Thursday, May 21

Finally Summer

Well, I have been home for a few weeks now, and summer has been going pretty well for me. I have been working a lot at the Hot Dog Shoppe again, but I have found some time to do a lot of work at home. There is not a lot about work that I would like to talk about, but there is plenty I have been up to since coming home.

The thing I'm most excited about is that I've helped to start a garden at my Mom's house. My Mom found some area behind our garage that looks like it was a garden at one point, and she and Jeff weeded the spot for a better look. When I came home, I found myself with a little bit of extra cash and decided that I wanted to start a garden. Mom was excited about the idea, and off to The Home Depot we went. After quite a while, we selected quite a few starter plants that we wanted to grow.

After a slight misunderstanding with my debit card, I wrote a check and we brought the plants home. I have been very happy to spend time in the garden almost every day since then. In fact, the next day I went to Wal-mart with Megan and purchased a few more starter plants as well as a few packages of seeds. I bought a planter and soil, and planted some herbs as well. Megan's father, Allen, also gave me some beans to plant, so I found some room in another planter lying around and placed them there. All in all, I am really liking this gardening thing.

Yesterday, when I went to water the garden, I noticed that there were quite a few weeds that needed to come out. I spent the next hour pulling weeds, and in the process I found that all six of radish plants, which I had planted from seeds, have sprouted. I also found today that it looks like at least two of the cucumber plants that I planted from seeds have sprouted. The onion bulbs we planted are doing very well too. In fact, with the exception of the lettuce heads I planted and the strawberry bulbs that Brittany planted, it appears that every plant in the garden is doing very well. None of the herbs or beans have sprouted yet, but I am hoping that they will soon.

I've also mowed the lawn at both houses at least once, which is a lot more work than I realized. I suppose I'll get better at it with more practice, but my dad always made it look a lot easier than what I experienced.

I have really been getting into the Penguins' games lately. I started listening to the games back in December on 105.9, The X, when I was home for break, and that really got my interested. Since the Pens have gotten into the playoffs, I have been watching the games on TV. In fact, I am watching Game 2 of the Pens v. Hurricanes playoff series. We just took the lead again, 4-3. Go Pens!!

Otherwise, I am still trying to get settled in. I have been staying up too late, and as a result not being able to get up when I should. I have not finished unpacking yet. In fact, I have been unpacking slowly but surely, finding things when I need them. However, I really need to finish cleaning the bedroom upstairs, because I do not have enough room in the downstairs room that I have to share. I need my own place to keep my stuff that is not the floor of my father's bedroom. I also need to find a dresser so that I can put my clothes away. Currently they are either sitting atop Ollie's kennel or in a basket on the floor next to the kennel.

I did, however, get all of my books unpacked. I was unable to fill the giant bookcase that my mother bought me for my birthday last year. I built it over winter break, and have been slowly putting all of my books into it. I finally brought them all home and got them all in, but I only used three and a half of the five shelves.

I suppose I should get moving. I am supposed to get all of the boxes out of the bedroom upstairs and hopefully find a mattress to sleep on, and sleep up there tonight. I'll try to check back in soon. Later.