Goal Update

So...

#1 - Script Frenzy in April -- miserable failure. I don't have more than 10 pages of my script written

#2 - Physical Health - Running - My New Year's Goal is to run 2 5Ks during 2010. The first, the Burnsville Fit Families 5K, is coming up on May 8, and I'm getting there. I'm not sure I'll meet my goal of running it in under 30 minutes, but it'll be close. A friend and I ran the course yesterday and clocked in at about 32 minutes... So, with a week and a half to go, I think I'll be able to get in some speed work and maybe, just maybe I can pull it out.

#3 - Reading - I've officially finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and it has changed the way I'm going to think and eat. Already last week we ordered more grass-fed local beef and pork from Farmer's Market vendors. (GO TO YOUR LOCAL FARMER'S MARKET AND BUY AND EAT THE FOOD!) Also, I'm going to include How to be Your Dog's Best Friend by the monks of New Skete. That wasn't quite a cover-to-cover read, but I've read several of the chapters multiple times already.

In other news, the dog will sit, stay, down, and come on command. And she's learning the boundaries of the property pretty well -- i.e. she knows she can be in the creek, but if she crosses to the other bank, she'll get in trouble.

Also, I've got spinach up in the garden! Still waiting for the peas and lettuce to show, but I need to get out and plant the next batches -- and get some broccoli.

So this is my latest book (not quite done yet). It is really so timely... Just last week we got chickens, a dog, we've tilled the garden and I've already planted the first of my lettuce, spinach, and peas. (I like to plant them in batches a week or so apart so that things are edible over a longer period of time. I'm not trying to can/preserve any of these crops, so I don't want them to all "come in" at once.)

I cannot say how much I have been inspired by this book to live and eat more simply/locally.

Thanks to the unusual list of vegetables in the book, I'm going to plant some Long Keeper tomatoes too. The idea of having one's own garden tomatoes wrapped in newspaper ripening in October or November is so appealing I can hardly stand it! I've also got this new great system to (cross my fingers) keep my tomatoes from blighting and reducing the amount of space they take up. We'll see how it goes. I'll post pictures soon.

Meanwhile, in other areas of my life... tune in to WPVM at 6pm this Sunday to hear me read a few of my poems on air (between bouts of blathering).

Spaghetti Dinner - May 8

Yep. It's time for the Spaghetti Dinner to benefit Church Street Preschool. See me for tickets! Please. I've got twins!Where? Garden Deli

When? Saturday, May 8, 4:30-7:30 (dine-in or take-out)

What? spaghetti (meat or marinara sauce), salad, bread, beverage and homemade dessert

AW Assignment (from a few weeks ago)

One of the tasks in the Artist's Way is to create a collage of images culled from magazines. So I went to the local library and picked up a dozen old magazines for about $1.50 and started ripping away. (I love doing this kind of thing!) Instead of looking for pictures that represented my past and future, I went strictly with images I was drawn to. And I love the result:

The words by the dog are an old Chinese saying: Pleasure for an hour, a bottle of wine; pleasure for a year, marriage; pleasure for a lifetime, a garden.

Found Her

Meet Daisy, with whom I am completely smitten.

The Quest for the Perfect Dog

I know this is slightly unreasonable, but here's what I'd like to find:

A dog that is...

• more than a year old
• medium sized
• good with kids
• can handle being an only dog
• is able to keep warm outside in the winter (he/she will not come inside)
• will not kill chickens
• will run off rabbits & deer from my garden & worry the groundhogs
• can be off the leash & un-penned, but not run away

Bonus qualities:

• is easily (or already) trained
• likes to play fetch

We met this guy at the shelter yesterday and he seems like he has a great disposition... but I've read that Basset Hounds can be stubborn (not easily trained) and like to follow scents and then have a hard time finding their way home... That would be less than ideal. Further, this guy seems like more of a porch accessory than a fetcher. But you'd be hard pressed to find a sweeter porch accessory!

Now, I know labs are great family dogs too, but I'm worried about their "birding" instincts. And I know several chicken owners who, because labs train fairly easily, have trained their labs to leave their chickens alone.

So, the dog-searching adventure continues.

AW Update -- up to Week 7

It's strange, I'll get to one week's tasks and think... Oh, I already did this a few weeks ago. Or conversely, I'll do one weeks morning-page suggestions or tasks the week after I was assigned to do them. There is a more lax flow through the different sections this time. I don't know if that's because I anticipate what's coming, or if I was just so ready for the process this time... and I'm being more forgiving with myself about doing things "on time." In fact, I've had a very difficult time being "on time" in the last few weeks. I wonder if that's because I'm being more present in the moment rather than always trying to anticipate what's coming next...

Phrases from the book that have struck me in the last few weeks:

• We decide how powerful God is for us. We unconsciously set a limit on how much God can give us or help us. We are stingy with ourselves. And if we receive a gift beyond our imagining, we often send it back. (p 91)
• Pray to catch the bus, then run as fast as you can. (p 92)
• The desire to be worldly, sophisticated, and smart often blocks our flow. (p 93)
• An artist requires the upkeep of creative solitude. (p 97)
• What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. (p 108)
• Expect the universe to support your dream. It will. (p 119)
• As blocked artists, we unrealistically expect and demand success from ourselves and recognition of that success from others. (p 121)