Do you see what I see?

I think its a tulip? Or maybe a hyacinth? Time will tell!

We've had a really mild winter here this year. I don't think we've had a true blizzard; never socked in, only used the snow blower once. I'm not sure what gives... which Nina is it?

Either way, it's March 8, and things are starting to move around here. It's supposed to hit 50 degrees today, and 59 by Sunday. Too bad I won't be around to enjoy it... I'll be in FLORIDA with my mom, before we meet my sister for a CARIBBEAN CRUISE! Yeah... I'm excited. Also: self conscious about how pasty pale I am.

A busy three day weekend

I spent pretty much all day today preparing my lecture notes and slides for class tomorrow. The kicker is, I still don't have keys to my office, keys to my classroom, or any certainty that I can turn on the projector in the classroom. I know I can turn on the computer, but I didn't test drive the overhead projector when I as in class last Thursday. Foolish of me, since I've now spent 10 hours or so prepping this lecture.

This week, especially tomorrow's lecture, will be a little tricky. It's a subject area I don't know well, so I've had to do a lot of re-learning over the last 18 hours. I think I'm good to go.

In an effort to wind down and sleep at night, I'm making myself stop working between 8 and 9pm tonight. I'd originally hoped to have all the lectures for the week completed by 8pm on Sunday (Monday, this weekend since we had today off for MLK), but chose to not miss out on the Moonlight weekend instead. C'est la vie; I can work on the lectures Tuesday and Wednesday night. And Thursday's subject area is much closer to my knowledge base, so it shouldn't be quite as much work.

I keep reminding myself of the advice a fellow adjunct in the History department gave me: "Contex, contex contex; why is this important, why are you teaching this to students?"

It's been a busy weekend. DJ's mom worked in Helena last week, and will work in Butte this week, so she stayed with us through the weekend. I worked until 5pm, then ran down to grab dinner with DJ and Michelle. After dinner friends picked me and my cross- country ski gear up so we could say in Moonlight for the weekend with our wonderful friends the Kuntz'es. We've nabbing a weekend at Moonlight Ski Resort since 2010, and I think it's one of my favorite weekends of the year.

Saturday morning we fought hangovers and ventured out for some cross country skiing at Lone Mountain Ranch. It was wonderful to get outdoors in the sunshine, mountains and with wonderful friends. DJ and I need to do this a bit more often.

Kelly (due with their second child, whom A calls "Soucie", in early March), Me and Emily. 

DJ and Michelle came up on Saturday afternoon while we skiied. It was fun to show her the amazing "mountain home," and have her get to spend some time in the mountains with us. DJ made great home made pizzas for dinner, served tapas style. Mmmm, that man of mine, he's one heck of a cook!

Saturday morning we wolfed down breakfast before heading down the mountain to Bozeman, a snowstorm, and lecutres and slides waiting to be compiled. I've been in the office of our house since about noon on Sunday compiling information to share with my students.

It looks to be another difficult week in terms of management of expectations and time. Hopefully I can keep getting up early, making it to work and being productive! At this rate, the spring will fly by.

We're back!

The regularly scheduled posts over the past few weeks probably tipped you off to our Europe trip, huh? I'm not very sneaky.

I have a lot to say about the trip-- it went beautifully, with only unavoidable glitches like the unseasonably warm weather in Rome. It was in the low 90's every day, instead of the upper 70's/ low 80's like we planned for. Lets just say my husband posted a lot of facebook comments about sweaty balls.

I'm still trying to process our trip photos, all 1,030 of them. I promise I won't subject you to all of them. In the mean time, I thought I'd start with the highlights and lowlights of the trip.

Highlight (for me): Day 1- D-Day Tour. I'll post more about it later, but a couple of quick images:

German guns overlooking the Normandy beaches. 

Omaha Beach, looking towards the east. 

Overlooking Omaha Beach. 

American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. 

Really, I have so much more to say about this day. The short version of it is, GO THERE. If you can swing it. If you're in France. GO. 

Now, for the lowlight. I'll explain more of it later too, but the lowlight was the Vatican Museums/ Sistine Chapel. Check out these photos and tell me if you can figure out why:

Yeah... The Vatican Museums host 20-40,000 people in one day. We didn't know that. They also don't make you set up an appointment (like at the Borghese Gallery) so they can send everyone in waves. It was  a giant mass of people shuffling in one direction. It was alos 85 degrees outside, and either they don't have AC, or it couldn't keep up with the masses.  By the time we reached the Sistine Chapel I just wanted OUT. OUT OF THERE RIGHT THIS SECOND. OMFG GET ME OUT OF HERE. And someone brought a baby. And yes, I took a picture of the screaming kid, because I'm an asshole like that. The poor kid was expressing exactly how I felt at that exact moment too. 

If' you're in Rome, don't go to the Sistine Chapel. If you really want to see it in all it's beautiful detail, buy a coffee table book and enjoy it (for about the same price). 

Also: Jet lag is kind of awesome. I've been up since 3:45am (having gone to sleep at 8:30pm). I've gotten a ton done! 

Toiletries for Europe

When packing for one of our first trips, DJ had a list of things labeled "Toilet Trees". He knows that's not the proper spelling of all the gear one packs to deal with their body, but since then we've always referred to things like shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc. as Toilet Trees. Sometimes just "'Trees".

Given our carry-on only travel plans, the 'Trees need to be pretty light. They'll also have to be divided into liquid and non-liquid items. 

First, the non-liquid items. Below is a combination of personal care items and first aid items, including two kinds of blister relief pads, Drammamine (in case DJ gets train-sick), probiotics (for me and my sometimes unpredictable GI tract), Tums, UTI pills (I haven't had one in a while, but I don't want to deal with that uncomfortableness in Europe), deodorant/ antiperspirant, two kinds of anti-chafe stuff (I'm packing skirts and want to wear them to walk around in without having the "OMFG OUCH my thighs!" issue), Dove sensitive skin soap, which I use on my face and body, My red nail care kit (any idea if they'll let me fly with little tiny scissors?), and the scraper thing for when I get calluses on my feet (Gross to share, but important to have). And floss. 

The liquid bag is still a little uncertain. Packing contact solution is the biggest pain in the ass thing; I wish I'd been able to have laser eye surgery last winter! Also: hand sanitizer, various types of sunscreen (won't be enough for the whole trip, but will at least get us started), moisturizers, Tide packets for washing clothes, 2-in-1 shampoo/ conditioner (takes less space!), eye makeup remover and toothpaste.

Obviously I'm not showing you my toothbrush, my daily multivitamin, my makeup and all of the regular stuff I use which will go along. I've found that packing the daily stuff is usually pretty simple, since I really don't wear much makeup!

Gear for Europe

As we near our departure date, I'm pretty certain we've finished up our For-Europe purchases. I told DJ last night that I have the same feeling I did in the last week before our wedding: damn the price, if you think you're going to need it, buy it. The good news is, I think I'll have a lot less buyers remorse about Europe than I do about our wedding! At least all the Europe stuff will be used again, unlike say... the 12 tiki torches we bought.

I've shown you my shoes for Europe and most of the clothing I'll be taking, but now let me show you most of the gear I plan to pack.

As I've said before, we're planning on traveling light, with carry-on sized baggage. I'll have the Samsonite roll-aboard I bought with the remainder of our wedding gift cards, and DJ will have his tiny little roll-aboard. DJ has a messenger bag he'll use as a personal item and I just purchased a purse/ small day bag which will be mine. It's been a kind of fun challenge to work through exactly what it is we want to take.

First, a sort of fanny-pack for the most important documents. There are pickpockets in Venice and Rome, and at train and air travel locations. It's inevitable that our pockets will be picked, so we might as well prevent loss of important items. Bastards better not steal my chapstick, is all I'm gonna say! Anyway, thus the purchase of the silky fanny pack, which you wear around your front and tuck into your pants/ skirt waistband. Into it will go the passport (duh), wallet (the little green flip'n'fold wallet is from Target), and any other important paperwork. My only concern with this item is that clearly I can't wear a full-length dress if I'll need to be getting into my pouch...

While it'll probably pretty warm in Italy, I'm anticipating cooler weather in France. The weather forecast for Normandy right now calls for highs in the upper '60's (F) and lows in the upper 50's (F), with wet weather a possibility. On the left is the North Face Venture rain jacket I purchased this spring. In the middle is an underarmour pullover I've had for a few years. The green square to the right is a big green scarf which I'll wear with my black Patagonia dress on the plane. The scarf will be a cover-up, blanket, etc. while in flight. The crimson 'Cougs hat will be just an accessory- I'm looking forward to seeing if anyone comments on the hat!

Below is my carry-on items. From left to right: inflatable pillow, new Jon Grisham paperback, the day-bag I bought, a bottle for water, eye mask, Neutrogena makeup-remover wipes, travel journal, goldfish crackers and granola bars. Both DJ and I are planning on sleeping from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, so the inflatable pillow, eye mask and ear plugs (not pictured) will be important. We've both also debated taking a Tylenol PM, just to make sure we're not miserable for the lengthy flight. The paperback and goldfish are my go-to plane entertainment items. I'll fill the waterbottle once we've cleared security. The granola bars will go with us because I get really bitchy when I'm hungry, so they'll be our first line of prevention for that.

Other gear not pictured includes guidebooks (we'll separate those between our rolling luggage), a file with all of our rental car, hotel, and flight reservation information as well as tentative train schedule information for Italy. Of course, camera, camera charger, extra camera memory chip, DJ's droid phone (on which we'll turn the phone mode off and just find wireless hot spots to use it as a small computer), phone charger. I'll want to have my glasses case/ contact stuff handy, as I'll take those out pretty quickly into our trip. We've also got handi-wipes, small packets of laundry detergent for doing laundry in hotel sinks, a mini-clothes line for laundry, shout wipes (I'm taking 3 white shirts to a country that eats pasta, you know how this story ends).

The spreadsheet for this packing is actually pretty detailed, but small, since we're trying to pack so lightly! I'll go over toiletries for Europe later.

August 26 Friday Farming

Sigh. It's a Friday Farming post, as Friday is about over. I have photos for last week's Friday farming post, but never got around to actually posting them. Summer flies by so fast! 

August has been, well, rather stressful. Working to get all of the work items taken care of, personal items attended to, and trip thoughtfully planned before we leave has just been a lot of...work. It feels like Monday through Friday has been an absolute sprint. 

But in between all of the to-do lists, and the waking up at 5am with thoughts of things-to-do running through my head have been a couple of really good things. My friend Alli, the one of the the great hike, and who did the awesome pamphlet map for our wedding invites became engaged last weekend. I'm thrilled for them! But even better is that Alli and her almost fiancee Bill are visiting us for 'Cat-Griz weekend (rivalry weekend in college football, the weekend before Thanksgiving). I'm so excited to have them here! 

Along the wedding lines, I had a chance to loan out my wedding shoes to my "little sister" in the sorority, Jenni, who is doing her engagement photos next week, and getting married July 7, 2012. I'm so excited to get to pass along these great shoes which are apparently now not available. It makes me happy that Jenni will get such joy out of them too. 

And holy shit, did you know we're going to Europe?! Gah, I have so much to tell you :)

But let's focus on the purpose of tonight's post: Friday Farming. Because man, this yard/ garden is doing really well right now! Who in their right mind scheduled a major vacation in early September, just as all of the peppers and tomatoes were coming in? Oh... me.

First, Hydrangea. Specifically: twist and shout hydrangea. Makes me smile every time! 

Know what else makes me smile? Sunflowers, which FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY bloomed!

I mean seriously, I've only been waiting for this since, oh, March.

Um guys, I may have overplanted the garden. There are areas I can't really access because vines are going every which way and there is nowhere to step. Oops!

My gladiolus are blooming!

And the early girl tomatoes are ripening.

We've been consistiently picking early girl tomatoes off the vines for a few weeks now. They're delicious!

I think this pumpkin has evil plans. Plans to grow over the house and strangle us in our sleep. Seriously. This thing grows like 18" a day.

There is supposed to be a walkway in there, somewhere.

Winter squash!

Pumpkin! Question: I think I once read that after getting a pumpkin vine to set fruit, I should snap all of the other flowers off of the vine in order to direct all of the nutrients to the existing fruit and make it big? True? Not?

Zucchini! I see zuch bread, muffins, stir fry, etc. in our future. :)

Roma tomatoes! Wayyyyy bigger than last year's Roma's. I'm pretty certain they'll all ripen while we're in... Roma. Thankfully we have someone house/ dog sitting who can pick my tomatoes and save them for me to process.

Summer squash, some of it destined for our Saturday night pasta.

Glads!

Pepper!

More pepper!

Eggplant!

Spaghetti squash!

Sunflowers!

Gladiolus (apparently I'm really proud of these...)

Clematis on the top, sweet peas trellising up the bottom.

Front yard.

So I seriously thought these sweet peas weren't going to do much this year. They start so damn slow!

But clearly they come on late.

And man they smell good.

My Autumn Joy sedum is starting to turn pink. I think that means fall is around the corner...

Bell peppers!

Cherry Bomb bell peppers. So funny story. Wednesday night I was making salsa for an event on Thursday night, and I had a ripe Cherry bomb. I chopped it up, tossed it in the bowl. Then I chopped up a tomato and tossed it in the bowl, but a little into my mouth. HOT!!! Hot! WTF why is that tomato HOT! Ohh... these little suckers pack a punch!

Hungarian wax pepper.

Black-eyed Susans.

The herbs.

The mint (currently in my mojito).

My bee balm, which is getting powdery mildew from being directly sprayed by the water.

Bed along the driveway.

Snapdragon! Starting to bloom. Guys I grew this from seed!

Fern gully.

What's not shown: that I've harvested all of the garlic and it's in the coat closet drying. That we've got a pile of juliet tomatoes on our kitchen counter. That I'm seriously sad to be missing the best part of summer gardening while we're in Europe; everything is just about to start being prolific. That by the time we get back, it'll be well into fall. That I'm a bit scared/ intimidated by winter this year. That I want to plant evergreens by our front steps. That I can't wait to spend 17 days trapsing about with my husband.

Life, my friends, is good right now. Busy, incredibly busy, but good.