"What the Hell....???"

So tonight I get home from work. It had been a very long day (I won't get into it) and I headed out to get the mail just after 7.

As I was looking around my yard (just something I like to do to see how things were growing), something caught my eye.

Actually, something BIG caught my eye!

Yes, that monstrosity that you see in the picture was protruding up like the king of all eye-sores. I couldn't believe it!

Ok, for the past week I had heard a lot of noise coming from that direction. "That direction" is looking out from my front porch towards the recently-built fire station.

Now, I have no objections about the fire station. I actually voted to have it built there due to the fact that the station that previously served me was about 7 minutes away and was separated by a railroad track.

But when they built it, my view was taken away. You see, between those 2 houses I could see the Dallas skyline. Seriously... I could stand on my front porch and look between those houses and see the lights of downtown. It was really cool...

So the fire station came and I sacrificed my view. Fine. But in all honesty, "what the hell is that thing???" At first I thought it was a cell tower. Then I realized it must be tied to the fire station.

Yes... I'm sure it's gotta be a siren. Uugh... if that thing wakes me up on a Saturday morning, "grumpy McButterPants" is going to emerge and tear it down!

Geez... I just can't get over it... it's hideous. And now I have 2 things blocking my view of downtown Dallas...

Oh the humanity...

"What's in the Kegerator???"

This is a common question I get from time to time...

To sum up, "Yes... I have a kegerator." Now, if you're asking yourself, "What's a kegerator," it's simple: It's a refrigerator that was built to hold a keg and distribute it through a tap.

It's a little different from a regular refrigerator because it has a reinforced flat surface on the inside - so, a keg can sit in it. I purchased it from Sears and it's made by Frigidaire.

Ok... enough said. On with some other common answers to the common questions...

Normally a keg will last in my house about 6 weeks. A keg is 15.5 gallons of beer. However, a keg can have a lengthy life-span due to the CO2 gas that pressurizes the beer.

Now the last one I had was Golden Monkey. If you know anything about that beer, you know it has a high alcohol content! So that one lasted about 4 months!

With my latest purchase, I was looking for something of the "session beer" variety... you know, one that you can drink easily. As you probably read below, it was a very difficult process which culminated in my finding a different keg reseller.

I went with Kegs & Barrels, and they did a great job. Like I said below, "communication" is key to me. Susan from K&B kept me informed throughout the week. She even apologized when a "slim" keg was delivered of my request - I told her that was ok. (A slim is half the size of a regular keg).

So Friday night I brought it home. It was much easier to move since it wasn't 15.5 gallons (165 lbs!). I then set out to clean the lines, the tap, and the coupler. This is standard whenever you switch out your kegs. The process takes about an hour. No big deal...

Well, after I hooked everything up and tapped into the keg, I put a glass under the tap and... "dripping stream." It was NOTHING! Very low pressure. I was devastated. Here I had spent the entire month trying to get this keg, and barely anything was coming out. Plus, it was flat. That meant it wasn't getting the gas it needed.

Instead of re-working the entire operation, I gave up. I was tired anyway from a long week.

Saturday I thought about the problem. I knew that it had to be the line from the coupler to the tap... but where?

Sunday I decided to jump in and disassemble it again. After about 20 minutes, I had it re-worked and was ready to pour a beer.... SAME FREAKIN' RESULT!

Now I was mad. It had to be the tap. If you've never seen the inside of a tap, there are multiple pieces that work together to make it pour your sweet sweet beer. One thing I did after taking it apart was to remove one of the washers.

Well, after that... success! The beer flowed and I was a happy camper. I then left for the evening and came back to discover there was a leak between the coupler and the line. Basically, the nut wasn't holding the pressure.

My sweet sweet beer was all inside the kegerator. What a mess! It wasn't a lot, but still it wasn't a good sight! I cleaned it up, and then put another washer on that nut.

Finally... fingers crossed... it's all good. If you ever purchase one, know this: It's a lot of work, but in the end, it's worth it.

Oh, and my beer of choice this month?

Rahr Blonde

Gardening: Removing Grass from a Flower Bed

I had the unpleasant task this past weekend of removing grass from a flower bed. Uugh... does the word "Beating!" do it justice???

Last year, most of you knew I spent my weekends running... or recovering from running. I did a little gardening, but didn't apply "my full potential" to most projects. In particular, my front flower bed.

Each day I'd go get the paper or the mail and I'd see the grass was growing within the bushes, over the bushes, and covering most of the soil. I'd just let it go... but walk away irritated.

Saturday, the time had come to rid this pest from my view. Because I have a lot of bushes, I had to dig it out. Using poison wasn't an option. It was back-breaking to say the least. In fact, because one of my bushes is a Burberry (thorns!), I scratched up my arms real good.

I spent roughly 4 hours on my knees and stomach ripping out the roots of the grass. Some of the roots were pretty deep, too, so a shovel was needed. It was a huge project. But in the end, success. I was able to transplant some bushes to other parts of my yard, too.

So after hearing my tail of woe, my friend Mel asked, "You should blog about removing grass from a flower bed." Of course, there are a variety of scenarios and methods. Here are a few that I've seen, experienced, and even researched:

Grass in beds where plants/bushes currently reside...

The quick and dirty way (and painful!) of doing it is to get your trusty spade (or large shovel if you have the room) and dig dig dig! You need to reach deep down and grab those roots. They're white and thick and they usually form a "network" underground. It's very difficult, but very satisfying when they come out.

Another way is to cover grassy areas with layers of newspaper or even black plastic - trash bags are fine. You'll need to anchor them to the ground with either rocks or steaks. You can also cover it with dirt. Now, it may take some time. Some experts say to start it in the fall and remove it in the spring. When it's time to remove the coverings, your grass should be dead and easy to remove.

New beds where grass is currently growing...

Let's say you have an area where you have a lot of grass, but you want to create a flower bed (or vegetable garden). One method that I've used before is to dig out all of the grass with a shovel, then transplant the "cuts" of grass to another spot. Basically, mark out your bed. Then dig about 6 inches deep into manageable squares that you can cut out. You'll pull the roots with the grass. If you can transplant it, great! If not, just dump it into your trash bin.

When you're finished, you'll have an area that is lower compared to the rest of the yard. Try and dig out any remnants of grass. I've then taken newspaper and covered the entire area. After that, I covered the newspaper with my new soil. You can cut tiny holes through the newspaper as you add your plants. The newspaper will act as a barrier for at least a season, and then decompose.

However, if you have a large area, I would suggest renting a tiller from Home Depot or Lowes for half a day and tilling up that section. Then you can scrape off the tilled up grass and dirt. You can still do the newspaper thing above if needed.

What about using poison to kill the grass?

Well, I've got a good friend who I helped plant a beautiful Chinese Pistache tree in her backyard. I gave her specific instructions on how to care for it (future blog). The one thing I didn't tell her: Don't use Round-Up around it! Yep, she had grass or weeds growing within the bed around it and she sprayed the poison all over that area. Since the tree was about a year from planting, the roots were still confined to that area... Yep, she killed it.

I have another friend who decided to Round-Up his entire yard because it was all weeds. He then tilled out all of the dead grass (a few weeks later) and re-sodded his entire yard. I believe that was a successful venture.

My point is this: Use caution when using poison. Personally, I would love to use it because it makes things easier. However, I'm a minor "tree hugger" when it comes to it because I know it gets into our ground water and can impact our pets and plants/vegetables that we grow. Just use common sense.

Hope this was helpful... and thanks Mel for submitting this idea to me.

Good "Customer Service..."

I've been meaning to write about this topic for a while now. I guess it just takes something to push me over the edge to do it...

Have you ever thought about Customer Service? We deal with it everyday. Each place we shop delivers some sort of customer service. Whether you're ordering coffee at Dunkin' Donuts (for Chandra), picking up your dry cleaning, shopping at the grocery store, or filling up your vehicle with gas... you're receiving some sort of "customer service."


Now, my friends will tell you, once I receive poor service someplace (restaurant, store, service company, etc.), I usually invoke my customer rights immediately: cease and desist from being their customer!

Why not? I mean, in this economy, companies should be bending over backward to reach out to their ultimate buyor: the consumer. Those that do, get my business. Those that don't, too bad so sad!

Here's an example: For years, I was one of the "Cable TV drones" that accepted my fate: I was at their mercy. Even though there were shadows/ghosts on the screen, or it would go out for no reason whatsoever, I just had to deal with it. I even had the cable modem for my pc. THAT in itself was a nightmare. It would go out constantly. When I called, it was the same old story - they'd put me on hold forever and a day, and then attempt for over an hour to diagnose the problem... which would lead to an appointment of one of their "technicians" to come out to the house... which caused me (Mr. Singleton) to arrange for a time when I would be there (usually during the middle of the week) for hours upon hours.

I finally fired them!

I ordered Verizon FIOS for my internet (blazing speed and it's always up!) and DirecTV for my tv service. Man, what a difference! Now both companies were great installers at the time, and I'm still with them... so as you can see, no complaints. But recently I upgraded my service to HD for DirecTV, and the process was flawless. Reason? Communication!

I was floored by the amount of communication DirecTV had with me. After setting up the appointment, they called me within 15 minutes to confirm the appointment and if everything went ok with the person who I previously spoke with. When the installer was on his way, he called me to let me know. He showed up on time and did a bang-up job. After that, he showed me everything he did and gave me his cell phone number in case I have any questions over the next few days. Overall, excellent customer service.

Want to know why I'm writing this article? Because I recently received very POOR customer service...

Over the past year, I've been picking up my kegs from Mr. G's in Plano. Typically the process is this: Keg runs out, I call them up and give them 3-4 options on beers I'm interested in, they call me up when it's in the store, and I go and pick it up. Easy, right?

Well, as the year has gone on, I've noticed they wouldn't always order the keg when I called. Or they'd call me back a week later and say they couldn't get one. Or they simply wouldn't call me back.

This latest attempt was the last straw. Almost one month ago, I called an placed an order. After several days of not hearing from them, I called and discovered, "Oh... those kegs are hard to find. I'm having problems with my distributor." However, they said they'd keep trying. Another week went by and I called and was told my keg was in the store and I could pick it up. Great!

When I arrived, I was told they were mistaken. My St. Arnold's Spring Bock wasn't in. In fact, St. Arnold's was out. When I asked why they said it was there, the guy just rolled his eyes and said he was sorry (someone else's fault). He then said he would call and it should be in the store on Tuesday and he would definitely call me. He even shook my hand.

No dice... several days and no calls later, I called back. I found out that the keg was still hard to find. I said, "Can you get me anything else? What are my options?" He said he wasn't sure at this point what he could get, but he had a few other places to call. My next call came from him on a Friday where he said that the Rahr Bucking Bock was in: "They're driving the keg over tomorrow. I'll call you tomorrow afternoon." No phone calls on Saturday... grrr

Finally, last Tuesday, it hit the fan. I called and asked what was going on. He just said, "I'm sorry... maybe it'll come in tomorrow." I lost it: "Look, I'm just wanting some decent 'Customer Service.' Would you just call me tomorrow and give me some options on what I can get before this weekend?" He said he'd call... guess what? No call!

Saturday I switched to a new company: Kegs & Barrels. I went into their Plano store, spoke with the owner Susan, and explained my situation. She seemed to understand (I don't think I'm the first ex-Mr. G's customer she's had) and said she'd call me today with the order.

Let's see if they provide excellent customer service... will keep you posted!

Update on my Aunt...

Here is the latest as of last night...

My Aunt Loretta is on the Physical Therapy floor and working with speech and physical therapists. Two days ago she started therapy on walking. They worked with her using a walker. One person has to walk on her right because that is her weak side.

In fact, I heard from my cousin Lori that she currently does not have feeling in her right arm. We know that is disheartening to her. Before the day began (therapy), she wanted to know if they thought she would regain use in her arm.

The prognosis is this: For some reason, the arm is usually the last to regain functionality when a stroke impacts the entire side of a person's body. She currently has use of her right leg and can feel the touch in her face. However, nothing in the right arm. The nurse said that it may or may not come back. We'll just have to wait and see.

Yesterday they worked with her on her speech. She had a difficult time reciting the alphabet. Another thing they are working on is to ask "what this is" and "what does it do" in regards to objects. So, they are quizzing her (family members) during her off-times. This was something the staff requested.

Her speech is getting clearer, although it is still "broken." The family is doing shift work right now with her - breaking it up so that someone is always with her during the times she is out of therapy. And I'm told that she is working VERY hard in her therapy sessions...

It's amazing to think that a week ago tonight she was walking out of her job at Wal-Mart and collapsed. That on Saturday we were told she had had multiple strokes and was still bleeding in her brain and there was nothing the doctors could do. That was probably our darkest day.

But on Sunday the bleeding had stopped and she had moved to the Triage floor. And then now she is in Physical Therapy. We believe God spared her for something, and we can't wait to see what that is!

It's definitely going to be a long road. Prayers are being answered and will still be needed. Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers...

Baylor: 1 Hour to Tip...!!!!

Thought just to pump everyone up I'd show how Baylor reacted when we were the FINAL team of 65 to make it into the Tourney! GO BEARS! SIC EM!

Baylor: Scott Drew on ESPN

"We're in Physical Therapy!"

I received an update tonight from my cousin Lori. My aunt Loretta is continuing to make progress. Today she is speaking a little clearer compared to yesterday (when she uttered her first words), and she's moving a lot more.

She started eating food, albeit broken up/ground up. She moved a lot more, but her right side is still not moving as much as her left.

Here's a funny moment: Today the therapist asked her to count to 5. She started... "1...2...3...4...5" but continued on all the way to 13! It cracked everyone up. The thought is she wants to get better so bad that she could still be counting right now if asked: "40,150... 40,151..."

So because of her progress, they decided to move her to the 5th floor and out of the Triage Unit. She now will be on a regimented schedule working with therapists everyday. We're thrilled... I mean, to think how far she has come. Given the fact that Saturday things were so desperate, and now she's finding her words and moving more and more... wow!

God is GREAT!

Please continue to pray for my aunt Loretta. Each day is a gift, and we believe she is going to continue to improve!

Thanks again!

Baylor Rises From The Ashes...

I had to post this article from today's New York Post:

BAYLOR RISES FROM THE ASHES

March 18, 2008 — WE see the same scenes year after year, March after March, and it can be easy to grow immune to them. CBS trains its cameras on a handful of basketball teams, and we get to be Big Brother, watching their reactions. The small schools always respond joyously. The top seeds play it cool. The spurned shake their heads.

And then there was Sunday night, with 64 of the 65 teams already announced, when Greg Gumbel revealed the final invite. And it was a few seconds later when we saw the first true upset of March. We saw the Baylor Bears looking as happy, as triumphant, as any team will across the next three weeks, including the ones who'll cut down nets and hoist trophies.

"It's like when you're a parent, and you see your sons and your daughters acting happy," Baylor coach Scott Drew said yesterday, his voice still landscaped by his own celebrations. "That's what gets you the most."

We hear all the time about how sports, and how this tournament, is a haven for redemption, for second chances. Baylor proves that. Because there never may have been a team, or a school, that suffered such profound self-inflicted wounds.

And lived to tell about it. Lived to thrive, in fact.

"The great thing," said Drew, "is that when you have so much work to do at a place, the way we had so much work to do here, you can never worry about second-guessing yourself because your time is so monopolized, 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

The wreckage Drew inherited when he left Valparaiso in the summer of 2003 was so vast, so repulsive, that few could understand why he'd even consider the job.

Former coach Dave Bliss had overseen one of the most surreal collegiate calamities of all time. One player, Patrick Dennehy, had been murdered. Another player, Carlton Dotson, wound up pleading guilty to the killing, and is serving 35 years. And then it turned out Bliss, one of the real beauties to ever work a sideline, had tried to engineer a cover-up, painting Dennehy as a drug dealer, a scam that unfurled when an assistant taped the whole sinister plot.

There isn't another school that can point to that kind of apocalypse, not St. John's with Mike Jarvis' unscrupulous reign, not St. Bonaventure and its welding-certificate/player walk- out exacta, not even SMU football, which had its season canceled in 1987 and still hasn't recovered 21 years later.

The NCAA considered a death-penalty judgment against Baylor, wound up forcing the Bears to cancel its entire non-conference schedule two seasons ago. The day that news broke, on June 28, 2005, is the day Drew remembers as rock- bottom. He'd already tried to clear the graveyard of the ghosts, he'd recruited kids willing to buy into his fresh approach, and now they were forced to pay for Bliss' sins, all of them.

"Telling our guys, having to look them in the eye, that was the worst of it," said Drew, who developed his coaching chops working under his father, Homer, at Valpo. "That put us so far behind that by the time we did start playing it was like having to open your Christmas presents in February and then being disappointed with what you got."

In some ways, that 4-13 record might have been just as astonishing as the 21-10 mark they have now.

Now here they are, just two years later, a No. 11 seed, a date Thursday with Purdue in the West Region. They are led by guard Curtis Jerrells, one of six regulars who go back to that abbreviated 2005-06 season, who knew all about the darkness. And now get to see what the other side looks like. They aren't the best team in the brackets. But they are the best story.

"I don't see how anybody outside could totally appreciate how devastated and how far down it was here," former Baylor football coach Grant Teaff said earlier this winter, and he's right.
But now everyone can see the Bears rise. Before the first ball has been tipped, the tournament has its first winner.

"Miracles Are Happening...!!!"

My cousin Lori called me tonight and uttered those words! "Thrilled" would be putting it mildly of how I felt (and currently feel!)...

It all started around lunchtime today. Lori went to visit Loretta during her lunch hour. When she walked into her room (not ICU... Praise God!), my uncle, my cousin Julie and her husband Tommy, and Julie's daughter Kaelyn were there. Lori immediately went to her mom and started talking to her.

Well, Loretta opened her eyes and then uttered her first words - "I just...." It was very garbled, but everyone heard it. And, when that happened, everyone just erupted in excitement! Seriously... this was totally unexpected!

So here are the rest of the improvements...

They started giving her water. They'd ask, "Do you want some water" and Loretta would say "Yes." Then they'd tell her to concentrate on swallowing and she'd do it correctly. She would respond to commands throughout the day ("squeeze my hand".... "release your grip"). Her eyes stayed focused all day. She even lifted her right leg!

The doctor was amazed. They say he couldn't believe what was going on... we just believe that God is answering our prayers! At one point tonight, Loretta actually grabbed the glass out of Lori's hand and gave herself a drink!

Tomorrow she begins taking food again - albeit, ground-up food. But, that's a big improvement! She will begin seeing an Occupational Therapist and a Physical Therapist...

You really have to understand my excitement - this weekend I thought all was lost! Now, we're not totally out of the woods yet, but "miracles are happening!" And right now, I feel like jumping up and down on the top of my roof!

So thank you all for your prayers, and I just ask that you continue to think of my Aunt Loretta! Today was a GREAT day in her recovery!

Praise be to God!!!

Prayers Needed...

My dad's sister, Loretta, has been like a second mom to me over the years. We talk often, send notes to each other, and I always make a point to visit at least once a year.

She is an amazing woman. As you can see below, I inherited her skills in gardening. She has taught me cooking lessons and numerous life lessons. She has always been there for me, and I've been told she just lights up when she hears my voice or gets to spend time with me. I'd say the feelings are mutual...

Her spirituality is her strength. She loves the Lord with all of her heart and soul. She has demonstrated grace under pressure, and has always been "the rock" for her family.

When I visit, we spend hours talking: Either on the swing on her front porch, or running around to various places around Port Arthur... we have an amazing bond, and I love her with all of my heart.

Right now, she needs your prayers...

On Friday evening she was leaving her shift at Wal-Mart in Port Arthur when she collapsed in the entryway. She was rushed to the hospital and it was discovered she had had a stroke. Now strokes are prevalent in our family. My grandmother had several. In fact, Loretta had a stroke a few weeks ago, but had recovered as it was a minor one.

This one wasn't a minor one.

Yesterday was pretty upsetting for me. It started with early-morning phone calls from my cousin Lori (who is like a sister to me - in fact, she calls me "Bro" instead of Cousin Regan) informing me of what had happened. I was stunned...

During the day, I received numerous calls... all getting worse and worse. As it turned out, my aunt didn't have just one stroke, but multiple. And, they were on both sides of her brain. Even worse, the stroke she had earlier in the month had re-stroked. And then the worst... she was still bleeding in her brain almost 24 hours later and there was nothing they could do but wait it out.

I went out with my friends last night... honestly, I kept it to myself. I didn't feel like talking about it. It had been an overwhelming day already. While I had planted my garden (according to Loretta's tried-and-true directions), there were many tears shed. I guess I just couldn't believe this was happening...

We had to wait overnight to see if the bleeding would stop. That would show up on this morning's scan.

Well, good news! The bleeding has stopped, and they can now administer her drugs that will break down the clots. And, because they don't believe she will suffer any more strokes, they are going to move her out of ICU and into a room.

The damage is done. We just don't know how bad it will be for several days or weeks. She currently cannot speak, and there's very little movement. She can open her eyes and can squeeze your hand, but that's it.

My entire family is gathered at the hospital, and I probably will be joining them later in the week. Ironically, I'm on vacation next week, and my plans were to visit my Aunt Loretta and other family members...

We ask for your prayers - that whatever God has planned in this situation, He will receive the glory. It's been a tough weekend for Loretta Thompson and her family... but God's grace will get us through.

Thank you in advance...

The 3 AM Call

This skit from SNL this past Saturday night is hilarious. Click the image above... Enjoy!

Grilling the Perfect Steak

I've been on a quest for quite a while to grill the perfect steak. Notice I said, "quite a while." Each time I felt, "it's good... but maybe it needs a little more __." And that "more" could include a variety of things.

To me, the perfect steak has to be medium rare. I want that sucker red on the inside and scorched on the outside. I want juices... lots and lots of juices! And I want the slab of meat to be big and thick!

This past Saturday I got a hankerin' for a steak. I had been running errands when I got the idea, so I made a final stop at Tom Thumb to get the things I needed.

I actually purchased the last single steak. Now, it all begins with the choice of meat. For my Saturday night grilling experience, I "selected" a rib eye. There might be better pieces to choose from, but I was in a rush to get home and this was fine by my standards.

One thing I did differently was to marinade it. I had about 2 hours before I wanted to eat, so I was doing ok. Here's what my marinade consisted of:

6 oz Shiner Black Lager beer (12 oz would have been too much for 1 steak)
Black Pepper
Sea Salt
Thyme
Basil
Olive Oil
Minced Garlic
Lemon Juice

I whipped all of that up in a little container. I forked the steak on both sides, then placed the steak in Tupperware. I then poured the marinade over the steak and put the Tupperware lid on.... and placed it into the fridge.

An hour later I flipped the Tupperware over and closed the fridge. I started the grill to get the coals ready. About an hour later, I took the Tupperware out of the fridge and flipped it one more time. I then took the lid off so that it could warm up to room temperature for the last hour.

I grilled some other things while all of this was going on - sausage, burgers, etc. I then waited until the coals were very hot (they say 600 degrees is perfect... I didn't have a thermometer) and brought the steak out.

The plan was to cook it 5 minutes on one side, and 5 on the other. After 5 minutes after the first flipping, I realized it might need a little longer to cook as it was still a bit raw inside. I guess my coals weren't 600 degrees! So, I cooked it for a total of 10 minutes... the last 2 I opened up the lid so the flames would really work on the outside and make it almost "burnt."

Inside, I sauteed some onions in my skillet with beef broth, butter, and some cream. I then poured all of that over the top of my steak and opened up a bottle of Chianti.

Man oh man... all I can say is this steak was just about the most perfect steak I've ever grilled. It had so much flavor... it was cooked just long enough... and the topping was pretty darn good!

So was it perfect? Almost... I'd say it was the perfect rib eye. I'd like to try other cuts of meat to determine "the perfect" one. And... I might want to marinade it longer... like all day!

Anyway, I hope this was helpful to you and your future grillings!

Beef... it's what's for dinner!

"When Should I Plant My Garden???"

Something must be in the air. I have been asked FOUR times today from different people, "When should I plant my garden?" Wait... I know what it is... SPRING is in the air!

I'm a gardener. Yes, it's true. I confess. I love gardening. To me, there are two types of gardeners. There are ones that love to landscape, and there are others that love to plant vegetables. Well, I love doing both. I love mowing. I love creating different "scapes" in my yard, and trying different plants. And of course, I love to plant "THE GARDEN!"

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of space. I can usually grow 6 tomato and 8 pepper plants. I've tried a variety of tomatoes... Big Berthas, Better Bush, Whopper, etc. However, the ones that I've had the most success in the Dallas area are Carnival tomatoes. Sometimes those are hard to find... they have another name: Celebrity.

They don't get too huge - 4 inches would be very large. However, they go on and on and on. What would you rather have: A few large tomatoes, or a bunch of mediums that last until October? :-)

So, here is what I recommend. Check the date. I usually use March 15th as a "planting" date. The next thing I do is check Accuweather.com. If they don't predict freezing temps in the next 10 days, then we're good to go. As of now, my going is good! So this weekend is planting season at Casa de Regan.

Now, a few tips. You don't just dig a hole and put the plant in there. I do a few things.

My friends, I'd like to share with you "the few things" that each of you should do each planting season. These directions were passed down from my grandfather to his daughter, my Aunt Loretta. She passed them on to me. And, as some have seen (and tasted!), the results speak for themselves.

Tomatoes 101:

Most of these products can be purchased from your local Feed Store. You can also get the manure at Walmart. And this is for an area that is 5' x 20'.

Products:
20 lbs. Bone Meal
15 lbs. Cotton Seed
10 lbs. Garden Lime
1 Bag of Peat Moss
2 Bags of Manure

Directions:
1. Mix Bone Meal, Cotton Seed, and Lime into Garden. Till in.
2. For each plant, dig a hole about 6" in diameter.
3. Add 3 parts Cow Manure, 6 parts Peat Moss in bucket. Fill bottom of hole.
4. Place plant in hole up to first stem.
5. Remove bottom stem and add more mixture from #3.
5. Put dirt over everything and all the way to the top of the first leaves.
6. Fill with water.
7. If leftover mix, just dump it around the remainder of the soil.
8. Cover with mulch.

Season:
Every other day, go out and remove “suckers.” A sucker is a stem that begins to grow between two stems. These take away nutrients from older stems/vines. Tomatoes require a lot of water and sunlight. Plan to water every 2-3 days. If the soil is dry, your plant is dry. One way to combat this is to add a soaker hose around your plants after you finish planting. Remove yellow leaves and vines. They’re dying. As soon as the tomato starts to turn (ripen), remove. It’s not going to grow any larger and the birds will get it.

So that's it. Happy gardening!

In the Shadow of the Moon

Not a lot of people know this about me, but I have a major fascination with space travel. Particularly, the United States quest for the moon during the 1960's and early 70's.

I guess my first memory was a simple t-shirt I received from my dad. You see, he worked for Rockwell International, and they were a major designer of the Space Shuttle. He gave me a t-shirt with a picture of the shuttle emblazened on the front. When I received it, I remember him telling me that it would be several years until the shuttle blasted off.

Of course, growing up in the 1980's, I was very familiar with the shuttle program. We'd watch the takeoffs and landings at school. And, like most people, I remember the day when we lost the Challenger.

When Apollo 13 came out in 1995, I was amazed at the technology (or lackthereof) used during the Apollo years to launch men into space. Since then, I've watched as many "space" movies as I could to get a better understanding of the science of space travel.

Which brings me to my latest movie: In the Shadow of the Moon.

It's a documentary that shows what it took for NASA to reach into the heavens back when going to the moon seemed more "fantasy" than reality. When President Kennedy said that by the end of the decade (1960), we would land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth, it was an incredibly ambitious goal. We were trying to beat the Russians. Period. And to do that, we had to figure out how to do it.

The "how" is amazing to me. Thousands of technological advances had to be invented. How would we leave the earth's atmosphere? Can we orbit the earth? Could we send a crew to the moon (which takes 3 days of flight) and return them safely? What about actually "landing" a craft on the moon? Not only that, but the amount of people it took to accomplish this mission was staggering.

This dvd takes the viewer on the journey from the earth to the moon through the voices of the people who were there: The Astronauts. They tell their stories from the early events of the space program all the way to the moon to the ultimate demise of the lunar missions.

When you look at the moon, do you know how many men have actually walked on it? Twelve. That's it. These twelve men were launched into space through the ingenuity of thousands of people brilliantly working together to achieve an impossible goal.

And get this... through it all, the world was united. People in every country said, "We did it!" upon the successful landing on the moon. The world looked up... even through the turbulent 60s. It gave people hope! Maybe that's something that I like about it - the inspirational messages contained in this one goal.

So if you're a person who likes intellect, science, technology, or achievement, this is definitely a movie for you. If anything, you'll come away with some knowledge of our space program and the men and women who made it happen.

It definitely focuses on the time when the whole world looked up, and how amazing it was when people worked together to accomplish a dream. I think that's something we could all use today.

It's Time To Make the Doughnuts!

My friend Chandra has been a bit busy these days. You see, she took a job with Dunkin' Donuts to head up their marketing in Texas.

They are in the midst of expanding throughout the West - and Texas is about to get a lot fatter because of it! Ha!

Today they opened their 5th store in the Metroplex. It's located at Preston and Campbell. In a month they'll be opening another store on Alpha near the Galleria.

But you know what? You don't need me to tell you about all of this. Why not hear from the girl herself. She was interviewed on Channel 5 about the expansion. Several people have commented to me about how "professional" she looked and "wow, she didn't look nervous at all!"

Here is a link to her interview:
http://video.nbc5i.com/player/?id=225319

And this morning, when the store opened, she arranged for the local sports radio station to come out and do a remote. The Ticket came out and did some crazy stuff that she arranged. I supported her through my "listening skills." Too bad I had a meeting to prepare for or I would have showed up...

Anyhoo, enjoy Miss Celebrity in all her glory! And if you live in Texas, get ready for the Dunkin' invasion!

Gardening: Spring Has Almost Sprung!

First of all, I'd like to introduce you to my greenhouse. We'll get to that in a bit...

I am VERY excited about Spring! I'm ready... I don't know about you, but I've been chomping at the bit to get out in the yard.

Maybe it's because last year I spent so much time running (actually doing something!) that I've been a bit bored this year... but with Spring just around the corner, I couldn't resist: I had to get out and work in the yard this weekend.

In Dallas, we had a great "warm" weekend. The first thing I did was to clean out some of my flower beds. This meant cutting the dead Lantana back and removing anything that had died over the winter.

I then got the lawnmower out, dropped it several levels, and began mowing. Ahh... the sound of a mower (after it got warmed up!) was awesome! I used the side discharge, so dead grass was blowing everywhere. It was great! I think my neighbors were a little surprised to see me mowing, too. Unfortunately, my eager beaverness wasn't able to motivate them... sigh.

I couldn't get past the greenhouse to mow, though. It's still too early to bring it down. That decision has really been beneficial to keeping plants throughout the winter. I keep a variety of warm-season growers in there... Hibiscus, Geraniums, Ferns, Sago Palm, and other species.



I would highly recommend investing in something like this if you have the space. It's like a big tent, and it takes about an hour to put up (if not less). I bought mine online at Amazon.


Notice there is some "dead" showing in the picture. Well, that was my fault. I didn't know the breaker had flipped and caused the socket to stop working that had the heater plugged into it. So for almost 5 days, and temps in the 30s, my greenhouse was only being warmed by the son and the heat that plants emit naturally.


Anyway, everything was fixed and growth came back! The heater runs on an automatic setting of 70 degrees. I probably could let it go down to 60, but I wanted to provide a tropical feel. In fact, I water each week and routinely spray the entire interior of the greenhouse so that the humidity will increase. It really works! Man, it is freakishly humid in there during a cold spell!


Ok, back to my chores. The final thing I did over the weekend was to purchase 30 rectangles of St. Augustine grass. I'm using them to change the grass in my front yard from Bermuda. While I like Bermuda, it doesn't grow well in the shade... and I've got some areas that are in desperate need of grass!


Anyway, it was a great weekend in the yard. I'm sore, my hands and arms are scratched up, but I've definitely got a head start compared to last year!


Bring on Spring!!!