Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Something to Write Home About

...is something I don't have.

I took my developmental psych final Monday morning. That was exciting. I zipped through the first page, had something for the first essay, and zilch for the last page since I hadn't read that article. I "skimmed" it and underlined a sentence that somehow had nothing to do with any part of the question. Still, 40/50 is fine.

The week is dragging like mad, though. It's only Wednesday? Why the hell does it feel like at least Thursday?

My mom was up yesterday for the sole purpose of spending time with me. That was a rare treat. I had the whole day free and so did she. She brought several uprooted plants from the garden--five squash starters, which we planted in the former garbage pile/cat shit area of the back yard, some violets that were planted under the plum tree, and a dying sunflower, flat-leaf parsley bush, and stalk of spearmint for the front. Planting things in the yard was disturbing for all the trash people left in the ground that grass and dry dirt eventually covered. I found a green army man along with several shards of glass and bottle caps along the front porch.

For lunch, we went to Cedar's, which is on my block. I can see it from my back door. (Now all you STALKERS who know where Cedar's is can take a WILD LEAPING GUESS about where I live, OH-NOS!) It was good. It was very busy and the servers were plentiful and attentive. They constantly wanted to refill my chai. We had baigan bharta (the eggplant dish that drove me wild at Spice Rack), cheeseballs in a red butter sauce, tabbouleh, and whole wheat flatbread stuffed with potatoes and spices. It was all delicious, even if the baigan bharta didn't make me swoon like it did last time.

We went up to the cemetary where my grandparents are buried and my dad's ashes will rest. There's this outdoor storage...thing...that has a name I forget...and a nice view and a statue of Mary holding Jesus after he's come down from the cross on top. There was a small bunch of fake orange flowers in his flower holder. My mom thought they were ugly.

Then we went on a gardening shopping spree.

First up was the Indoor Sun Shoppe at its new location in Fremont. There was a lot of pretty stuff, so I grabbed the quarter-sheet brochures on sundews and butterworts and inspected the selection. Then I asked the girl to help me pick out one of each. She told me their selection sucked that day, and I should come back tomorrow for more. I agreed and we left.

Then we passed by a small nursery on our way east and stopped to browse. They, too, had some pretty stuff. I almost want to buy jasmine now.

We made it to our eventual destination, the City People Nursery in the Capitol Hill area. Not the hipster part, though; the upscale yuppie part. If there is a difference. (I feel a palpable difference between Broadway and the more easterly parts, but I don't know the area that well.) We looked at a bunch of plants. They had some carnivorous plants for pretty cheap. I ended up getting a big bag of potting soil, two long plastic planters (to repot my leafy greens), a smaller terra cotta pot to repot the basil when it grows, a tiny pretty red sundew, and a dark and mysterious relative of the fuschia with burgundy, trumpet-shaped blossoms and dark, angular teardrop leaves.

I have a lot of plants now. I hope they grow well.

I made mom dinner of tomato-buffalo mozzarella-basil salad and whole wheat penne with red onion and mushroom marinara, topped with feta cheese. Very exciting stuff, that. She thought she should hit the road after that, but I suggested we go up to Carkeek Park in hopes of catching an interesting sunset and/or a train. Mom was agreeable. I called Kevin and had him meet us there. The cloudy sunset was quite lovely; the air was still. And eventually we caught a southbound train. She decided it was time for her to head home, gave me a key to the beach house, and left.

I went to Fred Meyer's with Kevin, then back to my house, where I slept too early once again. I also got him to eat saltwater taffy (another of mom's gifts) after Lauren said the taffy she got on the Oregon Coast didn't have butter.

Today, I work at 1. I need study for my law final and probably do some other things around here. Like clean the fridge out and pot and repot and plant some things. I have calls to make to City Light--after Jenny gets me a meter reading--and Comcast to make sure they know we're out of that apartment and should not bill us after the 14th. I have a few more items to move that might take two trips (or two cars).

I need to bug people for times they are available for a party since I only know five peoples' availability, including mine. So if you're reading this, unresponsive haremites...please reply to my email! :) Oh, and invite other people, too. I do have a handful of non-harem friends who would enjoy a party.

Do I have anything else to talk about? Nothing. I don't think. I feel very boring lately, just obsessed with plants and the house. It'll settle soon.

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