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Running

I decided it is time to start running again. Its only been 6 years and 50 pounds, I can handle it. Right?
So, I spoke to a couple co-workers (who run marathons) about running shoes and feet, and then went out and bought some workout clothes. A week later, today, I was ready to go.

Wow. I can't even run a quarter of a mile anymore.

But I took the first step, and now I need to keep it up.

At least I enjoyed myself and didn't have a heart attack.

Considering myself tagged

I think: way too much.

I know: that I need another vacation.

I want: a house and a huge garden.

I have: cool projects at work.

I wish: I knew what I know now 10 years ago.

I hate: dealing with politics at work.

I miss: my family.

I fear: I won't be able to have kids when I'm finally ready to.

I smell: nothing. Stupid allergies.

I crave: food.

I search: tutorials to learn programming languages, like html for Leslie's blog, and Microsoft Visual basic to make macros in Excel at work.

I wonder: if I'm going to get a promotion.

I regret: my major.

I love: my husband and my family.

I care: about way too many people and things and it depresses me.

I always: take the bus to work.

I am not: tough.

I believe: the US needs to reduce its dependence on oil and ethanol is not the answer.

I dance: very poorly, and when I play DDR.

I sing: in the car to U2.

I don't always: watch what I say or how I say it.

I write: not as much as I used to.

I lose: too much sleep over nothing.

I win: the award for most patient husband.

I never: smoked.

I listen: poorly. I spend too much time focusing on my response than on what the other person is saying.

I can usually be found: on a computer.

I am scared: of turning 35.

I need: to lose weight.

I am happy about: Nick getting his mohawk back.

Gardening - Some Results

I have tomatoes and strawberries that are ready to eat, and Nick's peppers are on a roll.
I'm a bit disappointed with the amount of food I'm getting. I have quite a few green cherry tomatoes, but at the rate they are ripening, its going to be difficult to have enough for a salad. I don't think I'll do cherry tomatoes again, unless I have about 5 plants going, instead of the 2/3 I have now. (I have 2 in one pot, so neither of them are reaching their full potential. Both pots are producing about the same amount of tomatoes.)

Here's a picture of one bunch. I'm having a hard time with the auto focus on my camera, but I really do like the way the stem reflected the flash.

My strawberries are producing even less fruit. But the one berry I enjoyed so far was delicious. One of the best strawberries I've ever had. I'm sure I'm biased.

I'll probably eat this one tomorrow or Sunday.

The flowers I grew from seed and started late are starting to bloom. I'm not a fan of petunias, but Nick and I decided we'll be growing the violas again next year.

Petunia

Viola

I'll show off Nick's peppers once they are ripe.

My Garden - Peppers and Tomatoes Today

Nick is supportive with my gardening. Which is a good thing, because he didn't see very happy a year ago when my parents brought me my first plants in containers.
Nick has been so supportive, he has his own pepper section in the garden.

Initially Nick picked out a nice pot and planted some Habaneros from seed. He didn't tell me what he was planting.

Nick's original Habanero Fire Pot

A couple days later, I got tired of my flooded and dying pepper plants, so I went to the store and bought my own Habaneros. Oops. (This is how they looked a month ago when I bought them, and the picture was taken today.)

My store bought Habaneros

We realized we were going to have a Habanero overdose, and thought it really was too late in the season to start a plant from seed, so Nick gave me his nice big pot for flowers, and moved some of the Habanero dirt inside.

Nick's Habanero's grown from seed (on left) with our kitchen herb garden.

Nick ended up buying more pepper plants from the store, and put them in yellow pots. So far, so good.

Nick's Yellow Pots of Pepper Spiciness
(store bought plants)

The fruit of success
(store bought plants)

As for my tomatoes, they are doing pretty good (except for the weird yellow leaves). I have baby cherry tomatoes and plenty of blooms.

My Garden - Flowers Today

I've been doing so much planting and container buying since April, that I was afraid Nick would stage an intervention for me. I've slowed down a lot, however I did buy another 18" container at Home Depot today. (I needed to buy something, since they gave me a bag full of sawdust for free.)

The spring flowers died back, so I pulled the rest of my tulips and all my hyacinths and daffodils today (which is why I needed sawdust). Since I had space, I planted the rest of my dahlia's and cannas. They recently started coming up, so I'm hoping these last few plants will grow and bloom later this summer.

All in all, my garden has been pretty successful. A lot of my plants grown from seed didn't make it. Some because I moved out too soon (and then there's the peppers I flooded...) and other because I started them too late (and over thinned them, I think). But since this is my first time gardening, I'm very pleased with my plants.

The garden

Flower Boxes

Pots

One of my day lillies

My impatiens (grown from seed)
They are doing a lot better now that I've moved them outside.

My only blooming iris (And it smells so good)

I've been experimenting with several types of annuals: dahlias (from seed), salvia, portcullis, violas, impatiens, double impatiens. My area is on the north side, but there is still a lot of sun. My impatiens are under the porch. Next year I may put more containers up there and plant more impatiens, but I'm not sure yet. I have a double impatiens in the flower box spot that receives the most shade. I've decided that I'm going to go with violas from my primary annual next yet. It is nice and full, and there is a huge variety of color. I will also look into seed dahlia's. My current seed dahlia's are doing well and so far bloom regularly. I also think I can plant a whole lot denser than the directions advise.

This year's perennials have been hyacinth, tulips, daffodils, irises, dutch irises, day lilies, lily of the valley, cannas, freesia, and dahlias (from tuber). The dutch irises and lily of the valley didn't do anything. I haven't seen any freesia yet either. The day lilies blossoms last just that long, a day. So I've been disappointed. I need to learn about more lilies (such as star gazers) and see about growing those instead. I'm also impressed with my tuber dahlia's. They came up pretty quickly after I planted them. I'll have to wait until later in the season, when they bloom, to make up my mind entirely. But I think I'll be adding them as a staple to go with Irises. (Hint, hint, Cooley's would make a fabulous present.)