Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Tuesday With Bullets



When I don't have a specific thing I want to talk about, I used to employ the bullet point method. That way I covered a fair amount of ground without elaborating too long on any one thing. After staring at this screen for half an hour and not coming up with a "topic" the bullet point idea looks pretty darn good.

Here we go...
  • On Saturday I planted my vegetables in our newly created garden space. 
  • None of my vegetables grown from seed were among those planted.
  • I killed all of the cucumbers when I transplanted them to larger pots. Adios. And my tomato seeds should have been planted back at the end of December, but I didn't get started on my in-house project until the end of January. So, the tomatoes at Lowe's were much sturdier than my poor plants. 
  • The good news: I know now that Florida has three planting seasons. Spring. Summer. Fall.
  • I plan to plant my tomatoes grown from seed for the Summer planting... assuming I don't kill them when I transplant them.
  • I also planted two tomato plants in Topsy Turvy upside down planters.
  • Last year, I planted too late for spring (April) and too early for summer. End result: all of my cucumber plants died. No tomatoes, either. By fall, I finally got some peppers.
  • In other words, if we had to rely on my garden, my mom and I would be dead right now.
  • I am hoping for better results this year.
  • I am, once again, godawful sore from my heroic planting efforts.
  • And yesterday I woke up with a migraine from hell. It lasted all day, all night, and I still have it now. Given the fact that it started raining during the night (Sunday). I think that the barometer may assume some blame here. The weather is supposed to clear this evening. I hope that my migraine does, too. You know... back to tolerable.
  • My mom met a man using the Christian mingle website. And when I say "met" I mean that he lives 6 hours away, so they talk all the time on the phone or IM. On the one hand, he sounds like a very nice man and I'm happy for her. On the other hand, I am worried that when they meet in person, it will all go Blah. Anyone else have dating stories from friends, family, or your own experience of meeting someone through a dating website?
  • I try not to be the "wet blanket," but my relationship meter is set on Extreme Caution. I suppose that hasn't been conducive to actually having one. Hmm.
  • A friend from church and I are planning to go out to lunch on Friday and maybe see a movie. So, after church I said, "Oh, the new Captain America might be out." High excitement on my part. She looked blank. I expanded, "You know, Captain America from The Avengers." She said, "I didn't see it." Say what???? I then said, "Have you seen either of the Thor movies or Iron Man?" She said, "No." Hunh. I changed tack. "Did you watch the Veronica Mars TV show when it was on? The movie is out in the theatre now." This is a HUGE DEAL for me. I can't wait to see this movie. She said, "No." Hunh. She then said, "I mostly like comedies or romance movies." Well, I like those, too. I can't think of any that are playing right now that I want to see. I suggested seeing A Winter's Tale a month ago, and she agreed, but it just didn't happen. So... this will be interesting.
  •  I set out to read my finished rough draft start to finish on Saturday. I couldn't get past Chapter One. It was awful. Terrible. The worst. So, after making all sorts of notes and marks and slashes, I reworked it on the computer. The new version is Chapter One Take Three. 
  • On the one hand, I was thrilled that it was terrible, because that meant my writing improved. On the other hand, I couldn't help wondering how long I was going to slog through this thing before I began to think, "Okay now, this is actually better." If Chapter One is any indication, it could be a long time.


And that is the fluff and bother that is going on here. What's been happening in your world?

22 comments:

  1. Good luck with the gardening and the guy. Both can be tricky!

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  2. Hopefully you can befriend a gardener who is successful for some advice. If there is a Master Gardener's group in your area you could learn a lot from them. You might also get a copy of The Farmer's Almanac - good information there as well. I love to garden so I sure do hope you don't give up. Hope the headache has cleared by now. Take care.

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  3. Yeah, I can't quite read through my entire manuscript yet either. I keep getting stuck on the crappy parts. :P

    And, wow, we can't even *think* about gardening until mid-May in these parts (Colorado).

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  4. So sorry about your migraine. I hope it's completely gone as you're reading this.

    You need not ask if I have dating stories. It's always risking meeting someone by phone but not in person. The risk of falling for them and being shattered when you finally meet: very high. Will keep good thoughts for your mom, though.

    Take care, friend.
    xoRobyn

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  5. I congratulate you for your horticultural efforts. I was going to say something smartass connecting them with my own agricultural abilities ( "Did you take them out of the plastic and Styrofoam before planting?") but it just didn't stick where I threw it. Your friend should go see Cap just because Samuel L. Jackson is in it. He makes any movie good! (Snakes on a plane, anybody?)

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  6. I hope your migraine relents soon. Those are crippling.
    Of all your bullets that I could comment on (my wife and I being amateur gardeners of North GA) I'm choosing the last 2.
    I agree that it's good to find your earlier work to be poopie when re-examined. What else could it mean but that your craft has improved? It took me six or seven drafts to make my very first book tolerable. Then a rewrite and a final draft to make it something I'm proud of. Now time for my editor to tidy up the edges...

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  7. Karen ~ I love bullet point posts. Need to do them more often!

    Sherry ~ Fingers crossed on the gardening. I am not even looking for a guy...

    Myra ~ Good idea. I will check that out!

    L.G. ~ It is tough. Mine has mostly crappy parts. Eeeks.

    Robyn ~ Yeah, that is what I worry about, too. Right now she is flying so high she can't even see the ground.

    CW ~ I will just accept your congrats and not respond to the snarky garden comments. Ha! I will probably post back on what we end up seeing. If we even go... she mentioned shopping. I hate shopping. So... who knows????

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  8. We've had such a rough winter, the fact that it is time to garden snuck up on me.
    I love that picture. So delicate and so Victorian.

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  9. It's a shame that your mom's friend lives so far away. Hopefully, they'll be able to meet one day, or she'll have better luck with someone else. Good luck with all of your planting. Hope you and your friend could decide on a movie.

    Julie

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  10. I laughed at the movie story. My best friend and I would never go see a movie together. We liked totally different genres. We're still weeks from garden time. I had so many tomatoes last year I didn't know what to do with them.

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  11. It is definitely not vegetable planting season in Pennsylvania yet, although I suppose we could start some indoor plants if we had the time/energy to do so.

    And I know of two people who found a wonderful partner through Match.com -- and one person who has had no luck.

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  12. Sandra ~ As I began to type this comment, I had to delete and start again. It is probably time for all the winter people to grow tomatoes from seed (if you do that) right now. It takes so long for them to become big and sturdy enough for outdoor planting. Next month you can start anything else from seed. Do you plant in May? I am such a novice that I have a tough time keeping it straight when we plant Here.

    Julie ~ Yeah, that is the glitch. Once they meet I think they will know if they want to continue on or not. My garden actually looks pretty good! I don't know about that movie... hahahaha.

    Susan ~ I am really just trying to make a new friend with this person. We go to the same church and that has been a good start, but now we are attempting to get together beyond church. I am not so sure about the movie, either.... I really hope that I have a story to tell like that about my garden next year!

    Dianne ~ Yeah, you could plant some things from seed if you were so inclined. By the time planting came around, they would be ready to go in the ground. Thanks for sharing your stories of successful (and the unsuccessful) internet dating stories. I hope we end up putting this one on the successful side of the column.

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  13. And the bullet points come to the rescue! LOL.

    I haven't figured out gardening in Florida, and it's been 5 years. Of course I've been rather ill due to allergies for 3 of those years (thank you perpetual pollens), but that's no excuse, right? I should totally get into it...once I have a mask, gloves and full body suit. ;)

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  14. My take on dating-if they meet and it goes BLAH, wouldn't meeting for a meal still probably be a nice change from whatever they were going to do that evening anyway?

    I went on a blind date a few weeks ago, and besides the fact that she literally only listens to country music, there just was no chemistry. But it was a nice restaurant that neither of us had been to before, and I would have otherwise either hung out with my buddy at a local tap room or spent an evening fighting with the cat over the recliner in front of a Netflix movie.

    I wish I would have known that dating does not get any easier after high school. I don't know if I would have done anything different, but it would have been useful information.

    While not as eager as you, I do want to see the Veronica Mars movie. However, I keep reading that the movie ties up loose ends, and I do not remember any from the last season. Maybe it's just been too long...

    As for gardening, I keep my garden in the produce section of the local Safeway. A few aisles over from where I keep my chicken coop and salmon farm.

    Larry

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  15. One nice thing about my Wednesday posts - all the funnies are gathered from other people and places. I don't have to think of much.

    Don't worry about the lost cucumber plants, I'm allergic to them. But I'll be happy to take some tomatoes if you get a good crop. :-)

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  16. Stupid weather gets my migraines in high gear too. Hope you're up and about today. I had a massive migraine due to weather yesterday. Blah. I met my hubby on match. Maybe you're mom will have good luck with her gentleman. I always wondered how those topsy turvey planters worked. I hope you'll keep us posted.

    Elsie
    AJ's wHooligan in the A-Z Challenge

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  17. Crystal ~ Yay for bullet point posts! Do you get allergy shots? Use Flonase? I, too, suffer with allergies and those things do mitigate the symptoms more than you might think.

    LC ~ Your comment made me laugh. Yes, you have a point about one Blah dinner being better than no dinner. My concern about this thing is that they spend so much time talking on the phone that they REALLY like each other. How disappointing if it just doesn't translate the same in person. They both seem to be emotionally invested already.... but, I can't do anything about it so I need to stop worrying about it.

    Yes, it would have been nice if someone sat you down in grade school and said, "You know, this dating thing is just not easy. At any age. So, don't expect it to get easier as you get older... it isn't going to happen." That would have been valuable information to have!

    I think everyone felt like they were left hanging with Veronica and Logan's relationship. If you recall, I am fairly certain that one of the last things to happen in Season 3 was Logan punching Piz out in the cafeteria. Veronica was so sure that Logan was over them and that really proved he wasn't. Had the writers (and Rob Thomas I am looking straight at you) not gone and messed up the brilliant storytelling on that show by departing from what worked, I think there would have been another season. One big murder or mystery at beginning of season that solves at end of season with a different mystery for our gal Veronica each episode. Season 3 started out well, but then floundered and they "solved" the big mystery mid-season. Uggghhh. And it killed the momentum of the show. And ultimately killed the show. Period. End of rant. I've already posted about this on my TV blog... a long time ago. I really should let it go.

    LD ~ If we have a bumper crop we will be giving them away! I will keep you posted!

    Elsie ~ Last summer was huge for thunderstorms in FL, which is odd. Usually it rains every day, but doesn't storm. My migraines drove me crazy. I really hope this year is better. If you buy a Topsy Turvy planter you will be shocked at how EASY it is. I promise.

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  18. Sorry to hear about you getting another migraine. I don't have those, but lately have had headaches, which is a side effect of wearing the patch. Loved reading your planting ideas. I can't wait until it is planting season here!

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  19. Congrats on your planting accomplishments. We are still waiting for the warm temps to arrive here before the digging commences. The online dating things is quite the useful tool, but I am glad that I was married long before that--I am too mistrustful of others...

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  20. Your use of bullets is truly comical, Robin. Gardening is definitely challenging with only 3 growing seasons. I planted a bunch of berries this year, but winter was too warm - not one berry at all. Your mom sounds like a kick - it amazes me how many older people get online, and figure it out better than we do.


    MJ, A to Z Challenge Co-Host
    Writing Tips
    Effectively Human
    Lots of Crochet Stitches


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  21. GG ~ I hate side effects. Every time you take any medication, you are setting yourself up for side effects. On the other hand, quitting smoking is a big deal, too, and I am proud of you for sticking with it!

    Slamdunk ~ I do feel rather proud of my little garden. I think I will take a picture later today. Just so I have it.

    M.J. ~ I love bullet point posts. I sense some sarcasm about my three growing seasons. What really makes it challenging is not having a clue what you are doing. Seriously. Challenging. And, yes, my mom is a force of nature.

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  22. I'm late to seeing this. Just remember. Writing novels is a long-term investment.

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