Again?!

Well, I am sick again...and I am sorely tempted to dump my aspirations to go through such minor trials with cheerful endurance. But I won't dump them...I WILL persevere. Suffice to say, I am disappointed with this development...and my face and my teeth hurt...and I'm coughing like I've smoked excessively for my entire life...And I have NEVER smoked!

 Unless you count the time that my sister, Erin, and I pretended to drive Dad's old red Dodge pickup -- it had a bouncy seat and a sloppy steering wheel that was perfect for this -- and  we pretend smoked an entire pack of his Salems. I'm sure he was thrilled to find we had mouthed an entire pack of his cigarettes and stuffed them back into the package...In fact, that may have been the beginning of the end of his smoking. It was probably not long after that he made a deal with Mom: he gets a horse if he quits smoking. Best deal ever, I would say!

Anyway, I'm dropping my expectations for accomplishing much this lovely sunny Maintenance Monday. I intend to plod on -- with plenty of breaks. Fortunately, I am reading a good book to distract me from the annoyance...

In other news, I have reaped my first harvest from the garden...

Wonderfully peppery and crunchy radishes!

As usual, my little garden is thriving on neglect. After this picture I decided it was probably safe to remove the long stakes I lay on it to keep Daisie from thinking it is a large dirt bed for her to lounge on. For warming or cooling purposes, our boxer loves a good dirt bed.

My cilantro tub is growing well. Last year, I couldn't get my cilantro to grow, and I missed having it so handily available for my summer cooking. I plant a quarter of the tub at at time and that way, I'm less likely to waste it. Time to get some seed going in the 3rd quarter of this tub...

The berry bushes are full of green berries, and after just a little sunshine and warmth, you can see the change...

And now that there are ripe berries on the bushes, we really, really want it to stop raining...instead of just really wanting it to stop raining. Ripe fruit + rain = moldy old berries hanging there until there are enough to pick. Unfortunately, you don't have to tell mold to be fruitful and multiply...It knows how to do it...

Fortunately, things are looking up for the weather forecast. Summer, please come!

Friday night last, we went to Relay for Life to listen to our favorite band, Nicholson Road.

It just so happens that Dillon and his wife Tiffany are in this band, along with Tiff's brother, Robert, and a couple of their friends from church...and they did a great job! I want their CD -- they just need to make one! Actually, this is a fun hobby for your kid to have...and so far it's pretty easy to be their roadies...

Last but not least, I got an iPhone last week. With great trepidation, I finally activated it. I was afraid of jumping into a new world of technology and find myself illiterate, and, conversely, also afraid that I would become obssessed with its marvelous capabilities. Neither fear was realized as the switch from Blackberry to iPhone went seamlessly, and though I find that the iPhone is superior in every way...EVERY way...I am not obsessed by it, just find it very, very convenient.

Of course, I just downloaded Words with Friends, so maybe obsession is yet to come...

Well, it's time for my next dose of ibuprofen, decongestant, and Maalox (to comfort my irritated medicine corroded stomach), and then to plod through Maintenance Monday...

...but first, a nap!