New houseplants

I went a little crazy over the last few weeks and bought new houseplants.  I found two at Walmart that were the healthiest.  Every other plant at Walmart was dead, droopy or just looked like they were going to die.  The two that I found happened to be ones that I really wanted.  One of them I had before but sadly had to get rid of.  I now have Pothos Marble Queen and Philodendron Brasil.

I also bought two different types of spider plants on ebay.  I bought a curly spider plant, which I had before but had to get rid off.  I also bought miniature spider plants.  I was sent 3 babies! 

I now have two plants at work with me.  I keep my Pothos Marble Queen and one of my miniature spider plants on my desk! 

My new air plant container

My mother-in-law is going through her things to determine what she should keep and what items to donate to Goodwill.  Before donating to Goodwill, she is offering me anything we want/need.  One of the things she gave me is the glass container with a lid.  She used it as a candy dish but she suggested I use it for my air plants! 

So I took a few pictures to display my air plants. 

I may look for a big enough plant or two to fit inside! 

Pink Polka Dot Plant

Earlier this week, I finally threw all of my plants away that I had in soil.  I kept my air plants.  I knew I needed to get rid of them for our move.  I already miss my plants. 

Yesterday, we stopped by Time Warner to return our cable box.  While we were there, I saw two plants in the back of their office near a window.  One was a peace lily plant and one was a lime green color plant!  It looked like a philodendron!  I even pointed them out to Shannon.  I already have plant-fever! 

Today, Kyle came home from school with a Mother's Day gift he made at school.  I received a Pink Polka Dot Plant in a cute clay pot that he painted blue with dots and other decorations on them!  It is so cute!  I put the plant in our kitchen near the window and as we were getting ready for bed, Kyle brought the plant in the bedroom and put it on our nightstand!  I tried putting it back in the kitchen, but then he brought it back into the bedroom.  So, we have it on our nightstand! 

6 New Air Plants!

My air plants arrived today!  I ended up getting two of each of the following: Xerographica, Ionantha Peanut (BOGO Free) and Ionantha Druid (BOGO Free)!  The Xerographicas are much bigger than I thought they would be!  The Ionanthas are so small!

I still have my two previous air plants that I bought back in February.  

Shannon works today at Best Buy from 12pm until 8pm, then he has to work his security supervisor job from 11pm until 7am! 

Haircut!

I just got back from getting my hair cut!  The last time I had my hair cut was in May 2011!  I love my hair cut!  It feels lighter and will be easier to take care of. 

I had to walk to our credit union to deposit some cash and a check and then stopped at Great Clips to get my hair cut.  I had a coupon for a hair cut for only $7.50!  Shannon needs a haircut too!  I have another coupon for him to use.  We also need to cut Kyle's hair.  His hair is so long, he's looking like a cute little elf!

Shannon works tonight from 10pm until 6am.  Hopefully we can go grocery shopping later today since we are almost out of food.  

I also gave in a purchased 5 air plants today since they were having a Cyber Monday special (free shipping)! 

This one is called a Xerographica:

The one below is called Ionantha Peanut (Buy one get one free):

The last one is called Ionantha Druid (Buy one get one free):

I think I am going to get into Tillandsia (air plants) since they don't require soil!  My houseplants that are in soil are always spilling over and causing a mess because Kyle likes to climb on the shelving that they sit on!  

Well needed bath

This weekend, I gave my potted indoor plants a "bath." I rinsed them in the bathtub by splashing water on the foliage and soaking the soil really well. My plants needed to be cleaned since they were full of dust. Plus, clean plants will help them soak up the sun better.

Air Plant = Oxymoron

When I told Shannon that I wanted to try growing air plants, he laughed and said that they sound like an oxymoron.  I am fascinated by air plants because of how they can be displayed!

Air plants are the common name for Tillandsia.  I am interested in these type of plants for their versatility and the fact that they do not require soil to grow!  No mess!  They can be grown hanging from the wall, upside down or in a decorative container. 

I found a vendor I really like and they are located in Florida.  I finally bought two air plants.  They will look similar to the ones below:

I bought two seashells and they each come with a plant.  You can also grow air plants in glass globes:

I can't wait to receive my plants!  I plan on displaying them on my computer desk so I can look at them while I work and study!

 

Flowers indoors

Sometimes I wish I had my own little outdoor gardening area, just a small patch of area would suffice.  I would probably try to grow vegetables and flowers.  I would love some colorful plants indoors.  I want to try African Violets again!  I would like to start with one African Violet for now and see how it does. 

Keys to our new place!

We stopped by our apartment today and they gave us the keys!  We brought over 2 boxes of our stuff and 3 of my plants.  We set up my plants on the plant stand and I unpacked the boxes we brought over, that way we could bring home the boxes to fill them up again.

We had a chance to see our place again and I am so excited!  I can't wait until we are fully moved in!  This was Kyle's first time seeing our new place!  He was a little nervous and wasn't sure what was going on.  We showed him around the apartment and showed him his room.  He still didn't understand that this is where we are going to live soon.  He kept wanting to leave. 

We plan on going back on Monday and Tuesday to bring over more of our stuff, just a car load at a time.  Shannon rented a U-Haul for our boxes and furniture for the second half of the week.  I am going to help him load the truck with the boxes and anything else I can lift! 

Just 5 pots

Yesterday I was worried about moving all of my plants when it came time to transport them in the car.  This morning, I was looking at my plants and came up with the idea to downsize!  I repotted and moved a lot of my plants into just 5 pots!  I am also throwing away about half of my plants.  Hopefully with 5 pots, it will be easier for us to move them when it comes time.  I am sad to get rid of my bigger plants but we need the room.  I kept the most healthy looking and smallest plants. 

Groceries before the Snow & My Phalaenopsis

Yesterday we went grocery shopping!  We wanted to do our grocery shopping before Monday because we are in the middle of a snow storm.  School was canceled today and it may be canceled tomorrow.  Last Thursday, I received a call from the Department of Social Services.  It was our food stamps caseworker letting me know that she is working on our application.  She is behind because they are down one person.  She also wanted to verify some of the information we provided.  Thankfully our foods stamps were approved by the time we went grocery shopping on Sunday!  I was ready to pay for our food out of our own pocket. 

In addition to our groceries, I also brought home a phalaenopsis orchid by a brand called "Just Add Ice."  I've been a fan of their facebook page for a few months now.  The page is active with fellow fans and the people at Just Add Ice.  The orchids were discounted by 50% of their original price just a month ago!  There were only about 10 plants left and I chose the smallest one, it looked the healthiest.  My orchid is purple/lavender.

Day with parents

I spent yesterday with my parents.  They came over to the hotel early in the morning and we all had continental breakfast!  We went across the street to Home Depot and I helped my mom find jade plants for my dad.  My dad has been looking for a jade plant because it reminds him of his grandparent's house, so my mom and I ended up finding two different jades.

Then we headed over to my grandparent's house for a family meeting to discuss my grandpa's funeral and last minute details.

On the way home, we stopped at Costco where I got a zippered sweathirt and matching pants by DKNY.  They are a faded green/avocado like color.  I also bought a layered set of tank tops. 

We went back to the hotel and just relaxed for a bit before we had dinner at Sizzler's!  It was pretty good and I haven't eaten there in so long. 

Loving on my plants

My plants received their weekly watering.  I ended up cleaning and removing debris, removing plants, and moving plants to other pots.

I am working on rooting some of my plants to put in other pots.  My arrowhead plant was getting so big, so I split a baby from the mother plant and planted that up in another pot.  I also took another arrowhead baby and trying to root it to put in another pot.  Ever since I potted my arrowhead plant in potting soil back in April, it's been doing really well!  I am also trying to root a few cuttings from my swiss cheese plant.  I removed the mother plant, I hope to replace it with one of my cuttings as soon as they grow roots. 

I would love to add to my plant collection but I am trying to keep my jungle to what I already have! 

To Walmart We Went

Shannon and I went to Walmart this afternoon before Kyle got home from school.  We needed to buy a fan for our room.  Kyle's been unable to sleep as well through the night because it is hot!  Since Kyle isn't sleeping as well, we are suffering too from him being up!  The air conditioner is on, but with our room upstairs, it is still hot!  The last few nights, he'll wake up with a sweaty head!  Last night his whole entire body was hot.  Shannon had to remove his pajamas just to cool him off.  I also wanted to buy Kyle some shorts and short sleeved shirts for him to sleep in.  We picked out 4 shirts and 4 short pants that can be mixed between each other and they can be worn outside or to bed.

This week, Kyle has been crazy for boca burger patties in a hamburger bun!  So I bought more 100% whole wheat hamburger buns and boca burger patties.  We needed more goldfish crackers because Kyle loves them so much. 

I also bought one more pot for some of my plants, I wanted to transplant them into soil.  I think these plants will thrive in soil.  My plants that are in the Miracle Gro soil already are doing really well!  

After we were done shopping at Walmart, we stopped through McDonald's and ate at home.  It is always nice to go "out" without Kyle!  It's odd, but it's nice to have some alone time.

Studying for LSAT, Dr. Appointment, Plant Fever

Kyle had another doctor appointment, this time it was with an "ear, nose, and throat" doctor.  Before seeing that doctor, Kyle saw the audiologist and he gave him a hearing test again.  He said his hearing looks to be in the normal range.  The "ear, nose, and throat" doctor looked into Kyle's ears.  He said he's going to send over the test results to Kyle's pediatrician as well.  As we left the doctor office, they gave me a piece of paper for billing (to give to the appointment setter) and it said they are going to bill our insurance (medicaid) $418!!

I still haven't heard back from Speakability.  I called them last Thursday and left a message with the person who answered the phone.  I need to call them again and set something up!  Kyle needs private speech therapy.

Since Shannon received some of his study materials for the LSAT test, he's started reading through the books.  He feels better and more prepared to take the test.  They give him tips and tricks on taking the test.  He's learning other ways to answer the test questions too.  He's still waiting on another shipment of practice tests.

I received my curly spider plant that I won on ebay today!  It's bigger than I thought it would be.  For now, it's in the pot that I bought for it.  I plan on getting a bigger pot.  I removed the babies (there were 9 of them) that came with it and planted them in other pots of plants!  I also gave two [of the nine] babies to my MIL.  She has them in her office/sitting room that is attached to their bedroom.  I also re-potted my solid green spider plants with fresh potting soil!  They are getting too big for the small pot they are in.  Once I get another pot, I can separate them and give them more room.

Back to School

Kyle went back to school today!  He was out of school for over a week!  It was nice to have him at school!  I am a little disappointed that they didn't save an Easter basket or easter eggs for him.  We had sent him to school with a big bag of easter eggs and 3 bags of candy for the kids and he received none of it!

A few weeks ago, they took pictures at school and they sent an envelope home with a sample picture of how they turned out.  He looks so cute in his picture!  Now we just have to decide which package to buy!  I don't know how they got him to sit still long enough to take his picture!  LOL

I received half of my order from Walmart today.  I ordered some colorful short sleeved tops, which I need for summer.  The only short sleeved tops I have are all blue, and they were from when I was working at Walmart!  I am waiting for the other half of my order, which should arrive tomorrow. 

Shannon is getting ready to take the LSAT test.  He's aiming to take it in June.  He ordered some study materials and some of them arrived today. 

I am still waiting for the plant I won on ebay to arrive, it looks like it will arrive tomorrow.  I am ready to pot up my new plant in a permanent home!

I bought a plant on Ebay!

I won an auction on ebay today!  I placed a bid for a Curly Spider Plant, it is also known as Bonnie Spider Plant.  I used to have a few of these when we lived in Nevada, but I ended up leaving them behind when we moved.   I hate that I ended up losing my entire collection of plants in our move.

I believe I won an auction for a plant from this vendor before.  My Lemon Lime Philo is doing very well!  Still alive and growing. 

As for my Curly Spider Plant, I don't have a home ready for it.  I need to get some potting soil since I have some plants that need to be repotted. 

Sharing Some Pictures

I wanted to share some pictures since I figured out how to take pictures with my webcam on my laptop. I only know how to take pics with my webcam on myspace. Enjoy!

Last Friday, I posted a blog about buying a new plant. Well, here's a picture of my plant:


Yesterday, I blogged about buying two new plastic pots. I took a picture of my new pots. For now, I have my plants sitting in them, they aren't planted in the pots yet. The bigger pot will house two plants, one is a cutting sitting in water.

Newest Plant

My newest plant arrived today! I am so excited to add this plant to my collection! I already removed the newspaper and plastic bag and transplanted it! It's all settled with my other plants. I already gave my plant a little shower to remove the dust and soil on the leaves.

Other than that, my plant looks healthy and should be happy in a few days. My other plants are doing well too! I mist them a few times a day to give them extra humidity.

I found another plant that I want, but I am trying to hold off and focus on my current collection.

2nd Phone Interview

Shannon has a second interview with the job in Vermont tomorrow afternoon!!! We are ecstatic but trying to not to get our hopes up too high.

It was a nice day today. The sun was out and Kyle was playing outside as much as he could. I ended up taking a nap today. I didn't realize how tired I was until I woke up about an hour and a half to two hours later!

I am still waiting on my plant that I won through ebay. Hopefully it will be here soon. I am delighted and can't wait to get it. It's a rare plant, so that's even more appealing. I have the millennium soil ready as well. I am out of small pouches to put my plant in, so I am improvising and using a ziploc bag! Not sure if it will work, but it will have to do.

I received my homeopathic medicine for asthma over the weekend and it seems to be helping. I am not using the inhaler as much and I am not waking up at 3 AM or 4 AM needing to use my inhaler 2 or 3 times. The medicine tastes really bad so I dilute it in water just to take it. I am still taking the homeopathic medicine for my allergies to the cat and it's really helping.

Shannon's been doing yard work for his parents this past week. He dug two holes for their garden as well as edge the yard (they live on an acre of land). My in-laws have already decided they are growing the ingredients to make salsa (as well as many other vegetables). They brought out several plastic storage containers to grow additional vegetables in.

My mother-in-law applied for food stamps last week. Her caseworker called her today requesting additional documents. I was surprised to hear that they called her, our [former] county never took the time to call us! It sounds like her caseworker is really trying to get them on food stamps right away!