tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54759302011-07-08T06:00:19.238-04:00bashasgardenMy vision is to create a business from my garden, so that I can afford to leave my job, have the garden as income, and paint and write. I also want my customers to read the story of my garden, look at pictures, and get an idea of the process of the work of the garden.bashanoreply@blogger.comBlogger1601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-36048874195296457142009-11-25T11:47:00.003-05:002009-11-26T18:10:00.830-05:00I thought I would talk about my plans for next Spring's garden, as the seed catalogs are now starting to come in. I am waiting for Fedco, my favorite catalogueur, and from whom I get the bulk of my seeds. I am also helping a friend start a small backyard garden, and I am will supply her with seedling and in exchange, she has helped me to get more organized at home with the clutter.Planning the bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-28294380427940910682009-11-24T11:08:00.003-05:002009-11-24T12:31:56.952-05:00It's been quite a long time since I have posted here. My garden has taken on a huge new role in my life, due to the economic meltdown. This year we are edging up on becoming more self-sufficient with the garden, in terms of vegetables, and fruit. Thanks to the freezer in the barn, I have put away a lot of frozen greens, like bok choi, kale, and swiss chard, as well as tomato sauce, and edamame bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1142891447190183762006-03-20T16:46:00.000-05:002006-03-20T16:50:47.200-05:00Hello, everyone--not too much going on, dyed my hair red, actually using henna now. Everyone says they like it, everyone except my sister, but the only one I need to please is myself.New job chugging along. Easier than I thought. Just takes time to adjust. And it's not that I want easy, because I would rather be very busy, and learning. I've learned some things, but it is not as busy as I thoughtbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1138985688369775822006-02-03T11:44:00.000-05:002006-02-03T11:54:48.433-05:00Well, I've landed a long-term temp job at a major pharmaceutical company, and it will last for one year. Apparently, they have to let you go after a year, due to some savvy temps suing Microsoft a while back and winning--they were temp status for years and years, trying to be absorbed into the company, but always having to stay temp with no benefits.So now large companies hire temps--cheaper thanbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1137433852948971682006-01-16T12:38:00.000-05:002006-01-16T12:50:52.990-05:00I just re-read my previous posts, and have to admit I have spent the last few weeks in an anguish of sorts. Don't know why I let my anxiety rule my life, but I do. I went to an AA meeting yesterday, and I went to the same meeting last Sunday, and at both meetings I got the same message--I need to meditate.I have not been doing so. But I did some yesterday morning, and today. And both days I had abashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1135532573518184452005-12-25T12:33:00.000-05:002005-12-25T12:42:53.530-05:00Can someone tell me how to fix the huge space that occurs either before my post or after?Merry Merry to all!I have secured a long-term temporary job for a few months, and have found the company to be a very pleasant place to work. I don't like the commute--it is in congested, fast traffic, but I am grateful to have the job. It gives me a bit more breathing space, and I need that right bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1134328571690549242005-12-11T14:14:00.000-05:002005-12-11T14:16:11.710-05:00A little bit of time has gone by since my last post, and I still have not found work. I am sending out letters and resumes now, but so far, no work. Tomorrow I will call temp agencies, and see if I can work this week. If nothing materializes, I will continue to do as I have been. Unemployment is making a decision this week as to whether I will be able to get some money from them.bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1133476267816326542005-12-01T17:18:00.000-05:002005-12-01T17:31:07.833-05:00Well, my intuition was right. The new employer let me go this week. I was on a freelance basis with them for the time being, and they were treating it as a very long interview for a full-time job. I worked very hard there, but it wasn't enough. I brought a bunch of skills to them that they wanted, and for two or three of those skills, they were very happy, but the other, which was proofreading, bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1133044947085041042005-11-26T17:16:00.000-05:002005-11-26T17:42:27.096-05:00Thanksgiving weekend--lots of good food, lovely company, and some time for reflection. Last year at this time I did not know that my husband had a life-threatening, rare illness, and I was still at my old job--although sending out resumes, as the work-flow had dried up to almost nothing.One year later--we have not faced any major changes, yet with the diagnosis there is always something on my bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1130460752181396492005-10-27T20:48:00.000-04:002005-10-27T20:52:32.193-04:00Started a new job, can't do anything else right now except go to work, come home and go to bed. The transition is that hard, from sloth to overworked.Still, the work is interesting, and the days are flying by, which is better than the last job I had, where the workflow was so slow, the days themselves slooooowed down to a crawl.Can't paint, can't get to enough AA meetings, just goin' to work.Hopebashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1125601257885301472005-09-01T14:52:00.000-04:002005-09-01T15:00:57.890-04:00The broken finger is all healed--although terminally crooked, but at least I can type. Summer's almost over, I have one trip to NY for Labor Day weekend with my husband--we are staying in his daughter's apartment, while they come out here to stay and take care of the dog, chickens and cats.We hope to see the Matisse show at the Metropolitan Museum, go to some galleries on Saturday in Chelsea, andbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1122328110400868302005-07-25T17:48:00.000-04:002005-07-25T17:48:30.403-04:00Hello to my legions of readers! The summer is hurtling along, and we are trying to stay cool in the hot days, and I am trying to paint in the heat. Some days I just read in the air conditioning.Today we got a break and I went out with some others to tour the Barns of Distinction. I was looking for some information--we have a beautiful stone barn, really, the reason we bought this house was bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1120138281375217052005-06-30T09:23:00.000-04:002005-06-30T09:31:21.383-04:00I am joyously, deleriously happy. I am free from worry, for some moment of grace, meditating, painting, writing, gardening--all with a broken finger, but since it doesn't hurt, it is only a minor inconvenience. I have two privat computer students, and a very minor part-time job with my AA sponsor--who is a wonderful person to be around. Granted, she has a lot of freedom from financial insecurity,bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1118061798627029652005-06-06T08:37:00.000-04:002005-06-06T08:43:18.633-04:00Life is what happens when you are busy making plans. I broke my finger while walking my dog. A strange thing, breaking a finger. Seemingly a minoe inconvenience, but it complicates everything, well, most everything, but typing is certainly more difficult, as you can see. It means that the unemployment office says I have to inquire about disability, the doctor saya that my working skills are now bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1117459649186668322005-05-30T09:18:00.000-04:002005-05-30T09:27:29.193-04:00After 2 weeks of running around like a squawking chicken, I have come to see I am blissfully happy not working. I have an interview on Wednesday with a major pharmaceutical company, and will do my best at the interview, but if they offer me a job, plan to get my friend, a negotiating genius, to help me craft some negotiating points--part telecommuting is my goal. There is no reason I can think ofbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1116438618528094352005-05-18T13:48:00.000-04:002005-05-18T13:50:18.533-04:00Well, it is good to remember the previous post, because I LOST MY JOB LAST WEEK!!!!Now, the great unknown looms. However, I have what i need today, and even more than.Meditation is the prescription so that I will know what next actions to take or not to take.bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1115842019426641792005-05-11T16:01:00.000-04:002005-05-11T16:06:59.430-04:00I was very interested in the story in the New York Times Magazine section this past Sunday about studying the brain. In particular, the article mentioned the study of meditation and monks who had been practicing it for years. Here is what it said:" may not come as a great surprise that interaction with the environment can alter our mental architecture. But there is also accumulating evidence thatbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1115232743953608852005-05-04T14:29:00.000-04:002005-05-04T14:52:24.033-04:00We are settling into Spring, and the grounds look better than they have in weeks. We have new drama in the chicken coop, and it is the way we respond that I know I could not be a farmer who kills animals. We have a bunch of hens I raised a few years ago, and they are still producing enough eggs for our use and to sell a few. We have two roosters, one given to us, and the other is his offspring, bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1114435032441117732005-04-25T08:58:00.000-04:002005-04-25T09:20:05.873-04:00Spring came in full force with a week or so of unseasonably warm weather. The pastel beauty of the flowering trees and the tender green of everything else makes me swoon with happiness. Someone I know said that she takes the coming of Spring personally, and I understood that.But I also feel that it rushes in, and rushes on, too quickly to become the darker greens of summer, and that seems to bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1111597898887697822005-03-23T12:04:00.000-05:002005-03-23T12:11:38.886-05:00Spring is Here!!!We are starting to warm up, and I have plants out in the coldframe on the porch every day. Also planted some early things in the greenhouse, still risky as nights can get pretty cold, and there is no heat there.I am starting more flower seedlings this year, dianthus, heliotrope, lupines, cosmos, and will start to visit garden centers soon, looking at what I can purchase to bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1109788253266849152005-03-02T13:25:00.000-05:002005-03-11T14:58:57.403-05:00My husband, in writing in the comments section of the last post, gave me permission to write about what we are looking at in his diagnosis of myelofibrosis--a rare blood disorder which is cured only through bone marrow transplant. We are both in the process of discovering what that all means, in general, and for us in particular. If anyone has any knowledge of myelofibrosis, or any other bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1108155695669937562005-02-11T15:48:00.000-05:002005-02-11T16:01:35.670-05:00It gets really hard to post on the weblog about personal things now. Because what I recently went through had to do with someone else, and how to write about it, without invading their privacy, I don't see how I can do that.And the circumstances became overwhelming, and very dramatic, life and death, actually, but it seem inappropriate to write anything about it. And be very selective with whom Ibashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1106320611210574092005-01-21T10:00:00.000-05:002005-01-21T10:16:51.210-05:00This is the second try on this post. I tried to post one yesterday, and got an error message when posting, and lost all the writing.
Started looking for another job a couple of weeks ago, sent out resumes to about four companies, heard back from one, but that seems to have evaporated for the time being.
However, yesterday, got called into vp's office, and was given a raise. Apparently they are bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1105113062365344242005-01-07T10:42:00.000-05:002005-01-07T10:51:02.366-05:00I still have my job, and we actually have work for me to do in the next few months. One person was let go, and the president of the company is taking over the business development. All of this allows for a bit more financial security for the next few months.
The light is changing and I am working on my seed order. This weekend, I am planning to set up the light table where I place the trays of bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1104683751983913932005-01-02T11:17:00.000-05:002005-01-02T11:35:51.983-05:00Happy New Year to all!!!!
We got through the holidays, sober, and now, a little fatter. Sugar is too irresistible during the holidays, and yesterday, New Year's Day, it was all over the place at the two gatherings we went to. But it is back to Weight Watchers next week, I think I might skip tomorrow night, no, as I write this, I want to skip because I don't want to know how much I gained these bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1102430382726629552004-12-07T09:19:00.000-05:002004-12-07T09:39:42.726-05:00Today is my birthday, and as usual, is cause for reflection. Having gone through a month of sadness and/or depression over the results of the election, I wish I could say that I have rebounded back to a better place.
Well, in some ways--I have done more meditation, almost on a daily basis, and this has given me a better ability to stay in the day, even in the moment. I have re-activated a bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1101321460348560972004-11-24T13:36:00.000-05:002004-11-24T13:37:40.346-05:00Happy Thanksgiving to all!
bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1100094249114262012004-11-10T08:24:00.000-05:002004-11-10T08:48:19.920-05:00it seems that I am only interested in writing in this weblog every three weeks or so, and sometimes not even that. Obviously I am having a problem wanting to continue, and also am going through some shifts in my life, and during this time of transition, am not willing to put my thoughts down on paper (virtual, as it is), as even thoughts seem to be shifting in sands.
First my monthly report. Gotbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1098726504642147162004-10-25T13:42:00.000-04:002004-10-25T13:48:24.643-04:00Am diving headfirst into my studio, and going for "artist dates" with myself during lunch hour around here at work, because there are two sister towns here and bridge spanning river to cross over to one or the other, with many galleries.
Of course the galleries are more provincial than I would like, but I am still finding some interesting beautiful 20th century landscapes that are inspiring.
bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1097092581519991822004-10-06T15:50:00.000-04:002004-10-06T15:56:21.520-04:00I almost forgot I had a weblog! We had lots of excitement with the Hurricane, helping out neighbors, and I have been super busy at work lately.
I celebrated 31 years of sobriety the last weekend of September, and my AA sponsor gave me a coin at my morning meeting. She has been a great gift to me, and now all of a sudden, people are asking me to sponsor them and take them through the 12 steps. bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1095790083275009332004-09-21T13:52:00.000-04:002004-09-21T14:11:28.456-04:00It's been a while, but I needed to take some time away from writing.
We had dramatic weather from Hurricane Ivan moving through the area, but not as bad as other places. First the rain. We woke up at 6 am with the rain of biblical proportions coming down, and knew we needed to get up and secure things.
There is a very hilly area right behind the house, and the water was coming down in a torrentbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1093543422370995632004-08-26T13:58:00.000-04:002004-08-26T14:03:42.370-04:00My last remaining coworker in the editorial department gave his notice today. That just leaves me, all alone in editorial. It's still a roller-coaster ride here.
I went out to lunch with three current coworkers, including him, and two former coworkers, who were let go in the June cut, and he told us then. I am working on my reactions to events, and so while I feel sad, I am trying to just feel bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1092753718094658332004-08-17T10:18:00.000-04:002004-08-17T10:41:58.093-04:00Tonight we have our garden club picnic held every year at Eileen's house. She has a screened-in pergola perched alongside a creek that runs behind her house. Our dog is welcome, and that makes us (especially my husband) happy. We are asked to bring a dish created from our garden, for those who do grow vegetables and herbs. Because my husband is home he has agreed to make the dish we will bring, bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1092083597441168742004-08-09T16:30:00.000-04:002004-08-09T16:33:17.440-04:00Not much, not much, not much going on. Need to change my energy. Work is very slow.
Had a restful weekend, but did get some direct-seeding done for the fall. Hope it is not too late for the beets, bok choi, tat tsoi, and broccoli raab I planted. Also more beans. For the past few years, when it was so hot, all my fall seedlings got killed by the ravaging bugs in the heat, and I couldn't keep any bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1091123624712114922004-07-29T13:24:00.000-04:002004-07-29T13:53:44.713-04:00I am home on vacation this week, and I have had to work on letting go of some no-win ideas for myself. Such as thinking that I was actually going to do something creative--even start something, at least. The truth is, I haven't got time in my life to do the things I want to do, and I need to make peace with that.
I travelled downriver Monday morning to work with my AA sponsor on helping her withbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1090270593112847042004-07-19T16:17:00.000-04:002004-07-20T10:47:12.940-04:00We've had so much rain lately, just an incredible amount. Luckily, I have created many raised beds, and the drainage is pretty good. That is one thing I believe in, with gardening. To work on the soil, so that organic matter is incorporated, whether you till, or practice no-till, adding organic matter to the soil, be it compost, aged manure, mulch (which eventually composts down and is pulled bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1089731633754846462004-07-13T11:11:00.000-04:002004-07-21T16:41:40.396-04:001. Lilies: oriental or asiatic?
2. No-till or till? Philosophically I prefer no-till, although I still use a garden fork to loosen soil
3. Bare hands or garden gloves? Start out with gloves, but get impatient
4. Garden tchotchkes, no or yes? Aspire to have some beautiful stone statues, someday
5. Clay or sand? I have heavy clay soil, and am constantly adding organic matter
6. Shrub roses or bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1089725589216285742004-07-13T09:14:00.000-04:002004-07-13T09:33:09.216-04:00Didn't yet get to see Michael Moore's film. I went to a gathering of former and current colleagues, including my old boss on Saturday, and was having such a terrific time that I didn't get home until too late to go out again to see the movie. I am sure it will be around for a bit in local cinemas.
Garden is beautiful--flowers, veggies, last night's heavy rain left some things flattened, but bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1089400153125326342004-07-09T14:55:00.000-04:002004-07-09T15:09:13.126-04:00We are planning to go and see Michael Moore's film tomorrow evening.
I am going to visit my remaining editorial co-worker at his apartment tomorrow, and others who are coming are my old boss, who was "let go," in March, and my co-worker Kelley, who was "let go" in June. Also two people who left of their own accord, who also worked in editorial but have been out of the company for one year, in bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1089215936085994592004-07-07T10:29:00.000-04:002004-07-08T10:19:33.576-04:00I am having a magnificent summer, and the pain of visiting my Dad and his wife is very present, but still, I am enjoying a new freedom and a new happiness.
The cicadas are gone, so too their magical sound. But life is still replete with magic, and I am now seeming to encounter people who are magic.
I met a woman this weekend, while visiting friends on a mountaintop. At first she was all coveredbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1088690371454186572004-07-01T09:39:00.000-04:002004-07-01T09:59:31.453-04:00Big yellow moon last night, and lots of japanese beetles in the garden. They are loving my baby quince tree, so I went with a can of soapy water and they easily fell in to their deaths.
I harvested last night for customers--baby zucchini, sweet peppers from the greenhouse, tat tsoi, marobi santoh, mizspoona, all of these curious japanese greens that I love to steam up in the bamboo steamer and bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1088541863196849392004-06-29T16:35:00.000-04:002004-06-29T16:44:23.196-04:00I have lots of stuff to write about, and I can't right now. It has to do with family, and I need to process it with my spiritual advisors, and my husband, before I even know how to write about it.
But I did go to some pretty powerful AA meetings in Maine, and am feeling the presence of God in my life these days. I think that grief, and loss, and sadness, and love for others, can open a chink in bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1087910013062536652004-06-22T09:06:00.000-04:002004-06-22T09:13:33.063-04:00I will be going up to Maine tomorrow--driving up with my friend and her little girl. To see my Dad, to scope out his situation, to look for an opening to see if there are any contingency plans in place in the event my dad's wife should pass on before he does.
I may not have an opportunity to discuss anything with them, but I will be able to initiate a discussion with my stepbrother, who is the bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1087497573844175422004-06-17T14:30:00.000-04:002004-06-17T14:39:33.843-04:00Each Day a New Beginning--that's the name of a little book I used to read. Something positive for each day. While I show up for a job where there is no work, and where most of the people have been "let go," I breathe, feel my feet on the floor, and think positively.
Meetings help. I went to one this morning, and listened and shared. Then at lunchtime, met my AA sponsor for a stroll in the hot, bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1087312240616827912004-06-15T10:44:00.000-04:002004-06-15T11:10:40.616-04:00My company let go eight people yesterday, and it was so difficult. Kelley was called out of our department first, and she came and told me that HR had called her. I gave her a hug and told her that she would be all right. When she came back, in tears, she said that they are cutting eight people. I told that to Dennis, just as his phone rang. I sat in stunned silence for the rest of that hour, bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1087225832945578652004-06-14T10:49:00.000-04:002004-06-14T11:19:01.310-04:00Had an interesting day yesterday--full of lovely thrills (my kind).
I went for a walk with the dog early, up to the nature preserve. Usually we just make a quick loop through and back down the road again. It takes a half hour to do just that rushed walk. Yesterday I wasn't in such a busy mood, and we dilly-dallied up the hill, looking at the views of the big fields below from each vantage point bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1086977030666011172004-06-11T13:46:00.000-04:002004-06-11T14:03:50.666-04:00The garden is enchanting now. I am enraptured these days by the garden, even though I spend most of my waking hours at work. Yesterday I was out there working at 6 am, and loved every minute of it. This is an amazing time of year--so much going on. The cicadas are heavenly to listen to, and in the soil, there are so many earthworms. I am letting the chickens out a bit in the evening now, as they bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1086377890267108892004-06-04T15:26:00.000-04:002004-06-07T14:06:18.680-04:00Nobody's posting--and I am not looking at others' sites too much, these days. Because it is work, work, work. Well, not so much here at work, today, but I was crazy busy for most of this week. And when I go home, it's out to the garden, in order that I can get the rest of the summer stuff planted. We have had so much rain lately, that it has not been conducive to getting the rest of the melons bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1085798667031222972004-05-28T22:33:00.000-04:002004-06-01T13:13:44.876-04:00I shook off the mood that had me complaining. How? Perhaps it was the meditation group that met last night, and we listened to Tibetan Monk musicians, that brought weird and ghostly sounds into my head. Tried to create conscious contact with my Higher Power, but my mind was restless and busy with all kinds of things, some really stupid.
I will travel to Maine in a few weeks with my friend and bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1085428030825917872004-05-24T15:44:00.000-04:002004-05-25T11:27:06.976-04:00I feel like complaining---it's hot, the garden is growing too fast, there's too many bugs in the garden, I got bit by a microscopic deer tick yesterday, there's nothing to do at work, my car doesn't have air-conditioning, I'm hungry all the time, I want to paint, I need more money, my house is dirty, still afraid to spend money, even though I got a raise, there's never enough, blah, blah, blah.
bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1084906016388559162004-05-18T14:28:00.000-04:002004-05-18T14:53:07.413-04:00I am such an eccentric. I got it into my head that I wanted to ride a bicycle to work. I live near the river, and there is a towpath that extends for 60 miles alongside the canal that is for the most part parallel to the river.
Last year the towpath was worked on, and the paths were made smoother, not tarmac, but fine grained pebbles or gravel, and it is much, much nicer to ride on than before, bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1084547651450873292004-05-14T11:03:00.000-04:002004-05-14T11:14:11.450-04:00It's Friday, got up a little later than I wanted, delivered some garden produce to a customer near work, came in early--nothing to do. No real work has landed on my desk in a week. Just little things. And to top off the slow week, a client is giving us a hard time about our pricing. Don't know where that is heading. I have general job anxiety, but I am trying to find solutions to some current bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1084239612876729292004-05-10T21:23:00.000-04:002004-05-10T21:40:12.876-04:00Thanks to all who commented, Bill, Randy, Oldcatman, Butuki, on weight and weight loss. I can proudly say that I have lost almost 6 pounds in three weeks. But I am soooo hungry all the time. I drink lots of water, and eat raw vegetables and fruit for snacks, along with a bit of peanut butter, and some kefir (which I love).
I mentioned it at WW this evening, and the leader suggested that I have bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1083677565951972462004-05-04T09:32:00.000-04:002004-05-04T09:35:29.326-04:00Someone I knew from the rooms of AA killed himself last week. Lou was a genuine character--you had to notice his presence. He often wore clothes that could be called a costume. I remember when I first met him, over two years ago. He raised his hand at the meeting and said that he had no place to live, no place to stay. At the end of the meeting, I went up to him and offered him a room. He kind ofbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1083338917457327542004-04-30T11:28:00.000-04:002004-04-30T11:31:44.530-04:00My last post was kept short because I was teaching my novice computer class, and I wanted to expose them to webblogging, showed them my blog, and how I posted to it.
Still starvin' but getting used to it. I swear my clothes fit me better, I have more energy, and I can rouse myself out of bed in the morning--but that's because I am sooo hungry, and want to get some food in my stomach.
I have bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1083277460283697202004-04-29T18:24:00.000-04:002004-04-29T18:27:26.593-04:00I am now teachin' my class.bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1083090735022624852004-04-27T14:32:00.000-04:002004-04-27T14:35:19.060-04:00Got weighed-in and lost 2.25 pounds in one week! I thought that it would be at least 5, considering the starvation mentality I have been engaged in. But they said that it was a good start, and they don't want you to lose the weight too fast, because then your skin hangs on your body, which I thought was a nice image.
Went for a jog at lunchtime. We had a big hotel breakfast meeting this morning,bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1083002695619732132004-04-26T14:04:00.000-04:002004-04-26T14:07:59.013-04:00I am talking about food, lack of, I mean, while soldiers and Iraquis are dying moment by moment in a disastrous war that is spiraling out of control.
What to do to help get rid of Bush? Don't know yet. I am interested in the Pennsylvania primary tomorrow. I was repulsed by Toomey, but now I see that the Bushies are hoping for a Spector victory, that Toomey will pull in too many Democrats and bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1082749661783063632004-04-23T15:47:00.000-04:002004-04-23T15:50:41.826-04:00Well, I am struggling with the food thing. This morning, as I struggled to get up to haul myself in for work this Friday morning, I instead fell back asleep and dreamt that I was a member of a large family, and we were about to sit down for dinner when someone came to the door. I opened the door, and they asked for money, and I turned them down, but someone else invited them in. I thought they bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1082556017662834652004-04-21T10:00:00.000-04:002004-04-21T10:03:16.576-04:00Well, now that my brother Bob is commenting on my weblog, I guess I will have to keep on posting--I was actually thinking today of packing it in.
Went to the garden club meeting last night. I enjoy this group of women, and a couple of men, including my husband. I almost didn't go--my husband said when I got home from work, that Joan was going to talk on lavendar. I said that she was totally intobashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1081734414728612342004-04-11T21:37:00.000-04:002004-04-11T21:49:42.950-04:00Easter Sunday. Chilly and grey. Connected with people on the phone, made lentil soup and cornbread. Sat around reading the New York Times Sunday paper. Went to an AA meeting to meet someone. Came home, burned the soup on the stove, read some more.
My friend is sending me the book written by Susan Cheever called "My Name is Bill." It is about the founder of AA. I listened to her on NPR yesterday,bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1081001512179138672004-04-03T09:05:00.000-05:002004-04-03T09:14:32.200-05:00Well, my boss who got canned this week, he was pushing for a raise for me, and I found out yesterday that I got a promotion and a nice raise. This is all thanks to him, but I have to say for the company, that they DID put it through. Now I am no longer under the radar at work, much more visible, so I guess I have to "grow up" and perform. Every day, every way I come face to face with my bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1080780558571690412004-03-31T19:42:00.000-05:002004-03-31T19:53:13.496-05:00I am feeling sad tonight. My boss got fired last night and I found out this morning. He is one of the most supportive, decent people I have ever had the pleasure to work with, and I will miss him terribly. He gave me writing to do for the newsletter, and encouraged me in my writing, and always went to bat for us in our department, and always helped me out when I did something that was politicallybashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1080597840017896882004-03-29T17:04:00.000-05:002004-04-03T09:07:30.950-05:00Here are some photos I took when I was in Mexico. If you can't view them right away for some reason, you can browse by username, and my username is bashaz.bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1080247455814516512004-03-25T15:44:00.000-05:002004-03-25T15:46:46.810-05:00More about Mexico.
We went to La Gruta. There we met Rita. La Gruta Rita.
The four of us piled into a taxi for the 8 km ride out of San Miguel to La Gruta. All of us like to take the buses, but we couldn't figure out where to catch one, so I offered the gift of a taxi ride. There was some bickering about where to find the bus, even after I offered, but eventually everyone caved in and we took bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1080232353171732072004-03-25T11:32:00.000-05:002004-03-25T13:21:19.826-05:00I just want to write a bit about my impressions of Mexico, while they are still fresh in my mind. I flew into Leon, the airport closest to San Miguel de Allende, and saw ahead Bonnie, another woman joining my friends and I for a week (my other friends had exchanged their NYC apartment for a home in San Miguel for two weeks, but Bonnie and I came for a week).
We got through customs and bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1080076219341286762004-03-23T16:10:00.000-05:002004-03-23T16:12:48.670-05:00I'm back. Back at work, but not yet back in my mind. Luckily, I do not have a lot to do today. I wish I knew how to put pictures up on my blog, but there doesn't seem to be a way. I tried once to put pictures of my farm up on the MSN web site, but couldn't adequately follow the instructions. I have a feeling that the only way to do this is to pay, of course.
First of all, thanks to all who bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1079650173733417372004-03-18T17:49:00.000-05:002004-03-18T17:51:57.623-05:00I'm falling in love with Mexico. I am at an internet cafe right now, but I am not interested in blogging right now. Walking a lot, talking a lot, and looking.
Have been doing yoga, bodywork, and meditation every morning, and aim to keep that up when I come back. I have been to two English speaking AA meetings, so I know that if I wanted to stay awhile, I would have a place to go for support.
bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1079037808845803952004-03-11T15:43:00.000-05:002004-03-11T15:45:45.890-05:00Dear Martha,
Now that you have been through the "justice system," and have been found guilty, I felt the need to write to you about an idea that came to me last night, as I watched the media gleefully show the metal bed you would probably have in prison, along with the "thin" mattress you would probably have to sleep on. They did say that the shots they were showing were from a men's prison bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1078509541553338082004-03-05T12:59:00.000-05:002004-03-05T13:06:54.733-05:00Friday--overslept and was late for work. No one noticed. Well, we had a super-perfectly-marvelous time in Philadelphia. First of all, got to the city, parked the car in a parking garage--$21 for 24 hours. Walked two blocks to the hotel, and my step-daughter and her husband were just coming out, all smiles. They had registered, and left their car in the hotel, valet parking, for $32 for 24 hours.bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1078343133270360882004-03-03T14:45:00.000-05:002004-03-03T14:47:42.326-05:00I'm stealing a few minutes to post here since the printer is down, and I need it to work to continue what I'm doing here at work. I put in a call to the IT person, since I wasn't able to figure it out myself.
Tonight I am leaving work early, my husband is coming down, leaving his truck in the parking lot, and we are taking my car to go down to Philadelphia. We will be going to hear my bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1077842439543368772004-02-26T19:28:00.000-05:002004-02-26T19:42:42.780-05:00Can't remember why I am blogging. Oh, right--the garden. I have flats of seedlings growing in the house, upstairs and down. Some are not germinating, and I can't figure out why. But others are going great guns. The daylight hours are almost 12 and 12 now.
I will get the cold frame out this weekend and put it on the front porch. Then I will put out some of the trays of seedlings into the cold bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1077648550198855402004-02-24T13:49:00.000-05:002004-02-24T13:51:10.903-05:00I was really angry when I heard that Ralph Nader was going to run for President. How could he? Didn't he understand that the important thing was to get rid of Bush?
But I watched him on Meet the Press and found myself responding to what he was saying. He does have a terrific analysis of the problems with the "democratic process" in which we all find ourselves. I am saddened by all of this, bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1077311290627082492004-02-20T16:08:00.000-05:002004-02-20T16:10:08.013-05:00I'm very tired. I am at work, but tired. I am doing a lot of thinking, these days, that's why. Just trying to get a handle on purpose. I don't know what my purpose is. Alcoholics Anonymous says that "our primary purpose is to stay sober and to help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety." That is a good thing, and probably should be enough. Maybe I am just chasing illusions, again. Thinking that ifbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1077046905464247272004-02-17T14:41:00.000-05:002004-02-17T14:43:39.513-05:00I'm still walking on the dark side of life right now. Spent a day alone doing yoga, meditating, and going to meetings. That was in the day, but in the evening I just flipped through channels with the remote. I was tempted to watch Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood again in The Bridges of Madison County, only because she is such a good actress and a real pleasure to watch. But I kept flipping. I wasbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1076709968871792292004-02-13T17:06:00.000-05:002004-02-13T17:07:59.310-05:00Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. Not feeling too strongly about Romance, just am feeling a lot of Love directed my way from those whom I have befriended, and from myself towards them and others, especially newcomers to AA.
I am speaking at a hospital on Tuesday night with two new women who have only about 100 days each sober, and they are willing to go to a detox and share what they have bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1076526341892923562004-02-11T14:05:00.000-05:002004-02-11T14:07:30.186-05:00I went for a lunch-time walk today with my AA sponsor. She came to my place of work, and we walked all the way through the town and back again. Didn't see a thing, as we were talking about some very heavy emotional stuff, stuff that I needed to talk about with her, and we just moved through space and talked. She is one of my guiding lights, a person I can totally trust.
When I left the house bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1076202000722159502004-02-07T19:47:00.000-05:002004-02-07T20:05:36.593-05:00I am happy to be back. I got to do one of my favorite things at work yesterday, which is to write an article for the company newsletter, and on a topic I find interesting. I wrote about the healthcare issues in the current Presidential campaign, so I had to do research on the candidates' takes on them, and that was very interesting. Must say, I do like Howard Dean, even if I just don't understandbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1075914767948742132004-02-04T12:12:00.000-05:002004-02-04T12:14:29.000-05:00It's been so long that I have blogged, I couldn't remember my sign in and password words! Maybe I am telling myself something. Also, no one is reading me anymore, or they are doing so silently, but if no one is reading me, then maybe I need to re-think having this weblog. It ostensibly was for my garden. I finally got around to starting some of my seeds, but the truth be told, I am even bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1075235313724644792004-01-27T15:28:00.000-05:002004-01-27T15:30:06.810-05:00No work at work. The wheel turns again. Either it is too heavy or too light. Feeling kind of down, skies are grey. Things to do: work on seeds---maybe tomorrow. There's a good chance I will be home tomorrow, as we are anticipating a foot of snow, over slippery sleet-covered roads. If so, will definitely start seeds.
I kept saying on my posts that I was going to start the seeds, but we have had bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1075143977253215232004-01-26T14:06:00.000-05:002004-01-26T14:07:49.513-05:00Today the workload has been light. I have been thinking of an article I read in yesterday's Sunday NY Times. I didn't want to read it, but I did. It is one of those articles that affects me in a very bad way. And since I plan to go to Mexico in March, I made myself read it, as it had to do in a great part about Mexico. The article is about sex slaves, young people and even children as young as bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1074865956727224852004-01-23T08:52:00.000-05:002004-01-23T08:54:05.093-05:00I'm stealing a few minutes from my job here to post for a bit. The workload has been brutal--I have been going home with headaches every night this week, as 7.5 straight hours on the computer, under relentless deadline pressure has not been a pleasant task.
I did manage, however, to get up at 5 twice this week to go to a morning AA meeting, and like a thirsty wanderer in the desert, found bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1074281288851889102004-01-16T14:28:00.000-05:002004-01-16T14:34:28.700-05:00Got a pleasant surprise from my brother yesterday. He e-mailed me to tell me that he was going to be on a PrimeTime Thursday segment. So we sat up until 11 pm to watch, as the segment he was on was the very last. After watching forty-five minutes of an incredibly bland interview with Jennifer Aniston by Diane Sawyer, the piece came on.
My brother was interviewed, talking about a fellow he went bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1074193293931031492004-01-15T14:01:00.000-05:002004-01-15T14:02:55.340-05:00We have HEAT!!! The heating company came and hooked up the furnace, filled the new oil tanks with oil, and, though they still need to come back to do the duct work, we can get heat up through the big grate in the living room where the heat from the old coal furnace used to come up.
Last night I could be in the house without wearing a heavy sweater, and hat, and I could sleep without wearing bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1073939924667620022004-01-12T15:38:00.000-05:002004-01-12T15:40:02.826-05:00Our house has been cold, cold, cooooold. This is what I am wearing to bed: nightgown, over acrylic leggings, with soft socks, plus a pull-down knitted hat. Then we have two down coverlets PLUS another lighter, quilt. As long as the top of my head is warm, I can sleep. Then there's body heat, of course. Plus, we can make the dog sleep on the bed. But with all the weight of the blankets, it is hardbashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1073686458600471292004-01-09T17:14:00.000-05:002004-01-16T14:11:10.466-05:00Still saying the third step prayer. I am ashamed that I don't know it by heart, but I bring the Big Book of AA into the warm bathroom each morning, and get on my knees on a folded up towel, and say the prayer. It helps to get me right-sized and to remember that I am not in control.
I moved into a cube at work--such a funny space, a cube. I can hear others tap-tap-tapping on their keyboards, and bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1073513813364352182004-01-07T17:16:00.000-05:002004-01-07T17:18:06.763-05:00I apologize to everyone who tunes in to my weblog at times. I have not had the time to post. My job has been exceedingly busy since right before the holidays, and then I got the holiday blues when I was off, and don't seem to have the inclination to post when I am blue. Maybe I feel too exposed, and when I am blue, like a little wounded animal, just want to haul myself off to a corner, or a bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1072824147965775552003-12-30T17:42:00.000-05:002003-12-30T17:43:33.090-05:00I am so missing writing on this blog. But my job is very busy again, and it will probably be so for the near future. I am also trying to post my garden list (which is over to the right in the links section) so that my customers will be able to see what I am going to be growing this spring. Since I have tomorrow and new year's day off, I will see if I can get to it at home.
I did get out to jog bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1072370282822483872003-12-25T11:33:00.000-05:002003-12-25T11:39:02.826-05:00Christmas Day. We are staying very low key, with daughter and her husband off in Illinois until Saturday, we are having a movie festival of our own. We will be going to the neighbor's house shortly for a Christmas dinner, and then we will be going out to see another movie. Gift-giving to each other and daughter and her husband will wait until Saturday. So we haven't even done our shopping yet, bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1071772154612230152003-12-18T13:29:00.000-05:002003-12-18T13:30:07.936-05:00Again, so very very busy at work. But I decided to take a few minutes of my lunch hour to post.
I have a gripe to explore. Alright--it was fascinating to see the videos of Saddam Hussein after he was captured. And to learn the new term, "spider-hole." But what makes me mad, is not the contempt with which he is spoken of by the powers that be, but that they compare him to a homeless man, or a bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1071257307190413232003-12-12T14:28:00.000-05:002003-12-12T14:36:27.606-05:00Today is shaping up better than yesterday. I wrote an article for the company newsletter, based on an interview with someone in the company. Writing is new to me--and I accept and welcome the challenges given to me for improving it.
But I have a long way to go. Reading some of the weblogs that I have found since I have been doing my own has inspired me. One of the beautiful posts I came across bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1071067960614105502003-12-10T09:52:00.000-05:002003-12-10T09:53:25.530-05:00I wake up each morning with the radio alarm that, at the hour of 5 am, is broadcasting NPR's "The World," which comes from the BBC. This morning, as I listened to the news about children being killed in Afghanistan, the second time in a few days that children have been the primary toll, I thought that I can't wake up like this anymore. But what is the alternative?
There have been times in my bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1070918890324185562003-12-08T16:28:00.000-05:002003-12-08T16:32:11.840-05:00Lots of things to report, many of them because of the snow. We got about a foot of snow. Made a few trips to the greenhouse to poke the snow off the plastic covering.
Also got out my cross-country skiis to take a little trip around the property. Sable kept barking and barking, and trying to bite the skiis as I moved along. Later Michel tromped through my tracks, as he found that easier going, bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1070394164961498802003-12-02T14:42:00.000-05:002003-12-02T14:43:22.340-05:00This was forwarded to me by e-mail today, and apparently it is an excerpt from George H.W. Bush's book that he wrote along with Brent Scowcroft.
[In his memoirs, A World Transformed, written five years ago with his former
national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, George Bush the elder wrote the
following to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of
the Gulf War in 1991.
"bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1070305668826838162003-12-01T14:07:00.000-05:002003-12-01T14:08:25.670-05:00We had a terrific Thanksgiving this year, just a nice one filled with good, close people. Lots of good food, too.
One of the vegetables we served was celery root, also known as celeriac. This is the best vegetable, you can prepare it raw, or cooked. My husband grated it and made a mustard sauce, and we all ate it as the first course. I first encountered it in restaurants in France when we went bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1069784685222805492003-11-25T13:24:00.000-05:002003-11-25T13:25:15.936-05:00I am wanting to write on my weblog, but am swamped at work this week. And Thanksgiving is coming up fast. I will write if I get a chance this week, and answer different people's posts--like to get back to people sooner rather than later, but priorities, priorities.
If I don't get to "share," Have A Happy Thanksgiving, All! Remember Your Purpose!
Love,
Bashabashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1069361940400308732003-11-20T15:59:00.000-05:002003-11-20T15:59:25.686-05:00I've been looking at a lot of Blogs today, got started when I was writing about the move to the country. Explaining how we were living in Ranelagh, I wanted to find a link to someplace in that area of Dublin, and then got started in reading Irish blogs, and from there, as it happens, found myself transported all over. In between readings I got the opportunity to do some work here at work.
I put bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1069260459855991722003-11-19T11:47:00.000-05:002003-11-19T11:48:04.123-05:00I have been working on the story of the garden, not sure how to do it on Blogger. I created another website, and am going to link to it here.bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1069191313327996492003-11-18T16:35:00.000-05:002003-11-18T16:35:37.140-05:00Have been looking at lots of websites and wobbles today, and have put into play some of what I have learned. Thus, the newer look of my site, less horsy type, etc. Since my job is "feast or famine," and today it was the latter, I've been playing around. I am really an ignoramus when it comes to web site construction, but I believe I can learn if I just apply myself.
Also, have seen such a wide bashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475930.post-1069100511952445172003-11-17T15:21:00.000-05:002003-11-17T15:22:14.796-05:00I still have some things growing in the greenhouse, broccoli raab, various lettuces, and aruguga. Also some sorrel, which I have been cutting and making a sorrel and red onion tart, which is sooooo delicious! Outside I still have red russian kale, brussels sprouts, bok choi and tat tsoi. There is some still-unfrozen cilantro, which I probably won't use, and some beets and carrots. That's it!
I bashanoreply@blogger.com