Monday, May 28, 2007

Snappy and Clever title

I wanted to be clever this post. I wanted to think of a smart, snappy title and a clever opening paragraph. Instead, this is what you get. Sorry. I haven't written for so long that there really is a lot to say; things about arriving in Virginia, moving in, getting ready for Samuel's reception, settling it. But I just summarized it in the previous sentence, and I think that will do for me. After all, I've never been one to spend a long time on catching up on the past.

I do want to write a about a couple of things. First off, Lydia is walking now. She really began last Monday, but I think the idea occurred to her last Sunday. She's very cute at it, like all new walkers I am sure. She can walk about the distance of a room before she falls down.

Then, I also wanted to announce that I have a garden. Yes, a real garden with growing things. At least, hopefully the correct growing things. I planted all starters or sets instead of seeds, so I've kind of cheated all ready, but I've never grown anything before, and I didn't want to mess it up before I've even begun. I'm growing Tomatoes, yellow and green bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, rosemary, and mint. Also two petunia plants from Mother's Day at church, because I didn't know where else to plant them. I saw my first weeds today, but they're just little grasslings, and so I'll need to find a hoe to get rid of them. I tried pulling them out of the ground by hand, but that was almost impossible. Avram tilled the land for my garden, and Lydia usually comes out with me while I tend it. She'll just sit in her stroller in the shade, and seems to really enjoy that. I feel very homemakey having a garden; I like it. I just hope it makes it to the fruit-bearing stage.

And now for a list:

Things I don't like about Virginia/My new home

1. Ticks. I HATE ticks. I hate them on me, I particularly hate them on my daughter, I hate searching for them, and I hate it even more when I find them. My hatred of ticks extends far beyond that of mosquitoes, although still behind cockroaches because at least ticks stay outside, but cockroaches come into my personal space.

2. Driving many miles to get anywhere. This is because we live in the country. Not the picturesque "country," with an acre of grass and a house with dormer windows. No, this is wooded, bug-infested, mice-living, tick-inhabited country.

3. Living in the true country. It turns out I'm much more of a picturesque country kind of person. Or better yet, living like Matt and Sarah, where the country it across the street, and just adds to my view. I hope living in the country in England will be picturesque. I think it will be; I'm sure the British invented the word picturesque for their countryside.

4. The air staying warm and muggy during the night, instead of cooling off, like in the desert.

5. Greater DC area traffic; traffic jams all the time, all over the place.

Things I like:

1. How green everything is.

2. There are lots of flowering bushes, which are very pretty. And they stay flowering, at least as long as I've been here.

3. My garden

4. Not having to worry about the water I'm using to water the garden with.

5. The rain. It's only rained a couple of times since I've been here, but it's nice.


What I miss about Utah/Provo/BYU

1. The mountains. Immensely.

2. All of my friends and family. Along with this, having places to go, and people to see, activities to do.

3. My ward. Oh, yes my ward. Living within a hundred yards of my entire ward; our Sunday schools, the young and idealism of it. Just thinking about it makes me sad. Mainly because I don't think we'll ever be in a college ward again. I loved it. Sniff, sniff.

4. People wearing clothes. Although since I usually don't go anywhere, this isn't a big one, because I almost never see random people. I realize this sentence may be confusing; I mean clothes that cover the body.

5. Having Avram in school; he always goes crazy when he's just working, and isn't in school.

6 comments:

  1. So nice to hear from you again. I'm glad you could balance what you hate with what you like. I guess the missing things is to make us yearn for heaven. It is hard to leave things you loved like BYU and know you can never go back. Leaving a mission is a lot like that because there is so much you come to love and then you have to leave it.

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  2. i love your garden... Mmmm fresh stuff from a garden, yummy! i hope it all works out and you reap the rewards! If/when i have a home i plan to get a garden growing too... I just love the fresh veggies. oh and i will have raspberries too... like grandma's house. Just thinking of them has my mouth watering.

    Ick on the ticks... I hate all creepy crawlies. when I spent the summer in texas I hated all the bugs and how muggy it was too. humidity is hard to deal with when you are so used to utah's dry heat!

    i had to laugh that you missed the mountains... i felt the same way when I was in road island. i never even knew i cared about them until I didnt have them any more! lol. I like them looming in the back ground giving me my bearings on where I am in the valley... road islad is much like where you are with lots of forest and so if you are driving in the middle of it you cant tell if you are going east or west and I was lost alot of the time. I kept looking for mountains and thinking that this was why compasses were invented for states like this!

    I miss my student ward too.. they are the best. maybe cory should go get a masters so we can go back to one. ;)

    I miss you thora, and I hope that England is picturesque (spelling of that word?? hmmm) I know what you mean about wanting to live in the country though.. i think i always grew up wanting to live by a stream and big trees and grassy fields. i think we might have read too many books like anne of green gables and little house on the prairie!! at any rate even anne of green gables had mice in her house, and I am sure ticks and bugs everywhere. I guess you jsut have to take the good with the bad! At lease there are trees and flowers to make it all beautiful.

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  3. sorry its so long.. and i cant spell. I know this but there is no spell check on the comments...

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  4. Ticks used to be my biggest, most awful fear. Just . . . *shudders* gaaah! Then, of course, I became a camp counselor and had to (pretend to) suck it up.

    I'm so glad about your garden! You're just the sort of person who aught to have a garden, I think.

    Hope Avram's not going too stir-crazy on you.

    I miss you both.

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  5. Thanks for all the comments. First, Camilla, you lived in Texas? Where was I? Was it with the Wall's? I actually had wondered if there were a lot of ticks by your camp, RoseE. I knew you had never mentioned tick's in your stories, but I guess they usually get edited out. Same reason they're not in Anne of Green Gables, I guess. I wish all of the descriptions of scenery I've read in books over the years had included ticks, just to prepare me.

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  6. You have inspired me to post what I like and dislike about Mapleton, in all of its pseudo-country glory.

    Congrats to Lydia on joining the world of the ambulatory biped.

    And congrats to you for your gardening ambitions. All my gardening (which is perhaps not that much, but more than others) has been done from starts, because I lack the courage to start from seeds. I in no way think less of you for not using seeds.

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