My green thumb...

While Caleb went home for a week I stayed home to catch up on things, house-sit, and (finally!) start my own garden... I haven't had time to start it with teaching... And my allergies are so bad down here that 15 minutes outside becomes a nightmare for me... Or at least makes me look like I have had a nightmare/ haven't slept in weeks bc my eyes get so dark/puffy... Friday was our last day to report to school, so Saturday my neighbor, Michaela and I went to Home Depot and got plants and 3 bags of (organic) soil... both of us are from Michigan, and without our moms to ask for help, we found some friendly older couple to help us... 45 minutes later, and about $40 later (Michaela went a bit overboard so her total was closer to $60...) we were heading back home in a car full of peppers, tomatoes, melon, herbs, and other plants... since we were outside (around plants!) at Home Depot my allergies were already kicking my butt so I called it a day and decided to start my garden on Sunday... I went outside and looked at all of my plants, the bags of soil, and the massive amount of weeds that were taking over my soon-to-be garden area... I took a bit breath, pulled my "big girl pants" up, put on my gloves, and armed myself with my shovel and rake and (even said out loud) "just do it- you can do it- it's no or never..." so I started pulling weeds... 2 recycling bins full of weeds later I opened my bags of soil (did I mention that it was organic? Do you know what organic soil smells like?-here, let me explain: when you drive by a farm and smell the cows... yes, that's what it smelled like...) and worked my soil and KY clay/soil together and finally stared to dig holes and plant... I think this is about the time that I was covered in dirt and sweat (oh and seriously I don't sweat...but actually did gardening!) I called my parents and apologized for not giving them the credit they deserved while growing up about their beautiful flowers and garden... about 3 hours later I was done... and after taking pictures (you have no idea how proud I was!) I took a shower only to realize that I was covered in mosquito bites (oh yeah I forgot to mention that Caleb went camping and took our bug spray/repellant with him!)... and that's when I passed out on the couch- Monday morning I woke up and was absolutely beat- I didn't even know I had the muscles that hurt and when I looked in the mirror I didn't even recognize myself bc my allergies had gotten the better of me... later that day I noticed a red bump/bite with 2 vampire-looking holes and a ring around it... Sweeeeeet. Awesome- what did I get bit by?! A KY person saw it later and told me to "keep an eye on it and that if it started peeling or swelling or my skin started falling off then I should go to the hospital ASAP"- are you kidding me?! Obviously this person had no idea who they were talking to (me-a freak about bugs/spiders)- I went home and googled "spider bites" and got even more upset: FYI do NOT google that... the graphic pictures are way too much! So later that day when my neighbor called me to borrow some basil I asked if she wanted to be my "mom" for the day (she is always wanting to take care of me!) she gave me ointment and made me feel so much better by calming me down "it's a spider bite but you would have known by now if it was a black widow or brown recluse" phew... when Caleb got home he had several more herbs/plants from my mom that I replanted... My garden is complete and looks wonderful... So far everything is growing and alive-yes it has only been a few weeks but a few weeks of growing/staying alive with me as the gardener is like a lifetime... I can only hope the plants survive long enough to be able to make homemade salsa and a tomato sandwich (my favorite!) and more importantly, long enough to get "lawn/outside of the month" award on post... Seriously I better win...