The Growing Challenge #8: Repotting

I started this post last week, but was incredibly unproductive until today. Blogging? Meh. Work on PACT? A squidge. Those wedding invitations I meant to have addressed? No way.

The one thing I did manage last week was repotting my seedlings. In the beginning of the week, I was filled with a sense of urgency. I needed to move those plants! The roots were growing into the egg carton I was using to hold cocoa-fiber pouches, so I filled the containers I had at hand with dirt and moved the plantlings.

Unfortunately, the containers were in no way deep enough and I was left with a lingering fear for the long-term survival of the plants. I wasn't quite sure what to do, until I saw the bathroom cups that one of the other Growing Challenge members was using to start their seedlings and inspiration struck. Aha! I may not have tiny bathroom cups, but, being a recent college graduate, I do still have a large stash or red plastic cups. You know, the ones that just scream, "I'm drinking some horrible punch made with Popov or Everclear and am probably not of age." As it turns out, the aforementioned red cups are the perfect size for growing plants. What joy.

Grading hurts my brain

"Global warming happens when greenhouses gases are released into the atmosphere, and creates holes in its thin layer this cause the sun to change the earth's envioment."

So close, and yet so, so far.

Anorexi-kitty

One of my cats stopped eating. Not the fat one, of course--he'll eat anything. Instead it's the little, smaller, nicer cat.

We'd been noticing that there had been more food left in the bowl lately. Half-pieces of food, as if they had been chewed but not swallowed. When I returned from staying at my mom's house, I did notice that she seemed smaller, but I figured it was just my having been away blurring my perspective. It wasn't until I realized that I could clearly feel most of her bones that I put two and two together and offered her a treat, which she scarfed down ravenously. Apparently she disliked the dry food so much that she'd rather starve. We picked up some canned cat food today. R and I never thought we'd be the kind of people to cater to our pet's whims, but here we are getting special food.

Recipe Review: Chicken Stock

After making another delicious beer can chicken, I decided it was high time to try making my own chicken stock. I had seen a recipe for turkey stock and, chicken being of the poultry family, decided said recipe would probably serve my purposes quite nicely.

The result? Not bad. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to use store-bought stock again, as it now tastes incredibly salty. I think I might look for a recipe specifically for chicken stock next time, or else use more spices, as I think it might have been a little bland. However, the stock did smell delicious while I was cooking it.

Holy crap!

As both my prescriptions were about to run out, I spent the better part of the afternoon at my university's student health center. Aside from the usual exam chit chat, my doctors and I spent a good deal of time talking about my upcoming plans to get pregnant and what will need to be done health- and medication-wise. It was also recommended that I start prenatal vitamins, which drove home the point that, eek! This is really happening. I'm excited, and nervous, but mostly excited.