Confessions of a One-Track Mind

It's raining this afternoon, which is fine with me; it means I don't have to haul water for the hydrangeas. Everything will get saturated for a change, not just a gallon of water dribbled from one end of the bed to the other.

It's really coming down. I don't have to go anywhere or do anything, so that's fine. It means I'll have to get it mowed again that much sooner, but knock wood, the January freeze SEEMS to have killed off the sawgrass. Considering what a pain in the ass it's been over the years, I'd do it again just for that. I know, bite my tongue, right?

Sometimes it's GOOD when there's nothing going on....

Spring has definitely sprung. Was out front weeding the hydrangeas a little bit ago and noticed that the confederate jasmine has ONE open flower and a zillion tiny green buds waiting to unfurl. (I give it not later than Monday before they start to pop in profusion.)

For the first few days, the air will be perfumed with the lush, almost vanilla scent of blossoms. Then it'll spend a week cloying, and then it'll be rank---between the fresh blossoms and the old dying ones, it's more like nasty scented rubbers. (Someone gave me a package of so-called scented condoms once, and asked later what they smelled like. "Latex," I answered succintly.)

At the moment, though, there's still the anticipation of how good it'll smell for that first sweet week. The hydrangeas aren't doing anything spectacular yet---it's been six weeks!---but they're still alive. I browsed the clearance plant corner at WalMart and picked up $1.50 worth of impatiens, which I massed in a planter on the front wall.

I need to transplant the biggest jade plant I interited from Kat. I used to have quite the collection of succulents, and I know that it needs a container with drainage, which its current vessel doesn't have. Two branches calved from it when I brought it home; I have them in pots, and they seem to be taking hold satisfactorily.

The "gardening" takes me all of ten minutes a day. Otherwise, I'm not accomplishing a damned thing. I'm trying to write, but there's no joy to it. Meh. I'm a mess.

===============================

* Come on, let's have a sing-along! "Spring is here, spring is here---"
.

Tuesday I finally got to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Liked it. Different from the book in places, but still entertaining. Sean Bean is as hot as ever. Pierce Brosnan looks good in a beard---I didn't have a single "OMG it's Ronald Reagan!" moment. Uma Thurman made one sexy Medusa. And the chick who played Annabeth should be cast as a young Elizabeth if White Collar ever does flashbacks---she looks like she could grow up to be Tiffani-Amber Theissen.

House-sitting has its moments. One thing about the location, it's convenient to everything. Three minutes from the mall, groceries, bookstores, gas, J. Maybe if I ever hit the lottery, I'll get a place in the neighborhood. But NOT on this street, because it's really freaking noisy. Maybe because there are canals behind the houses on either side of the street and things echo? Plus, my street curves, and this one is a straight line, which may also affect the acoustics. But jeez, every yappy dog, every rumbling pick-up truck, every $#%&ing weed-whacker---!

Today, the lawn service arrived at EIGHT A.M. This should be outlawed. Not to mention the yard was downright tidy by my standards, which are admittedly elastic. Ditto housekeeping---their weekly cleaner showed up just before 10, as I was dragging my sleep-deprived butt out of bed to watch SPN. (What Is and What Should Never Be---I love that one for Carmen; then again, MY Carmen was quite the domme.)

Cleaner was upstairs for almost three hours (cleaning bathroom grout with a toothbrush? IDEK---as long as it wasn't my toothbrush, IDC), during which I managed to scribble a few pages. (Strange computers are hard for me to write on; steno pad to the rescue. I *really* need a laptop!) By that time, I was OVER it. I hadn't had breakfast, because I didn't want to make a mess, I was hungry and tired of listening to her caterwauling along with her MP3 player---I couldn't make out any of the words, but she's not going to be on American Idol any time soon.

I went home to check my mail---picked up a box of chicken on the way---found a note from BC asking me to call (and wanting to know why I don't have an answering machine. Answer: Because I'm a Luddite, and also because it helps me avoid drama---sbjb, YOU know what I mean. I've got my real friends trained to e-mail me, as I seldom go more than a few hours without checking in.).

BC has become quite obliging of late. He brought over his loppers, the better to lop back the schiffilara that was trying to block the garage door. He cut that back, snipped the overgrowth on the confederate jasmine, and said that he'd be happy to help move any of my stuff from Kat's, just say the word. We've traded food pantry items: He likes powdered milk, I'm always on the lookout for free caffeine.

Last week, he brought me those plants that Kat had ordered last fall---today I dug up the bed in front of my front porch and planted the hydrangeas---hopefully we won't have any more frost! I also loosened the soil in the pots that held the begonias last year, readying them for whatever I do this spring. Kat's pink pampas grass is more problematic, as it wants full sun. {Possibly the NE corner? Hmm. Must mull over.)

Another activity I performed was napping in my own comfy bed. There really is no place like home! At its best, it's a pit compared to the C's at their worst, but by golly, it's MY pit. Only four more nights....
.