Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I spoke too soon. The lovely spring weather and blooming wildflowers have given way to dreary scenes of drizzle and clouds. I guess the sunshine and warmth were only teasers for the season yet to come. After spending several days outside, I have now spent several days mostly indoors. Out of nowhere, we even had a freak snow shower! The flakes were falling as quickly and heavily as rain, so I was a little confused at first as to which type of precipitation it was. Despite coming down for over an hour, nothing stuck to the ground, and everything is now a cold, muddy mess. I am definitely counting on Oklahoma and Texas to deliver some spring time skies during my visit. Judging by the 60 and 70 degree days they are having now, I'm thinking they'll come through for me. Just no tornadoes, please. Thunderstorms would be fine. In fact, I can't remember the last time I heard thunder or saw lightning. Maybe I'll have to open iTunes for some "Relaxing Sounds of Nature" tracks to remember what that rumble sounds like.

In other disappointing news, my precious gardenia plant has started to shrivel. I read somewhere that coffee grounds make for good fertilizer. So, after Matthew whipped up a cup of joe one night, I swiped the grounds and added them to the dirt in my gardenia's pail. Fatal decision on my part. Killed it. At this point, it is almost entirely withered, but I haven't had the heart to dump it in the compost bin. I keep telling myself that it probably wouldn't have survived three weeks of no water or sun while we were in the States, but I can't help but feel guilty for murdering it. Or at least, negligently man-slaughtering it.  I think I've decided that I don't do well with living things in small contained habitats. During college, my fish keeping experiences were total busts. First, my Beta fish lasted a grand total of 2 weeks. (And those guys are reputedly indestructible.) Then, Stanley my black goldfish made it all of 4 hours from the time I bought him until he was belly up in the bowl. Now, my gardenia plant suffocates after 4 months. I give up.

Not completely brown and rotten, but beyond recovery.

Obviously, this calls into question my ability to care for another (and more important) living thing - namely, our dog Bullitt. But, for whatever reason, free range animals like him fare well under my supervision. Probably because I can't cuddle with a plant or stick a scarf on a fish.

FYI, this is Matt's fake smile. He was insulted due to the way I had emasculated his companion with a knitted accessory from my own collection.

Sorry for the doom and gloom today. I hope this Tuesday is tremendous for you! But, if a dead house plant and some wet weather are the worst things we have to deal with, I'd say we're doing just fine.