A much-needed break

It's officially Spring Break for me! We're out of school tomorrow for Good Friday and then all of next week. 

The past two weeks at work have mildly stressful for me and the other bookkeepers. Between really serious federal Title 1 budget deadlines (with constant memos and reminders from the CFO and senior accountants), and a general budget freeze that takes effect this afternoon but wasn't announced until Monday, we've had to scramble to get everything done. At the elementary level, the bookkeeper and school secretary positions are combined, so there have been other job responsibilities on my plate as well. And to top it all off, I've had a mild cold coming on this week, so every day has been just a tiny bit harder because of that. I'm tired! The one great thing about these tight deadlines is that when I go back to work after the break, most of this year's budget is gone and can't be accessed. My job will get a little bit easier and soon summer (and really easy days and easy hours) will be here. All good stuff!

I really need to work in the garden next week, and it's time to plant tomatoes. I have way too many seedlings, as usual, but this year I've only potted up enough for my own use. I've decided to give away the extras while they're still small and needing to be potted up, because all that potting up is a lot of work. Gregg has a buddy, Tyrone, who always texts him in spring to see if I have extra plants I want to give away. He has a large garden and so does his dad, and they're always happy to take all the extras I'll give them. I'm glad they get good homes!

My lettuce and carrots are really doing well, and by the end of the month I should be getting some of both. My rattlesnake beans (that Mary Moon convinced me to grow) are getting big, too, and this year I planted more of them. They really are fabulous! Everything is off to a good start (knock wood) but I still have a lot of work to do. A week off this time of year is perfect timing.

April Fools!

 

So disappointing! Haha!

A week of goodness

This past week, my birthday week, has been really nice and I've felt lots of love from friends. I'm sharing some of it here for my own future reference!

Last Sunday afternoon I went over to Marla's house for a little while to see her puppies! Her Boston Terrier, Flynn, had a litter of puppies back at Christmas. There were five pups total, and they're keeping two of them. Two more have gone to their new homes and there's just one female left. Several people are considering taking her so I'm sure she'll be adopted out soon.

Here's Carsen with the pup she picked out to keep. She named him Remy.

Aren't they adorable? 

When I got to work on Monday morning, one of our regular substitute teachers, Judy, had seen on Facebook that it was my birthday and she brought me a gift bag full of goodies! I was so surprised. She's such a sweet lady.

Pens, stationary, Hershey kisses, and a Sonic gift card. So nice of her, but it was the thought that I really appreciated!

Then the next day, Tuesday, the mom of two of my favorite little kids showed up with them at school and said, "Why didn't you tell us your birthday was yesterday?! (She had also seen it on Facebook). "The kids and I love you!"  They presented me with a little rose bush. How sweet is that?

Later that same morning, the art teacher left a card on my desk while I was away for a moment. This made me so happy! She's also a very sweet lady and I adore her.

One last thing I meant to mention is that Little P. (who has the same birthday as me) turned 13 years old this week!!  How is that possible?! He's not "Little" anymore! I texted him and his mama on Monday and we've made plans to get together soon and have dinner. I'm going to give him money for a gift, because I don't even attempt to buy presents for teenage boys. I cannot believe my little buddy is a teenager now. Kids grow up entirely too fast! Meanwhile, I'm just over here getting old. :) Haha.

Two March hares

Today is a special day: my dear blogger friend Meike's birthday! Meike blogs from Germany and I love reading about her life and adventures there. A fun coincidence is that we're almost birthday twins; tomorrow I'll be 51 years old. Together, we're two mad March hares! *

I don't have any big plans for my birthday. Yesterday Marla and Martina came over for a few hours, and we had some simple appetizers and cake. I'd recently purchased a new charcuterie board and was eager to use it. The cake came from a local bakery (chocolate fudge layer cake).

Today, I want to pot up some more tomato seedlings, and maybe plant rattlesnake beans in the garden. The weather is warm and gorgeous and it's going to be a good day to be outside. All the early spring blossoms are popping at the moment: dogwood and redbud trees, wisteria, Carolina jessamine, azaleas. I even saw a few very early purple and white irises starting to bloom in a neighbor's yard!  I've always been glad I was born this time of year. Spring is my favorite season.

As for my actual birthday tomorrow, it's just going to be an ordinary workday. A simple and pleasant weekend with friends and my husband is more than enough for me. 

* Happy birthday Meike! I hope you're having a wonderful day!

Barely a stiff breeze

I'm happy to report that yesterday's weather forecast ended up being a bust! Aside from some gentle rain showers, nothing happened. Of course, some idiots on social media are dragging the local weather guy instead of being grateful we dodged a bullet. I struggle to understand people sometimes. I guess they'd be happier if we'd had widespread damage and destruction! 

Anyway, it ended up being a very productive day for me. I was only able to get the basics done for my job, but in the afternoon when the receptionist took over phone duty, I got my taxes done! Now that's a great feeling, not to mention a relief. We're even getting a modest return this year! That will certainly be welcome and will come in handy. 

My driver's license expires next week on my birthday, and I'm planning to take a personal day off work tomorrow to go renew it, and this time I'm getting a "Real ID" for federal identification. I've had to scramble to get all the documents needed for it, including a copy of my birth certificate. (There's no way in hell I was going to ask my estranged mother for it). After completing our taxes, I gathered all the documents I'll need to take with me tomorrow. It seems ridiculous that I need seven (!) forms at minimum to get the Real ID, but at least after tomorrow that will be done. I've been worried about it for months because now you can't board a domestic flight without one. Not that I have any immediate plans to fly, but you never know what might come up, and at least now I'll be ready. 

I also made Poppy an appointment for her shots and checkup, which will be tomorrow after I finish at the DMV. I figured I may as well use the personal day off to get as much done as possible. One day soon I'm going to take a personal day or two off JUST FOR ME and do something more fun.

Anyway, thanks for the good wishes on my post yesterday. I'm grateful that the terrible storms didn't materialize and the garden is safe.

At home today

Our crabapple tree has started to burst into bloom. Isn't it pretty?

Today is an unexpected work from home day for me. We have very strong storms set to roll through the area in two waves, bringing extremely high winds, large hail, and the possibility of tornadoes. The district made the call last night to switch to an e-learning day (along with other districts across the area) for safety reasons. I can answer the school phone via the Zoom app on my personal phone, and there are several tasks I can complete from my home computer. It's nice to sip coffee and work in my pjs, not to mention sleeping a bit later since I didn't have to be logged on until 8:00 as opposed to being physically at work at 7:00. It's also nice to be able to write a blog post while "at work"! 

It was a nice, warm, sunny weekend and I got a lot done. I'm in the process of potting up dozens of tomato and herb seedlings, and my lettuce and carrots (planted out a couple of weeks ago in the raised beds) are growing nicely. The two new roses are leafing out and doing really well, too. Hopefully we won't get large hail today that could easily damage them. And I dread any major storms because of how stressed out the dogs will get. I got up early and made sure they were fed and taken out to relieve themselves, because once it starts to rain hard (and especially once it starts to thunder and lightning) they'll refuse to go out. One can hardly blame them!

I'll report back later on any storm damage. Here's hoping it's not too bad and doesn't wreak havoc in my garden. A work from home day isn't worth all that!

Palmetto's Finest

Have I ever mentioned that I have wonderful office windows? They give a great view of the eastern sky, and since I arrive at work by 7am, I'm often treated to beautiful sunrises.

Here are two from this week alone.

Work has been hectic for a couple of weeks now, because our school was named as a finalist for this year's Palmetto's Finest Award. This was the week we were expecting a second team of evaluators to visit and spend the day at our school, without knowing the exact day they would come. Palmetto's Finest is a very prestigious state award, and everyone's been very excited. The administration, teachers, staff and students have been working hard to prepare to make the best possible impression, and the superintendent has seen to it that the maintenance department and landscapers and others have been working tirelessly every day to make sure our school shines. 

Well, today was the day! The evaluation team showed up at 7am and stayed all day right through dismissal and afternoon carline. What a relief that it's finally over! Everything seemed to really go well, and the day went off without a hitch. Whether we win or not, I think we all did ourselves proud!

Here's part of the email our principal sent out once they'd finally left. I sure feel lucky to work in such a great school!

I want to thank each and every one of you for an amazing job you did today. The lead evaluator called this a phenomenal visit and noted they saw many positive things. Please thank your students as well. They behaved very well. 

This is truly a testament to how wonderful we are as a staff. You already do amazing things. I just want others to see this and know it as well. 

Staff may wear jeans tomorrow. 

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

In like a lamb

On Sunday the weather was spring-like and beautiful. Temperatures got up to 75 degrees (23 C) and the sun came out after several days of rain. It was good to get outside and forget about the state of the world for a few hours. Gregg and I took the chance to get some garden tasks done while soaking up the sunshine. We re-mulched the rose bed around the two new shrubs, swept and tidied the porch, and planted this year's lettuce. Have I shown you how I grow lettuce? 

Small kiddie pools (with holes punched in the bottom for drainage) make great containers for growing lettuce. The depth is fine for the short roots, and the circumference gives you lots of room for a large crop. It's economical, because the pools are cheap and will last for several years if stored out of the weather when not in use. Even the two bags of garden soil I used in it will be recycled, because when the lettuce is done, I add the leftover soil to the bigger raised beds for volume.

Another thing I did yesterday was bring my tomato, herb, and marigold seedlings out to the porch to live. We're still sure to get cold weather, but they're all fitted snugly into large Styrofoam boxes that can easily be moved inside if need be. The 10-day forecast looks very warm, and the sunlight filtered through the porch screen should really make the little plants grow. I hope to plant out in about a month.

 

One last sure sign that spring is here is Louella's tree bursting into bloom. This is about two weeks past its absolute prime, and it's still so beautiful! These trees are always the first to bloom in our neighborhood, and I look forward to them every year.

More roses!

On Friday my two new bare root David Austin roses arrived! I didn't waste time; yesterday morning I did the recommended root ball immersion in buckets of water, and in the late afternoon I planted them on either side of the Eustacia Vye. That particular bed is finished now (aside from some possible future companion plants for the roses). It's on the south side of the screened porch, and the three rose varieties are Benjamin Britten, Eustacia Vye, and Desdemona. Considering that last year my Eustacia bloomed less than two months from planting out, and then bloomed again in the summer, I have high hopes of seeing all three flowers this year.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Blooms and a Brat

Marla came over on Monday afternoon (she was off for President's Day) and we had snacks before watching trashy TV for a couple of hours. Look at bratty Marco going after some of our treats! *

Also on Monday afternoon, I took a picture of my blooming orchids. They're really showing off right now.

*The dogs didn't act much better
 

Two Valentines

It's February break for me, which means no work this week. I love these breaks that aren't tied to major holidays so there's no pressure to do anything except exactly what I want. Gregg and I don't make a big deal over Valentine's Day, but I did get us Chinese takeout that night and a small (made for two) strawberry cheesecake. 

Here's something sweet I wanted to share. On Friday the kids at our school made Valentines for teachers and staff members and the PTO sorted them and passed them out. I didn't expect to get any, because as the bookkeeper/secretary I'm not really  working with students very often, if ever. But much to my surprise, I got two! 

The first is from Anson, one of the four kids I made friends with early on who still come by the office first thing every morning to say hi and give me hugs. The second is from a little girl who waits in the office for the nurse to arrive every morning (she takes daily medication) and likes to hang out with me. I taught her to read an analog clock (something kids are not able to do these days as a rule, which is insane to me) so that's why she thanked me for "teaching her time". I was really touched to get these two little Valentines! 

Soup for supper

Sunday afternoon I made a pot of soup from scratch that turned out to be the best I've ever made, along with two loaves of homemade bread that also turned out exceptionally well. We've been eating big bowls of soup with torn pieces of crusty bread ever since. Delicious!

Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup 

A rainy Wednesday afternoon

The last of our snow and ice melted away last night. I'm not sorry to see it go--it always starts to look slushy and dirty after a day or two, and then it's just unnecessarily messy. Not fun. Speaking of messy, it's been raining since late last night. Even though it's warmed up quite a bit, it still feels really chilly since everything is sopping wet. A little while ago I had to put a leash on George and force him to go outside. He hates rain, and he hadn't peed all day. Both dogs will walk to the back door, look out, and turn right back around. I don't blame them, but I do feel bad for them.

Since I'm stuck in the house and Gregg works on Wednesday afternoons, I'm making a loaf of homemade bread. I made a loaf a couple of days ago and it's almost gone. Making bread seems to get easier the more I practice. That's true of everything, I guess.

Oh! And look what came in the mail today! My first seed order for this year. 

I'll be starting my tomato seeds this week, since they need to be ready to plant by mid-April. The three bigger packets are two kinds of lettuce (Merveille des Quatre Saisons and Forellenschluss) and carrots (Red Cored Chantenay). It will soon be time to start those, too.

Winter weather weekend

Today is an "e-learning" day for the schools in our district. There wasn't all that much melting of snow yesterday, and what little there was froze overnight (it was 12 degrees, or -11 Celsius, at sunrise this morning) so the roads aren't safe.

 I like working from home; I brought my work laptop home so I can finalize payroll and take care of some other daily tasks, and the receptionist and I are dividing up the day to answer the office phone via Zoom app. I'll be done with my "shift" before lunchtime.

When it was just starting to snow on Saturday, one of the squirrels we're always feeding showed up at our dining room window and looked in at us imploringly. I took a big handful of shelled walnuts out there and put them on the windowsill, and the squirrel had a little feast.

I'm not sure I showed you a picture of the new ottoman we got for the front room for Christmas. Here it is in the cozy spot by the fireplace where we watched the snowstorm come in.

And here are the makings of a treat I had Saturday night while sitting by the fire. Guess the cocktail? 

Late Saturday night when it was really snowing hard.

Early Sunday morning...

Late yesterday afternoon.

The full moon rising last night.

Also last night...look at all these icicles! The house is covered in them.

It's been a real winter weekend here in Florence!

Snowy day

 It began to snow around lunchtime yesterday and carried on all day and most of the night. This morning, I'd say we have around 6 inches of accumulation. It's not supposed to get above freezing today and nighttime temperatures are dropping to record lows (the wind chill was near 0 degrees at sunrise) so the snow should stick around. It sure is pretty!

 Here's a little video I took just now to show you.

And here's a video from late yesterday afternoon when the snow was just getting started and we took the dogs out for a walk:

Snowstorm incoming!

Another winter storm is set to blow in late tonight, and this one may very well set some records--for snowfall! 

Readers from more northerly climes, feel free to laugh at me, but I'm excited. Kids are excited. Everyone's excited! There's a very high chance that we're going to get anywhere from 6-10 inches of snow this weekend, and that just never happens around here. 

Our trusted local weather guy shared this photo from our area last night:

Have you seen the big, beautiful halo overhead tonight? These are caused by moonlight passing through ice crystals in cirrus clouds. These thin high clouds often precede incoming storms! Great photo Jessica Yarborough! -Ed Piotrowski WPDE

Not only are we supposed to get quite a bit of snow, but for the first few days of next week temperatures are going to remain way, way below normal. Whatever we end up getting will probably stick around for a while. 

This all is supposed to begin around midnight tonight. I'll be posting photos, of course! Laugh if you want to, but it's going to be a beautiful, rare treat and I'm going to soak up every minute of it. :)

Roses (already)

Yesterday I preordered two more English roses to add to my garden this year. From my experience last spring, as well as lurking on David Austin rose forums and Facebook pages, a lot of varieties sell out fast. As soon as ordering opens up in January, it's best to go ahead and order if you want to be assured of getting the roses you want. My order is supposed to ship sometime in February, which is just as well, since we're in a prolonged, bitterly cold weather pattern at the moment.

My two new roses for 2026:

Benjamin Britten

Desdemona

Origins

Well, our big winter storm only resulted in a small glaze of ice on Sunday, and then it rained late that night and melted it away. We were lucky and didn't have any problems. Now there's a chance of snow this weekend, and in the meantime it's very, very cold. This morning when I left for work it was 16°F. And it's supposed to be cold like this for the next 10 days. Winter is back!

One of my Christmas gifts was an Ancestry DNA kit. I sent off my sample last month and I just got the results back this weekend. Here's what I learned:

There were no real surprises except possibly the 6% from Denmark. 

Not my planned post

 It's beginning to look like our winter storm isn't going to be as bad here as we initially feared. We're still expected to get up to a quarter inch of ice, but the worst of the storm will happen west and north of here. We're really well prepared no matter what. I even went out and bought a power bank for our phones in case we lose power. It's supposed to give us both two full charges, so that's peace of mind.

Here's what's NOT peace of mind: I just read the breaking news of another person shot and killed by ICE in Minnesota. I saw a video of the shooting and it looked like seven officers were beating a man (already on the ground) and one of them backed up and shot him dead on the spot. 

I feel physically ill. 

I wrote the first paragraph, paused and looked at the news, and saw what happened. I'd intended to write more about our storm prep, but I no longer have the heart for it. I actually feel like I might throw up.

This madness must stop. We simply can't go on like this.

Thank you, and a quick update

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my last post. I was overcome by all the kindness and support, and some of your words brought me to tears. I truly appreciate each and every one of you. I wanted to answer each comment personally, but my home computer has been glitchy lately and I've had trouble getting online every time I've sat down to do it. (Today it seems to be in a better mood--we'll see how long it lasts). I can answer comments from my phone, but that's a huge pain and I hate it. So anyway, here I am sending my thanks to all of you.

I had a pretty good weekend. Monday was a holiday, and Marla came over in the afternoon, and we made taco salads and watched a couple of episodes of The Gilded Age. It's a Julian Fellows show in the vein of Downton Abbey, and a lot of fun even though, as Gregg says, "it's a damn soap opera with fancy costumes" Ha! He's right, but it's a lot of fun. 

It was good to see Marla. She's had a rough time, because her dear grandmother, Miss Mildred, died a couple of weeks ago. I loved Miss Mildred. She was one of the kindest, gentlest souls, and one of those sweet little southern ladies that you just don't meet too often anymore. She treated me just like family, and I'm grateful to have known her. So that's sad, but she lived a good long life (she was 96) and died peacefully surrounded by her loving family. We should all be so lucky.

Anyway, that's what's been going on with me. The next couple of days will be spent preparing for what's shaping up to be a very dangerous winter ice storm set to hit the state this weekend. It's really looking like a bad one and I'm a bit worried. We have gas logs and a gas stove, so we'll be able to stay warm and fed, but the state emergency management is warning that much of the state may end up without power well into next week. 

I'll keep you all updated on the storm prep. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but we're preparing for the worst.

January challenge

After last weekend's balmy, spring-like temperatures, things have shifted and this morning it's 19 degrees outside. There's also talk about a chance of snow on Sunday, although I'll have to see that to believe it. Still, it's gearing up to be a long weekend of cold weather and staying snug in the house. I say "long weekend" because Monday is MLK day, a federal holiday and an extra day off. It's a very welcome break, even though we just returned from the holidays a couple of weeks ago. It's so hard to drag myself out of bed on these cold, dark mornings, even after going to bed early and getting plenty of sleep. 

Our school is doing a "January Weight Loss Challenge" with anyone who wants to participate putting $20 into the pot, winner take all at the end of April when we have our last weigh-in. It's going to amount to about $400 for the person who loses the biggest percentage of their body weight (which of course is fairer than just number of pounds lost). 

We had our initial weigh in on Monday. I was devastated to realize I've gained back most of the weight I lost last year. I was so disgusted with myself. I knew that I'd gained some back, based on how my clothes fit, but I hadn't dared step on a scale in two months. I was hoping it wouldn't be too bad, but what a wake-up call. I've been in a funk all week since then.

Sometimes I despair of ever being in better shape. I feel middle-aged, fat, and ugly these days. Everyone always says to be kind to yourself, and work on your self-esteem, and talk about "self-care" blah blah blah, but right now I'm struggling with those things. To be honest, I don't like myself very much these days. If I could take the weight loss jabs, I would, but since I'm not even pre-diabetic my insurance won't cover them and I can't afford the out-of-pocket cost. 

So here I am, beginning again, damn it. I don't expect to win the Weight Loss Challenge, but if I can take some of this weight back off, I'll consider that enough of a win. Gregg and I are planning a vacation to Kitty Hawk, NC this year for our 20th wedding anniversary and I'd really love to not look like a whale on the beach. I'd also like to look nice for my husband, who deserves a wife who takes better care of herself than I have been.

My three kids

When I returned to work on Monday, Gregg texted me around lunchtime to tell me that the dogs were miserable, especially Poppy. They kept going to the back door and windows to look longingly at the driveway, checking to see if I was back yet. Lots of big sighs and sad eyes. Poppy finally draped herself over the back of a small sofa that has a driveway view, and laid there all afternoon, waiting. I asked if Marco had missed me, too. Gregg said, "I'm not sure, but he's been a little asshole all day, so I imagine he's sick of me if nothing else." Ha. When I finally got home, there was absolute doggy joy. (Jennifer joy, too!)

Yesterday when I got home from work, the dogs got so excited and wound up that they started pulling toys out of the toy basket and play-fighting with each other in front of me. Marco watched from his perch, obviously wanting to join in the fun. Lately he's been getting braver about approaching them, and George and Poppy have been showing remarkable tolerance with it. It's a good thing, too, because when there was a pause in the doggy roughhousing, Marco decided it was time to move right up into both their faces. He's awfully bold, and the dogs are awfully good!

 All the kids in one shot!

My gentle Georgie. When he was a wild and crazy 

youngster, I wouldn't have believed this was possible.

Little sister Poppy.

Back to normal life

 After a nice break of almost three weeks, it was back to work yesterday. The students don't return until today, as we had professional development yesterday. For me, that just meant going up to one of the district office buildings downtown and sitting through two hours of a payroll "refresher" course with the other secretaries/bookkeepers. I didn't get anything of value out of it, but the newer people may have. Afterwards I stopped and got a sandwich for lunch and then headed to my school to spend the rest of the afternoon organizing our supply room and catching up on emails. Pretty dull, but a gentle reentry to work. It's going to be good to see some of my favorite little kids this morning when they return. 

Thanks for all the comments on my last post. Gregg's sharp pain in his ribs completely subsided after one day. I was extra worried about it all because that's the side where he had radiation in his (only) lung last winter, and he said it hurt to take a deep breath. I'm relieved he seems to be okay, but I'll be reminding him to talk to his doctor about it at his next appointment. I worry about him and his health all the time. Just typing this out makes me tearful. I realized yesterday that it was the 14th anniversary of his surgery to remove his left lung. God, that was a scary time. And the chemotherapy afterwards was hell for him, but I'm so thankful that all these years later he's still here and mostly healthy and okay. Yesterday I wondered why I was so tearful and sad all day, but then I remembered the date. Also, New Year's Day was the second anniversary of my dad dying and I think that had something to do with it too. I've been thinking more about him lately and missing him, and of course this was my first holiday of being fully no contact with my mom. I feel like an orphan, as silly as that is for a 50-year-old woman. And to top it all off, today is the anniversary of January 6th. I don't talk about it too much here, but our political situation causes me so much stress and anxiety. Every day is a new horror. 

So, I'll be glad to get back to normal today, and I'm glad the holiday season is behind me. It's definitely NOT "the most wonderful time of the year" to me. 

Men!

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope everyone had a nice NYE (even if that just meant a nice evening at home and early to bed) and is having a pleasant start to the new year.

Things started off pretty good for us last night but then everything went sideways. We had a tasty dinner (store bought lasagna, which sounds bad but tasted fine, plus anything I don't have to cook from scratch is a welcome break for me once in a while) and chocolate pie for dessert. I opened a bottle of champagne and started sipping it while we watched tv. The dogs had been fed and taken for a quick walk before dark, because people around here like to start shooting off fireworks early. They were lounging around, not paying any attention to the booms and cracks outside. George went and got in his bed early.

Then, around 9:30, Gregg said he wanted to lie down for an hour and to wake him up. I waited until around 11:00, and as soon as he got up it was apparent something was wrong. He kept getting a sharp pain in his side whenever he took a deep breath. It may be related to a fall he had on Tuesday night. He had to go service some aquariums, and when he got home Poppy was so excited to see him that she ran straight into his knee and knocked him to the ground. His knee has been swollen and painful since then, and I'm beginning to think he must have pulled some muscles in his chest when he fell. At any rate, it hurt him so much I tried to talk him into going to the emergency room. He refused and went back to bed. I don't know why he insists on being so damn stubborn! It makes me crazy!

This morning, he says it's not as bad, but he's spent the whole day so far lying down, which is really not like him. Besides his painful side and knee, he seems okay otherwise so I'm just keeping an eye on him for now. But I do wish he'd go get checked out.

Men can be so frustrating!