Pea Diaries Day 24

I'm not thrilled with the germination rate of these pea seeds. These are the sprouts from a half-pound bag of seeds. Look at the Day 1 Diary entry and you can see how many seeds are there and how many sprouts are growing now. I may have some burrowing animal issues going on in that bed, too. Oh well. I'll see how these grow and decide later whether to move the bed for a fall planting.

So, which is it?

Please explain: why must ducks be in a row?

Waiting

Spinning

I had my "skate mom" hat on yesterday, my rear end planted on cold bleachers in the Ice Arena. Fern's been taking freestyle lessons as well as "Artistry" classes, and yesterday was the spring show. I'm not sure what I expected, but when I saw the program "Sunday April 22, 5-8pm" I knew I didn't expect that. Three hours! What about all that refrigerator food I'd just bought at the warehouse store? The program indicates two selections by the artistry classes, if Fern doesn't skate in the first one, I'd dash home and put the chicken away and come back in time for the second program. Well, she was in the first group, and did wonderfully. She's so wonderful on the ice. I'm a little disappointed with my pictures. I took them without the flash, so they are a bit out of focus. Oh well, maybe next time.

Two forms of ID

Last Friday I went over to the pea patch to check on the status of my emerald delights. The seedlings were just starting to poke through. Then we loaded the car and headed to OC for the weekend.

Monday on my way to work I reach for my work ID, my credential, as I approach the gate. Nada. Gone. It's not in my usual location in the car, in the cup holder tray. I get my driver's licence and check in at the guards' station to get a temporary pass. I then keep my DL handy because sometimes the guards ask for it too when entering the building with a temp ID. By the time I got to my desk the licence was not in my pocket. Hmm. At lunch time I retrace my steps and cannot find it. No one has turned it in to the guards' stations. All the while I'm racking my brain to remember where my work ID might be. Not in my purse, or tote bag. Not in my coat pockets, not in the car. Where could it be, I didn't go far?

How on earth am I going to get another temporary pass tomorrow if I can't find my licence?

As the day wears on, my panic increases. Then I get a call from some woman who found my licence in the hall. She's in her car on the way out for the day. "Can I bring it to you tomorrow?" Aye yai yai. Well, no. I meet her in the parking lot and get my card. Whew.

Monday evening when I get home from work I walk over to check on my peas—did all that rain on Sunday help any? Any more sprouts? And there is my work ID lying in the wet grass.

No such number, no such zone

We got at least 3 calls from "unknown" tonight, maybe it was 4, I've lost track. (I love callerID, don't you?) So I re-registered my phone number with www.donotcall.gov

I hate telemarketing phone calls.

Checks in the Mail

Over 2.5" of rain registered in my rain gauge yesterday. Do you know what 2.5" of rain can do to a package left on your front porch on Saturday? What was left of my package left large puddles on the floor and contained my 800 checks I ordered last week. The soggiest pack was the pack to be used first. Oh well. When they dry I can pay my massage therapist, the lawn service and the golf club dues. I'm thinking about an old milk box for the front porch to keep packages dry. Wonder if the dairy has any?

The family went to OC this weekend. No, not Orange County. Ocean City, MD. We stayed at the Carousel which features an indoor ice rink. Fern loves to skate. She's been skating less than a year and a half and is already up to Freestyle 3. I'm very proud of her skills and amazed at the speed she acquired them. She enjoyed skating at the hotel, but was bothered by the other guests watching her. She was obviously the best skater there this weekend. Our room had a great view of the parking lot. And the rain. We went to OC for the weekend just to get away, even for a little at the end of spring break. We weren't there for the sun and sand so it really didn't matter about the view.

On our way there we stopped at a Sonic in Delaware for dinner. We don't have Sonics in our area of Maryland so it's a treat when we find one. I guess if we had a Sonic, then Taco Bell might be a treat. Uh, no, sorry, scratch that. Anyway, it's fun to enter another territory and get different kinds of food. A couple of summers ago we took our family vacation to Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. The hightlight was Wisconsin Dells, a beach town without the ocean. They have Culvers. Home of the butter burger. We'd never heard of Culvers, we must have eaten 4 out of 6 meals there those couple of days. Yum.

So, for the rest of you, what are the chain restaurants you like to eat at that you don't have in your home town?

The computer model shows the possibility of snow on Sunday. A large nor'easter storm could be headed our way. Spring break will be over and report cards are supposed to be sent home on Monday, April 16. Hmmm. I wonder what my honors daughter will bring home?

Everyday Kevin keeps saying "no school! School is over!" I'm going to have to drill into his head "spring break over," so he is not shocked on Monday. I still predict he'll be hard to get up.

Taxes are due on Tuesday. My husband reminded me they took charitable contributions out of his paycheck so I had to adjust the Schedule A. But, yay! now we owe less.

I'm trying to cut back on junk food and eat more healthily. So the phrase that has been running through my head the past two days is: Too much of a good thing will give you gas.

I went to my massage therapist on Thursday last week and when I got my checkbook out to pay her: uh oh. I'd used my last check in the pad several days before. That's ok , just mail me the check. Sunday in church, I reach for my purse to write out an offering check. Darn! I forgot to get a new pad out of the cabinet. Again. Sunday night, a run to the grocery store. No checks.Arrgh! So I reach for my check/visa card. It's in the pocket of my other coat. The parka I've been wearing because the SNOW! AAAAAArrrrrrrgggh! So I have to charge my groceries. I hate that.

So first thing when I get home is to get another pack of checks into my purse, pronto! Well, ok, I put away the groceries first. But there are no more checks. I used the last pack up. I always ignore the warning "this is your last pad of checks ORDER NOW!" I ignore it because the warning is always on the last pad in every box. And there is always another box. Except this time. Box 4 of 4

Say it with me: sheesh

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I went to the web site to order checks, the one I've ordered from before. And have been a happy customer of for a very long time. Very clearly they tell you the price of the number of boxes you're ordering. 2 boxes are $21.90, 4 boxes are $36.80. A little voice starts nagging me: how many check are in a box? I really have to start searching on their site. Several minutes and several clicks later I find it, buried "below the fold," 150 checks. Hmm, I thought there were 200! They didn't "raise their prices," they lowered the quantity. Like a pound of coffee is now only 12 ounces. A bit of quick math: $61.33 per 1000 checks. Then I found another company who still has 200 checks per box and charges $34.75 per 1000. And they are ordered. Now I just have to wait.

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter

It was fun waking up to a blanket of snow this morning.

Where do you throw stuff away? OK, I know, the trash can, but where else? Here in Maryland office buildings are smoke-free. Which means there are no ashtrays turned trash receptacles conveniently located at the elevators in this new building. The other day I needed a chocolate fix and I knew my project leader had a stash in his office. "Help yourself." Thanks. Yum. Except all the way back to my office I'm holding a handful of little foil wrappers because there are no public bins. Furthermore, now there is evidence of chocolate consumption in my trash can!

Pea Diaries Days 1 & 2

Yesterday in the mail I got my box of seeds. I ordered two half-pound bags of garden pea seeds (Alderman & Eclipse), two packs of bell peppers (rainbow mix), and a pack of tomato seeds (Giant Belgium). It's the first time in years I bought tomato and pepper seeds, I usually just buy the plants at the hardware store in June. If I am successful in growing these seedlings, and you live in my town, (I'm not mailing tomato babies), I'll give you a seedling or two. Just ask. (We'll see who is reading this!)

Today I left work early for an appointment and afterward had time to pick a place in the yard for my peas. This house was a model home for the builder when the neighborhood was being built 20 years ago. It's a corner lot and the house faces the intersection (to the southwest) so the front yard is bigger than the back and has better sun, and I usually plant my veggies in in the front. Today I picked a spot of unused soil next to the garage.

Last summer —or was it two summers ago?—I taught myself how to solder copper pipe together and made copper trellises. I made them so the four units are supposed to fit together in a large X formation, but I've never ended up using them like that. Anyway, I prepared the bed for the peas, soaked one pack in warm water (the other variety wants warmer soil so I'll wait a few weeks), sprinkled them over the soil (dirt), covered them up and stuck the trellises in the ground in the middle of the bed. I'm a fan of the "wide row" method of pea growing, instead of one seed two inches apart for the 16 million feet a pound of seed will create. The vines help support themselves this way, too so you don't need to provide a lot of growing support.