better for my skin anyways! After cleaning me up a couple weeks ago, she gave me some specific recipes and tips for my skin. I finally got around to making the toner she recommends, which is less drying and probably more protective than what I have been using [although I did love it, too]. It made my skin feel &*^#$A(#$ fantastic. Highly recommend.
The other project I finished today [which I had been only mildly putting off], was transplanting the start of my windowsill herb garden. I found the planter at Big Lots [my god, I love that store]. I had to leave a spot for the Rosemary, which wasn't quite ready yet. And actually, I might sub the Rosemary for a different herb, because I'm thinking it needs to be kept more dry than the others? 
