Catching up with Spring

Spring sprang this year while I was frantically trying to wrap up last semester and deal with the various health problems that have sprung up in the last month. Mr. B now has stomach ulcers, severe acne, and swiftly dramatic mood swings from the various medications he's on. They put him on more medications to control these side effects and (oh, joy!) they come with the following side effects of their own: severe dehydration, risk of vitamin A toxicity, propensity to sunburn, and depression. Original side effects are still an issue, BTW. He has to take percocet to sleep because his face and stomach hurt so much. He has trouble shaving because they razor rips open the sores on his face. I feel so bad for him.

He's now on Accutane for the acne, and I'm not allowed to touch the medication because I'm a woman of childbearing years and it causes severe birth defects (no joke--the doctor didn't want to discuss what it did, so I looked it up and found pictures of two headed animals).

I'm now trying to catch up with the things I usually get done in the spring. Things like planting a garden and finishing school (I took an incomplete in my natural language processing class--I still need help with the homeworks).

But my garden came together, and I have parsley, sunflowers, wildflowers, pumpkins, gourds, peas, and pinto beans sprouting up so far. I'm hoping that the coleus clippings I've been fostering all winter take to the outdoors without issue.

In other news, Mr. B got a Wii for his birthday from his mother, and we're thrilled. (I'm not sure exactly what's up with this, because as you may remember, we got super expensive Xmas gifts as well. She's never been this extravagent before, and we're a little worried we're about to get bad news of some sort. That or she's bargaining for a grandchild--still not going to happen. Or she was visited by the ghosts of Xmas past.) And I finally got around to setting up the fountain my MIL got me for my birthday last year in our back courtyard, and am now enjoying a light pre-thunder storm breeze through the screen door while listening to the subtle trickle of the water.

Gnigel my mini garden gnome (thanks again, DoHP!) watches over the coleus.

The garden as it is today.

My new fountain! My MIL got the pot for it, I got the sandstones from Home Depot, and I rigged the rest from bamboo garden stakes and an old metal accent plate I had hanging around.

Alula