Ack! More Star Wars!

I logged out of my yahoo mail to find this link waiting for me: "Star Wars" 30th anniversary party draws thousands. It's a conspiracy! (Of what and by whom, I do not know.)

Hannah and Star Wars, Tasting Great Together

On her birthday, Hannah claimed it was the best birthday of her life, even though she didn’t have a party that day, just pizza and a frozen cake at home with her old mom and dad. And she even had a fitness test at school, but since it lasted the whole day, she didn’t have religion, so the good balanced out the bad. We let her open her presents before school, but she was up at 5:50(!) to start the festivities. *groan* At least she acted suitably appreciative of everything.

But the icing on the cake was 2 cute little girl-mice from her best friend. The first day, she named them Dickerchen (‘Fattykins’) and Pipsqueak. I thought they were adorable names, but she had changed her mind by day 2 and renamed them Vanessa and Isabelle. I don’t know which is supposed to be which, so I still use the original names. (There aren't any photos yet, because I don't want to traumatize them until they are resigned to being stuck here.) There is a christening planned for Sunday (with Hannah’s BFF officiating), so they’ll get their permanent names then. (John suggested that the girls replace the Bible in the ceremony with some of the sacred words of Asatru, but they didn’t go for it.)

We are still trying to think up a party plan; Hannah wanted to take 2 friends to Legoland, but it would cost us 135 euros just to walk in the gate, not to mention the gas (and about 6 hours total in the car), lunch, etc. I just about choked when I read the price list on the Legoland web site. So we’ll do something smaller and closer to home eventually.

I’m not planning on turning this into a gardening blog, but I do have to say how much I am enjoying the plants we got last weekend. I think all the seed varieties I planted are starting to sprout, so going around and checking on them and watering and weeding are giving me an outlet for my habitual need to be doing something. It’s very relaxing. I’m looking forward to having a house with a proper garden someday, if only for the chance to compost. mmmm... rotting organic material... In the meanwhile, I am spending lots of time gazing at my indoor and balcony plants.

It seems like every time I’ve turned around in the last few weeks, Star Wars this and that has been flooding into my email, etc. First I was urged to vote (via a blog, I think) for a Star Wars stamp to get its own single-stamp sheet. I voted for Princess Leia hiding the secret plans for the Death Star in R2D2, but apparently not enough people agree. Yoda and Darth Vader were neck and neck going into the final round. Then it was the Yoda lightsaber listed in the ThinkGeek newsletter. Then there was the bit on msnbc about George Lucas and Mark Hamill working together on "Robot Chicken: Star Wars", an animated spoof directed by Seth Green. *squee* (I *heart* Seth Green.) Too bad I won't be anywhere I can get the Cartoon Network when the show airs in June. Then there was another ThinkGeek newsletter advertising a mini RC R2D2 with a *light saber* remote control. Must... not... use... credit card... And finally, in a newsletter from mediabistro (I get a little of everything in my inbox), I found a link to a Wall Street Journal article on George Lucas posting clips from the 6 Star Wars movies on the Internet for free use (in making mash-ups, etc.). I don’t know how all these Star Wars-themed messages keep making their way to me without me lifting a finger (except to click a link), but it is kind of freaking me out, something I never thought I would say about anything Star Wars related (except Jar Jar Binks, heh).

Now Hannah is out of school for 2 weeks, the 7 Dwarfs have mercy on us.

The Good, the Bad, and the Weird

I went out today and managed to buy all of Hannah’s birthday presents in one fell swoop. I think this is getting to be a habit. I hope Hannah likes everything.

I got home and John was eating a leftover hamburger and fries. And to rub salt into the wound of my burger-less lunch, I opened our last jar of grape jelly to find *mold*. Apparently a hole got poked in the metal lid, probably in transport at xmas, so the jelly has had 4 months to go off. *sniff*

Hannah wants to know why Spiderman doesn’t eat flies. Don’t we all. She was also put out that I accidentally washed a caterpillar down the drain that mysteriously appeared in the sink *while* I was using it. She wanted to cut it into pieces and feed them to the Venus flytrap. We keep telling her that the flytrap will feed itself and that she doesn’t need to catch flies for it.

Ok, I realize that marketing students probably have “sex sells” tattooed on the inside of their eyelids during the first week of their freshman year, but I don’t really see how sex can help you sell plants. I must be wrong, though, because according to the tag (in 6 different languages) on the Celosia Caracas we bought, “If you place this sexy indoor/outdoor plant in a well-lit, protected location...” it puts out (in the form of blooming). Does it look especially sexy to you?

Plants R Us

So yesterday was a busy running around day for us. We took Hannah to Toys R Us to spend some of her birthday loot; she got some makeup and some Barbie stuff, so as far as she’s concerned, it was a success. Then we ate at Burger King. *shudder* I didn’t get sick afterward this time, but that’s about the best that can be said of the experience. It’s on the do-not-visit list. Then we went to the garden center and got some plants for our window boxes. Now our balconies are a veritable garden of delights.


John moved his biggest plumbegos out of the sunroom. The south side of the roof is transparent plexiglas, so we have made a little green corner with the plumbego, my onion sprouts (which I think are trying to bloom), my citrus plants, and John’s walnut trees.


The window boxes are not chock-full of flowers, but the effect is still nice, I think. John and Hannah like the symmetry.


We didn’t forget the sunroom, though. What’s an indoor garden without a Venus flytrap, right?


The sunniest spot is our “nursery.” In the front row, we have our fingers crossed that chiles will be coming up. In the back row, I have planted coriander, which may or may not be cilantro—we couldn’t remember while we were at the garden center.


If this cherry tomato plant survives, it will be a miracle, but at least it is in good company with the ivy.


Then after stuffing all the plants into boxes and toting them up and down stairs, I still had time for a quick grocery trip. On the way out of my parking space, I scraped the neighbor’s bumper. I have felt like puking ever since. I have spent most of today mindlessly spring cleaning and wishing the whole insurance-repair-having to talk to the neighbor-thing were already all done. I may just give up driving. I don’t have good depth perception, and everything is so narrow here, it is just a matter of time before I scrape a rearview mirror off, or worse. My bus ticket is already paid for, so maybe I will embrace the pedestrian lifestyle again.