2007-08-25, 08:51 AM — love/hate/change
Done work for the summer. I have to say, I'm a little astonished at how sad I was to finish this year. I don't remember being this sad last year. I think part of it is because I'm moving on... I mean, not completely; I'm intending to still do some work there, but I'm not going to be looking at that as my only option for spending time out of the house. My main focus is becoming school. And that is strange and a little sad for me.
I know it will be good and I keep telling myself that. There's lots I'm looking forward to. But I am a creature of habit and sticking to my loyalties and I'm not happy with change. Change feels weird and unhappy.
On the other hand, I spent much of last night thinking about/dreaming about camp and kids and coworkers, and I'm not going to be missing any of that. I wonder if I need a job I find less engaging during my waking hours just so that I can get a break at night.
2007-08-18, 08:59 AM — my plants
Today is a relaxing day. After a week of ... well, I want to say hell, except that it wasn't really; it was mostly fun, but it was so so so busy.
My birthday being this past week has conspired with a week that somehow has made me feel a lot older and more tired. Everything seems long and complicated. The interesting thing here is that I'm not actually feeling depressed at this realization. I'm rolling with it. And I wonder if that is part of being older, too.
***
I finished setting up the downstairs tank and redoing the upstairs tank. The two plecos seem to be getting along now, although Rocky (the newer one) got a bit beat up in the transition. Little John rules the roost, which I wouldn't have expected from him, being such a gentle and docile creature with the smaller fish he's always lived with. However, Rocky hasn't had any injuries since the initial day, so I figure that they've come to an agreement.
The upstairs tank makes me grin every time I look at it, which is often, since it's sitting right beside me here. I added enriched substrate for the plants, got the light I wanted, and planted many dollars worth of plants. It looks awesome. I've added two pearl gouramis to the setup. They're tiny right now, but they'll grow. Considering the way they've been eating I suspect they'll grow a fair bit. They're really lovely fish and quite active and entertaining. I have to add some oto cats to the setup to clear out some of the algae that's starting to grow, and I may still add an apple snail, but that will be it for tank inhabitants, I've decided. I want the plants to grow.
And now, I think I'll go water my outdoor plants, which need it, even though it's supposed to rain tomorrow. I've harvested tomatoes big and small, and hot peppers, and green beans, and shallots and onions so far this year. There are sweet peppers galore on their way, so I'm hoping the weather holds warm for another couple of weeks to give the peppers time to ripen. I love having a garden. I've also ordered the fall bulbs and perennials to plant, so that will be good too. They come in September.
2007-08-07, 08:38 AM — week off plans
Yay, week off! Sort of. It's packed with things, but it's not camp, so that's nice. I enjoy camp but I can tell you I'm not missing it right now.
We went up to grandma's and then to the cottage this past weekend, and that was lovely. I really enjoyed myself. Good company and really beautiful weather. I had been missing Georgian Bay. There's no blue out there like it.
I did manage to give myself the stupidest, most painful sunburn ever. I don't think my shoulders will go back to normal. I figure I need to drink my coffee and go for a hike. Oh the humanity.
Today is an exciting day. I'm overhauling the fish tank! I've been wanting to do it since we moved but I've finally set aside the money and I'm going to be moving the big fish downstairs, putting some plant-friendly substrate in the small tank, and planting. This will require a new light fixture for the small tank but that's okay. That was the expensive bit, but hopefully I'll find the one I need... otherwise the overhaul may have to wait a bit. I'm excited, though. I'll keep everyone posted. Heh.