Celebratory Stove Cleaning

I locked myself out of my house today.

I was wearing a flimsy housedress, flip-flops and sunglasses. I stepped out onto the porch for only a minute, to water my garden, and realized my error the moment the door shut. That click is unmistakeable. I had no earplugs, no hat, no water (other than a fertilizer-tainted pitcherful for the plants), I was barely dressed, neither my boyfriend nor our landlord was home to let me back in, and the dog isn't tall enough.

I sat on the porch for a minute and thought about crying. I was feeling a little panicky; I had no idea how long anyone would be gone, I had no phone, and it was already 80-something degrees at 11 am. There weren't any tears, but there was definite throat-tightening and maybe even an anticipatory sniffle. My parents live less than a mile away. But it seems further when it's hot, and I'm in flip-flops.

Then, a stroke of genius. I have a neighbor. They're nice enough, but I don't talk to them a lot. Mostly just because I don't talk to anyone a lot. So, I headed over, taking hope at the cars in the driveway. And there were people home, but none had my boyfriend's new phone number (I'll be memorizing it tonight, trust me). However, a short phone call later, we were able to get a message to my man and he heroically swept in within 15 minutes to open the door and carry me over the threshold while we lovingly gazed into each others eyes and Celine Dion sang a soaring soundtrack of love overcoming adversity. Maybe.

But, really, I was back in the house before my head even had a chance to notice. So, I cleaned the stovetop to celebrate and now I'm laying down to recuperate from all that celebrating.

Such a small adventure felt like navigating a foreign land. I'm a very careful person, it's not often that I'm stranded. I feel like I lived through something, which is funny, really, I just sat in my neighbors little courtyard chatting amiably in my housedress for twenty minutes.

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My plants haven't changed much, but this is a weird post, so why not share a pic?

I added an aloe to my window.

I got it in the mail through Amazon, and it arrived in perfect condition and has done well for the last month in my window. The price was more than I would have normally paid for an aloe, considering shipping, but I had amazon money from taking surveys, so it was easy to justify the cost at the time.

My strawberries have slowed down, but I noshed on one yesterday and it was pretty perfect. I'll take one perfect strawberry a week to a million too-sour ones. This zen-like strawberry perspective may be partially because I very recently helped my family plant fill a big strawberry planter, I have a feeling that we'll be flush with them soon.

I tried to sprout more mint, but I think these seeds will never be more than groundcover. So, now I'm trying to get my brother's spearmint to root in a pot. I figure if it establishes itself a bit before I cut it, maybe this one will live.

I've been sewing a little lately. Nothing too interesting, a few repairs and one very happy dress to skirt quick fix.

I somehow jacked up the timing on my sewing machine. I was feeling ALL sorry for myself, since my boyfriend hadn't had time to look at it and we certainly can't afford a sewing machine mechanic. Then I remembered how to google and fixed it all by myself! (It was a very simple problem, but I'm having a moment, ok?) Then I finished the project I was working on, which didn't come out awesome, but hey, it was a chance to practice and I feel like a badasskicker because I did something mechanical without someone else holding my hand.

I can die happy now.