Blasted Rabbit and First Harvest!

Finally, summer is upon us and the volatile spring weather has gone. So we got to planting our vegetable garden!

Without fail, within 24 hours of planting our vegetables, this happened:


Blasted rabbit. I spotted a wild rabbit or two when we first moved in but thought nothing of it when we planted our garden--except that we shouldn't plant strawberries since it'll be a waste of time since the rabbits or the birds would get to the fruit before we could.

So, to solve our rabbit problem we had to cage in our vegetables.


It worked so well, that within three weeks, we got our first harvest! Mostly lettuce and arugala. When I would try to grow this in California, it would bolt in a blink of an eye and become really bitter. These are quite tender and sweet.


Dressed with a light vinegrette, it makes for a lovely lunch.


Here's to a bountiful harvest this season!
Sugar*mama

Burrito Bowls

So, I know we're limited in our ethnic food choices here in our small town. I came here with my eyes wide open to that possibility but I didn't expect to miss Mexican food sooooo much. I'm talking simple stuff like rice & beans, tacos, salsa.

Secret Agent Man and I decided to try a Mexican restaurant in town--it's a chain that will remain nameless. The food itself was pretty good as haole Mexican can get but the experience here has everything to do with the college kids working there.

We have to show our IDs at the door (as you can imagine, lots of drinking gets done here) and get seated at a booth. We take a look at the menu and Secret Agent Man asks the waiter, "is there something here like Chile Verde?" The waiter is a bit stunned for a second and asks "what exactly is Chile Verde?" Of course, I start laughing and Secret Agent Man has to stutter out "green sauce" with a straight face. We're in a Mexican restaurant that hasn't ever heard of Chile Verde. Hmm...not a good sign. But we chose a carnitas enchilada and told them to make it with their tomatillo sauce so we got something pretty close to Chile Verde.

To make matters worse, another group comes in and is seated next to us. We were having an early dinner so it really was only us and that other group. The other group consisted of adult Korean nationals and when the waiters asks them if they had any questions or if they wanted to order, one of them asks for a "Burrito Bowl." Of course, that waiter was all confused. Now, in California, they wouldn't blink an eye at this request since many people like to eliminate the tortilla to reduce carbs or for whatever reason. Secret Agent Man was thinking--"this isn't Beef Bowl!"

I know what the waiters were thinking---"What's up with these Asians!" At least we were asking for something Mexican....

I was THAT person

You know when you're sitting on a plane waiting for take off and that harried passenger runs up on the plane within two minutes of take off? And all you can think is "man, that person should get it together!" Yeah, that was me...

I arrived at the airport TEN MINUTES before take off. Who does that?? We underestimated how long it would take to get to the airport from home--it seems like it's only 10 minutes but ended up taking a good 30 minutes. Of course I had a bag to check. BUT get this, the airport is small enough that I could run up to the window next to the boarding area, wave at an agent, and get her to come out and check me in. Again, WHO DOES THAT?? Not only did she check my bag, but she took care of everything and told me to run to the gate and she didn't give me one ounce of attitude. LOVE HER.

Granted, running to the gate means going through security and taking 5 steps to the doorway to the tarmac. But since it's such a small airport, it took me 30 seconds to go through security, even with them performing their duties to the fullest. And everyone was super nice even at 6 in the morning. I just can't believe how nice and lucky I was. There's no way you could get onto the airplane arriving 10 minutes prior to take off at any other airport. I love flying out of our local airport. =)

Spring Pictures!

Just wanted to share some of the spring growth in these parts...let me tell you, it was a welcome sight to see!


Daffodils are now my favorite flower, it's the first to greet Spring! It was my mom's favorite flower and now I see why. It's just so bright and sunny and happy.


Here's a tulip growing. I can't wait to see what this one looks like. These are my sister's favorite flowers.

All these young buds:






Here are some fabulous wild daffodils in the alley way along with a flowering bush:


Even weeds are a happy sight!


I love the gold colors and how green the lawns are again.


Apparently so does Taylor.

Actually, she's loving all the new birds in the neighborhood. She tries her best to catch them but she's a little too clumsy.

By the time I finished taking all the pictures, the second daffodil bloomed.


Daffodils and tulips aren't the only things growing around here (hee hee).

Finally, here's my two broken footed boys. I don't know how Radar managed to hurt his left foot just like Secret Agent Man but it is somewhat funny to see the two of them limping around.


Happy Spring!
Sugar*mama

Spring= Trauma Season

So, apparently I'm not the only one to get excited about the first sunny day over 50 degrees. The day after I wrote how I was so excited about temperatures reaching into the 60s, Secret Agent Man decided he couldn't wait any longer and went for a bike ride. Now, most of you who read this blog probably know all the details of this fateful day already but here's a few more details for fun.

1. Secret Agent Man was riding on the side of the road and was hit from behind by a pick-up truck going 50+ miles per hour.

2. The last thought in Secret Agent Man's mind was "Damn, that was an awesome ride!" referring to the 20+ miles he just rode through the mountain where he was so worried about getting shot by hunters that he wore a fluorescent orange jersey. Apparently, that color keeps you from getting shot but doesn't keep you from getting runned over.

3. Here was our conversation when I first saw him at the hospital in the emergency room:
Me: Hi, honey, how are you?
SAM: What happened?
Me: You were hit by a car.
SAM: Bastards...Did they get away or what?
Me: I don't think it was a hit and run.
SAM: Where Am I?
Me:At the hospital.
SAM: How did I get here?
Me: Helicopter.
SAM: Bloody......What happened?

This conversation continued pretty much exactly the same every few minutes for the next 16 hours.

4. Although he wasn't coherent, Secret Agent Man was very aware that he was naked. Although he was covered pretty much the whole time, he was so concerned that he was naked, he told everyone "hey guys, I think I'm naked" and after awhile the nurses and doctors would start messing with him saying things like "guess what, we all are too!" Secret Agent Man wouldn't be phased though, he would just reply with "no peeking, no peeking" or "don't post this on the internet guys" or "what kind of place you guys running here?"

5. Secret Agent Man was not the first that day to be flown in for a trauma. The doctors and nurses in the ICU all commented that it was the start of "Trauma Season." As soon as the sun comes out, the garage doors open up and motocycles and bicycles come out and people become prime targets for really bad accidents. So this was our introduction to "Trauma Season."

UPDATE: Secret Agent Man is doing really well. He's a little (a LOT) frustrated as he is essentially confined to our bedroom and tortured as he watches the temperatures get up into the 80s and see the rare sunshine in these parts and watching all the other bicyclists pass our home from our window. The bruises have essentially disappeared (maybe if he would allow it, I could share some of those pictures), all the swelling has gone down, and he's off pain meds. Now it's just his bones that need to heal which unfortunately still means he has to wear his back brace and stay off his foot, at least until we see what the doctors say a little later this week. Thanks to everyone for their wonderful love and support!

Always wear a helmet.
Sugar*mama

Happy Easter!

Just hopping by to wish you all....

63 degrees

Hallelujah! It was 63 degrees today with beautiful sunshine--not that I was able to enjoy it sitting in my dark office with no windows--but it actually got up into the 60s!! I think the last of the snow finally melted off the ground with just a few splotches here and there.

Sorry there's no pictures to share with you. I'm just too excited about the temperature and I figured I would post about it right away since it's not likely to stick. Rain is in the forecast for tonight and into early next week but the silver lining in that cloud is that it's RAIN and not SNOW. Can it truly mean that Spring is here? I'm so scared to jinx it!

After months of dreaming about the sun and warm beaches, I'm just happy that we just might be moving into spring (even though it's still too cold to wear a dress). =)
Happy day,
Sugar*mama