That's kinda weird...

I woke up this morning, took a good stretch, opened the shades, and.... There were airplanes. Kind of cool, kind of weird. I have never seen them travel before themselves, but I suppose by train is the way to go when you're an airplane. I also didn't know that they started their lives shiny green either. I guess you learn something new everyday, and usually unexpectedly!

Mazel Tov, it's a pear tomato!

My pear tomato plant finished growing a beautiful little pear tomato today. Ok, it's not little. It actually seems quite large for a pear tomato- but what do I know. Also, it is red. Pear tomatoes are supposed to be yellow. I am not complaining, but I'm just saying this may be a "special" tomato. That's all.

Speaking of special, both of my tomato plants have grown so much since I bought them, but the cherry tomato plant hasn't been keeping up with the pear tomato plant. I mean, the pear tomato plant has like ten tomatoes that are about to ripen, while cherry just has the same 3 little tomatoes that haven't grown or changed in at least a week. I don't know. I think we may need to sit down and have a talk about monthly quota expectations. We'll see.

Why?

Living in the city, I have seen a lot of weird things and dealt with a lot of interesting people...

But WHY must people Jaywalk with their small children in the middle of moving traffic?
People are always crossing the street at the wrong place in the city, and I get that. I can even try to understand their total contempt for traffic laws. I can maybe even excuse the people who walk in front of your car and intentionally go slowly just to irritate you and make you come to a complete stop to wait for them (although, these people really make me mad most of the time). But what really upsets me is when I see an adult darting across the street hand in hand with a small child. First of all- what a great thing to teach a little child... Don't look both ways, just walk into the road like you own it and hope you don't get hit. Secondly, the child has no real sense of self preservation people! they are trusting you to lead them to safety! not into ongoing traffic. I seriously want to stop them and explain that I have no children, in fact, I can barely keep my tomato plants alive, but even I know better than that!
The only one that trumps that is when someone goes running across the street at the wrong time in front of traffic pushing a stroller. I mean, if something were to happen, that adult would not only be able to dodge and get out of the way, but the stroller in front of them would be the first thing to be hit. Talk about not thinking. Ugh. It just really makes me mad. I just want to grab those little children and take them to the crosswalk and explain that you wait until the little lit man who looks like he's walking appears in the lights and then you can go-- after looking both ways. Twice. Jeez.

Tomato Update...

I know you all have been waiting at your computers for a tomato update- so here it is. My herbs are doing really well also, the Basil has really grown quickly.

Here are the baby pear tomatoes...




And the super adorable cherry tomato babies...




I am so excited that I haven't killed them yet.

The Roman Empire and Inner City Gangs

The other day I was brushing my teeth and it occurred to me- Why don't modern day gangs do the Roman Empire thing? Or for that matter any great Empire thing. These people are so busy shooting at each other that they haven't really examined the idea of joining forces. Just think, (now this isn't an idea that is conducive to the safety of us non-gang people, it's just a curious "food for thought" kind of deal. No, I don't like gangs- in case you haven't sensed the sarcasm yet), but lets say the "Bloods" and the "Crips" combined. In Denver, they are the two biggest gangs. But they aren't the only gangs. If this were like Roman Empire days, they would find a way to conquer or combine with each other so that their territory was SO much bigger. In Denver that would mean that they would control BOTH the West side and the East side of the city. They would be like a SUPER gang. In thinking about this, I can't figure out if that would help lower incidents or raise them. I mean, they wouldn't be going after each other anymore. But there would be many more of them now that they are a SUPER gang. So, the incident rate may rise simply from them being everywhere. I don't know. I'm just saying that I think it's a little strange that there hasn't ever been talk of a merger. That's all.

Pancakes

I just love pancakes. I don't know if it is because they are merely a vessel for the maple syrup (which is just so delicious) or if I like the pancakes themselves. But I periodically wake up and feel the need for some pancakes. I made these pancakes the other day and there were no mishaps. You know how when you make them you usually end up with this scenario-
Pancake mix all over the counter and dirty measuring cups and bowls everywhere. Then, when you go to cook the first pancake it is hideous and you have to cook more pancakes to hide the ugly mishap underneath. The griddle gets to hot, then too cold, and you are standing there over the stove with the spatula trying to decide if your pancake is burning at that very moment or if it is barely cooked. Do I flip? Do I not flip? It's all such a delicate process.

Well this time around, I made three pancakes. No do overs. And all 3 pancakes were strikingly attractive. So, I took a picture to share my pancake victory with all of you.

Say Hello To My Lil' Friends

So these are the tomato plants that I adopted! Aren't they precious? But seriously, I am really excited to have my own little garden on my balcony. In the middle I have some basil, thyme, and sage. Lets just hope that I don't kill any of them before they give me tomatoes and such.

Tomato Plants

I am so excited. I am the new owner of two adorable little cherry tomato plants. These are fine specimens of the tomato plant family....I'm such a proud Mama right now. I have always wanted a balcony where I could have little plants outside and for the first time, I can actually do it. I realize that I am running a little behind schedule---but I got my plants today and tomorrow I am going to go get them nice pots and soil. I feel like a little kid who just got a goldfish from the pet store. I think my desire for tomato plants on my balcony actually started with my Grandmother who always had them on her balcony in the summer. I remember being so excited to go out there and see if the tomatoes were ready to be picked.

Don't worry- I plan on giving you periodic updates on their Cherry Tomato Output (CTO for short). I know that you were probably worried for a second there. It's dark right now, so I can't get a good picture, but I'll introduce you to them soon enough.... and those of you who live in Denver, if you are REALLY nice to me, I might be convinced to share one or two of my very special CT's with you, (for a small fee of course).

Swimming

At work today we took the kids down the rec center to go swimming. As I was watching them swim, I started to think about how exciting swimming is when you are a kid. I remember that it didn't matter where we went on family vacations- if there was a swimming pool in the hotel, it made our trip. We just wanted to swim. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good swim now. But I think I do it maybe 2 times a year, and it isn't nearly as much of a joyful experience as it was when I was younger. It didn't matter to these kids that they only had like a half an hour to be in the pool, or that half of them had swim suits that didn't fit, they just wanted to get in the water. Just watching them enjoy something that much made my day. But I wonder how it is that kids are able to really appreciate the simple things in life, and why we grow out of that as adults. We still enjoy the simple things, but they aren't as simple. Like a movie I saw recently where these children were chasing around bubbles on the playground and one of the characters said, "I wish I loved anything as much as my kids love bubbles." I just find it interesting that the mere act of jumping off of something or catching a ball is enough to really make a child's day. I don't know why as we get older those things aren't worth doing anymore...And you really can't get that excitement back even if you tried. We really don't just PLAY anymore. Playing seems like it should be too important to give up.
So anyway, I watched the kids splash each other in the pool and laugh with a genuine glee that I am sure they haven't gotten to do in some time. It was an hour out of the day where I think we all forgot about the world we live in and lived in the world where swimming and splashing is all that matters. Plus, they were all so tired afterward that bed time was a whole lot easier on us adults.