Birthday Present to Myself

I have wanted an old fashioned garden hod for years. To me, this screams "I am a real gardener now...... look at me!" I know I did not need it to be a real gardener, I just wanted it and that's how I justify things I want. I ordered this from Burpee's Seed Company and when it got here I could not believe how big it really was. Catalog photos are not always good at rendering dimension in my mind.

The quality is wonderful and it looks so professional. I can't wait to harvest tomatoes with it, although it may be too heavy to pick up once full of my summer bounty!

I have had a really hard time getting excited about the gardens this year. I did finally order and receive my seeds for the year but motivation is seriously lacking. My husband (The muscle around here~) has gone to Alaska to fall timber for three months. I am usually not a whiner but I suppose I did not realize just how much he did on our place. I'll be sure to thank him when he gets home. My morning routine, which consists of lots of coffee and my computer for at least two hours before I get ready for work, has been interrupted by having to feed animals. It doesn't take long but Doyle took care of all of that and now I go to work with hay in my hair. It looks awesome and lends authenticity to my farm-girl image. Only a few patients have actually been allergic to me so all is well on that front. It's just hard when part of my team is missing. On a high note he'll be very happy to be back tackling my honey-do list since he swears he will never step foot in Alaska again as long as he draws breath. I guess a logging camp is not the way to tour that state.

Thanks to all of you who have inquired about my whereabouts. I am coming back, I miss you all and your blogs have always been a huge source of motivation for me! That is really what I need right now!

One last thing I have been up to.... On Saturday I run (yes, I said run, hehe) my first 5K for the Susan G Komen, Race for the Cure! I am very excited and have been training using the Couch to 5K plan for the last nine weeks. When I started, the intervals were 60 seconds of run alternating with 90 seconds of walk and that was hard. I completed week nine yesterday morning and we ran 3.1 miles to see how long it will take us on Saturday. I think (if all the strollers and walkers wait to start until the runners go) that we will complete the 5K in 29 minutes. I am really proud of myself and no, it's not a coincidence that this new goal coincided with my 37th birthday! I needed to get myself moving so I can garden well into my nineties. Mission accomplished and we just signed up for a 10K on July 10th. New training plan in the works~