Another very nice day. I printed some enlargements of my barn and barbed wire and they will work out great for my project. Yay! I don't need to take more pictures for this. My test print of the hazelnut orchard row turned out good, too. I'm going to print it on wood with hand-applied emulsion. I need to get some thin wood--perhaps 1/4" birch plywood. Time to do some shopping. And cutting. That's what Ed is for--the cutting part. Not the shopping part.

While I was working on my sample collage, one of my classmates who is a licensed massage therapist gave me a wonderful shoulder and upper back massage. And boy did I need it--my back is quite sore from the big-ass weeding/pruning/raking expo yesterday. She did a great subscapular massage rendering me into a spineless worm for a few minutes. It was just so wonderful. I really love a good, hard massage.

Speaking of sore muscles, my hamstrings are so sore! I overstretched them when I was bending over weeding and scrubbing and pruning. Overstretched hamstrings hurt. They hurt when you try to take a big step forward (or actually even a regular step forward) or when you lean over even a little bit or when you first sit down on a chair. This happens to me every spring when I do my first gardening.

My dad arrived here around 3:15 but had gotten up so early this morning that after his 3-hour drive, he needed a nap so I set him up in the guest room for a sleep. While he was sleeping, he was also babysitting. Well, babysitting is too strong of a word since Joey is at an age and maturity level where she is pretty much self-sufficient and needs little in the way of babysitting. I left her here for 45 minutes while I ran to the store. She promised to wake up Grandpa or call me on my cell phone if there were any problems. The she said "what kind of problems would I have?" It was very funny. She knows not to open the door when I'm gone or in the shower or sleeping.

For dinner I made spicy enchiladas--some beef, some chicken and a few cheese for Joey. They were yummy. Amy helped me roll them up and make the rice. It was so fun to cook with Amy and make dinner for my family. I love that. Good food, good conversation, good chocolate cake with white frosting for dessert. :-) What't not to like?

My neighbor and I decided that on Tuesdays, I would make dinner for their family (and ours) and on Thursdays, she'll make dinner for our family (and theirs). I'm excited--I think this will be a fun thing to do and it will be nice not to worry about dinner one day a week. She loved the idea.

I can't keep track of what day it is. All day long I've been thinking it was Monday or (oddly enough) Sunday or Thursday. It's all messed up. I feel kind of out of sorts because of it--I'm usually always aware of what day it is and this is totally throwing me for a loop. I feel disoriented because of it. Kind of Alzheimery.

Tomorrow morning I'm helping to chaperone Joey's class on a field trip to a local bakery downtown. This ought to be fun--45 minutes in a school bus, each way. Mmmm... hope I don't get car sick! Wish me luck.

--L