Six Months Gone

Today marks six months since Hubby officially left home on his journey to the sandbox. What has happened and changed over the past month?

- Number of meals cooked this month: 0 
  Running total for deployment: 0 
(Note that I do not count frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets or baking a hamburger in the oven as cooking.)

- Scrapalooza saw the completion of 0 pages. Scrapbooking seems to have hit a hibernation point. My weekends are taken up with gardening tasks and now I've even started going in to work on the weekends! Plus, I just received a huge box of photos from my mom that I need to digitalize in order to get them preserved…hmmm…we'll have to see what I manage to get done next month…

- Body Count. All the stuffed animals are gone. All that remains is Humpy Bear, and he is sacred. Fred and Sadie continue to bring such joy into the house. I cannot wait for Hubby to come home and meet his little girl. I've become so attached to her since welcoming her to the clan, and I just know that it is going to kill me to have to put her in a kennel when we embark on our travel adventures.

- Mechanical Emergency Number Four - My car's steering column started smmmoookkkkkin' on my way to work one day. Suddenly, I realize the fear that my air bag could deploy on me while I'm driving down the freeway at 70+ mph! Turns out the switch on my turn signal had burnt out and needed replacing. Huh. I guess that these are the things that happen to people that actually use their turn signals.

- Additions to the garden this month include dahlias, zinnias, delphiniums, coleus, two new rose shrubs, marigold, celosia, petunia, lobelia, lithodora, white osteospermum, cosmos, skullcap, fuschia, and Asiatic Lily. My Freesia has finally blossomed, and I thoroughly enjoyed basking in the fragrance of the blooms. My rose bushes continue to produce gorgeous blooms that I use to create small bouquets in the house. Yes, I've added more roses to my garden…I'm in love with them. The tree in the front yard is a flush with leaves - heralding in the official arrival of spring. My gazanias have done much better than I anticipated - all have taken hold at the foot of the garden and are actually in bloom! The Jasmine is in full bloom, and the breezes bring the heavenly scent into my bedroom and to the back patio…is it any wonder that this is a favorite of mine? I've turned my attention to some maintenance tasks - pesticides, snail bait, tree trimming and mulching. I've also picked up new solar lights to light the walk and flower bed, as well as indulged myself with a few quirky garden decorations to add some more cheer to the beds.

- I've been absolutely exhausted lately.  Work is kicking my ass, and I just want to shut down when I get home in the evenings.  Add to that having to keep the house up and going all by myself...it's a wonder I can keep track of what day of the week it is!  Can't wait for Hubby to get home - his being away is really starting to wear on me and I just miss having him around.  Only about three more months to go...

- Reports from the Front...I spent a morning attempting to be an Animal Control Officer. Barefoot. Not an easy task when you don't run. It was a fun morning, anyways. The office "Life Rat" was killed with kindness…all we wanted to do was provide him with a clean apartment, but he just wouldn't hold still! Poor Templeton…RIP. And only a week later, we find ourselves with another rat. You've got to be kidding me. "T2" is not as cute as Templeton. We've also had an office squirrel (Rocky) and today we got a Guinea Pig (Yet to be named.)  Kitten season is starting, and I'm starting to see what everyone at work has been warning me about. So many kittens coming in! And if there's no momma, they don't stand much of a chance. SPAY AND NEUTER, PEOPLE…SPAY AND NEUTER!! Also, staff members are starting to realize the importance of just shutting ourselves away from the office for an hour each day - some know it as lunch, we look at it as a mental health break. We just have to find time to laugh…otherwise we might go insane!!