Tongue feels weird

So, I finally got around to changing out my tongue bar for the shorter one that is supposed to be better for my mouth and all. Boy, does my mouth feel weird now.

My husband loves me

Know how I know?

He bought me a soaker hose today, just 'cause he saw them, and knew I wanted one. And he braved the after-dark mosquito fest to go put it out for me. So yay! I now have a more enviro-friendly and water bill friendly hose that is better for the plants, and means I can water pretty much whenever I want. Woohoo!

I picked the almost ripe tomato and ate it the other day. I went out to check on the garden in general, and saw that this one had split his skin. Rather than leave him to get bug infested, I picked him and ate him, and WOW was it delicious. I can';t wait for more on that plant to ripen up. I'll have to check tomorrow and see what I might have out there - see if there's anything I can pick to bring on the boat this weekend. I thought that would be a nice thing to bring.

The peppers are looking healthier, and I think the eggplants are ready to start growing me some eggplants. Now, if only I could get the darn zucchini to actually set a fruit or two, I would be a happy little gardener.

Three cheers for the library

Someone suggested trying to rent workout videos at the library to me, and I thought I'd head to the library yesterday and see what I could find. There were no workout videos, but I did get a giant pile of books.

• Dickens A Tale of Two Cities
• Willa Cather Death Comes for the ArchBishop and A Lost Lady
• Alice Randall The Wind Done Gone
• Bill Bryson In a Sunburned Country
• Anthony Bourdain Typhoid Mary
• Ana Castillo Peel my Love Like an Onion
• A book on kitchen gardening.

All of these look just cool, and reading them all in four weeks will be quite the undertaking, considering how many other hobbies I have going on.

It's strange. I'm part of this informal book club, and the last two books/authors have been ones I distinctly remember hating in high school: Willa Cather, specifically My Antonia (We read that and O Pioneers for book club), and Charles Dickens (I had to read A Tale of Two Cities in HS, we read Great Expectations). I'm not sure if it was because I'm older now, or because there was no one standing over me with a gradebook and a "permanent record", or some other reason, but I enjoyed all three of these books IMMENSELY. Obviously, or I would not have gone to the library and gotten out more books by the authors.

I remember always thinking my mother was a freak for being excited about the books I brought home in HS (Just like in Zits this week), but now I'm afraid that Widget is going to end up thinking the same thing about me when she gets older. (Seriously, my mom has always claimed Dickens as one of her favorite authors. I've always thought she was lying or crazy. Now, not so much. We'll see what I think after trying A Tale of Two Cities again.)

I've always felt kind of lacking in something because I had skipped so many of the "classics" of literature because I found them not to my taste. That is, in fact, one of the reasons I was excited to participate in the bookclub. I'm rather pleased to find that my taste, and perhaps my intellect, has grown to accomodate a wider variety of writing and literature.

And lastly...

Because none of the rest of you have enough Widget in your life,

( Here there be pictures )

I can't get over how big and grown up she looks in all of these. Yipe!