Spring in Tulsa (And Everything That Means)

It's spring! Late spring, I think. Time of thunder storms, hail, high winds and ... blooming things! It's a rainy day here, but I took photos. I was too excited by what I found in my garden not to!

Two Christmases ago, my mom gave me her amaryllis after it had bloomed. I put it in the garden last spring, wondering if I'd ever see it again. Look! It's going to bloom!


Last spring, Karen, at the Rocking Pony, was complaining about her forsythia that wouldn't die. I told her I wanted some and she mailed me a bit. See? It's doing well. Waiting to be moved to its forever home, somewhere else in the yard.


Last Mother's Day, the Hunny and kids gave me a wisteria tree. Zobabe told me to make it go away, that it would gobble up my yard. I was afraid it might not make it through the winter, then the early spring pruning the Hunny gave it. Turns out they're indestructible as well. See? It won't even stand up straight, it's growing so fast. Like my teenagers. Shoulders back, wisteria! If you click on the photo, you might catch a glimpse of an evil garden gnome ...


Last Mother's Day my mom also gave me a cute lizard, Flaco. He's happy in the garden, hiding in the mums.


And has been joined, this past Easter, by a mushroom mom gave me. It's a magic mushroom. By magic I mean that it sounds like a bell when the wind blows. Heh.


And the peony I was so sad about last summer? The one I thought sure the roofers had killed before it ever bloomed? Back and ready for business!


In the side yard are the hosta and violets. Poor little side garden needs a lot of TLC. When the guys replaced the siding last summer (the job that never seemed to end), the garden took a lot of abuse. I'm surprised any thing lived through it.


Ooo! And the roses are budding out! Aren't they pretty?


Last summer - in July? - I responded to a Freecycle email about yellow irises. Of the dozen I brought home, I gave away probably half. This is their first opportunity to bloom and I think I have about a dozen plants still. What the heck?!?


Oh! Before I forget, today is Oatmeal Head's birthday! He's 15 today!

Until I write again ...

Flea

P.S. For those who need a big dose of smile, head to Midlife by Farmlight and scroll to the video. Huge smiles guaranteed.

Food Aversions

I'd like a show of hands, please: how many of us have food aversions?

I know you've all had this conversation somewhere, sometime, right? I don't like such-and-such. My friend hates X, Y, Z. The Hunny won't eat this and that. Why? Why won't we eat certain foods?

Just today I was telling someone about being made to eat tomatoes as a kid. At least, I wasn't allowed to take them off of my burgers. I hate tomatoes. I was also talking about having to eat eggs with runny yolks, which still grosses me out to no end.

Mushrooms, olives, runny yolks, tomatoes, sauerkraut. All on my taboo list. Won't eat them. I'll eat cooked tomatoes, i.e. sauce, ketchup, etc., but not fresh. Don't like slimy. There are reasons for it.

According to Answers dot com, people develop an aversion to certain foods they've eaten just prior to illness. I've watched my kids reason that one out - "I won't eat fish again because it made me sick." Red Rocks had a cold and I KNOW fish didn't give it to him. It's called the Garcia Effect.

But I don't recall getting sick after eating anything on my list. Oh, add tea to that list. Tea in any form. Yuck.

Tell me about your food aversions, will ya? I'll email ya. Not quite ready to talk about it in a group session yet. :)

Until I write again ...

Flea

Lazy? Moi?

Coffee Bean posted the results of an interesting personality test on her blog today. I took it, but didn't care for the quirky test or its results, so I took a different test. I hate yes/no answers, so I fouund one which allowed for degrees of agreement and disagreement. Yay! Here is me. And I'm not lazy (it doesn't say I am, but that's one of the questions). So there.

Your Results
Closed-Minded		Open to New Experiences
Disorganized		Conscientious
Introverted		Extraverted
Disagreeable		Agreeable
Calm / Relaxed		Nervous / High-Strung

Link to your results!
Email your results to a friend!

What aspects of personality does this tell me about?

There has been much research on how people describe others, and five major dimensions of human personality have been found. They are often referred to as the OCEAN model of personality, because of the acronym from the names of the five dimensions.

Openness to Experience/Intellect
	High scorers tend to be original, creative, curious, complex; Low scorers tend to be conventional, down to earth, narrow interests, uncreative.
		You typically don't seek out new experiences.	(Your percentile: 47)
Conscientiousness
	High scorers tend to be reliable, well-organized, self-disciplined, careful; Low scorers tend to be disorganized, undependable, negligent.
		You probably have a messy desk!	(Your percentile: 13)
Extraversion
	High scorers tend to be sociable, friendly, fun loving, talkative; Low scorers tend to be introverted, reserved, inhibited, quiet.
		You probably enjoy spending quiet time alone.	(Your percentile: 12)
Agreeableness
	High scorers tend to be good natured, sympathetic, forgiving, courteous; Low scorers tend to be critical, rude, harsh, callous.
		You are neither extremely forgiving nor irritable.	(Your percentile: 57)
Neuroticism
	High scorers tend to be nervous, high-strung, insecure, worrying; Low scorers tend to be calm, relaxed, secure, hardy.
		You probably remain calm, even in tense situations.	(Your percentile: 4)

I'm a O47-C13-E12-A57-N4 Big Five!!

Off to run errands!

Until I write again ...

Flea