A Growing Concern.

Before I get to my problem, look what I found on my neighbor's doorstep.

Om nom nom. 

He's too cute to refute. 

Back to my problem. I'm a tad bit worried about my plant babies taking over the window. Most of them have crawled out of the planter and in between the plastic blinds in the window. This isn't a big deal in the daytime, but when I want to close the blinds at night I have to do so gingerly. The greenies are probably stronger than I think, and they might not even notice the closed blinds, but now that some of them are flowering I'm a little more protective. 

View from above. 

Yeah, it's a hot mess. The tiny compulsive part of me wishes I'd organized their growth a bit. Everything's connected to everything else, and the blinds definitely don't close all the way anymore.

Jack's bean has a cousin.

Take Leo, for instance. Since last we spoke, the main stem has grown three shoots which want nothing to do with the main stem and require their own real estate. Guess how many buds are on the three offshoots? 14. Guess how many buds are still unopened on the main stem? 11. Holy smokes I'm about to have a lot of flowers. There would've been two more buds, but I forgot to water the plants over the weekend and two of them dried up and fell off when I was rearranging the greenery.

Breast Cancer Awareness Flower. 

It was difficult to get a good picture of the flowers - since the stem is growing upwards, the blooms are pressed up against the window all day, which makes them flat on one side. At this point, I'm suspicious of Leo being a climbing vine.

Just another super sunny morning with my monster greens.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about the one random bud that is definitely not pink. It's on the main stem near the top, and the bud opened up a little this morning. I hope it's not cream colored from lack of water (it wouldn't open if there wasn't enough water, right?), but I'm wondering why in the world it's not pink.

Pink bud in the background for comparison. 

You might've noticed the only plant not growing toward the sunlight at the far left of the planter. The Fuzz has gotten mighty robust the past few days.

View from the far end. 

If it wasn't for Leo, I'd crown the King the tallest plant I have. Out of all the leaves springing from one spot in the dirt grew a tall stem that produces its own set of leaves. For days I've watched it, waiting for a bloom to appear, but nothing has grown as of yet.

Looks like he's got a crown of his own. 

I can't wait to see what comes of this plant. 

Other than King Prickly and Leo, there hasn't been much blooming activity out of the rest of the plants. The only thing that comes close is the pinkish-purplish petal plant.

I thought this was another Leo, but now I'm not so sure. 

In non-environmental news, I won my second week of fantasy football. I went up against a guy that had Tom Brady and two other Patriots, and he was taunting me that Mark Sanchez wouldn't beat the Golden Boy (Brady's nickname). True, Brady earned more points than Sanchez, but I ended up beating this guy by forty points (huge margin of victory) and had the highest score of anyone that week. HECK YEAH!


Before I go, word to the wise - never EVER buy Chai Tea Spice syrup. I bought it for use in my morning coffee because I love chai tea to death, and that particular brand is laden with cloves*. It smells like cloves, it tastes like cloves, and the lingering aftertaste is heavy with cloves. Actually made me nauseous. I'm going back to the store today to get French Vanilla. Hopefully that flavor doesn't have cloves in it.

* I'm not against cloves. I put them in muffins and other baked goods, only in small amounts. I am against clove coffee, though.

Shwell, it's time to go do some apartmental compartmental cleaning. Have an awesome day!

Tut-tut.

It's been raining almost all day. The weather reports said it would be ninety-three degrees today, but it's only gotten up to seventy. I guess this thunderstorm wasn't something the meteorologists were expecting. That must be why I've got an insane headache invading my skull. Medicine isn't helping, but I'm wishing for the clouds to move on to somewhere that doesn't involve me.

Filling out job applications is exciting. Okay, that was a lie. Filling out job applications for something that would use my degree is exciting; filling out applications for retail jobs and front desk jobs lacks that sparkling quality. The crack in my skull makes answering questions like Tell us three skills you have that make you stand out in the crowd and Tell us your career life story, what you've accomplished and what you plan to do next almost impossible. There's a certain level of commitment required to pretend that I want to work for a temp agency for the rest of my life and write why I would want to work for your company in particular.

This headache really has me in a funk.

I found another recipe that uses chai tea to make baked goods: Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies. Now we're talking. It's a shame there's a lot of people who don't like chai tea, and a whole other group that doesn't like eggnog. I guess I'll just chow down with the other few crazy people who accept both of those flavors in cookie form. That sentence feels like a run-on.

My flowers are doing alright. There are now four blooms on Leo/Leona, and I've still got the purple cluster as well. There's one other plant that never had a bud, but there are suspicious violet 'leaves' sprouting from the growing end of the plant. I thought this was the second Leo (the leaves look very similar), but I could be wrong. The fuzzy plant seems to be growing a stalk. Up until now, the leaves have all come from the base of the plant, but now there's a stalk with leaves protecting something inside. Well, that's what it looks like, anyways. I'll grab some pics later, just not right now.

H. ended up beating me in points in our FF league. This week I'm going up against the guy who had the most points last week, so I expect to lose this one. But maybe his quarterback and wide receiver and running back (who are all on the same team) will have game day injuries. It's bad form to root for player injuries, right? Maybe they'll just all have the flu.

We don't have an umbrella. We never thought we'd need one. The raining every other day might change my mind. I was going to clear my head and take a walk down to get the mail (it's been in the high eighties for the better part of the week), and I was even prepared to wear my rainboots that I've only worn once before. Very exciting stuff. But we don't have an umbrella, and I don't have a waterproof jacket, so I never went. Something to add to the grocery list, I suppose.

Other than talking about how I can't get brown fall boots off of my mind (see exhibits A B C D), that's about it. This debilitating headache is still with me, but as long as I don't look into bright lights or stand up quickly or listen to obstructive music, it doesn't get worse. Now if only it would start getting better.

Friday, At Last.

H. and I just got back from the movie theater - we saw Contagion, and we both really liked it. What we didn't like was the syndrome everyone else at the theater had. A husband had to repeat a lot of dialogue to his hard-of-hearing wife, and he did so by repeating things loudly in the middle of another character talking. Behind us there were two whispering soccer moms who kept telling each other their theories about what was going to happen next. Then there was the lady in the front row who would say "Oh they're doing _____ now", and fill that blank with whatever was on screen. She was a super old lady that was trying to acknowledge to herself what was going on, or at least that's what it seemed like. If someone was talking on a phone, I think H. and I might have walked out. There must be something in the water here that makes people turn into awful movie-goers.

H. is feeling better, although not 100%, and suggested that I get my own straw for the drink we shared during the movie. Somewhere between getting up from my seat and coming back with the straw I had a twinge in my back. I had trouble sitting comfortably, and even now (two and a half hours later) I'm still in pain. It's only on my right side, and it hurts when I breathe, twist, or cross my left hand over to the right side of my body (like when I tried to pick up our drink from the holder and couldn't do it). I thought maybe there was a knot in my back, but after a little back massage from H., it's definitely not that. I really hope the ibuprofen will take effect soon.

Last night's football game was actually pretty exciting. I had two players I was rooting for, and H. had one player to root for, all of them on the Packers, and all of them receivers. We would cheer when one of our guys caught the ball, and boo when someone else did. As of right now, H. has more points than I do, but the weekend isn't over yet. I want those chocolates!

Two recipes that sound scrum-diddly-umptious that I ran across today: Pumpkin Donuts with Buttermilk Maple Glaze and Chai Tea S'Mores. I have a very healthy addiction to chai tea, and making a cookie-like dough out of it sounds absolutely heavenly. The donuts are probably unhealthy, but they're pumpkin, people! With a maple glaze! Excuse me while I daydream about eating both of those delicious delicacies. drool.

That's about all I'm going to write. I've gotta find somewhere more accommodating to my back to sit for the season finale of Rookie Blue. 

Football and Flowers II.

I wanted to post this yesterday, but I ended up with zero energy after grocery shopping three times. Actually, the shopping was fine. It was the cooling down part in between each trip that zapped all of my get-up-and-go. I might cave and buy one of those fancy travel cups just so I can put ice cubes and water in it. Lots of ice cubes.

Yesterday morning I woke up to a wonderful sight in my rainforest.

More flowers!

Well, Leo's definitely a she. Maybe I should call her Leona now. I didn't think the blooms would be pink - I meant to take a picture of the buds the night before the blooms, but you'll have to take my word that they were purple. An orange-y purple. But I'm not about to force those petals back in and request a different color come out.

Here's what they look like from the front. 

I'm not sure how big they'll get, maybe an inch in diameter? They're very slowly emerging from their living shells, so it'll be a day or two before they're fully open. 

Picture from this morning. S-l-o-w-l-y opening.

There are about six of the buds on Leona, and so far three of them have popped open. I don't mind waiting for the rest of them to open, so long as I have something pretty to look at in the meantime. 

Picture from this afternoon. The third bud tries his hand at photo bombing. 

Any idea what this flower is? I haven't touched them yet, but the petals look very delicate, much like a sweet pea's. I wonder if one of these buds will open up and a slip of paper pops out with the specifics on its identification. 

The purple posse. They follow each other everywhere.
Maybe it's because they're all joined at the stem. 

Don't worry, I didn't forget about my first-to-bloom. As you can tell, there are about ten of these guys now. The very first one has already finished blooming and withdrawn back into its pod. I think it lasted for five days, so these will probably last me into next week. 

Messy picture, but this is from the right-hand side of the planter. 

I worry about the purple panthers a little, just because they continue to grow toward the window in the shadow of Leona, who is essentially a brick house. I've tried to gently move the stem out from behind the behemoth, but they just end up back in the shadow. I guess that's where they want to be.

Poor H. has a bit of a cold. Thank goodness he has tomorrow off, because he really needs the rest. His voice is at about fifty percent, and he might lose it entirely tomorrow. I got him the gold standard in over-the-counter care with a jug of orange juice, vitamin C pills, and the tastiest generic version of NyQuil. It's one of those rare times that I'm glad we're living in a ridiculous time zone, because the football game tonight starts at 5:30 PM, and H. can even get to bed early. Can you tell I'm fretting a little? I just hope he gets better soon. 

Football tonight means H. and I are going head-to-head with our fantasy football teams. Now I see why his dad doesn't like fantasy teams. On Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys play the New York Jets. On my team I've got two Dallas players and the NYJ defense (which is easier than picking a thousand linemen to be on your team). Here's the predicament: inside of fantasy land, I cheer for the two Dallas players to get yards and touchdowns which translate into points for my team. At the same time, I cheer for the NYJ defense to stop any Dallas touchdowns, to completely cut out any chance for the receivers to gain yards on the play, and that scores me points for my team. Basically, I'll only get half the points either way. 

Like I said, H. and I are duking it out this weekend. We even made a friendly wager, a husband and wife bet. If my team has more points than his, he has to buy me a box of chocolates. It was the first thing that popped into my head, believe it or not. If H.'s team has more points than mine, he gets one hour of Silent Time during which I have to be quiet. He's already asked if he uses it while I'm sleeping and I don't remember, does that mean he gets double the quiet time later, to which I said absolutely not. He's pretty crafty, that one. Oh, and I also get to brag about how he got beat by a girl if I win, so there might be more pressure for him to win. 

In my parting paragraph, I'd like to show you this scary photo (what were they thinking?). Football in tee minus one hour and fifteen minutes. 

Flowers and Football.

This is going to be another pic-heavy post, as I'm proud of mah little green babies (them plant things).

I woke up yesterday, went to go water my plants, and gasped when I saw what was waiting for me.

FLOWER!

It's so cute and pretty and it makes me smile every time I go look at it. It's actually on one of the plant varieties that sprouted later than everything else, so it must have a pretty short budding time. I went to check on it that afternoon, and then I found this.

There's two of them!

Cue onslaught of zoomed in pictures to show the teeny tiny flower details. 

See the incredible violet color on the stamens? If there was a bumblebee
grabbing some pollen, his legs would be purple. He'd have purple leggings.

And then there's the teeny pointy petal things that make it look fierce.

If each of these buds, I'ma have a bona fide bouquet of the
tiniest flowers you ever did see.

So far, there's just the two of them, but that's enough for me. I kept them alive long enough to have flowers! It's been almost 90 days, so I suppose this would be prime flowering season from a systematic standpoint. Or at least, that's when a couple of websites say that plants flower. Leo's also got some buds forming, but I'm not entirely sure they'll turn into flowers. I haven't been keeping an eye on him, but these look fairly different from what's on him now. 

Zoomed out view of the stem. 

The buds have fuzzy prickles on them. Which, as far as Leo is
concerned, is something new and exciting. 

There's about six of these, so if they really are flowers,
I'm about to be an octomom. 

I can't wait to see what each and every one of those wildflowers turns out to be. If they sprout at about the same time, I might have enough for a vase. A small bouquet that I can put next to the tv and spruce it up. Super excited.

As some of you may know, H. is a huge football fan. He watched a college game last night on his computer, and he wasn't even a fan of either team. It was just interesting, so he watched it. Well. Well, well, well. A couple of weeks ago, H. was invited into a fantasy football league at his work, and he said that he'd probably be watching quite a bit of random football games in the coming season. I said whatevs, what else is new, and told him to have fun storming the castle. 

The day before yesterday, H. called and asked if I would consider making a fantasy football team. He said that his league needed one more person to make it even, and apparently things work better when people are in pairs, so I said yes. I was nervous, but H. said not to worry - I wouldn't be the only girl in the league that couldn't name five players in the NFL. Which I took offense to, so I named five quarterbacks and then some other offense people. H. laughed at me, and went back to work. 

Today was the draft. Without going into too much detail, it was an auction draft - someone would nominate a player and people would bid on him. We each had $200 imaginary dollars to spend on 15 real players. It was actually a lot of fun watching who people picked. One lady kept on picking people, winning the bid, then her husband would say, "Doesn't he have a neck injury?" Clearly, husbands had no interest in helping their wives. I did pretty well, and if you have any interest at all in my team, you can see them here. So it appears you can't link to your team. Here's a screenshot instead, click to enlarge.

Shwell, it's about time for some pizza. We haven't had that in a while, and all this football talk makes me crave pizza. For the past two nights I made burgers for us lovebirds, and they turned out nicely.

96% lean beef, turkey bacon with 5% fat, cheese, and barbecue sauce.
Also,  toasted sesame seed buns. Really makes a difference. 

And that ends tonight's post. Enjoy your football, and enjoy your Labor Day weekend.