Change is good?

So after securing the final pre-surgery appointment with the hospital and submitting all of the necessary requests off for time for all of the appointments and finally completing all of the complicated state paper work for time off, the surgeon’s office called and said that one of the doctors on the team wasn’t available now for June 14^th and my surgery would have to be moved to July 12^th. The scheduler said “you must be super woman because everyone insists that they must be present for your surgery.”   I can’t say that I was too happy initially because I had put so much work into getting everything done on time and now I was going to have to reschedule everything and do all of the paper work again.  I took a deep breath and reminded myself to go with the flow and I feel much better about it now.

PROs of changing to July 12^th

-          I get to go to the Phillies Fireworks game

-          I get to enjoy June’s Philly Night Market

-          I can spend the month of June playing in my garden instead of resting on the sofa

Cons of changing to July 12^th

-          I now have to get one additional shot and be on Lupron for an additional month because my current dose will wear off at the end of June and I need to be flare free prior to surgery.

-          I can’t get out of Jury Duty.  My jury date was June 20^th and originally I would have been recovering from surgery.

     -      Just last week my job had worked out the somewhat complex issue of covering my position.  They interviewed and hired a graduate student to do a summer internship so I would have had two weeks to train them.  They would have filled in for me while I was out and I would have come back before they went back to school.  Now with the dates thrown thrown off they may have to make adjustments for how my job will be covered and they will have to figure out exactly what the student will do now for a month and a half if I’m still hanging around (this was the thing I was the most upset about because I don’t like to inconvenience other people).



It didn’t take me as long as I thought to reschedule all of the various pre-surgery appointments and everyone was very nice (I guess this happens a lot).  So now I have to be very patient and wait one extra month before getting my endometriosis excised.

Taking Back The V

There is a patch of dirt in our front yard that we refer to as “the V”, due to its shape.  For years it has served as a dumping ground for leaves from my nemesis, the holly tree.  This year ignited by the fuel of Urban Homesteading I was determined to take back the V and transform it into a useful space.  My husband, who is enjoying my new homesteading passion and hopes that it “isn’t just a phase”, was kind enough to offer his assistance as the ground was filled with roots that needed to be pulled up and at times clipped. 
Pulling up the roots helped to churn up the earth and after a few hours I had a suitable planting bed. 

 I planted four Calendula plants.  They have vibrant orange flowers that can be harvested and dried.  Once dried they can be used for tea or more often they are used to make oil that you can then utilize to make skin care products. They are also supposed to act as a natural pest repellant.  I added a bee balm plant so I can use the leaves for tea (it is supposed to make a lovely cup of Earl Grey and perhaps the plant might attract Jean Luc Picard to my house).  Finally I planted some lettuce and swiss chard seeds and crossed my fingers that maybe they might grow (I have had absolutely no luck with seeds of any kind in any area of our yard, ground or container).  A layer of licorice root mulch tucked everything in nice and cozy and transformed the V into a respectable growing area. 

Distraction Fun

Garden Knees

I do believe that it is always important to continue to work on improving patience and to practice just being;

I also think that there is nothing wrong with keeping busy and distracted.  I think this is helpful to those who have to encounter me everyday especially my husband and perhaps also our contractor.  We are in a sort of limbo holding period while we work on our renovations and while I work on having surgery and healing.  What I really want is to have all of my adoption paper work done yesterday, be matched and have my travel date; but I am going to be patient and know that everything needs to happen in His time.

   Again however to keep my sanity and to save the sanity of everyone else I decided that I needed to work on a project.  I do love writing, especially children’s and young adult fiction and I currently have one finished novel that desperately needs editing and another novel that is yet to be finished, but I think I need a project that involves my hands more than my head (though I am looking forward to being a full Nanowrimoer in November).

   In tenth grade I took “home economics” which ended up being sewing class because that is all we did.  I was horrible at sewing.  It took me the entire year to complete one project.  While everyone else moved on to making skirts and other useful things I continued to struggle to get the stitching on my doll’s dress correct.  Her poor arms and legs ended up being embarrassingly uneven.  It is funny how at a young age one failure can be used to blanket many things.  I decided at sixteen that if I couldn’t sew I was doomed as a homemaker. 

     Recently I’ve fallen in love with several homemaking/homesteading blogs.  I love the idea of jumping in and getting dirty; growing and making things myself.  A few podcasts and websites later and I wanted so badly to learn how to be an urban homesteader (since we live in a small townhouse actual homesteading isn’t in the cards just yet).  Thanks to Pinterest I’ve already started several boards pinning all sorts of homesteading and other homemaking ideas and I’ve decided to tackle some of the projects in no particular order.

Edible front garden bed with rosemary, lavender, mint, lemon thyme and some catnip for our kitty.

I’ve already planted lots of herbs and I’ve prepped everything in anticipation of planting vegetables.  I’ve purchased some yarn and knitting needles so I can learn how to knit and I have a book called “Sewing School” which is meant for small children, but since that seems to be my current sewing level I felt it was an appropriate place to begin.  I’m pretty sure I have enough projects to last me the next few years.

Interesting and informative book I stated reading.

Recommended for kids or those of us who are way behind on our sewing skills