Life Lessons...From a Tomato

I've got spring fever. I daydream about warmer weather and fresh herbs right from my backyard.

So naturally, I ordered the new seeds and supplies catalog from an awesome place, Seeds of Change. They're certified organic and do some great community projects. As a bonus, the catalog is seriously fascinating reading. 


It got me thinking about my tomatoes last year. I definitely learned a few important things. And I realized these lessons didn't have to be just about the tomatoes anymore...


Embrace diversity! Difference is a good thing! There are more colors, textures, shapes, and sizes out there than you probably realize. Embrace them all. There's more out there than just generic, hothouse tomatoes.

Have patience & hope. I was so excited for my tomatoes to get here, once they started growing. After eagerly checking their progress week after week after week I started losing patience. I started losing interest. And I started thinking that my tomatoes were going to rot before they actually produced anything edible. But then, their true colors started showing and I felt a bit silly for losing patience, interest, and hope. Who am I to rush nature? It'll happen when it's supposed to and that's that. 

There are always going to be a few freaks. Nuff said.


Sometimes things aren't going to go the way you expect. From the moment I bought my little tomato plants, I had been daydreaming about all the tomatoes I'd have by the end of the summer. I was thinking about all the different ways I could enjoy my big harvest. I secretly wondered if I could convince my mom to help me can some tomatoes for later. Oh, the possibilities! Then my plants only produced a few tomatoes. Not even all at once so I could make a batch of salsa! One precious ripe tomato at a time. Which brings me to my next point...

Enjoy what you have. I admit, this one is sometimes difficult for me. I sometimes think more about the things I want instead of making the best of what I have. But boy, when it came to my tomatoes, I savored each one! 

Learn something from the experience and make it better next time. Honestly, this is probably my personal motto. I try to learn something, even from really crappy situations {cough, last job, cough cough}, and try to make it better the next time. You can bet I'm going to (try) growing tomatoes again this year. But I'm going to do a few things differently. We'll see how it goes.

So tell me.... what lessons have you learned from a tomato? Or carrot or cucumber or pumpkin or...whatever!

PS- I've also learned a lesson or two from this amazing tomato!!!

Disappointment...Then Hope

Last Friday, party day, was a tough one for me. I was trying to juggle some intense client stuff with all the everyday stuff, and last minute logistics for the party.

So it sucked to get an email from The Crush- sent to me and K-Dog- saying he couldn't come to the party after all because of a doctor's appointment involving his knee and a cortisone shot. The appointment was supposed to be in the morning, but had been moved to the very end of the day and he wasn't sure how he'd be feeling after. {Sigh} He DID say he would go out with us the next time we went out.

K-Dog tried to reframe things by saying it would take pressure off me for the evening so I could have fun. That's true, but I still felt a bit disappointed.

Just to be sure I didn't lose the momentum and bravery I'd magically and recently acquired, I decided to email him back:

"Oh Crush*, rub some dirt in it, you'll be fine. ;-)"

*Obviously I didn't call him that.

He emailed back pretty quickly with a "hahaha" and said that's probably what he'd tell his students. Ah yes, we think alike. :-)

The party was a lot of fun, but I'll admit, a teeny part of me hoped he would show up at some point. He didn't.

On Monday I emailed him again. You know...to express care and concern. {Seriously. Where is this bravery coming from?}:

"How's your knee? Did you survive?

PS- You missed a great party, but I'll try not to rub it in. :)"

About 30 minutes later he replied that he might be having surgery and:

"May be on the IR for a little while, but I am looking forward to getting invited to another one of these bashes sometime soon!"

The next day, I wrote again. Told him I was sorry to hear about the surgery, asked about recovery time (you know, since personally I'd like his time on Injured Reserves to be short) and then:

"I'll definitely keep you in the loop on upcoming excursions to {the favorite hangout}. Not sure when we'll go next- I have my national licensing exam coming up, so I'm basically going into hiding. Although passing would absolutely be cause for celebration."

After I hit 'send' I wondered if I needed to be cut off...if I was developing a weird addiction and if he was starting to think I was creepy or something.

But before I could get too worried he wrote back!

"Well good luck on that exam! I hope you kill it."

He also said he hoped his recovery was short but that it depended on what they found.

Mostly I focused on the first part...and the thought of a post-passing-celebration. {Insert goofy smile here}

It's oddly motivating.

I'm A Big Girl Now!

As I mentioned last week, we threw a little party for K-Dog. In the midst of everything, K-Dog had run into The Crush and invited him, but by Thursday we hadn't gotten an "official" RSVP from him.

So I called him. I guess I was feeling brave because I just picked up the phone and called with almost no hesitation. {Yay me!} He answered the phone really quickly and seemed pretty no-nonsense...and he always just answers with his first and last name and I realized I usually end up just repeating it back to him {I really should probably try not to refer to him by his complete name all the time huh?}. Anyway, the important thing is, when I identified myself his voice perked up. :)

I jumped right in and asked about the birthday party, to which he replied, "Well, I do have a lot of engagements, but I was going to try to swing by...to squeeze it in between all my other engagements..." He went on to say he had a work thing on Saturday out of town, so he couldn't "get all crazy like you people" and he'd be late because he had a work thing going until 5, which is when the party started, but he would be there. I told him it wasn't a big deal, we didn't usually get too crazy and gave him some info about where we'd be once he got to the place. We hung up and I had no one to share my excitement with! Everyone was busy! So I sent L an email because I had a couple of other RSVPs to pass to her. I knew she'd be excited too.

Later, I found out that shortly after our conversation The Crush emailed L his official RSVP and said he was looking forward to coming to the party. Because she hadn't yet read my email, she forwarded me his email with a smiley face, then realized I called him!

When K-Dog returned from his meetings, I told him I called The Crush and found out he'd be coming to the party..and I told him about the other RSVPs. K-Dog was glad to get the update on all the party planning details, then asked,
"Why did you call The Crush in the first place?"
"To ask him about the party. That's it."
"Ohhh! You're wearing Big Girl Pants now!!"

Yes, yes I am.

I may be a 15-year-old girl with a crush, but at least I've graduated to Big Girl Pants!



Tune in later for more of the story....

CrushGate Forecast: A Ridiculously Hot, High Pressure Front is Moving In

We've been planning trying to plan a Birthday party for K-Dog, who is turning the big 4-5 on Thursday. I've been on K-Dog's case to make the guest list since January. Literally. Since I'm "work wife" that's partly my job. Our coworker, L, has been helping out and coordinating with "real wife".

So long story short: invites didn't go out and "real wife" found out she needed to be at a conference and her kids had sports tourneys over the weekend. Birthday Extravaganza was nearly canceled.

Then yesterday K-Dog gave the go ahead! The guest list (somehow lost...) was quickly recreated and email invites were sent out. There was talk about The Crush and select people from his department getting an invite, but they got cut at the last minute for various reasons. I didn't mind honestly, it's K-Dog's party.

Then today K-Dog left for a meeting and when he didn't return right after, I figured he went to the caf to eat. But for some reason I had this feeling that he would have a story to tell when he got back. I even said it out loud like 4 times to T- "When is K-Dog gonna get back, I just have this feeling he's gonna have something good to tell...he always has stories." Sure enough, K-Dog immediately launched into telling us that The Crush came up to him and asked, "When are we going out for wings?" K-Dog asked him what he was doing on Friday and The Crush said he didn't have plans. K-Dog explained that "work wife" and "real wife" had been working on a party but because of a snafu, we had literally decided yesterday to go forward with it. The Crush said he'd be there. K-Dog said he'd make sure to get the invite with official stuff forwarded out.

So it looks like The Crush will be there... {gulp}

I'm trying not to get my hopes too high...but given everyone's enthusiasm, including K-Dog's, it's tough not to get a little excited. Seriously, I think my coworker L was more excited than me at first! She sent an email asking how I was doing and starting talking about going shopping for a new top! LOL She's so funny. I feel the love.

And a little nausea. 

{Sigh}

More Adventures in Painting

First of all, yes, this does look like an insane art project...or maybe something done by a 3-year-old when no one was looking. I don't really fall into either category, in my humble opinion.

Anyway, I know this is a horrible picture taken with my cell phone, but don't the blobs on the left look more gray to you? They sure do to me!

(By the way, even after applying some Kilz (I used a little of what I had on hand) to the wall, I can still see some yellow coming through. Granted, I am probably painting too lightly.)

Second, apparently I'm not the only one out there with the "gray paint looks blue" issue. Seriously, if you're interested check here or do a Google search. Apparently this is a common problem. Who knew? In my effort to be all "scientific" about narrowing down my choices and whatnot... I never really thought to Google it BEFORE.

I'm so relieved the paint looks more gray after painting it on the white primer! I think I will live with these new blobs for a couple more days before I officially decide. Besides, I have some time yet... in an upcoming post I'll show you some of the other stuff I need to take care of first!