2 weeks or so?

Here is the garden, well the picture was taken on May 7, 2010. As you can see some plants are up. These plants are the seedlings but THEY DIDN'T DIE! I think that is the important part, to me anyways. My father put some seedlings in so I am trying to do a little bit of both. Some seeds, some seedlings. I have been writing in a little journal about the weather lately which has been off and on raining. April was really a pretty nice month but not much rain. The thing about these raised beds are apparently they warm up faster in such a small space. Also the drainage is pretty good. I planted the seeds for the beets and carrots and they came up pretty quickly. The beets came up within a few days, and the carrots took about 10 days. I cleaned up the carrots so hopefully we will get a bountiful harvest. The other good thing about the small raised bed is that I can plant seeds once I harvest. The broccoli is growing quickly so I can then replace it with other plants. I have herbs not planted in the bed, but I have them on the steps, I am excited for some delicious fresh herbs and not spend a bunch of money on them. Will post more pictures as the garden progresses!

and the garden starts...

I grew up in small town Maine, not tiny town Maine, but small town (maybe 5000 or so) and like many people in the town we had a small garden. One of my father's favorite things was working in the garden, I remember it would start off a big dirt patch and as the season went along, so did the veggies. We almost always had fresh veggies during the middle and end of the summer right into the fall. I remember it being time to til the soil and we would get the old roto-tiller out and when I was old enough I would get to start it up and till away the soil, every year I think we would add a little bit of space onto the garden.

I remember quite well all the different types of veggies we would grow, tomatoes in tires, beets, corn, peas, beans, radishes, broccoli, squash, zucchini, spinach, lettuce, carrots and I think that was all. Of course at the end of the garden we had raspberry bushes and some strawberries, but those weren't as important as the veggies.

So this year with the purchase of my house I am growing veggies, I am starting a small garden, but it will grow my veggies and I am hoping it will grow well. What I am looking forward to is channeling my father and hoping the green thumb has been passed to me. When I was able to have a little patch for myself I got to pick what I wanted to grow, and I picked watermelon (yah in Maine I know.) Little did I know that watermelon really didn't grow that well in Maine, but it grew. I got maybe two melons the between softballs and basketballs, not huge, and really not that edible. I learned a lesson, so now I am hoping that lesson stuck. SO I will continue to blog about the progress of my garden and as my blog has taken different turns, this is most likely how it will be for the next few months...garden talk.

Step 1: Raised beds
I installed a 4ftx4ft raised bed on my lawn, it's really not that big, but I am hoping it will do the trick for now. If I need another one, I can get another one, but for now, that's what I got. With help from Bob and Donna I put some weed stop black garden "paper" down and put the bed on top of it. We then filled it with a combination of Scotts Organic Soil for veggies and some dirt/leafs that the city decided not to pick up, but Donna informed me that it was some good dirt, so I used it.

I also bought some seedlings, and some seeds. The undertaking of this garden is small, but I am hoping that the damn little squirrels don't eat my plants (Goal #1) and then of course I want the plants to grow! SO these are the plants I am growing in my little space. If need be I will get more, but in reading articles I can grow intensely in a small space.
Big Boy Heirloon Tomatoes
Yellow Sweet Cherry Tomatoes
Roma Tomatoes
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Sweet Red Peppers
Brussel Sprouts
Sweet Corn
Multicolored Carrots
Beets
Sugar snap Peas
Green Peas
String Beans
Cucumbers

So we shall see what pops up and what goes horrible, and lessons will be learned and what not, let's see how easy it is Barbara Kingsolver, let's see if it is as easy as you say it is. Until next time...

I may be a champion but I am NO athlete.

So I was thinking about this for the last few days as I have been beginning to run again. I am all signed up for the NYC Marathon and I am running and I am realizing I am no athlete (as bad grammar as that is, and this is). Anyway I was thinking about this and I have never been an athlete. I ran around as a kid, I played tag, hide and seek, attempted cross country, soccer, and skiing in middle school, but to no avail, I was horrible. In cross country I was pretty much the slowest, in soccer, I never actually made the team...so I was the manager, but I attempted to work out with the team, but again it was only middle school, nothing big. I attempted skiing, this was okay, I did both downhill and cross country, but I think a part of me was scared of the speed at which you go down the hill, so I was slow, in Cross Country skiing...I didn't come in last and I loved it when people cheered me on, maybe because they had to, but maybe because I was part of the team, I still felt disconnected. When I was going into high school I went to the guy who was suppose to provide the equipment for fall training. When I went to get the dry land training skis he told me basically I couldn't be on the team because I hadn't been training all summer, now really how was I to know this??? I honestly think he didn't give a damn about me and I wasn't that great in middle school so why should I bother him with needed to try to be better, no I shouldn't. It really got to me and kind of made me give up on sports. You know when a person who has children your age tells you you aren't good enough for something and at the age of 14 it hits you, and stays with you. I have had those feelings other points of my life and I have been working on this for the last 16+ years, I have a) been struggling with the feelings of being told I can't do something and I just accept it, b) easily getting frustrated when the results I want don't happen, c)just giving up because I am happy with myself.
Some of these things I guess could be fine but you know what it isn't. I need to do more push more and be more. It took me a long time to realize who I was and what I was good at and what I wanted to be, well maybe I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up but that's for another post. Anyway I realized I will never be an athlete. I may be a champion but an athlete I am not. Again I may not win races persay, but I win in my own mind, when I beat a record that I have set for myself, I am a champion. Even if I didn't beat my times in my half marathons I finished them. I am a big guy, and as long as I keep running and keep up with the healthy eating (working on that one) I will stay at a weight that is good for me and if I loose weight that is a great side effect. At this point in my life I am not looking to break records, loose 60 pounds, or do anything incredible like slay a dragon. I want to live my life and go on with my life as normal as possible. I want to run a marathon, do my job and maybe just maybe run a half marathon in each state.
I guess I am just doing what I think is right, what I was taught was right and what I think is the best for me (a little selfish I know but still, you gotta be sometimes.)

New Home: Stimulting this here economy

As told by the car dealership:
"The banks don't know what to do with you guys, you have just moved around so many times...are you guys terrorists?!?!?"

Honestly this is how a recent conversation started at a car dealership when Jeremy were going to pick up Jeremy's new car. Honestly yes, we are. This is how we are. We being the happy couple together decided to settle down. We decided it was time to make contributions to American society and settle in, god forbid, a house, in Connecticut. We being nice wholesome gay Americans decided to settle in a state where our marriage (contract signed in another country have you) would actually be recognized. We being nice wholesome Americans decided to be that statistic and stop paying someone elses mortgage...and start paying our own. God forbid we contribute to American society even though the Federal Government does NOT recognize us as a couple. To them we are two Americans who purchased a house together, we co-signed our names on about a million documents...and settled. At least our new state of residency says "Yes, you are married, and yes your relationship matters." That I am happy for. So we bought a house.

The next thing we did, was buy a car. I like driving, I like driving my car but I am always looking for something ever so slightly better, I drive a Hyundai (must be because I am supporting that Korean car maker.) We got Jeremy a Honda, he has always driven a Honda, so we got another one. A hatchback/station wagon nonetheless. Man we are becoming the good ole wholesome Americans each and everyday. So we bought a car.

In CT their "rules" for registration and licensing of cars and yourself are a little different then I am used too. Then again I have only been licensed in ME and MA. In ME you go to the DMV wait in line with your birth certificate and SS card, get your picture taken and wait a week of so to get the hard copy. In MA you go to the RMV and pretty much do the same thing. You have to surrender your out of state License first and then you get the new one. You can go Monday-Friday normal business hours, of course you wait in both states in a line like everything else. In MA I registered my car after getting my insurance cards and surrendering my out of state registration and getting inspected and having pictures taken of my car. In Maine, registration is done at your local City Hall/Town Office and you pay your taxes and they give you what you need and life goes on it's merry way...in CT it seems a little more inane and inefficient.

First I had a day in my office (a Monday) that I was going to grab my license and register my car and what not. Surprise, DMV: not open on Monday...really come on, instead it is Tues-Saturday, okay I can deal with a Saturday to do this stuff...but of course it is only open until 12...and they LOCK THE DOORS at 12...if you leave and need to come back...sorry...not going to happen. So we get to the DMV with what we thought would be sufficient paperwork. No. We had the insurance cards and forms of ID and all that jazz, what we didn't have was a postmarked letter...really just the envelope with a postmark on it to say we lived in the address that was on the insurance cards. So we went home, grabbed the envelope that the insurance cards were in and I noticed my form of ID (Passport) was expired...and they wouldn't take an expired passport, even though other places do...whatever. So with mail in hand, mortgage stuff in hand, License in hand I go and get a number and wait about 30 min to go to the counter to pay for my license and make sure my form is filled out, fine. Than I ask about car reg, first you need a license, ok fine. So we wait to get called for our eye test (literally 5 secs). Then we wait to get called by the woman who enters our info into the computer (wait didn't they already do this???) Then we wait to get our picture taken, then we wait for our license from the guy who asks your birthday before he will give it to you...really? Necessary, maybe, highly inefficient...definitely. So we started our day at the DMV at around 9:30 only to leave after 12:30. Wait I forgot to mention that fact that when I was called for my license and gave my birthday...WRONG! I was wrong, I have had nearly 30 birthdays and I was wrong? NO WAY! "There is a problem." Birthday guy said "What? I have my birth certificate here...I should know my birthday." -Me. Entered wrong in the computer, of course it was. They entered the day my certificate was issued...not my birthday. Really, so I had to start all over again. Only to realize when I left that my license expires two months AFTER my birthday...awesome. NOT MY FAULT.

As for the car reg...she was all confused by the fact that I had a NY mailing address and a MA registration...seriously lady it's fine, just let me pay the money and go, I have been here just about as long as you and need a drink. URGH!

Andy Explains Stuff 2: Applesauce Bitch

SO here is installment two of Andy Explains Stuff, this time I did Applesauce...you know it's easy to make, hope you enjoy!

travels as of late

Hi folks, haven't blogged much lately, then again I haven't had much time for it or I just haven't wanted to? I don't know, any number of things. Maybe I haven't had much to talk about. I would like to say I have been traveling to exotic places and learning lots of new things, but well it just isn't true. As of late I have not traveled to any place exotic and have no complaints of airlines or travel in general. What I would like to say is that I have actually traveled (again no place exotic) but I have been to some places I have been before but this time I got to see people I have not seen in a while and I got to attend a great conference for the professionals in my field.

Closing the Gap



I suppose that is all, the only other exciting thing about going to MN in October was that it snowed a tad and I got to get to some of my favorite soup from Eddingtons. you'll notice it is right near the hotel...it's a chain but hey it has great soup...YUM!

A Maine Vacation...in under 3 min.

So here is a quick and dirty into to Maine for some people who have never been there...a little more though: This is the woods of Maine so there is no ocean in this video. The places visited include:
Spring Rd, Lake Auburn, Auburn, ME
The Appalachian Trail in Madrid, ME
Piazza Rock on the AT
Smalls Falls, Madrid, ME
Rangeley Lakes State Park
Height of the Land, RT 17