Getting things into gear

I didn't intend a pun with my title but it almost works out. This weekend, with the little bit of extra time, I managed to finally get working on some of my goals--like actually learning how to work on my car! After years of bribing and paying people to work on my car, I decided it was time to learn how to do some of the basics myself. (This may have been motivated in part by the dealership informing me that it was $400 to do maintenance that basically was an oil change and two air filter changes.) And, with only a few people helping, supervising and laughing at me, I actually changed my own oil (mostly), filled all the fluids I was low on, checked my tire pressure, and changed one of the two air filters. (I would have changed both, but one of Henry's well-meaning friends came over and started pitching in to help fix things before he figured out this was supposed to be teaching time!) Little and easy as all those fixes were, I was still pretty proud of myself when I got done.

Adding to that, I weeded my garden and figured out that everything except the asparagus and the strawberries is growing pretty darn well! The asparagus never came up and the rabbits ate my strawberry plants for a snack before I got my fence up, but I can replant both of those next year. In the meantime, I'll have some good vegetables in a month or two, and maybe even a small raspberry crop in the fall.

To top it off, I successfully made some of my recipes from my cooking class. Apparently with a little extra sleep, motivation and relaxation, I gained at least a little bit of skill. Now, I just hope that will continue for the future! I was getting tired of screwing up all my new recipes.

This seems like a good start heading into June, when I'll be starting a couple new art classes, continuing my gardening and hopefully enjoying every bit of the summer!

Books: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

I read about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks months ago and requested it from the library; apparently I wasn't the only one! It took months to get here, but it was worth it. This book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor Southern woman who went in to a free clinic to receive treatment for cancer. Her doctors took a sample of her cancer to use in research without her knowledge, which turned out to be the first cells that could stay alive and continue dividing indefinitely. These cells are still used in research and have been important to everything from space travel to the polio vaccine.

The book is fascinating and covers a lot of ground, from what is known of Henrietta's life to the lives of her children and the science and ethics involved in the situation. Her cells have grown into a multimillion dollar industry, none of which is being given to her children; for years, no one even knew Henrietta's name. Later, more research was conducted on her children without them knowing or understanding what was going on.

This book is difficult to read at times because it can be almost overwhelming; there is so much to think over and try to understand. It is well worth the effort, though!

Crossing an item off my bucket list

I've been absolutely terrible about posting the last few weeks--I've either been busy or reveling in the few days I had to sit around or do laundry! It's time to get back to this and keep myself accountable for new adventures and experiments, especially now that it seems to be summer!

This last weekend, I crossed something off my bucket list and my family had a big day--my nephew Conner was baptized and I am now officially his godmother. Everyone except for him seemed to have a great time--he was not pleased about the cold water or about having to wait for his next breakfast!

I have plenty of catching up to do on the last few weeks and hopefully some new adventures coming up, so here's hoping I can get back in the habit of being here!