Senyar, that sounds lovely! I always have grand gardening plans, but they have yet to be achieved. This year, I bought two planters prefilled with flowers and put them on either side of my entrance.

1. More mom/niece issues - trying to find a balance between having boundaries and helping them. We're contemplating offering to have her come live with us - but we have to be sure before we offer, because we can't suddenly take it back!

2. Frustration at work with someone who ignores all deadlines I set and then sends me incorrect information. If it wasn't for other people's health insurance applications, it wouldn't be as much of an issue.

3. We're signing up for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University - my partner's office is offering it for free to employees & partners, so I decided to sign up. Not thrilled about the biblical part of it, but from what I've read, the information is good, and it's not super biblical. I'm hoping it will inspire me to pay off debt.

Good luck with the gardening Senyar! I went to our local not-big box gardening center this past weekend and picked up a bunch of plants/seeds/seedlings. Every spring I endeavor to grow things, but deer, rabbits and laziness end up getting in the way. The only thing I don't manage to kill is rosemary.

1. My dog has been very sick. I took her to the vet a few weeks back to discuss groaning and pain. They put her on a series of drugs that made her kidneys start to shut down. She went from being a slightly creaky-groany middle aged dog to suddenly a very sick pup in a frighteningly short period of time. Long story short, we are three weeks in to this saga, and her kidneys are finally back to a point where we can again begin to address the original complaint that led us to the vet in the first place. Tears have been shed, and itt has been very not fun.

2. Other than my dog, life is pretty good. I am eager to bust out warm weather recipes and eat lots of fresh fruit now that the season is changing. My husband suffers from spring allergies, so many of my outdoor adventures are solo, but it ain't no big thing.

3. I am stressing over work these days, I have too much of it. Basically, three top priority clients (read: they pay really well) all submitted projects in the same week. We couldn't turn any of them down, so now we are working ten hour days six days a week to keep up. The madness should let up late next week, but I am a tiny bit burned out. We are planning some lovely trips in May, so I have something to look forward to.

I hope everyone is well, and hugs to anyone that needs them.

Senyar! that's great news about the neighbor from hell going where he belongs!

1. Busy at work(s). Still getting very few days off per month.

2. In my limited time off, I end up helping other folks with things instead of doing my own crap. But, I know I'd like for someone to help me out if I needed it, so I don't mind so much. But, it would be nice to have some time off that wasn't busy/doing always.

3. A friend from Raleigh is visiting this weekend. I must chase the cat with the vacuum tonight and fluff the guest room/dumping-ground. Cleaning the kitchen floor would be nice, but I doubt that will happen...

1. Been all responsible and put bills into the mail (because I put my taxes into the mail yesterday so I didn't have to deal with the post office today) but am still nervous about my financial situation. April is a bad month for me for finances because everything is fucking due.

2. Have a performance on Saturday and I'm feeling good about the choreography--it's the driving to Baltimore and trying to find parking that I'm worried about. (This is one of our pieces from Art of the Belly last month: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edTAaCVniNQ)

3. My homie and I have a phone date tonight to discuss our Memorial Day weekend camping plans. I'm thinking about taking a nap beforehand.

1. Like others, thinking about gardening. Just went out and raked off the front flower bed so that the things that are coming up (irisis, crocuses, daffodils) can have some air. Everything smells wonderful.

2. Been paying off some low-level debts, which is happy-making.

3. I may be coming down with a cold. Hopefully nothing I can't fight off -- at the moment I am drinking a beer and listening to Mozart, I'm sure that will help!

1. At the end of Wednesday's session, my counselor asked if I could come in again Friday. I'm not sure what to make of this.

2. My daughter and her husband start moving-in to their new home this weekend. Luckily, it looks like rain will hold-off until Sunday.

3. My essential tremor has come back with a vengeance this week, after being basically gone for a long, long time. It's driving me nuts.

So sorry your dog's been ill, msali. Keep us posted on her progress.

1. Just found out we might be moving to another apartment this summer! This is great and also terrible news. Great because we really do need a bigger place once the twins come, and terrible because this move will have to take place when they are about 6 weeks old and that is a horrifying prospect to me.
I am already going to be so crazed and sleep deprived taking care of 2 babies! How am I going to move on top of that? I guess people do it and we will survive.

2. I also have been gardening (on the balcony) and planted some flower seeds and annuals and tomatoes. Doing watermelon and sunflowers also this year! But now I am kinda sad because I don't think our next place will have outdoor space so all my plantings might go to waste. There are too many containers and they are too large to just move indoors. Maybe the next person in this apartment will be a plant lover and can take them on.

3. Very pregnant. Both babies are breech so now we are looking at a scheduled C section May 20 if I don't go into labor before that. I want to hold them in as long as possible so they cook and get good lungs, but I am very uncomfortable and also wouldn't mind having my body back. SOOOOOOO sick of people on the street telling me how huge I am and asking when I am due. NOT YOUR BUSINESS, NOT HELPFUL.

People are the worst, rmless2! Hold on, you won't be pregnant forever. And good luck on the move, too- that's what paid movers are for :)

1. Jon and I are moving, too. After 12 years in our current apartment, our lovely landlord gave us one month to get out. Informed us via certified mail (and he lives in the same rowhouse with us). We had to scramble, but we found this broker online who helped us get a great new place-- in the Bronx! Riverdale, to be more precise. It's a quiet enclave in the crowded craziness that is the Bronx. We'll be up on the 23rd floor, in a big one bedroom plus den (1,100 sq. ft.), with a good size terrace, in a doorman building with 24/7 concierge service, laundry facilities, a parking garage (parking's extra), and a health club with a glass-domed swimming pool, gym, and exercise classes. God bless the Bronx. (It's not cheap, but the same apartment would be two or three times the cost in Manhattan, and in Astoria, it would be the same money for a smaller place and no amenities.). Our likely move date is May 4th.

2. I just recovered from pneumonia. Spiked almost a 103 temperature, had to go to the hospital. Chest x-ray showed pneumonia. What a misery. Not only could I not lie down to sleep for days and days, I couldn't even sit back on the couch without choking. I'd rather have surgery again than go through that again. Jon was sick, too, but luckily no pneumonia. I missed a week of work, and then was sick the next week over spring break, too. I was supposed to go on a cruise and couldn't go. Meh. : /

3. I'm taking an online writing class. The Univ. of New Mexico runs a Writers Conference each July in Taos, and these online classes are an off-shoot of that (I'm going to the conference this summer). It's gotten me writing again. If I was superstitious, though, I'd be worried. The first week, I get pneumonia. The second, I get evicted. But I still finished my assignments, dammit. What's next, locusts?

Wow! Can't imagine Astoria without you guys. But Riverdale is so gorgeous! Hope the move goes smoothly.

Yeah, thanks, pinky-- then again, Astoria's not quite Astoria anymore. The corner bodega's a frozen yoghurt place, with sidewalk tables. The pizza-by-the-slice joint's now "artisan" pizza for $29 a pie. And parked in front of me on 27th St., a BMW. The neighborhood's definitely changed. But we will still miss it. Looking forward to the change, though, and we'll still have a view of the Empire in the distance!

Plus, our new place allows pets, so maybe we'll get a little doggie and/or kittie--