sick!

Whoa, haven't been this sick for a long time. Woke up in the middle of the night, Tuesday, with a bad gut ache followed by vomiting and diarrhea. By morning I had a fever, chills and achy joints. I spent all of Wednesday in bed, mostly sleeping. Or moaning, there was a significant amount of moaning. Mike, who by this time knows exactly how to treat me when I'm sick, brought me fluids, a puke bucket and quietly shut the bedroom door and left me alone.

This morning, I'm sipping of coffee because I like it and because this pounding headache is probably caffeine-withdrawal. Bleh. Feeling better but super-tired. Haven't eaten anything since Tuesday and not at all hungry. Not sick enough for 'flu, I'm thinking, so some other kind of bug.

The kids are watching something called Dino Squad which is kinda like Ninja Mutant Turtles, except that the kids change back and forth. I always felt sorry for the Turtles, being stuck in their turtle forms.

In other news, one of the guys from the halfway house next door made another cat shelter, with straw and everything.

crazy cat lady

In other news, I am out of catfood:

"GOT MILK - Yum Yum Time (deinterlaced).avi" (Watch on YouTube)

I guess I didn't realize how much was going to the ferals. Mike is heading out now, so they will all eat soon-ish.

needful things

I was reading an article about marriage-type relationships that made a lot of sense to me. The writers suggested that one of the most important things partners can ask each other is "what do you need?" Sorry, can't find the article now, so no link.

Anyway, Mike and I have both been thinking about this. I think that my needs are minimal; I'm not a high maintenance person.

-- I need to feel loved and appreciated

-- I need an hour or two a day of down time

-- I need to have enough financial stability to pay the bills on time and feed everyone in the house

-- I need a tidy living area

-- On top of the down time, I need time during the week to work on things I find fun and fulfilling.

The "loved and appreciated" is the most complex need. What do I need to feel loved and appreciated? I dunno -- still working on that. Physical things like hugs and kisses, but other things too, like helping out so I don't have to do all the housework.

One thing Mike does very well is he's great with the little boys. He's much more patient than I am. I tend to be stern, which if you don't really know me, you might have trouble believing, but take my word for it. I expect competence and can be a bit ornery when small people do not live up to my expectations. Mike, on the other hand, is an almost endless well of patience with the children. He really is lovely, and they love him madly.

There are other things I need, but they are secondary -- like, I need to know that all of my children are ok. I have a lot of children, so this need can really take up quite a bit of my cognitive space. Sometimes I get to feeling guilty because I haven't thought of this kid or that in a couple of days, or the older boys (who really are doing wonderfully) in a week or two.

I need to write. Which, speaking of that, I got my first feedback from my newly-hired editor, and it was surprisingly positive. Mostly, she just wants me to put in a line or two about where I got my facts from -- easy-peasy.

2015 garden

Sick enough to not be at work but not too sick to not be bored.

I think that this is my first post for the 2015 garden.

First, state of the winter garden -- I have three double-dug beds in my guerrilla garden across the street, about 6m by 1m. Last year these beds were struck heavily by late blight, so I won't be planting any tomatoes or potatoes in there this year.

Instead, I'll be digging two new beds in the back yard and planting my tomatoes there. That means a lot of digging this spring. This year I plan to grow:

3 kinds of tomato
1-2 kinds of potato
quinoa
sweet corn
cabbage
squash
peas
onion
broccoli
carrots
peanuts

So, I'm thinking tomatoes and potatoes in the back yard beds, corn and quinoa in bed #1, onions, peas and broccoli in bed #2, and squash, cabbage and peanuts in bed #3.

I have not had much luck with the peas because I've been waiting too long to harvest them, and then they're all blah and starchy.

It's been so cold, and then with classes and work and kids and all, I haven't done much more than make plans in my head. It's time to dig out the starter pots and see if I've got any money for potting soil.