A.J. Lauer's Blog, page 20

Garden update!

See how level it is?One of the wonderful things we created at our home this year is a backyard veggie garden. The yard has a little hill in it, so it was quite a bit of work to lay the boards so they were flat. Lots of digging, a little frustration but we finally got it to look like this:

And afterwards I looked like this:

We've had stuff in there for almost exactly a month, and boy is it growing! This is the whole garden. The tall green plants along the fence are tomatoes and green peppers, with beans starting to climb the trellises.

Strawberries reaching for the sun and more dirt. Lots of runners. And now, with plants! Happy lettuce! Mint (top), rosemary (right) and either a cucumber or zucchini plant (left) - maybe should have marked those :)
These are the raspberries we planted under our aspens last year. They've gone gangbusters! My goal is for them to take over that bed. Well on our way!

Also, a hay bale. I'm so glad we got all that hay for mulch. While it did have some seeds in it, we've found that a nice thick layer of hay keeps them from growing. It's nice to not really have to weed. Don't really have time for much of that this summer. 
There is also a little rhubarb plant in the other corner of the yard, and some asparagus (though those haven't come up at all - perhaps they are dead?). We had a couple leaves of lettuce on our hamburgers last week and they were oh, so good. Tender young ones.. Mmmm... Can't wait for more to come in!

Six Word Saturday!

Battened down hatches just weren't enough.
Sometimes no matter how you prepare, there's no way to control the chaos. This was one of those weeks - we did so much prep but there were just too many moving parts. Some didn't want to move in the same direction, so we ended up scrambling to fix things. Turned out well enough in the end, but boy am I exhausted! Glad to have today to rest and play in my garden - tomorrow is our biggest check-in day of the summer.
I decided to join Write Club, which I'll do a longer post about later. But, if you're a writer and want to throw 500 words into the ring, I encourage you to check it out!

This post is part of the Six Word Saturday blog hop. Stop by showmyface.com to join the fun!

Six Word Saturday

The prep before the storm. Eek.
Our first large conferences arrive on campus starting Monday. This past week has been an exercise in simultaneously battening the hatches and opening our doors. Every day I find myself a little amazed that I am out of time. It seems like there should still be a couple weeks before everything starts. But thar she blows! Hold on tight - it's going to be quite a ride!
This post is part of the Six Word Saturday blog hop. Stop by showmyface.com to join the fun!

Summertime...

And the livin' is BUSY! (someday I'm going to learn all the words to that one. I love it and it's so fun to sing sultry songs!) 
Summer is officially here. Summer, my busiest time for work. So many people coming to and departing from campus. A staff of nine to train, and six buildings to overhaul between academic year students and our conference groups. Thus far things are fun, but not very smooth. We re-keyed two of the buildings at the end of the school year and it appears that the students never actually USED their new keys. So my staff had the pleasure of discovering all sorts of issues as we were moving people into apartments. Excellent timing. The staff handled it well though, and hopefully tomorrow we can get everything sorted out.
We decided to have one last hurrah before life really gets crazy, and had a bunch of folks over for a bbq yesterday. It was our first really big gathering in the new house and it was great fun. We had bacon-wrapped dates au flambe (oops!) and quite a few cornhole games. Made some connections between friends we'd been wanting to introduce to one another, and ate SO MUCH good food. Overall a really fun, relaxing success. Bonus: we'll have leftovers for days!
Am quite grateful for the long weekend as the next couple weeks will be intensely busy. We'll see how the summer blogging schedule shakes out. I might be able to swing by only a couple times a week. I'll try not to let 2 weeks go by again though, I promise. :P
Happy Memorial Day! I hope it is filled with love and celebrations of all the freedoms we enjoy in these United States.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Hellooo internet! Have you had a good couple of weeks since A-Z? I suppose it's time to peek out from my introvert hole and reconnect at my usual slower pace. Thing is, things haven't been slow around here at all! A lot happened during the month of April that wasn't A-Z Challenge related, and I didn't get to share because there were so many things going on. So here is a recap of April and the first couple weeks of May:

* We published the ebook of Armageddon! It is now available for the Kindle. Woo! This summer we'll be working on other formats, so look out for those.
* My P post, Percy's Pick Your Plot Prequel, got the lovely DL Hammons's attention so he sent over his Blog Blitz folks to give me some love! I gained over 50 new followers and had loads of fun with all the comments. Thanks, DL :)
* We spent a weekend in Tucson, visiting my good friend Jess and attending our friend Sam's wedding. I only see Jess every couple years, so this was particularly special. She was a great hostess and carted us all over the Tucson area to see cactus and pecans and missions, and wildlife.
Jess and me at the Sonoran Desert Museum
* We built a garden in the back yard! This is a post unto itself. Let's just say it involved one weekend of building, one weekend of moving dirt (3 tons!) and yesterday planting stuff. It's awesome though and I can't wait for all the veggies to start producing. Plus the yard just looks SO much better. Awesome.* The CO State Science Olympiad came and went. This is the biggest event that I run on campus, involving 1300 people and a 14 hour work day on a Saturday. And this year, no damage or bad things happened, so yay for that!* My youngest brother turned 21, thus leaving me feeling exceedingly old (he's still only five'ish, in my mind's eye). Happy birthday, little bro!
Those are the basics! It sure was a busy month. Lots of fun and great stuff happening. I would say that I will get back to more regular posts, but this month is the start of my super-crazy summer season so I will likely be a bit sporadic with my updates through July. I'll do my best though.
Happy Mothers Day!

Zelda

Zelda says uncanny things. Painted fingers stroke a ball that contains the universe, if you look closely enough. And look closely she will, at your behest. Her kohled eyes dim with futurous light, reflecting candles and mystical aethers. Her face pales and lips murmur, communing with spirits, or maybe just herself as she tells you what she knows. Some things you'll want to hear, some seem impossible. Others break your heart and you find yourself thinking of ways to beat the prophecy. Zelda is at once a terrible and wonderful experience. She is impossible to wholly believe, but also impossible to ignore.

*~*~*~*

Tada! That's Z! Thanks for coming along for the ride this month! It's been so much fun and I've learned a lot. Hope you enjoyed, and let's keep in touch :)

This month I am participating in the April A-Z Challenge! My theme for the month is ‘character development.’ Some days will be exercises from John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction, others will be profiles of characters from my book Armageddon: Pick Your Plot, and some will just be random characters I make up. I hope you enjoy!

You

Hey You!
Yes You.
I want to tell You something - You're pretty cool! This morning You got up, had your day, and some how have found yourself here. You might be someone who is participating in the A-Z Challenge - if You made it this far, congratulations! You're almost done! Or maybe You are a friend from Twitter, or FB, or maybe even a real life friend! Welcome. :) 

I most sincerely hope that You are doing well, and that You enjoy what you read here. This blog, after all, is mostly for You. OK it's partly for me since I like to play with words and have a spot to communicate with friends and family. But it's mostly for You. I always hope to make You smile, or laugh, or think. (and sometimes convince You to buy a book ;) ) 

Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge You, gentle reader. Because You're pretty great and I appreciate the moments that You come to visit my little corner of the interwebs. Thanks for the support with A-Z, and the super-amazing visits during the Blitz last Friday! 
~AJ

This month I am participating in the April A-Z Challenge! My theme for the month is ‘character development.’ Some days will be exercises from John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction, others will be profiles of characters from my book Armageddon: Pick Your Plot  (paperback, Kindle) , and some will just be random characters I make up. I hope you enjoy!

Xavier

Francis Xavier hates students who question.

(That's a little shout-out to all my CMH peeps!)

This month I am participating in the April A-Z Challenge! My theme for the month is ‘character development.’ Some days will be exercises from John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction, others will be profiles of characters from my book Armageddon: Pick Your Plot, and some will just be random characters I make up. I hope you enjoy!
This post also brought to you by..

Wes

**It appears that I am being blog blitzed! Oh my! Welcome everyone, I am so happy to have you here :) Hope you enjoy Naturally Sweet and come back to visit often!**

We knew Wes was different from the time he was a toddler. He'd sit, tiny curls brushing florid cheeks, intently focused on a speck on the floor. It was as if he could see the universe in that small spot. He loved to be read to and would spend long minutes babbling out his own stories. Wild hand gestures and big eyes told of the import of these stories. It was impossible to focus on anything else. As he grew, his depth increased. His teachers told us of moments that he'd seem so far away, only to snap back to attention and give a thorough and complete answer. They'd see him at recess 'preaching' to the other children - holding them rapt with his stories and graceful charisma. We had endless conversations about morality and free will, thinking surely our child would grow to be a preacher or philosopher. He's a good man. A strong, moral man. And so I plead with the jury to be lenient. He would never hurt those people! He's not a bad man! If he did what you are saying it was surely because he believed it was in their best interest...

This month I am participating in the April A-Z Challenge! My theme for the month is ‘character development.’ Some days will be exercises from John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction, others will be profiles of characters from my book Armageddon: Pick Your Plot
(paperback, Kindle) , and some will just be random characters I make up. I hope you enjoy!

Vera

She ties her shoes... deliberately, just so. Stands up, straightens her blouse, and checks her hair. There is comfort in old habits. Vera walks to the kitchen and makes breakfast. She barely counts the scoops of coffee as they spill into the filter; the grains trembling in time with her fingers. She stirs her oatmeal as the coffee brews, its complex smells awakening simple memories of morning conversations and late-night contemplation. Vera goes for her daily walk and says a prayer, thankful for another day of sunshine and memories.


This month I am participating in the April A-Z Challenge! My theme for the month is ‘character development.’ Some days will be exercises from John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction, others will be profiles of characters from my book Armageddon: Pick Your Plot, and some will just be random characters I make up. I hope you enjoy!