The small joys at the nursery

So my friend, Sarah, and I have been trying to keep our sanity as we end work this week. Today, we luckily had the privilege of working together, which it was nice to have some comic relief as we struggled to survive the back-breaking job of pruning plants that are only one foot off of the ground. To keep our minds off of the pain and from looking at our watches, we laughed about making a nursery version of the movie The Village- there is a forest nearby, sections of red plants, weird noices.....What do you guys think? We also played a game using the order of the alphabet to think of words that described "college life" and later "cafeteria food." Some of our creative words were "unknown food" - it was common to sit down at a meal and not know exactly what you were eating - and "luckycharms" - the favorite cereal, the word spread fast whenever it was available. When I was trying to think of a "x" word for cafeteria food, surprise, surprise, the sprinklers turned on all around our location. We stood up, screamed, looked at each other, grabbed our buckets full of the cuttings, and tried to make it thru the maze of plants to the gravel road. However, it was a while before we were safe from the spray of water, so I was a great friend and tried to use Sarah's body to block me from the water....however, she always seemed to move just in time and I still got soaked. The cold water was a nice shock after absorbing the sun's rays for hours. After wandering back into civilization (the nursery's shipping center), we were given another job - actually the funnest one so far :o) Now, instead of being bent over, we were having to reach up high to trim small trees that were as tall as we were. We affectionately named them - the sissy trees - or - the poodle palm trees. The trunks of the trees are about the size of a quarter and have no branches all the way up for about 5 feet - then at the very top there is a small bundle of branches - forming a ball of leaves on top - about 1 foot in diameter. Sarah and I felt we were trimming people's hairs - or dancing with the sissy trees - because one hand was usually holding onto the trunk, as the other was cutting the overgrown branches. And now....the funniest conversation of the day went something like: me: Ahhh. I have to stop watching TV after work for so long. (i haven't had a lot of energy lately after working 8 hours at the nursery) Sarah: (nods her head and keeps cutting away) me: especially since in Alaska they don't have TV Sarah: NO TV!!!! (shocked, horrified expression) me: Are they even ALIVE? (making humor out of the thoughts running thru sarah's head) Sarah: (laughs) Are they even alive... (i guess you had to be there :o) I then explained to sarah that I only ment my sister kimber and her husband ben did not have TV in Alaska - she had interpreted my words for "TV has not been invented in the state of Alaska." I had to laugh pretty hard after that :o) Thanks for the good laughs Sarah - i'll definitely be thinking about you while I'm in Alaska with no TV :o) One more day at the nursery! Pretty soon, i'll be experiencing the wild west of Alaska.

Working on my spanish

So after leaving my sister's home in Idaho, I drove solo to my hometown in Oregon - home sweet home. Oregon looks even more magnificient than my previous visit. Driving towards Bend, the three sisters were gorgeous! What a view! I made it back home safely, obviously. I have been having a good time - but it hasn't been all fun. I've been working at the van essen nursery for the past 3 weeks and have atleast one week left. Most of my fellow workers are hispanic - so I get to listen to the Eugene, Oregon Spanish radio, and of course, they talk all in spanish. We have an interesting time translating info back and forth. I try to go where I am told to - they tend to move you around and it can get confusing what exactly they want from you. I usually take cuttings from plants, but somedays, work will consist of weeding, potting, planting, loading and emptying trailers of plants, filling pots with soil, putting small pots into the trays, cleaning stacks of various trays and pots, sweeping greenhouses, and even breaking apart grown plants to make more baby ones. The most used spanish phrase is now: Yo necesito ligas. = I need rubberbands. Exciting, uh? We use rubberbands to hold the bundles of cuttings together. Even though I get tired from the hard work outside - usually bent over and climbing thru plants - I have gained a great farmers tan and enjoyed the great beauty of Oregon surrounding me. I take it forgranted - in Texas, you can't find this beauty - atleast where I am at. It is also a blessing to work with two of my best friends - we usually get to eat lunch together; however, now and then, I will get separated from the group and have to eat at a different break time - probably a punishment for my low number of cuttings. I have gotten to go to the coast a couple of different times and am also going this next weekend with family - I'm looking forward to seeing my aunt and uncle from out of state and other relatives that I may only see 2 or 3 times a year. My sister Kimber and her husband Ben having been visiting the area - they stayed with us for a week. We have had a couple of hot days - in the 100s or 90s - and as a result, have jumped in the river for refreshing. I got to see Pirates of the Carribean - Dead man's chest with my mom - I think its worth seeing - pretty long though. I also had a slumber party - the first in forever - we watched a movie and gazed up at the stars and the next day went to Eugene for the saturday market, shopping, and a park - we saw quite a few interesting people - some you try not to stare and others, you want to run away quickly. The spanish theme seems to follow us - we were eating at a mexican restaurant and we heard the Ring of Fire song by Jonny Cash in spanish - talk about weird. I've tried to start running again - hasn't worked out so well, but I did get my friend to run with me once - it was one of her major goals this summer (way to go!). We also had a girls night out at the movies - my two friends and I invited our mothers - I think they felt pretty special :o) We saw The Devil Wears Prada - funny, strange, and some moral mix ups. My nephew is quite the pill - talking more than ever - now he will pronounce my name by each syllable --- Em mil leeee He repeats everything you say - so he is definitely learning some good and bad things. I taught him how to hit a ball using a bat and to catch - he never wears out of energy while playing with balls. He is already at the point where I want to duck or I shut my eyes when he raises his arm back to thow a ball. Last weekend, I finally finished my online english course - 8 weeks of long writing assignmenst completed! such a relief and joy to come home after work and not have to study! I got to visit my friends church near Portland today - they just started meeting this year, so they still have it in a high school - but it was way cool - the people were real and friendly. In a couple of weeks, I'll be flying over to Bethel, AK to stay with my sister and her husband - should be a one-of-a-kind experience - its quite the remote place. I can't believe that summer is going so fast! By the way - the pic is of me, my sis-kimber, mom, and kimber's husband Ben - I'll be with them in alaska.