Ode to Justin

Justin Timberlake should put out a cereal
Justin Timberflake

Justin Timberlake opens up a bakery
Justin Timberbake

Hey look! It's Justin at the barbecue! He's making
Justin Timbersteaks

Justin Timberlake is lipsyncing
what a Timberfake

And on Justin's birthday he gets a
Justin Timbercake

felt the need to share that gem with you gals. and of course I didn't write it.

The Countdown to New England

Moving to Virginia has taught me a lot. It has taught me about caring for the land, growing vegetables, and nursing chickens back to health. There have been lessons on being vulnerable and more aware. The mountains have shown me a new definition of beauty and awe.

My roommate, Jenna, and I had a conversation one twilight a few weeks back spurred by the question: how do you choose a place to build your life? Jenna is 28 and I think feeling the ache of building a life of her own especially now that she has found a partner in our wonderful friend Trevor. Much of our conversation revolved around having enough land to grow a substantial amount of food on, if just for our families, but also being close enough to our mothers, fathers, and sisters. And for Jenna, she said that she would also like to be near mountains. Maybe she is a Bilbo at heart, "I want to see mountains again, mountains, Gandalf!  And then find somewhere quiet where I can finish my book." Except "start a life" instead of the whole book thing.
But I am a Legolas. I do not remember if it was eluded to in the trilogy or later in the appendices or perhaps the Silmarillion, but it was said that if Legolas heard "the cry of the gull on the shore", he would fall too much in love with the water to return back to his forest homeland. (Well, that also could mean the grey havens, meaning he was going to die, but because Legolas never got to the sea, we shall never know what was meant by these words).
Either way, I am a water child. Last summer I did not see the ocean once. It wasn't until Friendsgiving last fall that I stepped onto the sand. And I did not swim in the lake that I have been swimming in every summer since I was four years old.
Staunton is a good 4 hours from the coast and 5 hours from decent beaches. And I've decided that is too much. Wherever I settle down, it will be hopefully less than 2 hours to the coast and be close enough to a swimmable body of water that I can walk to.
But until then, I am counting down the days when I fly home for a short visit and can spend a whole day on Lake Quinsigamond with my family and friends.

I'll leave with a poem inspired by nostalgia a few nights past and a music video I just adore which has both mountains and water.

Shirtless dance parties, acroyoga, and the worst hangover

A post that I had started writing about a month ago...

Just when you thought that your life had reached a status quo, a guy hits on you and although you find out later during a 2 a.m. phone call that he has a girlfriend, he turns out to be an in to a highly interesting group of 20-somethings and 30-somethings aka the Staunton Townies.
Long-story-sort-of-short, Saturday my plan was originally to hike with the aforementioned male however, he got called into work and we met up later at a bar (essentially the only bar in Staunton). His gal got kicked out of the bar for being "too drunk" and so I stayed behind with a friend, Anne, and an acquaintance Kevin Murray (who was wearing a captain's hat the first time we met). They took me to one of their friends apartments and within minutes Anne had suggested we do acroyoga which quickly turned into a lot of shenanginans (or bennigans as Anthony used to say) of three people standing on one bar stool and me upside-down on Kevin's shoulders trying to press my feet against the ceiling to "keep us balanced" and more.
The night for me wrapped up around 3 a.m. after dancing for about an hour with two half-naked men, one of whom was Tim Darley's doppleganger, and then getting serenaded by the same two. They had the Box Tops playing. Check out their song "The Letter."
Anywho, the moral of the story is, I thought there were no cool people in Staunton besides the ones that I had already met and had resigned myself to a fairly uninteresting year but life surprised me and sent an epic dance party my way. Come down and join the dance.

Updates since the last shenanigan...

A Wednesday night not too long ago post watching Amadeus with my 68 year old neighbor Bruce, I receive a text from Kevin (mentioned above) asking "What are your thoughts on pool?"
So at 11 p.m., I walk downtown to another bar, Luigis (apparently there is more than one bar in Staunton, but still, not much to brag about) to find Kevin and Tim Darley's doppleganger playing pool with some other townies. No surprise there, the text gave it away. They play a couple games, win both, pretending like it is no big deal. Kevin and I switch to darts in which he wins too. We switch to cornhole. Yes, there is indoor cornhole in Virginia. Turns out I suck at cornhole.
Dancing ensues. Shirts stay on this time -- thankfully as we are at a bar. 2 a.m. arrives and a drunk Lisa, Kevin, and doppleganger stagger outside. Black man hands us a cd of his "Married to the Struggle." We walk to the top of my street to a tiny park and look at the stars, naming the constellations we know.
We discuss getting blankets from my apartment and sleeping outside. I invite both of them to my place to crash instead as my roommate is at her boyfriends for the night. Kevin declines but doppleganger follows me inside.
We listen to the aforementioned cd "Married to the Struggle." It's not very good.
Eventually decide it is time to crash. It is now 5 a.m. I give doppleganger the choice between futon, Jenna's bed, or snuggle sesh in my room. He lays down on my bed and we chat a little more. Now mind you, this man is very good looking and does professional wood working for a living. We climb under the covers. He takes off his shirt but leaves his jeans on. I ask if he comfortable wearing jeans to sleep in, thinking he will take them off and sleep in his briefs. Nope. Gets completely naked.
But nothing happens. NOTHING! Some cuddling. He rubbed my back for a while. But really, nothing happened!
A quick fill in - when we first got to my apartment, doppleganger received a text from Kevin (I happened to look down exactly when the text came in) that said "Really man??" And since then, Kevin has formally asked me out on a date, which I declined since I have no attraction to him outside of friendship. I've bumped into both of them since. Got in a heated argument with doppleganger over something completely stupid and too many drinks into the night during Steve and Max's visit from NYC this past weekend. Things are OK with Kevin although I still feel badly about not being able to accept his dating offer.
Work the next day was miserable. And pretty much all I could stomach was a V8 Splash and a few pistachios. Luckily, a thunderstorm hit and I got to lay down on the porch of our shed at the farm til it passed.

So that's it for now! Miss you all as always and looking forward to our next adventure together whenever that may be but hope it is sooner than later! Mwah!

Learning to Date Myself

We bought 4,000 onions and leeks. Today we planted about 2/3rds of them. We worked from 8 until 5 and will see each other all weekend for another permaculture course. My co-workers and I are very lucky that we not only get along with one another, but that we enjoy each others' company. I also live with one of my co-workers and we act as the cooks for the permaculture class. So far three months without a spat.
While it has been a year and a half since my last relationship ended, with all that is going on during my days, I wonder if entering into a new romantic relationship would add stress to my life and take away from time I could give myself. That being said, after the apartment has been cleaned, the laundry done, and much needed long yoga practice completed during my down time, I find myself at a loss for what to do.
I've decided that those would be perfect times to "date myself" and that it would be a good ideas to set aside regular time to do this. A few weekends ago found me taking out my easel and paints and sitting down reconnecting with a hobby I hadn't spent time with in a couple years. I turned out a rooster wearing flannel! So what is next in the dating world? Now with the weather warming up, I think mountain hikes, weekend bike-rides, more experimentation with sour-dough, and blog posts are in the works. Of course this is after the garden and property maintenance that is stipulated in my lease is fulfilled...

Permaculture...what IS it?

So, y'all remember when our Amherst neighbor Ryan Harb turned his yard into a permaculture garden, right? And then there came the UMass permaculture initiative started by the aforementioned Ryan as we were phasing out of our college days. Oh yeah, and then that same initiative got honored at the White House last year...so this "permaculture" must be doing something right.

Turns out it is. The core tenets, according to wikipedia anyway, are:

• Take care of the earth
• Take care of the people
• Share the surplus

Makes perfect sense, no? And the way to do it makes perfect sense too: creating a horticultural area managed by us (humans) that mimics the way nature interacts using ecological design and engineering. For example, everything chosen to go in a permaculture garden should have multiple purposes and the more the better. So if you have chickens in your area, they could possibly 1) eat food scraps and seeds and then poop it out shorting your compost cycle, 2) provide food for humans = eggs and meat, and 3) eat insects such as mosquitos and gnats that are a nuisance to humans. A mulberry tree 1) provides shade for humans and shade loving plants, 2) forage for chickens, 3) food for humans, and 4) lowers soil erosion with its complex root system.

Permaculture gardening incorporates lots of perennials, and from an annual gardener like me, it is fun to delve into a world of little known and some well known plants. So if one is to build a permaculture garden for themselves, they would need to have some permanency in their place of living, so uh, Gaby, we should talk. And you should visit Eric Toensmeier's property in Holyoke which he turned into a food forest. I'd love to go with you.

This weekend, I will take my first official permaculture course and after 4 more weekends, will have a permaculture certificate. Yay! Another piece of paper! But better than that, I will have a better and smarter understanding in the overlap of horticulture principles and be able to teach in the future if I so desired. In exchange for a lowered cost of the course, Jenna and I are cooking for breakfast and lunch for each class day (20 people) so it's going to be fun...

Of Sledgehammers, Paint, and Muslin (Living Room, pt. 1)

Last weekend I helped dad knock a hole in the wall, and painted the living room. I've got to say, sledgehammering some plaster sure felt good.

Here's a picture of the living room from when I first looked at the house:

Blehhhhhh wallpaper but lovely floors :) The new doorway is in the back right corner coming from the kitchen. You can't see that corner in this picture, but here it is below:

Jake and I got busy stripping wallpaper and prepping the walls for paint...

Here's the view of the living room, standing in the kitchen, looking through the new doorway. Pretty blue painting is in the works :)

This weekend I took a nice long trip to Jo-ann's Fabrics and picked out the lovely little numbers below, including some white muslin:

So yesterday I got busy with the Babylock that mum gave me, and after much swearing at the damned bobbin and threading of the unfamiliar machine, I was able to produce these curtains.

I think mum would be proud. I've got lots more curtains to do. Can't wait to see how they come out!

Just a Logo

In order to have a logo attached to an email sent from gmail, it has to exist as a URL. No idea why. So my apologies. I am just posting the Project GROWS logo here so I can link to it and send emails from my personal email until we get our official 501c3 status hopefully in the next couple weeks and finally get work emails. But I LOVE YOU!

Cleaning Schmeaning

Ah, the weekend. Jenna and Trevor have left to do a work day on a nearby farm and so for the first time since moving, I have the apartment to myself for an extended period of time. My goal for the day? To clean the apartment. I've already cleaned the living room and most of the kitchen and now I am procrastinating as most of my "cleaning energy" has dissipated so here I am on the Lemons Blog.

Update on the cat: Poe is still hiding behind the washer and dryer and terrorizing us at night. Yesterday I finally felt the effects of the poor sleep I've been having all week so alas, it was not the most productive day at work. Her routine seems to be: 1) visit Jenna's room, quick trip to her closet then scratch the bed, 2) visit my room, meow loudly (I wake up) 3) go to the litter box and make a mess and a lot of noise. We've tried to block her entry to behind the washer so that we can at least pet her to familiarize herself with us but she is a wonderful acrobatic cat magician who can get any where! I will attempt again tonight.

With the weather being cold, I have not felt like going back into the world after getting home from work so really haven't met any new people outside of the ones we interact with at work. Looking forward to the warmer weather and increased energy levels to explore and especially to try out the local trivia nights!

Missing you guys, of course, but doing pretty great actually. I like to hear your updates and projects and want you guys to know that I am still here for support whenever you need (although you already knew that). Make some pie and eat it thinking of me! (And no La, we got lazy yesterday and went out for Mexican. Maybe chicken pot pie this Friday?)

Summary of 1st 2 Wks in Staunton

Today is a Sunday before a holiday so everything has that slow weekend feel to it. Jenna has "The Tallest Man on Earth" Pandora station on, we've already gone through one batch of POMtinis, and played two rounds of darts. All this is all following a breakfast of homemade buttermilk pancakes with strawberries and homemade whipped cream and yoga in the park. Chili is simmering on the stove and we're just waiting for Trevor, Jenna's boyfriend to get out of the shower so we can eat. I am content.

The mild weather is a bit un-nerving and I do have to remind myself that it is still January. Yesterday we took a hike at Ramsey's Draft and though it started off chilly, I was down to my turtleneck and leggings 20 minutes in. Jenna keeps on remarking on how chilly it is, but I am basking in the warmer weather. We expected a storm this past Thursday of 5-9 inches which the weather stations quickly dropped to 3-5" and in the end we got less than half inch. While Jenna was disappointed, I was alright, although some snow would be nice.

Despite our small salaries, Jenna and I have cooked some fantastic meals and been quite good and revamping leftovers. We have set ourselves to a one-meal-out-a-week rule and two weeks in we've been quite good. The issue lies in coffee shops and pastries especially considering that there is a fantastic bakery a 1/2 mile from our apartment.

Work has been good too! Jenna and I are two out of four staff of Project GROWS (hey, like us on Facebook! Our website should be up in the next two weeks. Gabs, this includes more fun wordpress stuff. I still don't know why people use it). The other two staff members are the director and farm manager, Ryan and Sam, who are 20 hours a week so often Jenna and I are working on our own. Ryan is a 30 something used-to-be basketball star and Sam is the grandson of Stan and Jan Berenstain! They are both easy going, super smart, and fun to work with. I have high hopes for this year and am really excited about how much I will be able to grow under the direction of Ryan. More back story on Ryan is that he got his master's in Counseling and wrote his dissertation on White-Male privilege. How totally awesome is that?!

Our apartment is becoming more and more homely as the days pass by. We adopted a cat from the local shelter named, Poe and slowly she is adjusting to us. While during the day she hides behind the washer and dryer, last night she had quite the mischievous night and woke us up around 1 am. Right now, we are cool with her shenanigans as we are just happy that she is becoming more comfortable, but if she keeps it up, she may need a talking to.

I do not want this post to become too long, so I will end with some pics that I took last week to show you guys the apartment.

Okay, I won't. My computer and this website are not cooperating right now. Maybe later!

Love to you all. And rephrasing Gabs: Love, Hugs, and Highballs.

R.I.P. Wallpaper pt.1

Hey guys!

Yesterday was a super productive day - I stripped wallpaper from the bathroom and painted AND I went to see Django, WHICH YOU ALL MUST DO.

SO GOOD.

Anyway, here's the before and afters....

EW. wallpaper.

De-wallpapered and de-glued, and two coats of primer and two coats of paint later...

Ain't she pretty? :)

"You're gonna need a bigger boat"

Yanuary the ferst. Twenty thirtean.

Hey there, January 1st! How are you doing? That's swell. Well, I've already started off my 2013 a little messy, no surprise there, but it's all cool, it's who I am. So screw that resolution I was talking about! (you know if I told you) but I might try one of these:

1. Write yourself a letter from your future self, dated 1/1/2014. Imagine looking back at 2013, from a place of having achieved your most important goal for the year. In your letter, thank your present self for all you did to achieve your goals—and be specific. Or give yourself some compassionate advice from your wiser, 2014 self. Research shows that connecting to your future self in this way can help you make a difficult change and succeed at your goals.

2. List your favorite memories and triumphs of 2012, including the challenges you faced with courage or humor (even if things didn't turn out the way you hoped). Studies show that remembering your strengths increases future perseverance and willpower; and reminiscing about the past increases future happiness.

3. Imagine the highlights of 2013. Make a list of at least 5 things to look forward to in the coming year. Anything from new episodes of a favorite TV show to a big trip you want to plan. Research shows that one of the best predictors of emotional health is the ability to anticipate and savor future pleasures.

4. Make a list of what you are grateful for in your life. Sure, New Year’s is a great time to think about what you’d like to change about your life. But you’ll be much happier if you first think about everything you’re grateful for. In fact, if you make a gratitude list first, you might be surprised how it shapes your wish list for 2013. You’ll have a clearer sense of what matters most to you, and a better vision of what you want the future to look like.

5. Make a 2013 commitment to someone else. Who says a New Year’s resolution has to be about what’s wrong with you, and how you should change? Honor something bigger than yourself with a financial commitment to a cause you care about. Most non-profit organizations will allow you to pledge a monthly donation for a one-year term. A side benefit: research shows that donating money boosts happiness and self-image--the perfect antidote to the self-critical resolution.

From Marsha Lucas, PhD not me.