May Pointless Lists

I've been feeling a little disgruntled lately--I'll post about my minimalistic despair later--so I'm choosing to focus on the positives of the month: We planted our garden, we saw many of our family and friends, we saw our girls happy and healthy and well.

That's the main thing right there. Which is good, 'cause sometimes being optimistic hurts my head. That list is over.

As mentioned earlier, we visited our dear friends Mara and Alex and boys last weekend in Eugene. I've known Mara technically since the fourth grade, although we didn't become friends until our sophomore year of high school. Had I known then what I know now, I would have just marched up to her my first day at Westside Elementary and said, call me Trishy because you're going to anyway, even when I'm 40.

Ah, well.

Hey, amid all the eating and the talking, Mara saved Abby's entire life by taking down the hem of her promotion dress, a gorgeous little thing that her father had deemed "too short." This month Abby learned that tall girls always look to the hem. There is usually all kinds of fabric down there, and in this case, 3-inches worth. Mara made her own wedding dress, so this project was probably almost too easy, but I am serious: She saved the world, and she acted like it was no big deal because she's cool like that.

Also: She took me shoe shopping. We found these. Had we needed to go on a cruise where you just sit around on deck without having to walk anywhere, we totally would have made the purchase. How do people walk in these things? I have no idea.

I'm on the left, Mara is on the right. I was like 6'5". It hurt a lot.

One more also: I got Alex's cold! It's not as much fun as he made it look. Wow, my head hurts. It's kind of amazing that I can form coherent sentences. At least I think I'm forming coherent sentences. There's no one around to ask.

Pointless list time!

Books read:
Um... what? Nothing is coming to mind, except Mara sent me a draft of her *second* novel that I was reading but then for some reason did not finish. That's what June is for.

I have a couple of things on my Kindle I should probably start, except one of them is "I Am Legend" and I'm kind of afraid to read it. Because it's about zombies. Zombies are pretty cute from afar, but I'm not sure how I feel about spending a few hours with them. (Why yes, I AM 40! Why do you ask?)

Garden update:
We have lettuce! Spinach! And we've plucked the fruits (leaves?) of our labor and made salad! There's something very empowering about growing your own food, even if it's just a couple of rows of greens. You know what, The Man? I don't even need you! Um, sorta.

The rest of the garden is looking pretty good. We got 12 tomato starts of various varieties, so that always makes you feel like a rock star right off the bat. The zucchini looks like it might come up this year (last year was dismal--we maybe got four zucchini total. ZUCCHINI, the weed of the garden. It was weird), the carrots look kind of maybe fuzzy, and there are little cilantro leaves pushing through the soil. We've also got beans and dill up there, so keep your fingers crossed kids.

Check this out:
Honest Toddler. You're welcome.

Things I've learned:
Nobody cares that you can take your placenta home now. Sometimes when you wake up and it's sunny outside and you think wearing capris is a good idea, it's really not a good idea. Johanna is not going to get her Doctorate (she announced), but she does give a pretty decent student-led conference. Also, when you schedule your child's student-led conference, maybe look at the calendar first so she doesn't have to miss her very last coach pitch baseball game. I love skirts. Oranges and maple yogurt make a really great breakfast. Hope is hard to squash.

I've seen the future, and it is awesome

YOU GUYS. I saw the future of bulk this weekend, and it was amazing.

Wait, is it the future if it's actually in the here and now? I'm going with a yes on that one because it's not in my world just yet, and that's what we're basing this all on, right?

Um, right?

From the Market of Choice Facebook page. Hope they're cool with that.

This weekend we went to visit friends in Eugene. (Hi Mara!) That's a post in and of itself, but I'm trying to focus here, okay?, so work with me. While there, we went grocery shopping for that evening's meal (let's just say we ate REALLY WELL for like three straight days) and that, my internet friends, is when I learned about a little place called Market of Choice.

I have never seen so many bulk options in my life. There was a whole build your own trail mix bar in produce when you walk in, and I thought that was impressive. And then we turned the corner. TWO FULL AISLES of bulk, including oils and vinegars. What? I've heard of such delights, but I had never seen them with my own eyes.

It was heaven.

So after looking around and lamenting the lack of my glass jars, I finally decided to just go for it. I mean, they had Chex mix. Natural vanilla chips. HONEY ROASTED PEANUTS. I'm not strong enough to pass that stuff up, especially when I have three weeks of school lunches left to pack before summer vacation.

And I mentioned the vanilla chips, right?

So that? Was awesome. The sheer variety of goods blew my mind. There were Skittles, for crying out loud. All manner of baking goods. Animal crackers! I just got the Chex mix, vanilla and milk chocolate chips, peanuts, and some honey sticks for Johanna. Oh, and butterscotch buttons for Abby, because she was there and she decided she needed that. Now that I'm home again I'm wondering why I didn't just grab and cart and go for it.

Market of Choice Facebook page, again.

Also awesome: The bulk prices were way lower than what I pay at home. I cannot touch honey roasted anything at my store for under $10 a pound. At Market of Choice those peanuts were $4.29 a pound. Do you see why I was so excited?

Anyway, the next time we're in Portland or Eugene--which admittedly will probably be in three years--we'll definitely be stopping at a Market of Choice branch and (calling first to make sure it's okay) filling up as many glass containers as I can get my hands on.

The thought makes me giddy.

P.S. I will write a post about Eugene... but that day is not today.   :)

Where's my coat?

The calendar says May, but the weather says November.