On a dreary Monday, life is still good.

[badseed1980]

Here are some of the reasons why:

1. I had a lovely weekend, most of which was quite relaxing. I got a lot done, though, including some long-neglected housework and racking of the beer and pierceheart's mead. We did not rack my mead, because I needed to buy some fresh thyme and mint for it, but the store was out of thyme (ha ha ha). The boy's mead and the beer are both very tasty, though! The beer is strong and sweet, but with a rich roasted barley taste to it. Yum.

2. There are sprouts coming up in our countertop "greenhouses" where we planted seeds. Genovese basil, sweet basil, coriander/cilantro, and sage have reared their little green heads already! This is very exciting. We started planning out what we're going to do for planting, too. We'll have a few long skinny window-box type planters attached to the deck rails, a few flowerpot type planters on the deck itself, and some upside-down tomato planters hanging from the structure above the deck.

3. My Weight Watchers materials came in today. I now have a little points calculator I can carry everywhere, books with points values of a whole bunch of foods, some recipes, a food journal, and even some free samples: a WW snack bar and some oolong tea! Nice! I feel a little silly getting all this stuff when I've only got 8 pounds to lose to get to my goal (can you believe it? I've actually been holding steady at 138!), but I also think it'll be helpful. After all, I think those last few pounds are the hardest to lose. Bringing my breakfasts and lunches to work has really helped me, since even if I have a non-diet dinner, if I eat a diet breakfast and lunch, I don't gain weight.

On the negative side, I wish I'd remembered my umbrella because I feel like going for a walk, and am not keen on getting soggy. AND OH SHIT THERE IS A SPIDER ON TOP OF MY CUBE WALL HOLY SHIT EW EW EW. *grabs binder* *SMASH!* *deep breath* OK, that's better. Blah. If it's already raining and you kill a spider, does it make it stop? And don't tell me about how wonderful spiders are. I know, intellectually, that this is true. Phobias do not, however, care about what you know intellectually.

I think I need another positive after that. OK, here we go: tomorrow night is hot tub night! Yay! That should be fun.

Comments

[miss-lisa-ma.livejournal.com]

AND OH SHIT THERE IS A SPIDER ON TOP OF MY CUBE WALL HOLY SHIT EW EW EW. *grabs binder* *SMASH!* *deep breath* OK, that's better. Blah. If it's already raining and you kill a spider, does it make it stop? And don't tell me about how wonderful spiders are. I know, intellectually, that this is true. Phobias do not, however, care about what you know intellectually.

Good smash! I hate the little bastards, myself. I don't get people who aren't heart-stoppingly scared of spiders. (My roommate's even worse than me, so now I get to do the smashing. How lovely.)

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I get the not-afraid, because I know how I'd feel if it had been, say, a fly or a beetle, or some other insect, and I know a lot of people see spiders the same way as those: a bit icky, but not frightening. A lot of people even see poisonous spiders the way I see poisonous snakes: something to be wary of and take seriously, but not worth freaking out over unless you've been bitten. I just wish I were more like that. :)

[miss-lisa-ma.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way--snakes, meh; spiders, and I'm levitating across the room. I wish I were more like that about them, too, especially when stories cross the news like the one about that Brazilian wandering spider they trapped at a Trader Joe's about a week or so ago. Seeing that creepy )#(&%)%* every time I clicked a news site was lovely. Really.

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

I'm that way about bats. My sympathies.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Whereas I like bats! And snakes. Just not spiders.

[she-of-emeralds.livejournal.com]

I try and let spiders alone, but I hate multi-legged creepy-crawlies with a passion. They just send the ooglie-googlies up my back. Ick!

As to plants, my chamomile has sprouted! Yay chamomile! Still waiting on the basil (don't know what kind it is, though), rosemary and lavender. Have heard that lavender is hard to grow from seed, though, so won't count it a failure if that doesn't work. It didn't last year. But this time I really will go and buy some lavender plants--probably even if my planted seeds work.

The (obsession with? LOL) lavender is why my RL/LJ friend L. made this userpic for me in the first place. I think it was my very first one.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I've generally had problems with lavender. lindalee says that freezing the seeds for a little while before planting them helps, but I forgot to do so this year. Oops.

We now have parsley as well as the basils, cilantro, and sage!