The best-laid plans

I had every intention of walking yesterday afternoon when I left the garden center. EVERY INTENTION. All I had to do immediately after work was run to town to pick up eggs, a short trip that wasn't going to take more than 15 additional minutes out of the day.

If you look over there in the righthand sidebar, you'll see the Daily Mile widget says 296 miles. I SO wanted to flip it up to 300 yesterday, which would have meant hitting 300 miles on the 100th day of the year.

Obviously, it didn't happen. It doesn't mean I didn't get a good workout in. But helping to unload more than 400 plants from a delivery truck doesn't exactly translate into miles.

Oh. My. Aching. Arms. Back. Glutes. Calves.

I got to work at 9 and started watering shortly thereafter. We had a few customers, and I wasn't finished watering four hours later when this giant truck pulled into the parking lot. I wasn't expecting any deliveries. Turns out he was a day early. The owner showed up at about the same time, as surprised as I was, and called the landscaping crew away from a job to come help unload.

An hour later the garden center was JAM-PACKED with new stuff. I didn't even have time to take any pictures, but I will today.

I had time as I was leaving Tiny Kroger to snap the next-door bank's time-and-temperature sign. It was 2:11 p.m. (you'll have to trust me):

My husband said when he drove by the same sign an hour or so later it was 87°. High-temperature records were shattered all over southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia yesterday afternoon.

I came home and rested for a bit, then turned some of the eggs into a frittata for dinner. With a foundation of wilted baby spinach and topped with mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and asparagus (the last two from my garden!), it was delicious. We practically inhaled it.

The best-laid plan for today is to get those four miles done, done, done. I work again this morning, but there shouldn't be any surprise delivery trucks showing up. I woke up so early today that I have plenty of time to throw a salad together before I leave for work, and all I have to do when I get home is make a taco-seasoned ground beef topping.

I marvel at you women with children and full-time jobs, managing to juggle way more balls than I do. And then I think of my daughter who has added law school to her very busy mix.

My gratitude for my simple life is boundless, endless. How lucky I am.

April 4 - This happened today

There was much repotting of geraniums going on at the garden center today.

Better late than never

So I woke up this morning a little later than I usually do, and since I had to be work at the garden center at 9 a.m. I didn't have time to write in the wee small hours. I only work two days a week, and then only from 9 to 1 p.m. I know, it's tough. Heh.

Here's the view from inside the sales pavilion, looking out on the Greenbrier River:

Listening to the rushing water, seeing the beauty of the growing plants, dragging the water hose around moving my body in new and challenging ways – it's good to be back. I only wish the weather would catch up. Early spring at the garden center is always iffy and there always are a few days where layering is A Good Thing. But it was SLEETING when I got home an hour ago. I hope the pansies can handle a little frozen rain better than I could.

Anyway, I'd thought I would have the energy to both work and walk, and I actually might. But since it's precipitating and cold, I will opt to take a little restorative nap instead. I walked five miles yesterday after work, but I only worked two hours and it wasn't as physically taxing as it was today.

The good thing is – and I know this from experience – I'll get used to it. And the other good thing is, if the garden center's open, it must be SPRING!

The sun will come out …

day after tomorrow.

Somehow that's not quite as smooth a lyric as the Annie version.

In the meantime it's snowing. Again. I didn't work out yesterday. In fact I didn't get out of my pajamas yesterday. I had no place to be and no reason to get dressed, so I, um, didn't. Probably not good for my mental health. Nothing says "slug" like spending the day in your pajamas.

And so today I will GET MOVING. An elliptical workout is on the agenda, as well as an upper-body weight-training session. Nothing heavy or dramatic. Laundry is on the agenda, too. I live such an exciting life.

I start work at the garden center a week from tomorrow, two mornings a week. I love opening up. The routine is to make sure the opening cash matches the closing from the previous day and then water the plants, which takes about three hours. You get to look at every single plant and tree and shrub and seedling. You see what's new, interesting and unusual. It's too early for vegetable plants, and I don't have much more room for flowers, but I'm sure something will be coming home with me.

Before I get my garden planted – and it might be May before that happens – I need to get new electrical fence tape. The neighborhood deer have moved right in to my yard. Hershey chased eight of them off the lawn yesterday morning, and I shooed half a dozen into the woods this morning.

And that's about it from the Middle of Nowhere. When nothing happens on Monday, there's not much to write about on Tuesday. So why did I write at all, you may ask? NaBloPoMo. And, obviously, the downfall of NaBloPoMo is that sometimes you have to read the most boring drivel. If you made it this far, I thank you.

And I wish you a freaking EXCITING day!

Back to work

I ventured out of my comfort zone (not wanting to be seen in public) last night and went to the AA meeting at the prison. I feel very self-conscious around people, because I can't speak clearly with my upper teeth gone. But practicing in front of the inmates was a good thing to do. They are completely non-judgmental, and several also had denture stories to share. One woman, while in a blackout several years ago, carefully wrapped her dentures in tissue and threw them away. She can't afford to replace them and remains toothless to this day.

So today I'm working at the garden center. We haven't been busy – most people are gardened out by mid-summer – but the anniversary sale ends today, so we might get a few customers. (The anniversary sale was extended and changed to a "Gale Sale" following the storm.) I think I'll just deal with the public in a matter-of-fact manner and not worry about how I look or sound.

The denture diet has been an interesting experience. It's too hard to eat most anything except very smooth foods – applesauce, ice cream, cottage cheese. Everything I eat requires a dish or plate and utensils. There is no snacking on almonds or crackers, no tasting this or picking at that. I've been eating three times a day and having a half-cup of ice cream with a spoonful of peanut butter after dinner. It's not hard to watch portion sizes, either, because I have to eat s-l-o-w-l-y, and I'm really quite satisfied at the end of a serving.

In other words, I'm doing some of the things the weight-loss experts have long recommended:

• Sit at the table to eat.
• Use dinnerware and flatware.
• Eat slowly.
• Eat only when hungry.
• Stop before you're full.

Now I could be loading up on mashed potatoes or puddings or other soft-but-not-very-healthful dishes, but I really don't much like those things anyway. If I'm only eating a little bit, I should make the most of it and enjoy what I'm consuming, right?

In the same way I hope to be matter-of-fact when dealing with customers today, I'd like to just routinely continue eating three small meals at a slower pace after I'm back to normal.

Whatever that is.

Working girl

So yesterday was my first real day of work (which I define as getting paid to be someplace for a specific period of time) in a long, long time. I've been here in the Middle of Nowhere for nearly 15 years now, and the last time I had a "job" was when I lived in Ohio. (I do a tiny bit of freelance graphic design, which is real work, but I set my own hours for that.)

I've helped out at a local garden center for the past two summers, bartering my labor for their plants. This year, thanks to Rocky Raccoon, I'm on the books and covered by Worker's Compensation, in case one of Rocky's cousins shows up. This year I'll be doing sales as well as production, getting me out of my comfort zone a bit.

It's a part-time, temporary gig and the working conditions couldn't be more beautiful – a sea of flowers and plants in front of me and a river behind me. It's a great "office" and the work is fun for someone who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty. Or her t-shirt, face, cap, etc. And, um, that would be me.

I was pretty tired yesterday when I got home. I didn't stay up for Mad Men, but will be able to watch it online today, maybe. We have a pretty full day scheduled – workout, banking, driving back to the "city" to deliver our old car title and to pick up some phone doodads – but I guess this is what most working people do, right? This little job will, hopefully, make me use my at-home time more efficiently.

Maybe my husband will learn to cook. And maybe pigs will fly. Heh.