Garden Update

Chuck just made me laugh - he's so official in his terminology. I asked him "how much more do we have left in my garden?"

He's calling this: The 1st Phase of the garden expansion project.

My pals (Trina, Chris, Danny, Kat, Jean & Christopher) surprised me with a gift card to HOME DEPOT, a sweet veggie/herb organic reference guide, and some new pots and plants. Without hesitation - we decided to start our task.

Task 1: Get rid of the brick & concrete boarder


Rented a sweet electric jack hammer from Home Depot.


Cleared out the brick & concrete in about an hour.


Put up a temporary new fencing area to keep the dogs out of the trench.


Now we have to clear the grape fruit tree, remove the stump, level out the yard and start to transplant and plant some more.

I'm excited - this is PROGRESS!

More pictures of B-day!

Here are some random pictures of the festivities!

The Gang at Maggianos.


Chuck building me a cake!

Lemon cake with chocolate frosting.




Chuck got me a Kate Spade wallet - FANCY!
And Keisha Cole CD + manual labor for my garden.






Flowers from my pal - Marcelo.

B-day Recap

Having a b-day on September 11th has been interesting. After the attacks in 2001, my day usually starts and ends with some sort of mention or a memorial focused on remembering those people lost in the world trade center attacks. I think it's important that we continue to heal so I don't really mind but it sucks to start and end your special day on a sad note.

My family, friends, and even co-workers have all be great! Instead of 1 day focused on my b-day - lately, I've been able to squeeze out almost a week of celebration. Granted, a lot of it has to do with scheduling but I'm still very honored to have such support and love!

*BTW: My sister was sworn in on my b-day. It's official she can VOTE! Congrats -Nanita!

After we got back from the river, my family had a small get together for me. We had some delicious enchiladas verdes and carrot cake.

Sitting with my favorite niece as she sings Happy B-day to me. (But she really thinks it's for her :D)


Ripley enjoying the car ride home, their grandparents were dog sitting.


Trini looking out!

Parker, AZ

It's been a while -- But I'm back!

After labor day, we spent a couple of days with our pals (John, Joe, Jess, & Howard) in Parker, AZ. Since we were newbies to the whole experience, we weren't sure what to expect but our pals made us feel right at home.

It was very relaxing -- we hung out, ate some delicious food, listened to music, played games, frolicked in the water. Here are a few pictures of the trip!

Carlos hanging out!
All our toys.












Me in the water.

Street view of the river, CA is right across!
















Quail. There were more but only this one came out.














Gigantic fish - Trina would have died, we were swimming with some!

Train Wreck

Yesterday, I caught up on my new favorite show: Keyshia Cole's - The Way It Is

http://www.bet.com/OnTV/BETShows/keyshiacole/default.htm

Her biological mother has 7 kids, she didn't raise any of them because she is a recovering prostitute and crack addict. And Keyshia is trying to figure out who her biological father is......lets just say .....I was hooked!

Disney 1/2 Marathon

Read Carlos' blog for a really detailed version........I was doing great time until my stomach started cramping up at the 10th mile. I was forced to walk until the finish line - which, I found the most challenging part the finish line!

The race ends at downtown Disney, you have to be quick on your feet since you're dodging fellow runners, big tree planters, some benches, and the path is narrow and windy with a slight incline. It's not a straight away where you can confidently run in and not crash into anyone.

Would I do it again? Perhaps if my time is faster, (I came in at 2.55). I noticed that a lot of faster runners ran into the park - took pictures with all the cast members and attractions then hauled butt to finish the race. I think that's the only realistic way to really finish this race - you're capped at 3.5 hours. Disneyland wants to capitalize from this busy weekend and of course open the park without any delays.

Your $100 entry fee doesn't cover park entrance (after the race) or parking. It's PRETTY PRICEY! But if you're a big mouse fan - it might be worth it :D

All I want for my b-day is a bigger garden!

I don't know what's come over me -- I can't stop obsessing over my garden. Carlos asked me what I wanted to do for my b-day. Since we're going to Mexico in October, I decided that we should put all our efforts into expanding my garden!

It's 6ft x 17ft, as we speak and after taking some key measurements I think we're widening to 16ft x 17ft. In preparation, we cut down the mature grapefruit tree. Don't worry it's not the pink kind and it was plagued. It was time to go! The tree was also shading my garden a bit too much - my veggies need SUN!

I obviously need more plants to expand my garden, a good way is to take cuttings from your existing plants and use them to propagate new plants. Check out the link for detailed info.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8702.html
Info. on creating your own organic rooting hormone: http://rubyglen.com/houseplants/rooting_hormone.htm

I'm also looking forward to growing different veggies: sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, garlic, fingerling potatoes, etc. We'll see how we do :D