Weekend of contrast

I woke up last Friday morning to see snow out the window. This was not pleasing, but I was okay with the fact that it was snowing because I was flying out of town later that day to go to Las Vegas.

I had a much better time in Vegas than most people do, because I didn't lose a cent of money to the slot machines. Instead, I went and played with Danielle and her family- Adam, her husband, and their three kids.

The highlights of the weekend were as follows:

No snow! Nice, warm weather in the 70's

Danielle's little boy, Jacob, kept forgetting my name and referring to me as "that girl" or "you." This was very hilarious.

Danielle's baby is one of the happiest infants I have ever seen, and I've seen a few.I think my heart melted a few times.

When Danielle and I lived together in Provo, she was studying piano performance in college and we would often have music nights where she would play the piano and I would sing. I took a good chunk of my music books along and we had a wonderful time
playing through our old favorites. Hooray!

Little Cindy went through a routine each night where she pointed out that my toothbrush was in the toothbrush holder along with her and Jacob's, as though this was the most pleasing thing in the world to her.

Now I am back in Utah and it is, again, snowing. Hard. And foggy. But I think it will warm up soon and then it will be spring for real!

Of plants and birthdays and other such things

The grow light is here! I thought I would have to dismantle my leafy corner to keep seedlings there, but then I figured out that I could rig the light up under my desk table. It always surprises me how bright it is when I turn it on, but I guess that's the point. Most of the basil has been potted and is sitting under the caring watch of the grow light even now. The rest of the basil and the tomatoes will get to begin their lives this weekend.

This is birthday week at our house. Wednesday was Theresia's birthday, today is Sarah's, and Saturday is mine. Then Kerstin's is on the 24th. And Cassaundra's is on the 30th of April. We are a pretty decent cluster, I think. We're having a mass birthday party on the 18th and calling it "Cassaundra's roommates' birthday party." I guess Cassie gets her own because her birthday is spaced out by a month from the rest of us. But we've been having lots of good food here this week.

Speaking of good food, I am having a heyday with different kinds of ethnic food lately. There is a Finnish breakfast and lunch place in Salt Lake. Did you know that? I need to get over there for a Scandinavian breakfast soon. The girls at work and I are going to lunch tomorrow to Mazza, a middle eastern restaurant and I'm starting to drool thinking about hummus and gyros and pitas and tabouleh and fresh limemade, which Emily claims is divine. I was supposed to choose a meal for the family birthday celebration this Sunday and it was a struggle. It's going to be a fairly Italian, very European meal with foccacia bread and pureed carrot soup and spinach salad. But I'll be home Saturday too, and I'll be using that as an opportunity to try a few new Thai dishes (there will be curry on the menu along with the new dishes in case they don't work. Thai curry is one of my favorite things ever).

Lastly, life is good. But good and easy are not the same thing, don't fool yourself. Life is good and it's hard work- digging deeper and deeper into the heart of things that really matter and trying so hard to cast aside the things that don't, that just weigh you down and hold you back and prevent you from becoming the person God wants you to be. This is my quest. I think it will keep going my whole life- I think it is largely the point of being alive. And it's good and satisfying and sometimes even exhilarating. But man, it can be tiring sometimes. I'm feeling particularly introspective because that happens to me around things like birthdays. The goal is that next year at this time, I will be a better, more compassionate, deeper, more mature and Christlike person than I am now. Gearing up for a spiritual marathon!

The Great Basil Experiment

I am an absolute sucker for fresh basil. Oh my goodness, the stuff is heavenly. So, I figured, what could be better than trying out a few different kinds to see which varieties I like best, and which ones work best with different dishes?
Hooray! Today my herb seeds arrived. The garden will be sporting:
Thai basil
Baja basil
Sweet basil
Italian large-leaf basil
Sweet lemon basil
Purple sacred basil
DiGenova basil
Siam Queen basil

And just for good measure, there is peppermint and spearmint, and I couldn't resist the description of their Alaska mix nasturtiums, and they threw in some sweet rocket as well.

Now if that grow light would just get here . . .

Winter's on the Wing!

Today when I got home there was a small package on my desk containing my tomato seeds! With a little luck, this year we will get to partake of the delights of
chadwick cherry
Green zebra
Cherokee purple
Red Pear
White Wonder
Amish Paste
Brandywine
Mortgage Lifter
Green grape
Heinz 1439
Pink bertona
Black krim
and yellow pear tomatoes

That is assuming that I can get them all to germinate and thrive in my bedroom for several weeks . . . hopefully that grow light gets here soon . . .