Puppy Love

At work today, we had a little visitor. This is Loki, a baby bassett hound. Isn't he the sweetest thing?

I wanted to put him in my bag and take him home.

Carrboro Farmers' Market

Today we visited the Carrboro Farmer's Market.

We bought garden plants, cut flowers, cheese, eggs and pork. Zoe and Owen were thrilled with the pussy willows. We just had to buy a bunch of them. I remember loving pussy willows when I was a kid. I remember stroking their fuzzy tips. They grew in a neighbor's yard. We were always excited when they bloomed in the early spring.

I grew up a city kid. We used to take drives to the country to pick apples or buy pumpkins. We didn't know or understand about locally-raised produce or local farms. Our food came from the supermarket in plastic bags.

Now, I appreciate local produce and crafts. I try to visit the market with my kids at least once a month. And, we go on the farm tour, and try to grow some herbs and vegetables. It's all a part of why we moved here to improve the quality of our life.

Carolina Blue

Today I picked up the kids and we went to Wilson Park in Carrboro. The weather was lovely. The sky here is just an incredible blue. Spring is a wonderful time here. We have to savor it because summer is just too much. It was hard to pull away and be the responsible adult. We could have stayed until nightfall.

Spring in Boston was a fleeting and short season. You can miss it if you are busy and don't deliberately pay attention. Sometimes we missed it altogether. One year, I went to the UK for nine days in April and we missed the Boston Spring. Here we get a true Spring with warm days and blue skies.

The flowers are blooming and everyone is sneezing from the pollen. The Bradford Pear trees are white as if covered by snow when in fact they are flowers. I can't say I appreciate their aroma, but they are lovely to drive past.

Here's a special shout out to my friend Anna. Happy Birthday! I hope to catch up with you soon.

My husband is away for a couple days, so I'm doing all the tough adult work. I had to miss book group tonight even though I actually finished the book early. It's too bad, because I was eager to hear what people thought about the book.

Pullen Park, Raleigh, NC

We took the kids to Pullen Park on Saturday. They have a terrific old carosel, mini train and boat rides. We want to go back when it's a warmer day.

Make a wish and blow

Happy Birtday Owen!

M&M World in Times Square

NEW YORK, NEW YORK--a hell of a town

101st post

My last post was my 100th post. I meant to mark the occasion but I couldn't come up with anything clever. Then a lot of time lapsed. And, now I'm ranting again.

The reasons are many, and typical. My doctor had me worried for three weeks about some blood work. I had some nasty, brutal dental work with more to come. I got stressed out from that and then got sick. I enrolled in yet another computer class (Dreamweaver). My new job is harder. The book club I joined is reading interesting books that I feel compelled to read.

My kids are being extra difficult. Owen is screaming all the time. He's waking up screaming about missing blankets and scary monsters in his room. Zoe is having trouble with school. She avoids and deliberately looses her homework every week.

I had to go on a stressful, freezing business trip to New York City. The average temp was 12 degrees with a terrible wind bring it to -12 degrees. Even though I'm from Boston, I can't remember ever being so cold. And, my return flight was a nightmare. The plane was broken, and we had to get off, wait, wait, wait and wait. Then rush to another airport and try to get home. That flight was full, and then delayed. Are you surprised to learn that I threw up on the plane, and in the parking garage, and again in my car? (Their barf bags do work surprisingly well.)

And, my husband is working too much, and traveling more. Oy vey!

Of course, the things that I drop are exercising, sleeping, blogging, and knitting...not necessarily in that order. Just all the things that I do to help me relax.