A no-picture post

It's Friday. I'm beat. My beloved has been away all week at a Firehouse Expo in Baltimore. He's having fun. I'm walking the dog, working my butt off and then walking the dog again. Work is so busy, I've been bringing stuff home. I had visions of doing a bit of a diet while A. was away - but I haven't been too good about it. Tonight, I plan to go home, drink wine and eat pizza. I may sit on the porch and read too. I have a South Beach pizza in the freezer, but I think I'll go out and get one from our favorite pizza place. And I think that I will be horribly selfish and get onions on it too. That's selfish because A. does not like onions, so that means all the leftovers will be mine! He's due home tomorrow night, so there may not be any left by then anyway. I got a bunch of books from Amazon today. Two are the kind that you are supposed to read to be well read - Rebecca and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - the others are more like beach reads. I have to finish the book I'm reading now first though The Bourne Ultimatum. It has become a "can't put down" read for me. One of the books I got is about infertility and how it impacts a marriage. I think it's fiction. I've been told it does not have a stereotypical "she relaxed and got pregnant" ending. I wouldn't read it otherwise.

Back to real life - my boss is leaving in two months - going to another town. People have asked if I am interested in his job. I don't think I am - which says to me that I should not do it. I am concerned about the politics that you get hit with at his level. I'm much safer - more insulated where I am. I'm also not convinced that I am ready for his job. I wanted another 5 years, during which I could learn, take some courses in areas where I feel I have a weakness and get myself ready. The other thing is - I don't think they would pay me what they are paying him. His current salary is about 20% more than what I make. I think that max, they would give me about 10% more than what I am getting now. I don't think that would be sufficient compensation for the increased responsibility, hours and aggravation. And as A. said - what happens if I don't like it - I can't exactly go back and positions in my current field don't open up everyday. I'm limited in where I can work by where we have to live - so - all things considered, I'll likely stay right where I am.

So A. has been gone for a week. The last time he was away from me (as opposed to me being away from him) for this length of time was when he went to New Orleans with the FDNY after Katrina. That was when I started this blog! I'll have to go back and read it from the start - see what kind of progress I have made!

drive by post

Just a quick post to show off some of my flowers. The yellow dahlia is a dinner plate dahlia. It's at least 7 inches across! I like the lilies too. I didn't plant them. They are an unusual color. The hydrangeas are from the same bush as the purple one - go figure.

thinking about gardens

I'm enjoying my lunch hour, reading about perennials. I want to plan my gardens. I want color from spring to fall. I want a variety of colors, heights, bloom size. I think that, although the dahlias promise to be lovely, that I don't want to have to pull bulbs for the winter. I want to add some annuals, but not a lot. Weeding is work enough - who wants to plant all summer too.

I need to learn about my rose bushes - how to prune, what to feed them, how to move them - all sorts of stuff. I want to learn about hydrangeas too. Mainly right now I want to figure out how to dry the blooms, not grow them. So - off I go to do research. In the meantime, for your viewing pleasure, some pictures of plants from my garden and one of the Boom Doggie. BTW - these were taken with my Palm Treo - so please excuse the quality.

Back from the Cape

I tried blogging on my Treo from the Cape. That didn't work out too well. I was not having too good a day. My mother was at a baby shower. There seems to be an explosion of pregnancies in our Cape neighborhood. It was hard watching my mother knit a baby blanket for someone else. I thought about how I should be there with my 10 month old baby, not a dog. But - that is my life. My dog is cute. So - here are some pictures from the Cape.