Look what I got out of my little garden this morning.  Salad for everyone!

I went out with some girlfriends yesterday for a little lunch and shopping.  (Being moms, we all bought things for our children and nothing much for ourselves.)   While I was gone, Steve spent an hour working with Sabrina so that she could write my card herself.  (She doesn’t write at all…or didn’t until yesterday.)

The envelope

Inside the card:

Steve did the heart and helped Tessa with the T but otherwise it was all Sabrina.  I, of course, cried.  Heck, I’m crying a little now looking at it again.

Hope all of my mom friends had a great day!  And I hope all of the mom figures in my life had a fabulous day as well!

I took Elle’s advice and scrapped my tomatoes from seed plan.  There was just no way they were going to yield fruit in the year 2010.  Yesterday, I planted a beefsteak, a Roma, and a 3rd type I can’t remember all of which were already a foot tall thanks to Home Depot.  In a completely illogical move, I kept the tomatillos…most because I couldn’t find them already started anywhere.  Maybe we’ll have salsa verde by New Years.  My little herbs (not the out of control oregano and parsley) out front look like they largely drowned this weekend in the 16 inches of rain we got so I may have to go buy some already started herbs too.   I’m taking a wait and see approach on that.

I think the girls might have gotten as much water as the tomatoes.

I can totally see 12 year old Sabrina in this shot:

I might have mentioned once or twice that I love guacamole.  What better reason than cinco de mayo to tell you again how easy it is to make?

I had this pile of pretty produce so I made some.  Yum!

Smoosh (w/potato ricer or fork) 3 Haas avocados.

Throw 1/3 of an onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 roma tomato, the juice of a lime, the juice of 1/2 of a lemon, a quick squeeze of orange juice and a teaspoon of salt into a food processor and pulse.  If you have cilantro, throw it in too. If not, don’t sweat it.  Mix that up with the smashed avocados.  Then, crumble 2 slices of cooked bacon in there and mix.

Did I mention Yum!?

(Not my photo…taken from the AP.) I joked about apocalyptic rain on Saturday.  I had no idea how accurate it would prove to be.  I’m sure you’ve all read about the flooding in middle TN.  We are fine but what a horrific storm!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen it rain like that before.  It was a constant, heavy, torrential downpour.  It would lighten now and then but it didn’t stop for 40 hours.  We ended up getting 16 inches of rain.  Roads and yards flooded in my little town but I’m not aware of anyone with serious damage here.  Some roof leaks and some wet basements.  We were all trapped at home for the most part because the roads were closed.  But other areas around us had catastrophic flooding.  I’ve shared a lot of photos on Facebook.  Watching the news coverage drove home just how dangerous and horrific the situation was for so many near us.

(This one is from CBS News.) In the wee hours of Monday, the rain stopped.  Yesterday dawned sunny with clear blue skies.  Except for the humidity in the air, you wouldn’t know what the previous 2 days had been like.  Fortunately, my little town seems to be okay.  Many other areas can’t say the same.  The town we lived in when we initially moved south was devastated.  Downtown still had many flooded streets yesterday as the river crested at 12 feet above flood level.

(I pulled this one from a local news outlet.) If you’ve ever visited our area and stayed at the Opryland hotel, it is filled with water.  I can’t imagine the cost of fixing the damage on top of the lost revenue while repairs are made – not just to Opryland but to most tourist attractions in the area.  Aside from the business and tourist dollars lost, I would make bets that a large percentage of people whose homes sustained damage don’t have flood insurance.  They didn’t live in a flood plain and there likely didn’t seem to be a reason for it.  Many lost everything and will not have insurance payouts to replace the material items.

Shortly after I moved to Pittsburgh, I worked on a FEMA project leading a crisis counseling team in the community after flooding.  I enjoyed the work if not the project (as with many emergency grants it was thrown together without a clear vision or end goal).  I have this intense need to dust off my clip board and start going door to door to talk to people and see how they are coping once the water recedes.

************** Silver lining(s)

My dorky couponing is coming in handy. I have a decent amount of stockpiled stuff to donate to the relief cause.

My little garden didn’t complain about all of the rain – glad we took the time to make sure the drainage was sufficient.  These shallots were not over the top of this container before the rain started.  They grew several inches this weekend.  The rest of my garden is pretty happy too.

During today’s apocalyptic downpours, we had photos for Sabrina’s ballet class in their recital attire.  All of those 3 and 4 year olds in their bunny costumes were too cute for words!  I can’t wait to see the group and individual photos but for now, here is one snapped in the hall while we were waiting.

Tonight, assuming the roads aren’t washed out (only 1/2 kidding about that), the girls has having their first babysitter who isn’t related to us.  Woohoo – date night!  Guess who is the most nervous about that?  If you guessed me, you would be wrong.