How does your garden grow ?   Well our garden is on its way to growing quite well, hopefully ! I had a fairly successful garden last summer, and wanted to try and see if I could get even better yields this year, (plus add a bit of interest to what we call the “back 40″ that could really use some landscaping attention. To this end,  we spent last weekend building a raised bed for our veggies.

It was a bigger undertaking than I think we expected it to be. We followed the instructions from Sunset magazine . We actually came in way under their quoted budget of 179, and spent only about 87 dollars on the materials to build this guy (purchased with a home Depot gift card from X mas, thank you dad ! ) .

It took us a substantially longer time to build than they would lead you to believe, and they mention that a drill isn’t necessary ? UMMMMM I beg to differ. Even WITH a drill we found it a royal PAIN in the you know what to try and get those screws into those big old boards. So I don’t know how anyone working with just a screw driver would be getting those things in, AT ALL. Oh and I also advise if you know you happen to live on a hill, and you happen to plan to grow your veggies down in the lower part of the yard, that you don’t build your raised bed on the top part of the yard, and then have to try and  figure out a way to get it down hill on the fairly narrow steps that lead down to where you plan to grow veggies.  Of course I’m  not speaking from experience or anything, just a thought that you know popped into my head for those who may happen to live on a hill.  ;)

Anyway, so after forcing kindly asking our house guest for the weekend (Hub’s College friend)  to get the bed down the hill with us, I set to work planting. We are now waiting for 6 tomato, 2 bell peppers, 1 egg plant, 2 cantaloupe, and 6 corn plants to mature and feed us tasty goodness this summer.  I think I may  purchase a few more plants too as we have quite a bit more space in the planter box.   I also noticed while I was down there that there is baby ‘cots on my apricot tree !!   VERY excited for stone fruit season !  I looove apricots and peaches… now if only I could get  hubs to eat all this great stuff that will be in our yard… sigh ….

I hope all of our hard work building this will result in stronger healthier plants ! I’ve read that there is many benefits to building raised beds, including, soil temp and moisture levels remain higher, and it’s easier to weed. We shall see ! Anyone wanna come over for dinner say, mid July and help us eat the harvest ?!

This is a bit late, because I thought I had scheduled it to be posted, but .. apparently that didn’t quite work out so well. So without further ado… I present to you a post from about three weeks ago….  =)

So…. last week I went to a signing for Giada DeLaurentis (the author of Everyday italian, and super cute Food Network chef) I heart her, and thought it would be cool to get an autographed copy of her book. I didn’t think it would be a little bit of a pick me up as well. I had been feeling a bit down about the whole adoption thing, in a way.

I had watched an episode of 16 and Pregnant and I had read a book that the agency requires us to read called  Children of Open Adoption, and both of them kinda left me feeling like I was always going to be a “second best parent” to whoever my future child may be. Like no matter how much I will love my future child ( and I have absolutely NO doubt that this will be the case) It will not be enough. It’s not very logical really, but that is how I was feeling. Scared that I would never be able to fill everything my child needs. Scared that if their birth mom doesn’t correspond there will be nothing I can do to calm their fears that they were rejected or not loved, and that my love, no matter how deep will never assuage those feelings. It’s probably a bit irrational to worry now before anything is even happening, but it was on my mind in the weeks before the signing.

So, after it being postponed a week,  I arrived at the Williams Sonoma  store to pick up my pre-odered book. The line was all the way around the block from the store. I was THIS close to deciding to forget having my book signed because I didn’t want to spend who knows how long in line. I quickly got over myself, and remembered all the times when i was younger and slept out  few times for Backstreet Boy tickets and once for  a pair of Jimmy Choos, (true story). So there I am in line, and of course I get to talking to the people in line around me. Because, really what else do you do when you’ have to wait in an absurdly long line ?  The lady directly behind me in line just happened to  have the CUUTEST little  daughter !

She was so patient and so Excited to be hanging out with her mom. She was even singing a little song abuot Giada and about how excited she was to meet her. “Giada, Giada, I cannn’tttt waaaait, Giada Giada make a caaakkee” A-DORABLE. Her mom was telling me that her little girl and her will watch Giada’s show and then they will cook something from it together.  After I got my book signed I got to thinking.

This is really why I want to be a parent. I want to be able to share moments like this with my kids. I want to cook with them, and take them on fun little excursions and watch them get excited . That is what parenthood is (at least partially) about. I may not be doing the birth part, but I can do the Giada signings (or whatever it is) that will make my kids sing about “not being able to wait”, and hopefully those happy memories and times and the other ways we’ll show our children love will get them through whatever rough times they may (or may not) have dealing with adoption issues.

So life got super exciting at the Junction on Monday !  We have a new addition to the family !  1  tiny 5.5 Lb Cavalier King Charles Spaniel ! I’ve been OBSESSED with this breed for quite some time now, as they seemed perfect for hubs and I.  He is the CUUTTEST little thing EVAR and we already love him to pieces even though we have to take him potty at 2AM  and he peed on my floor cushion.  Puppy training and parenthood should train us (a bit)  for parenting a human, no ? Now if we could only decide on a name for him !

I am a bit behind in my reports, but a few weeks ago we had the home visit portion of our home study completed ! I, of course was totally crazed, running around trying to make sure everything we had to have done was complete and that the house was presentable. There was a list of several things we had to take care of that the agency gave us, and we only had a few days at this point, since of course, we procrastinated! What types of things did we have to do ? So glad you asked !   We had to lock up all of the medicine, make sure the water heater was below 120 degrees,  put all of the cleaning supplies 5 feet up or higher, put  any alcohol 5 feet or higher,and have a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit. If we had a pool or other body of water, or another kid there would’ve been more requirements.

I, of course being all paranoid and slightly nervous and anal added to that list that the stove needed to be run on the self clean cycle, the entire house needed to be vacuumed, the kitchen cabinets re organized, floors mopped, sheets changed, flowers from the garden on the dining table, mantle dusted, toilet scrubbed, cat washed, new tooth brushes, lawn mowed, gutters cleaned, and a fresh reed diffuser in the living room. Maybe half of that actually got accomplished. =) .

Finding something to lock up medicine was a PITA. I originally thought I could just get a tackle box and buy a separate lock. None of the ones I found had latches that would take a lock, so I ended up trying like three different stores searching for something, and ended up getting a fire safe box, and sticking everything in there, but it was a tad small, so some dumping of medicine was necessary.  Between hubs and I we got everything (except for some of the things on my crazy lady list) taken care of the day before our visit.

The next morning, our social worker was right on time. She came in, complimented the house, petted on the kitty,  and we gave her a quick tour. We then sat and chatted for about half an hour. She asked us a few questions about how we were feeling ,  a bit about our plans for the child, asked how we things were with the rest of the process, all in all It wasn’t as interrogative as I’d imagined. We like our social worker, and it was more like just having a chat, so I was surprisingly at ease. I think Husband was too. Later that day we got a copy of the report that will be our “homestudy” it seems so strange to have almost EVERYTHING about you described in one document. Your home, your income, equity in your home, medical history, family history,  your marriage, it is ALL there, in one place. It’s a bit surreal to read what someone else wrote about you. Well, they  write up what you say in interviews and other questionnaires you fill out along with their own observations and legal mumbo jumbo that I’m sure has to be in there. It is quite the document, and I am definitely keeping that thing when we get our final copy, and putting it somewhere safe.

Next up is a Dr. appointment. After that we just have to send in a few random pieces of paperwork, like a copy of our wedding certificate, and wait for final approval and finish our birth mom letter. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming….

So our next step in our adoption journey was to be fingerprinted. It should be a pretty straight forward process, but as with everything it turned out to be kind of a PITA. First of all there is two different forms you have to do. I guess they give you two different types of clearance or something. Second there is 3 copies of each of those forms you have to fill out. Then you can either call, or go online to make an appointment, as there is only certain places that do this type of finger printing. I went online, because you know that’s how we do things around here at the Junction if at all possible. It’s just is easier to me. Well not this time. The site is a bit confusing, and the fact we each needed to book two appointments to make sure each form was submitted properly was apparently too much for it to handle, so I still had to call (and wait on hold for 20 mins) to make sure that we were booked properly. Thankfully when we arrived that morning everything went

much smoother than the appointment process. It was quick, painless and they didn’t even get our fingers dirty with ink ! it’s all done with a scanner. Of course I had to document it with photos, since I won’t have any “belly” pics to share, I’m going to have to document every step we have to take to bring this kiddo into our house LOL. Now we really just cant commit any crimes because you know, our fingerprints will totally come up as a match in the CSI database.  ;)

We at the Junction are increasingly excited for the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas and my birthday and New Year’s is always a good time for me, so I’m posting the video I made of last year’s shenanigans ! ENJOY ! BUT PLEASE IGNORE THE EARLY morning hair, make up and wardrobe (or lack there of ! )

So, yesterday we were hit with a HUGE storm. It rained and gusted wind all day. It made me want to stay in bed with a book, some hot chocolate and my kitty.

I did the hard thing though, and got up, and did some items from my to do list. I then proceeded to dream of pumpkin-y baked goods, and a good chick flick. Since I didn’t want to endeavor into baking anything SUPER complex I made some TJs pumpkin from their boxed mix. IT WAS SO SO SO TASTY. I then proceeded try and turn on my copy of Sex and the City. Unfortunately I COULDN”T figure out our entertainment center here at the Junction. There is some magical button you have to press in order to watch a DVD that I couldn’t NOT figure out.  I was getting so upset I called poor hubs about 10 times to try to get him to help me.  He wasn’t able to answer as he was working, BUT after much frustration and button pushing/cable switching I GOT IT. WOOHOO GO ME !!  I really love that movie. It makes me grateful for my friends, and highlights the importance of having good friends around you.

I then decided that we needed a super homey, super tasty, super warm meal. CHICKEN POT PIE !!  I saw this recipe on Oprah last year and she made this recpie, I tried it and we both LOVED It.  I happen to have roasted a chicken over the weekend, so I was trying to figure out what to do with all the left overs, so making this recipe worked out PERFECTLY !!

• Filling:
• * 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• * 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• * 1 medium Onion, chopped
• * 1/4 cup flour
• * 2 cups chicken stock
• * 2 cups chopped Roasted Chicken
• * 1/2 cup frozen sweet petite peas
• * 1 potato, diced and boiled
• * 1 1/2 cup chopped, cooked carrots
• * 1/2 tsp. salt
• * Cracked pepper
• * Dash of Tabasco® sauce
• Crust:
• * 3/4 cup white or yellow cornmeal
• * 3/4 cup flour
• * 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• * 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• * 1/2 tsp. salt
• * 3/4 cup milk
• * 1 large egg
• * 2 Tbsp. canola oil

To make filling: Preheat the oven to 400°. Spray a 2-quart casserole with cooking spray. In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil and unsalted butter together. Add onion and sauté until tender, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add in flour until blended. Slowly stir in 2 cups of heated chicken stock, whisking well. Cook mixture over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, about 4 minutes. Stir in chicken, peas, potato, carrots, salt, pepper and Tabasco®. Pour into a 2-quart ovenproof casserole dish coated with cooking spray and spread mixture evenly.

To make crust: In a bowl, stir cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Stir milk, egg and canola oil until well combined. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Spoon the batter evenly on the filling. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 22 to 25 minutes.

It was such a great end the blustery day to sit with hubs and enjoy some comfort food,  just veg and watch some TV.  It was the perfect fall day.

So the other day I was researching boot camps or other work out possibilities in the bay area and came across the bar method it is a different type of exercise that incorporates the use of a dance bar for stretching and some of the other exercises. I went for the first time yesterday and it was a very good work out. You use small weights, and stretch bands, and body weight only as resistance. I’m not sure about it as enough cardio, but it definitely worked all of my muscle groups, as I am sore pretty much all over. They have an introductory student offer, which is FABULOUS while it lasts, as the classes are a bit pricey. They also have DVDs if you go into sticker shock at the classes like I did. I am going to go as much as possible for my intro month and see how much of a difference it makes in my body ! I’ll track my progress here. I’m going to go back tomorrow morning.

Well life at the Junction has certainly not been slow the past couple weeks.  For a few couple months now, I’ve known that I would most likely need to have ear surgery. I’ve had ear problems my whole life (had my first set of ear tubes at 18 months old ! ) and it had had finally resulted in a  Cholesteatoma . The procedure was finally scheduled for the 10th of Aug,  but the weekend of the 1st while out to lunch with my friend and my mom, I started getting dizzy and nauseous. 5 days later I was in bed and still not eating. I had even been to be receive IV fluids in between since I was dehydrated, but nothing was helping.

Finally that next Thursday as I was huddled over the toilet, I told hubs ” I think I should be in the hospital”.  He agreed, saying said he had been just about to say the same thing, and made some calls. 1 hour later, my Dr. met me at the hospital,  I was admitted, and I had surgery the next afternoon.  I am doing so much better now !  I still have some healing to do, and have to wait another week until we know how much my hearing will return, but over all the Dr. is very happy with my progress and I’m able to do pretty much everything now except for going to the gym and getting on airplanes.

I got many nice facebook messages, cards, gifties, calls from family and friends saying they were sending positive thoughts and prayers, and hubs was there for through the whole thing. He spent 3 nights on a hospital cot, he relayed messages to concerned friends, he cooked when I couldn’t, he made sure I took my medicine,  he even says he stayed awake to make sure I didn’t roll over onto my surgerized (yes, my word) ear.  He was totally there for me, and I am truly so so so so so lucky and grateful  to have him in my life.

I’m doing much better now, and my recovery has been speedy and fairly pain free.  In three days I go back to the Dr. for a follow up and to have a hearing test, to see if I’ve gained back any of the hearing I lost.

While I was having these health issues I realized that once health isn’t there, it become an immediate PRIORITY. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.  I really want to make sure to take care of myself in every way possible.

So this weekend (after a wonderful brunch with the ladies on Saturday)  was quite the gardening fest on Sunday.  I planted on the side little area of our yard, what I hope will become a lovely area of wild flowers.

First we had to de weed though, which I had the Mr. T do. Then I turned all the dirt with a shovel.

DIRT

We then sprinkled the seeds from a wild flower mixture I got at Home Depot not too long ago, and raked over them to get the dirt over them. It doesn’t look like much now, but I’m hoping in about a month there will be an abundance of wild flowers there rather than just the patch of dry, ugly weeds that once was there. I will be sure to post some pictures as the flowers start to make an appearance, and we continue to plant.

The next gardening adventure was the hydrangea out in front of Conjunction Junction. It has produced MANY MANY MANY BLOOMS. Soo many in fact that the weight of them is started to bring the branches down.(look at the bottom) so I had to prune the bush and I took off a BUNCH of blooms.  So many I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with them all. Well I put a few in vases and I have started drying some others.

according to some instructions I found on http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/dryingnat.html. I am going to make a wreath with them later, and I will post all about it when the blooms are done drying and I make it ! I am soo excited my bush is so full and lovely as I love hydrangea.  I even used them in our wedding in my bouquet I love them so much !

The last exciting gardening event that took place this weekend is that WE GOT SOME APRICOTS !!! At first I actually thought this may be a peach tree from the nice blush the fruit was getting, (never seen a ‘cot with so much red in it) But when I saw the fruit wasn’t growing anymore, and looked very ripe and done, I figured it must be an apricot !

Our tree didn’t produce a lot, as I’m sure it hasnt’ been properly cared for since the house went on the market, and it is an older tree, but there is fruit and it is DEE-LISH-USS !! I ate one the other day, and it was like a little slice of heaven. I sad we won’t have enough to make jam or anything I don’t think but we have plenty to eat as a snack and perhaps make a fruit compote to go with some waffles !!  YUMMMMM.

I’ve never really gardened before, and am kinda learning through trial and error,  so I hope I don’t kill anything,  but it is proving very fun to do (at least when the reward of growing food is involved ! )