Not the creepy tv show. I learned about CSA's this year (Community Supported Agriculture) and waited until March 15th the first day to sign up for the Inwood CSA (I had the date circled on my calendar for months).
The first bounty was great and exciting. Farm Fresh Just for us, was what I kept saying for days after. And even now when I see our weekly fruit and veggie harvest I can't help but smile and think "Farm Fresh Just for us", cause that is what a CSA is. And this one is Organic and biodynamic. We get our veggies from Hawthorne Valley Farm. I'm not going to lie, sometimes they go bad. Sometimes we don;t have time or energy to cook them all and we end up tossing some out. That is a shame. Today I picked up this weeks share and this is what my fridge looks like:
Up top are string beans, concord grapes and that yellow bag is filled with Arugula (the adult's lettuce). So with all those colors and that farm fresh produce, this is what I decided to eat when I woke up from my nap and headed to the kitchen:
AND they aren't even home made. They are the powder mix that you just add an egg and butter to. BUT the butter was Organic, that counts right?
If you know me, you know that one of the few things in life that I REALLY want is serve on a jury. Maybe not even serve, but at least be called and go thru the process. I think it is a great constitutional right and civil liberty that was given to US citizens in Article Three of the United States Constitution.
Surely we get to vote and mostly have the freedom of speech and exercise our constitutional rights that way, but I think that serving on a jury is the one of the ultimate American things to do.
I have no idea why I have romanticized it as such, but I have. When I lived in Florida I was called twice. TWICE! and both times when you call in the morning of, i was told i wasn't needed. That was sad.
Then a few months back, I opened the mail box and saw the County Clerk's seal and the words "Important: Jury Summons Enclosed" highlighted in red - i was so excited. Until, i read further down the envelope and saw it was addressed to Josh Maready. Josh?!?! Josh, doesn't want to serve on a jury (well maybe he does, but is a hassle for him being free lance and all). I want to serve on a jury.
When we moved apartments, I wasted no time calling the DMV to tell them i moved, so that they would update my records and somehow trigger my jury summons. When it came time to vote, again I quickly changed my address hoping it would trigger my jury summons (really I'm not even exaggerating).
Well Friday it came. I opened my mailbox and there it was. Such joy has only been recorded on A Christmas Story when Ralphie gets that last box hidden behind the desk and finds his long awaited Red Ryder Rifle. That's what it felt like for 30 seconds. Then I saw the date October 25, 2010. 6 days after my expected baby's delivery date. Yep. so guess who can't go to jury duty? Yep. me. i think i just shot my eye out. this just may be the first of many sabotages this kid does.
I am almost 30, almost a mom and I am scared of the dark. Not that I have to sleep with a nightlight, mainly because there is always some sort of glow from the windows, but I am scared to walk anywhere in the apartment in the dark.
I get out of bed and turn on the hall light to go to the bathroom. The Bathroom. This is where I am most scared in the dark. The mirror in the bathroom. That is the real problem. It freaks me out. A bathroom mirror in the dark is one of my only fears. Spiders? Nope. Snakes? Nope. Dying? Nope. Extreme adventures where you risk your life? Nope. Bathroom mirrors? yep.
I know where it comes from. It comes from Bloody Mary and Candy Man. I just never got over the slumber party / horror movie fear you are supposed to get rid of when you are say... 12? I'm 30. The idea of confronting my fear and standing in a dark bathroom while looking in the mirror and repeating Bloody Mary or Candy Man, scares the crap out of me. I mean what if something DID happen?? What if I saw something appear behind me? What if at that very same moment ANYTHING made a noise? I can't even imagine what I would do.
Sometimes when I get up in the night and go to the bathroom and just think the name Bloody Mary in my head i get scared and stop before I think it three times.
There you have it. My greatest fear in life is a bathroom mirror.
Because they are DELICIOUS! Really I could eat 30,000 of them and not even flinch. Yes, thirty thousand. I have my first Reisen every morning right after breakfast. Every. Morning (sometimes I even have one or two before 8am). and then it's down hill from there. Or up hill. Depends on if you are my taste buds or my Conscious.
Here's to Reisen's!!! I LOVE YOU!
If I ever have another pet I think I will name it Reisen. Especially a chocolate lab. I never wanted a chocolate lab before, but this gives me a RIESEN to want one.
I've been meaning to blog about my excitement about this for months. Yes, months. When I first started this thing I said "Man, I have to do an entry about this". Now I finally am. Deep breath...I don't even know what to say except I hope I am not disappointed. When Harry Potter first came out, it was my sister that first really took to it. She raved about it, then my parents read it and loved it. So I read book one and naturally, I wanted book two immediately. I read books 1-5 back to back almost (well as soon as they were available), but for some reason now forgotten I stopped there and took a long hiatus. Two Summers ago, my friend Corinne and I went away for the weekend to Atlantic City, the place where dreams are made of. I remember we were walking around and I asked her to fill me in on the details of book 7. I told her to spare no spoilers that I would eventually read it either way - knowing or not knowing what happens never stops me from reading a book. So, I knew the big parts, like who marries who and blah blah blah. Fast forward two years almost and while at Corrine's I pick up book 6 and decide the time had come to bring Harry back into my life.
I didn't realize until maybe the second chapter in, how much I actually missed him and his pals. I couldn't put the book down. When I wasn't reading about Hogwarts and He Who Must Not Be Named (right now only cause I don't know how to spell it, and I don't feel like looking it up) I was dreaming about it. It was kinda like after I play Bejeweled for a while and I close my eyes, all I see in my mind are the little jems and where i can fit them to create a chain. Or when I look at people's faces and my mind starts to move there nose up or eyes down to make things line up (but I think that is a different post), that really happens for at least an hour straight after an intense Bejeweled session.
Ok, so right after i finished book six, i jumped right into book seven and read it straight one weekend and didn't get much else done in my life. I was also motivated by all the Young Women at church who brag about reading book seven in one day. Or the Bishop's kids who read ALL of the books before their 8th birthdays.
I enjoyed those two books so much. You just get so caught up in the story and the characters that you just feel connected. Is that weird? It sounds kinda weird.
I remembered when I was in Orlando last year my family went to Universal Studios and I saw the construction of Hogwarts Castle. It was awesome. So I did a quick Google search and found this. Or watch the video below.
Just look through it. Take the flying tour. Dream of an empty Universal Studios where you can enjoy this for all its glory without hundreds of thousands of screaming kids in strollers and people walking slowing and standing in long lines all day.
That is what I dream of now. I don't know when I will make it there, but I hope it is sooner than later. And I really hope I am not sorely disappointed. This can be wonderful or terrible. Lets all hope for Wonder.
Here are 19 photos that should get you pretty excited.
P.S. Word is there will be at least TWO roller coasters.
Mainly due to the Olympics going on right now Canada seems to be everywhere. Well some people don't like Canada. I know someone who won't even call it by its proper name. They will only refer to it as "America's Hat". Some American's don't like that they club seals. Some American's are jealous of their safeness, clean air, health care or many other neat things. Maybe some people hate it because of blogs like this . Maybe others like to laugh at the way they say SOOORY. I know when I was a kid and watched Welcome Freshman, I used to think they sounded ridiculous. I'm sure it also doesn't help that the United States beloved Stephen Colbert loves to poke fun and spar with them regarding speed skating. Whatever the reasons- justified or not- we have to be ok with the fact that Canada isn't going anywhere, and technically they are on top.
I haven't had many encounters with Canadians, but I would like to share an experience I recently had. In Barcelona there is a place called Montjuic. In most occasions if you wanted to go to the top you would take a little tram that whisks you away to the top and you can bypass the hike and the gardens. Well, since February is off season they decided that they would do repairs, therefore, it was closed and we had to either walk up or take a bus. We decided we would walk. When we got to the point that seemed like a good starting spot (the bottom of the curvy road) we saw two young men also holding a map and trying to decided which way to go. They were speaking English so we started to talk to them, had about a 10 minute conversation. Turns out they are Canadian. We say good bye and separate on our quest to reach the top. We get to the top of the trail and there is a fence separating us, a road and the fort (our final destination). We see the Canadians looking puzzled as well and they tell us that they are going to walk back down and try a different route (Canadians = polite and law abiding) we decide to jump the fence (Americans = reckless and lawless). While enjoying the views and the history of the old fort and prison (at this point we have reached our destination)I see a cannon that who wouldn't want to climb and sit on: .
Now from this vantage point I can see two young men approaching (the Canadians) and josh also sees them. Between snapping shots of me on the cannon he turns to them and says "So you made it". The one looks very confused and shakes his head. Josh says again "So you guys made it". The guy shakes his head again and says "I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Neither does josh. josh speaks English. Only English. Josh's eyes go kinda big- kinda like when you don't want to bust out laughing- and he turns back towards me. and says "O.K." Finally, that Canadian realizes he knows josh, apologizes and blames the long hike. Sigh... Oh Canada!
