Last year I had two large containers of potatoes.  This year I am going with three (stealing the one that was used for the non-producing pumpkins last year).  As I turned over the dirt I found several large potatoes. How on earth.  I had gone through them last year after the plants died off.  I guess something was left behind that ended up growing potatoes larger than anything I harvested.  Too bad they were outside to freeze the rest of the winter.  Mental note:  take a second pass on the potato buckets as it gets truly cold outside.  I put these containers in the garage for now, which gets cold, but not freezing.

I put some tomato seeds and old sweet 100 stragglers into dirt, more peppers, and some cauliflower and broccoli.  If you recall, last year I learned that I need to get the later two going very early to get them in before the heat comes.

According to my Clyde's Garden Planner I can't put the potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower outside until ~April 7.  Hopefully by then I have little plants going.  I will wait a few weeks to do something in prep for carrots and beets.  I may want a few more large buckets -- I want more beets!

I should also note that a few of the peppers that I attempted to winter over this year appear to still be alive.  Fingers crossed.  The second grow light is now plugged in over the seeds, which will spill over giving these a bit more/extra light.

A wee bit of snow is flying this morning after a few really temperate days -- we're talking going for walks with the kid on her scooter and wondering if I needed my coat.  Yeah, yeah, it's February, ok.  The weather alert emails have been coming, which gives me anxiety since kiddo has a birthday party to attend in a few hours.

After that I am hoping to get back here and find the motivation to get a few seeds into dirt and under the grow light.  I really should have taken advantage of those nicer days to get this done outside, but I didn't think about it until just now.  I am debating between using the little plastic seed starter cups and toilet paper rolls, which I've seen as a viable "hack".  While I'm waiting for the girl to get up this morning maybe I'll start cutting some of those rolls in prep.

It's Valentine's day and the first day of Lent.  While this combination meant I didn't go Valentine myself a cake or ice cream I did get to have fish fry, yum.

Happy lent to all!  Are you doing anything special or "giving something up" for lent this year?  I'm not so much giving something up as I am hoping to use it as a reset.  There will be a cutting of daytime eating because it's way too easy to grab a pretzel or other portable munchie when I get up to stretch or put the dogs in or out X times a day.  I simply eat too much and it's showing both physically in weight and physically in my ability to be comfortable and general aches.  I sure wish they would come up with that magic pill.  Attempts at weight loss is hard and way too time consuming.

Today I am feeling old and pensive.  If it was still a thing for me, I'd think I was pms-y.  I discovered (by accident) of someone's passing (a year and a half ago) - it's a meaningful person from the past, so that has me bummed, moreso to think about how long ago it was that I could say I really knew them.

Work is in a state we used to stress through on a regular basis.  If you've ever been in a place where you feel pretty sure you're okay but you aren't 100% sure -- and you know that others may not be... well it weighs on me.

This evening in the car a song that the frat bros had on constant rotation my junior year was on the radio.  Avery recognized it - something from school that used it - and she asked me if I knew that song.  Boy it took me back to a time, a place, and all kinds of feelings.

Well it happened.  Avery dropped her first cuss word in a moment of frustration.   I have no one to blame but myself.  I haven't purged distasteful words from my vocab and they come out in my moments of irritation (messes from the dogs, idiots in traffic).  I feel horrific about it, like big time bad about it.

After she went through her penalty/timeout and apologies, I apologized to her for not doing better and asked her to tell me about it when I say things I shouldn't.  I'm hoping she can help me by keeping me honest.  I know she's destined to be a lot like me -- and there are worse people to be like -- but gosh I want her to be so much better than me.