Good grief - this week extends into July. Summer is fleeting.

Harvested some sugar snaps from our garden - heavenly. And a striking head of Romaine Lettuce yesterday. We are competing with a rabbit for much of what grows, but once it reaches six or so inches off the ground it can't reach, so we're safe. That's one unwelcome rabbit, however cute it hops.

Good grief is right Bill. What happened to June? Does your bunny like chili powder? Try sprinkling it on the soil around your veggies. It won't hurt Mr. Rabbit but will probably deter him enough that you can get a decent harvest. I did that with squirrels who were getting my tulip bulbs/buds. They stayed away. Mudpie didn't. She inhaled the chili powder like a cocaine addict getting a fix. Then she sneezed and sneezed.

Don't ever try rinsing a cat's nose out with water - OUCH!

I'm hoping to resolve this new car thing today and then not get a rude surprise when I pick the car up in July. I'm feeling quite sick with anxiety already - didn't sleep much last night and woke up in a panic attack around 3 a.m.. I'll be sooo glad when this is over.

This is why I will only buy a car when my current one is starting to fail - about every 10-11 years. I have been really stressed about this for over a month. Part of me wants to take DH along for muscle today but I know that won't go well and there will be a long aftermath at home later. SIGH.

Gonna be a looong day for me.

Good Monday everyone else!

Dagmar and

Morning!

Dagmar - I so feel for you with the car buying anxiety. I've had to buy a car twice, and both times it was an "emergency" and I had ONE day to buy it. Ugh. The first time I went to Carmax (do you have those in Canada?) where there's no bargaining. Which means you pay more, of course, but it's almost worth it to alleviate the anxiety. The second time I got an older model used Toyota and am pretty sure I overpaid, but was just happy to have it done and over with.

Mondays are my early days (in my office by 7, usually, grading student essays that were emailed in to me over the weekend) and my long days (3 classes, then I'll probably be here until around 4, lesson planning and grading). I absolutely love teaching and can't imagine ever doing anything else, but sometimes the prep work drives me crazy. The good news? Long weekend coming up!

Have a good Monday everyone!

Bill, the only thing we've ever found that keeps the rabbits out of our veggies (and flowers, for that matter) is chicken wire. We put a 2-foot tall chicken wire fence around anything that we need to preserve from them. The problem with putting cayenne pepper or chili powder that we've had is that it rains so frequently here that you basically have to reapply every day.

I just realized I haven't seen any Japanese Beetles yet this year. It's about time for them to start showing up, but I certainly wouldn't mind if they went extinct.

We've been getting a good harvest from our backyard this year. The peas didn't produce much, but we've now torn them out and planted beans in their place. The lettuce grew so much we couldn't use it all and we pulled it out last week when it all was bolting and bitter. This week we're harvesting carrots and beets. Easy way to make them yummy: line a baking pan with foil and cooking spray, chop up the carrots and beets into relatively large chunks, put in pan, spray with more cooking spray, bake at 400 for 40 minutes or so. Easy, healthy, and yummy.

We've also been harvesting blueberries -- no problem with the rabbits there but instead we had to put bird netting over them. Two robins somehow have managed to get themselves caught in the netting while trying to steal our blueberries so far, but we set them free. Got a big pile of gooseberries as well but I'm not sure what we'll do with them yet. If there is a family gathering for 4th of July we'll probably make a pie. DH wants to try making like a lemon meringue pie but with gooseberry juice instead of lemon juice.

I called the rheumatologist's office this morning to see if my labs were in. They told me the doctor would call if my labs were abnormal, and if I didn't hear from them they were normal. I hate that. I want to know either way. Otherwise how can I tell the difference between my labs being normal, my labs not being back yet, and the doctor forgetting to notify me about it? I'm guessing since it's been a week they are probably back and all normal though. In any case I'm going to drink a lot of water and tea today to try to flush any water weight. Thyroid labs should be in soon too. I'm starting to think maybe I'm just crazy and there is really nothing wrong with me.

Where did June go?

So it appears this is the last week that DH will be on the diet with me. Good for him, he reached his goal. He's going to ease off the Medifast foods in the coming weeks. Me? I'm in it for another month or more, but that's okay. I'm not going to order any more Medifast foods, instead I'll incorporate "real" foods but try to maintain the higher protein and low carb. I did check out another website that has many of the same types of products as Medifast, but at a lower cost--I may place an order there. They also had more foods to cook instead of just soups. I'm getting really tired of soup for lunch!

Dagmar~good luck on the final negotiations with the car.

Bill~good luck on keeping the pesky rabbit away from your garden. We have tons of rabbits here so I don't even bother trying for a garden. That and it seems that I can't make anything grow here anyway.

Jen~where do you teach? And what subject? Forgive me if you've said it before and I just can't remember. (I'm too young for a senior moment!)

Jessica~I'd continue to call about your labs. You need to know the results regardless. I agree, he could forget to call you.

Happy Monday to everyone else! Have a good week.

Dewey is trying to type this morning so excuse any typos in advance!

I also can't believe June is almost over. At least it means my dh is closer to coming home-- he returns July 2. He is in Bangkok now (after being in Singapore, and he still goes to Malaysia before returning)-- the cell reception there is terrible so I have almost no contact with him-- very frustrating-- we keep trying but one or the other of us can't hear or we can't get through.

Jessica-- definitely call! You are paying (or your insurance) hundreds if not thousands of dollars for all of the tests. I like what my GP does-- if there is anything abnormal, she calls. Otherwise, you get a note in the mail. Either way, there is no guessing.

Now my fingers are getting licked and chewed. I'll check in later. Apparently Dewey wants a Bowflex as he clicked on the ad!!

Michele, you better stop Dewey now, while he's still young & hasn't begun bidding on eBay.

This morning I just opened a bottle of Sephora's store brand Chocolate Espresso body scrub for my shower. I smell like a spoiled teenage girl's gigantic Starbucks drink & and I want to bite my own arm.

Nobody here works for Oracle, right? Let me vent for a minute. They are causing me much annoyance on the job today, though the person I'm dealing with is extremely pleasant & polite, among the best in her field at her job.

But still Oracle is better than dealing with a car salesman. Dagmar, this is the moment to forget years of socialization as a thoughtful, considerate, even genteel woman & to let the shrewd, rude hard-bargaining peasant come out. Is there a way to apply Cesare Milan's teachings to interactions with car salesmen?

I don't work for Oracle, but Larry Ellison recently bought property here. There was a couple (now divorced) who must have been extremely wealthy. They built a home with a private 18 hole golf course (one of two private ones in the valley--the other belonged to the late Walter Annenberg). He (Ellison) was in the news here a few months back because he bought that place for $75 million.

Jessica - I've never eaten beets, and as much progress as I've made in loving veggies, they still intimidate me. Maybe roasting is the way to go?

Alinell - I teach academic ESL at a local university. My students are all adults, usually just here in the States for short-term English study, or possibly planning to continue to study for an undergraduate degree or a master's. They're from all different countries with all different ability levels, and it's a pretty fun job (minus the never-ending essay grading!).

Michele - Singapore is one of my favorite places on the planet! Have you had a chance to travel with your husband? I would be mighty jealous if my SO traveled for work and I got left behind all the time.

saef - I just switched out my plug-in air freshener at home to something called "Frosted Cupcake." This was probably not the wisest move on my part.

I realized I have half the ingredients at home for mango-avocado salsa, and was planning to have salmon already so that sounds perfect. Now I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to go to the store for the missing ingredients (lime and red onion). Hmmm . . .

Hi all,

Ok, last week was a little rough on my diet. Not horrible, but not great. I was out in the sun all day, every day, didn't want to eat much due to the heat, but then would be ravenous at home later. And exhausted, so the gym didn't go well either, and Emma didn't get quite as many long walks as normal. Back on track this week.

I made bruschetta from all the tomatoes in my garden a few days ago, and will probably make another batch tomorrow! Or maybe some gazpacho.. but that's a lot more work than bruschetta. The bell peppers are starting to come in, and eggplants growing, and habaneros are ripening (destined for mango habanero jelly). My zucchini plants don't seem to make any real zucchini, even though they've had tons of blossoms. I went blueberry picking yesterday at an organic blueberry farm. It's a bit of a drive for me, but worth it. The price is very reasonable, especially for organic, and now I've got a bunch of fresh berries for this week and am freezing some for my oatmeal & smoothies for the next few months. I've also got a big watermelon chunked up, and am going to make pickles with the rind (which I give out as holiday gifts). I love summer produce!

Does anyone know of any good shows playing in NYC right now? I'm going to visit my parents who live ~1 hour from the city in July, and my mom suggested going into the city for a show, and told me to find one for us to go to. I like musicals, too. You all know I'm a theatre nut, it will be hard to me to narrow it down I'm sure!

Jen, mmm, mango avocado salsa sounds delicious. :

Saef, umm... darn that oracle!

Allison, what is "June"?

Jessica, mmm, roasted beets. I grew some over the winter and they were tasty.

Michele, aww, Dewey sounds so cute. I'm over my annoyance at Emma for the weekend poo and back to thinking about how cute she is.

Dagmar, you can do it! Stay strong! Employ your Cesar Milan tricks, and channel Saef and wear some red lipstick to exude your power!

Megan~The Book of Mormon is playing in NYC--it's a musical and won tons of Tony's a couple weeks back. Of course, unless you're well versed in the whole Mormon thing (which I am, by way of living in SLC for so long) it might not be as funny to you.

Second vote for roasted beets. But you do have to be careful as the purple juice gets everywhere! I did mine with butternut squash, carrots and Brussels sprouts.

Of course that mango habanero jelly sounds really, really good!

Jen~I figured you had to teach at a university or some such, but didn't know the subject. Is it difficult? Do the students know any English when they start? Do you know any of their languages?

Hello hello. Busy weekend, busy week coming up. I need things to slow down. I swear it was just May yesterday.

I've been working really hard on diet and exercise for the last month and my average weight has come down by .1 pound. I've been beating myself to death with exercise and have shorted my calories a lot for 0.1 pound. Argh.

Megan - we just got the soundtrack for The Book of Mormon after watching the Tony's. Love it. I would see that one if I were going. Though it isn't what I would describe as 'family friendly'. I'm totally jealous of your garden. How large is it?

Jen - I think it would be totally worth it to go to the store for the missing ingredients for that dish. Sounds yum.

Saef - I have a chocolate cookie scented candle that I had to throw away. I couldn't handle the cravings that came on when I burned it.

Michele - Dewey might want to get his exercise on!

Allison - is Medfast expensive? How is it working so far?

Jessica - definitely keep after the doctor for results.

Dagmar - good luck with the car negotiations. I hate that part of the process.

Bill - My grandfather used to put the hair from his hair cuts around his garden, but I don't know if it actually ever worked.

Good day everyone!

You may want to consider a second choice, as a safeguard, as tickets for "The Book of Mormon" are extremely hard to get.

For myself, I'll be picking up tickets to "Master Class," a play about Maria Callas that I saw about 10 years ago & really enjoyed -- and which gave me my first look at Audra McDonald -- and "The Motherf&%$#er with the Hat," a Chris Rock play. I'm also waiting for "Lysistrata Jones" to transfer uptown to a larger theater.

I'm considering taking my mother to see "Baby It's You" or "Born Yesterday."

Of long-running shows, I'd recommend "Avenue Q," "Anything Goes" (yes, the classic), "Billy Elliot."

I recommend getting your tickets through Broadway Box if you buy beforehand, and seeing if you can use a discount code.

http://www.broadwaybox.com/

The other thing to do, of course, is to line up at the TKTS Booth in Times Square on the day of the show. But remember they sell leftover tickets & you are not going to get sold-out shows that way like "Jersey Boys" or "The Book of Mormon."

I don't know your taste in shows, so I'm kinda throwing out names at random here.

Is Medifast expensive? Yes and No. Since I'm not spending as much at the grocery store, then no, not really. But in comparison to other brands, yes, a little. Each box is 7 servings and costs $16.95 + s&h. They offer a coupon each month, so if you spend over a certain amount, you get a certain amount off the total. I think the maximum you can get off is $50. I found another site that sells similar food items (Nashuanutrition) that sells a box of 7 for $10.95--but not all of their things are that price, some things are $5.95 each, so you have to look closely. But I've lost 14.5 pounds so far (6 or so weeks with a couple days off here and there). DH has lost 15.

Oh, and Avenue Q is funny. A bit raunchy, but funny.

I would imagine that TBOM tickets would be hard to get right now, didn't think about that. It looks like Mary Poppins is still running there now, it was really impressive. The Normal Heart looks good, as does the Chris Rock play.