Colorado Home and Garden Show 2010

Saturday was a busy day. We picked up mom-in-law, parked at a light-rail stop (kinda like our above-ground subway), and took the light-rail to the Colorado Convention Center. It's said if one walks the entire conventionl, it's a 3-mile trek. We came close.

We meandered through many of the booths, collecting information we'll need for house repairs and improvements: roofing, solar panels, wind turbines, decks, energy audits, sheds (we could use for barns - cheaper), and much more. I was disappointed that I didn't see any greenhouses - were there really none there? And sunrooms don't count!

There was a moment that I lost my family. We separated so I could listen to Michael Weishan from the Victory Garden PBS show give a talk about starting gardening. More about that in a minute. When it was over, I went to find my family. Up and down the aisles, past prodding exhibitors and throngs of people. Standing on tiptoes. Searching and searching. Then my phone beeps. Didn't hear it ring. It was my 13 yr old Kid who had gotten separated from Hubby and Mom-in-Law. Now I started to panic. I could barely understand his message so I grabbed someone with a nametag and had him listen. Just as he finished, the phone rang again. It was Hubby who had finally located his phone (was in his coat in the coat-check area). He found the Kid and were staying put until I found them.

I tell you... I cried. When my son was 6 years old, someone tried to steal him (I'm a fighter) and a year later, he wandered off in a bookstore. This time was just as frightening.

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I attended the Victory Garden talk because I wanted to ask him about the changes in the Victory Garden show. Very little discussion about edible landscaping, and lots of talking about decorative plants, etc. NOT what a Victory Garden was. Michael Weishan was nice and gave a good talk. Basically for a beginner so I just sat there, listened, and waited for my time. After the lecture, I approached him and asked him the question: how come the show, that's name after a specific way to garden to feed families during the war, has deviated from edible landscaping? He said: don't get me started. One of the reasons I left. Ooops. I don't think he wanted me to type that. That's ok. He said that he's starting a new PBS show, I think he called it "Garden Earth". Will deal mostly with edible landscaping.

Good.

He also said that there haven't been any more Victory Garden shows filmed in a while.

Double Good.

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Valentine's day: We didn't do much. I made finally a lasagna (since I won't be able to eat today), but didn't like it much because I forgot 3 key ingredients, and didn't add enough onions and garlic. What the hairy heck was wrong with me?

We watched a rented DVD: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It wasn't as good as the previous films, but then, the books had also gotten darker by this one. I was the only one who'd read all the books, so I had to keep shutting my mouth so I wouldn't give away who really died and who didn't. Who was good and who wasn't. Argh.

The Kid watched the cartoon movie of Watership Down which he felt was ok but a little violent. He wants to write his own book series but wants to be careful about what he includes so that he can get a good rating, like G or even PG.

Hubby and I, by the time we got done with the Harry Potter movie, had pretty much run out of time so we just swung over to the Outback and picked up appetizers and dessert. V-Day isn't such a big deal for us. It shouldn't be for people who should show their love and respect for each other daily. Heck... last year we went to Walmart, found special cards for each other, met in the middle of the section, exchanged, laughed, hugged, kissed, and returned them. Cheap but effective!

I gotta go get ready for my root canal. I probably won't blog again today because I KNOW I'll be in pain. I really hate going to the dentist, am prone to panic attacks, and, well, I have a very low threshhold for pain. Plus it takes a lot of numbing agent to numb me.

Help?

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UPDATE at 12:48 p.m. on Monday 12/15/10 - got to the endontist for the root canal, and after careful examination, new x-rays and a freezing-cold-on-the-tooth test, he declared that I DON'T need a root canal. I just have a crown (installed only 2 years ago) that had started to come off. The gooey-center of that tooth wasn't covered or protected at all so even simple swallowing was causing pain. I need it repaired. Still a painful procedure but... thank goodness! Now I need to track down the dentist that did the work 2 years ago, and get them to redo it. For free. THEY screwed up!

I'm so happy!