Last night, I ventured out to the Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash with three of my friends, and fellow bloggers.  Amy, from Crunchy Domestic Goddess, Melissa from Nature Deva, and Julie from ChezArtz.   

Amy, Melissa, Julie, and I were all friends before we were bloggers, so this was a great chance to catch up with each other, mingle with other bloggers, and watch the Obama speech.   We took the bus downtown, which is the first time I have ever taken public transportation anywhere.  I’m glad Amy’s husband, and Melissa could figure out bus schedules!

We arrived at the bash a few minutes before the speech started, and I met Amber from Mile High Mama’s in person.  I was a guest blogger there in June, so it was wonderful to meet her! 

When it was time for the speech to start we all crammed in a room to watch.  I am not a big political person, but Sen. Obama gave a terrific speech.  It was very interesting to hear his thoughts and ideas.  He had some great humor in there too, and I think this was probably one of the best speech deliveries I have ever heard in my lifetime-so far. 

After the speech was over, we took pictures, ate, and visited with more bloggers and some company representatives.  I was really happy to meet Tara from Lijit, who’s search feature I have on my blog.  She gave us the only bling from the night, a Lijit T-shirt, so thanks Tara!

I met some local bloggers who I have talked with on Twitter before, such as Crunchy Green Mom, and  met bloggers I was not aware of (but are now) such as Laura from LaLaGirl (a mother of five, who has TWO sets of twins!)

We also met the husband and wife bloggers behind My Left Nutmeg, who were chosen as the ONE political blog from the state of Connecticut to blog at the Convention.  Julie and I left a guest post on their blog, and Tessa, let us use her laptop to check in on Twitter. 

We didn’t want to go home, but we didn’t want to miss the last bus back to the suburbs, so we left a little before midnight.  The bus we wanted to take was packed, so we waited about 15 minutes to take another one.  We at least had a seat on this bus, but it made a lot of stops. After driving back from the bus station, and then back to our town, it was 1:30am!

I had a lot of fun though, and it was wonderful getting to go out for a night (thanks Joe!), with my friends, and being able to make some new friends as well. 

I forgot my camera, but Amy e-mailed me the pictures that she took, so here are some shots from last night:

 Melissa, myself, Julie & Amy

    Amy checking in on Twitter (that’s Tessa in the background from My Left Nutmeg taking the picture)

 Writing my guest post on My Left Nutmeg

 The three ladies at the top are Amber, Lilith, and Laura. 

P.S. If you are a regular blog reader of mine, then you may have picked up on something that I never have done before on my blog, but did in this post.  Can you guess what it is?  Leave me a comment or e-mail me.  I’ll give a special shout-out to you if you noticed what it is. 

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A few of the pictures from our camping trip last weekend.  I only took the first one- Joe took the ones of Ryan and Cole. (click on the picture if you want to see them in full size):

Check out the other fabulous  pictures at Wordless Wednesday.

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Since we weren’t sure if we would be living somewhere new this fall, I have put off enrolling Ryan in pre-school.  He went to an enrichment type school last year on a farm, and we have been thinking about sending him there again for the fall and winter.  However, since he will be starting kindergarten next fall (gulp), we have also been thinking about enrolling him in a more formal pre-school setting.

Not knowing what to do, I have taken to asking Ryan what he wants-just to hear his thoughts on the matter.  Every time I bring up the subject, he tells me he is not going back to school.  The first few times he said this, I brushed it off, but it is a little concerning to me that he is not excited or has any desire to go back to school. 

I brought up the subject again with him today:

Me: Are you ready to go back to school?

Ryan: I am never going back to pre-school ever again.  I am going to stay home and play all day.

Me: Why don’t you want to go to school?

Ryan: There are too many kids, it is boring, and I get straw in my shoes.

(Light bulb moment for me- at last I felt like I was getting to the root of the problem)

Me: What if we go to a new school where there aren’t as many kids, and you aren’t bored?

Ryan: Nope.  I’m not going back.

Me: Well, what are you going to do for a job when you get older if you don’t go to school?  You have to make money one day, and you can’t do that if you don’t go to school.

(Silence from Ryan.  I finally broke through to him- or so I thought.)

Ryan (after several moments of thinking): I can get a job at McDonald’s.

(Silence from me.  I have nothing left to say.)

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  Are you tired of seeing this picture yet?  I’m getting tired of posting it.

After being snowed out last weekend, we are on again for this weekend to attempt our first camping trip since having the boys! 

Well almost on again.  Unfortunately, Joe hit a snag with work, and won’t be able to get off work until later in the afternoon Friday- several hours after we were planning on going. 

I have decided to brave the drive by myself and take the boys anyway.  I am not dumb brave enough to go camping all by myself with two small boys, but my dad, Papa Dan, to the boys will be there.  Joe is going to join us on Saturday.

The boys are already so excited. They want to run in the woods, eat marshmallows, and howl at the moon, with Papa Dan (my dad is a bit of a nut!)

The forecast is calling for hot and dry weather in the city, so it should be cooler in the mountains, and there is no snow in the forecast.  Yay!

Now if  I can just manage to pack an entire car up with our food and supplies, and be on the road by 3 tomorrow- I’ll be all set.  My friend Amy, told me to howl at the moon too, so there will be a lot of howling.

I’ll be back blogging next week, with hopefully some exciting news.  Have a nice end-of summer weekend!

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Ryan and Cole going out to play in rainstorm we had last Friday (click on pictures to see them in full size):

Rain+dirt=MUD.  Ryan and Cole coming inside after playing in the rain:

Visit Wordless Wednesday to see more pictures.

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You can read Part I of this post here. 

After eating dinner at my in-laws, I was planing on going to the garden and giving it some extra TLC.  As we started eating, the wind was picking up and the clouds were getting darker and darker.  It started raining, really hard- harder than it had rained in a long time.

As I was helping my mother in law clear dishes after we were finished eating, I noticed from her window, which faces north, a massive, and I mean massive cloud.  It covered the entire horizon, and it was shaping up to be a perfect funnel cloud.

About that time, Joe brought the boys in from outside on the covered patio.  He was looking at the massive clouds forming as well. The wind was picking up, and it was still raining very hard.

We turned the news on, and they said there was a tornado warning, for the next county over.  We relaxed a bit, and left the TV on while we were talking.  The boys were playing an a few minutes later, I heard some wailing like a siren.  I thought it was the boys, who imitate police and fire engine sirens all the time.

A moment later it struck me- our city projects siren warnings in the case of a tornado watch!  I asked everyone if that was the sirens going.  We turned off the TV, and the boys were quiet.  We heard the sirens issuing the warning that we were under a tornado warning!

We turned the news back on, and they had issued a tornado warning now for our county.  The wind was really strong, and the rain had not let up.  The sirens continued for about fifteen minutes.  When our county’s tornado watch was cancelled we decided to go home.  I told Joe I was going to stop off over at Amy’s before I came home.

It was still raning really hard when I arrived at Amy’s.  I pretty much figured the wind and heavy rain probably did some more damage to the garden.  Unfortunately I was right.  The tomato cages had completely come out of the ground, and all the tomato plants were toppled over. 

One of the really large sunflowers, had toppled over across the tomato plants, breaking off numerous limbs and fruit on the tomatoes.  Between the wind, the tomatoes toppling, and the sunflower hitting them, there was a lot of damage.

I wanted to get the tomatoes back in their cages, so some of the limbs were supported.  I braved the mud and the rain, and since the ground was so wet, the cages went back in, but it was a bit tricky trying to get the plants back in the cages, without breaking more branches.  I did the best I could, and went home.

I was so mad all this was happening.  What were the chances that while I was garden sitting, there would be an infestation of bugs, and then when everything was getting better, a storm producing a tornado watch, would whip through?  In all my years of tending to a garden, nothing like this had ever happened to me before- why did it have to happen when I was in charge of someone else’s garden?

At least there wasn’t any hail, I thought, and then immediately knocked on wood. 

I wanted to get over to the garden one last time before Amy came home on Saturday to clean up a bit.  Friday it was raining, so I didn’t think I would be able to go, but it stopped raining.  I tried to anchor the tomato cages in more, and cleaned up more debris.  I also applied another layer of the diatomaceous earth to the garden.

As I was cleaning up, I discovered two giant zucchini’s.  I hadn’t seen them the entire time.  It gave me a good feeling that despite the stress the garden had been under, it was still managing to produce, and continue on. 

I picked the zucchini’s and left them for Amy.  I hoped she would be happy to see them, and hoped she wouldn’t be too sad about the way her garden looked.  Later that night it started raining again, in effect, washing away all of the diatomaceous earth. 

Amy told me when she arrived back home that the garden wasn’t as bad as she had thought.  She was either being very nice, or I perceived it to be worse than she was.  She told me she had found some squash too, so I was very happy to hear that. 

Depite everything that happened to the garden, during those two weeks, I did enjoy myself and enjoyed taking care of the garden.  I loved finding the produce- it was like a little reassurance that despite all the problems, it would continue on- kind of like a metaphor for life itself. 

That is why I like gardening, and growing things.  It reminds me that there is a pattern and order to life, and even though at times, it seems like the problems can be overwhelming, order will always emerge again, and things will be OK.  Every now and then I need to be reminded of this.  

I don’t know if I will be asked to garden sit again, but what are the chances of something like this happening two years in a row?  Knock on wood.

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It is time for A Mama’s Blog, and Lets Go Green.biz’s monthly giveaway! This month, I am happy to announce that we will be giving away not one, but TWO of the fabulous BPA free water bottles made by Camelbak.

If you are not aware of what BPA’s are, they are a chemical called Bisphenola-A (BPA) traditionally used in making hard plastic bottles.  Wikipedia, states that BPA’s have been thought to be hazardous to humans since the 1930’s.  Long term exposure to BPA’s can induce chronic toxicity.  Some of the effects on the body, that were toxic in rats were: permanent changes to the genital tract, changes in breast tissue that predispose cells to hormones and carcinogens, breast cells predisposed to cancer, and lower bodyweight in both genders, and signs of early puberty.

BPA is known to leach from the plastic when heated at high temperatures (such as being washed in a dishwasher.) Needless to say, this isn’t a chemical that you want to be overly exposed to, and any chance you have to reduce your exposure to it-the better.

How many of us have plastic water bottles for ourselves and children?  Before becoming informed on BPA’s, I always ran my water bottles in the dishwasher, increasing the chances that my family was exposed to this chemical.

Lets Go Green’s water bottles are ALL BPA free, so you can put them in the dishwasher with no worries.  I have been using the 25-ounce Better Bottle now for a month and a half, and it is great.  I take it everywhere with me.  I especially love that the straw and the lid stay in place.  I have had so many water bottles that the straw comes out, and then it doesn’t work right, or makes annoying noises when drinking from it, so I ended up just throwing the straw away. 

My boys fight over who gets to use the 21-ounce Podium Bottle.  It is so easy to use and to hold, that my two-year old can use it with no help from me.  The lid is great too, because you can adjust how much liquid comes out, and you can completely turn the lid to “off,” so you don’t have any unexpected spills.  I definitely will be ordering another one of these so each boy has his own.

Be sure to check out Lets Go Green’s line of insulated water bottles too. 

For this giveaway, we are giving one 25-ounce Better Bottle, and one 21-ounce Podium Bottle.  The winners get to pick the color they would like.  In order to be eligible to win, go to Lets Go Green.biz BPA Free Water Bottle page, and look through the water bottles.  Then leave a comment here, stating which bottle you would like to have, and what color(s) you like.  If you would like to earn an additional chance to win, mention this contest on your blog, and provide a link back here. Be sure to sign Mr. Linky so I know you did this.

There will be TWO winners selected on Monday, September 1, at 8 PM eastern time, by random.org.  The first winner will receive the 25-ounce size, and the second winner will receive the 21-ounce size. 

If you can’t wait for the contest to end, these water bottles are VERY affordable. They range in price from $8.79 to $12.89.  If you use the coupon code, FRIEND, at check-out, you will receive 25% off your order!

Good luck!

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Earlier in the week I wrote about how excited I was we were going camping this weekend.  That was before the weather report on Wednesday night called for cold conditions and up to a FOOT of snow in the mountains this weekend- right about at the elevation we were going to be at.

It’s one thing to be caught in a rain storm when camping, but sitting in a tent, with two little boys, freezing our you-know-what’s-off, is not my idea of a good time.  So we are going to try for this next coming weekend.

We ended up making the right decision.  It has rained practically non-stop since Friday, and today the temperatures were only in the 50’s.  I don’t even want to think about how cold it has been in the mountains. 

So keep your fingers crossed that we will be able to finally get away next weekend- if the weather gods cooperate.

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I have been gardening more or less ever since I was six- helping my mother in her her huge vegetable gardens in the summer.  I can’t really remember a time when I haven’t been growing something. 

Some years I haven’t had a full-fledged garden, but always had flowers, or tomato plants, or something growing.  I would never claim to be a gardening expert (I’m not), but I enjoy it and can tell the difference between a plant and a weed on most days.  A few years ago, I even participated in a community garden plot with some of my friends, and to my surprise, I was able to pass down a few gardening hints here and there.

So when my good friend, Amy at Crunchy Domestic Goddess, asked me to garden sit her garden for two weeks while she was on vacation, at the end of July/beginning of August, I jumped at the chance.  Amy’s garden was just the perfect size-not too big, not too small.  Amy had tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, squash, strawberries, some herbs, a cucumber plant, some beans, and some sunflowers in her garden. 

Due to a few reasons, I didn’t plant a garden myself this summer, so I was really excited to have a few weeks where I could garden!

Amy left town on a Saturday, so I went over on Monday evening for my first time. The garden was beautiful.  Tall tomato plants, with tons of green-just-turning-to red-tomatoes, and strawberries.  There were a few nice yellow pear tomatoes just getting ready to turn.  Everything was green, with no signs of weeds, pests, or any other problems.

Despite it being record heat, I felt confident on my way over for my next visit on Thursday.  I had watered deeply and didn’t want to over water, so I felt my timing would be right on.

Imagine my shock as I slid open the patio door, overlooking the garden, and discovered all the tomato plants top leaves had been eaten!  I could see the bug bites through the door, and saw the sunflower leaves had huge chunks of them gone! Upon further inspection, Amy’s garden was being attacked by insects.  The only thing that didn’t have major bug bites on its leaves were the strawberries, cucumber, and the beans.   

I immediatly thought tomato worms for the tomatoes, but the bites weren’t very large, but there were hundreds of them in the leaves.  I didn’t see any tomato worms on the plants, and didn’t see their droppings.  I searched high and low for signs of what was eating the garden.  I saw an earwig and an ant, but I knew they couldn’t do that kind of damage in just two days. 

Amy’s garden is organic, so I was not about to put anything on it without her permission, but I was stumped.  At the rate this was going, Amy would not have a garden when she came home.  I wish I had taken pictures, but I was really shocked.  I had never seen anything like this before.

After consulting with Amy and our other friend, Julie (who is a master and an organic gardener), Julie said it had been a bad year for pests and recommended some diatomaceous earth, to kill the insects.  She was a lot calmer than I, and seemed to think everything would be OK, and balance out.

I headed out the nursery for some diatomaceous earth, and applied a layer of it over the entire garden Friday evening.  The insects had continued eating, and had started in on the beans, and basil.   I really hoped the earth was going to help, because I was not feeling optimistic about the garden. 

We still had record heat the next few days- until Wednesday- so I went over almost every night to water, and monitor the insect situation.  Happily, Julie was right.  The earth seemed to be working, and it didn’t appear like the plants had sustained any further damage.

The tomatoes were staring to grow new leaves, and I was confident that Amy would still have a pretty nice garden to come home to.  The only thing that concered me was the diatomaceous earth washed away every time it got wet, and we were getting some rain showers at night.  Julie said it eventually washes away, so I figured every other day re-applying the earth would be OK.

On the Wednesday evening (3 days before Amy was due back), I was at my in-laws house after work having dinner.  The heat seemed to have broke, clouds were moving in, as well as a breeze and it felt great.  I was looking forward to going over to the garden that evening and working in the cool air, giving it some exra TLC. 

At the time, I could not have imagined what was in store for me a few hours later, and sadly for the garden.

Stay tuned for Part II

gardening

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Check out more pictures at Wordless Wednesday

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