I Could Cry

I could just cry. 

I came home from work this afternoon, and more of my little bluebonnet seedlings have died.  

I'm heartbroken.  I'd had such high hopes, but it looks like out of 72 peat pellets, it looks like I might get 4-6 surviving plants.  It seems it's just not my lot to have any bluebonnets.  I keep on planting them, and they keep on dying.  Maybe I should just give up.

At least the one in my flower bed is holding its own. 

No buds yet, but it hasn't died, either.  So there is that.  I just can't seem to grow anything from seeds.  Not even wildflowers.  I can't even tell you how many packets of wildflower seeds I've planted and none of them have grown.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  I think I'm just going to give up on all of it.  

All of it.  

I'd still  been thinking about turning that old fire pit into a flower bed, but at this point, I'm so discouraged, I think I'll just pull the whole thing up and do away with it.  I'm tired of mowing around it anyway.  

Moving right along...

There I was at work, just a working away, when the maintenance man came around and told everyone they'd be shutting down the power again.  This was yesterday, by the way.  At first, the brazing trainer told us to go outside and stand by the fence, but Group Leader Shark came right behind her and told us to clock out.  Then people started asking, "Do we go home?"  

Um, yes.  Once I'm clocked out, I'm on my own time.  I'm not staying up at the plant on my own time!  

I guess they figured that since it was almost quitting time, there wasn't any sense having us just standing around with no power for the last hour of the day.  Whatever the reason, I had a whole extra hour at home.   What did I do with that extra hour?  I practiced my piano.  A real practice, too, not just a hurried rush-through, which is all I can usually do this time of year.  I actually did some Hannon's too, then played my lesson music without feeling like I needed to rush.  It was so nice. 

This morning, I got up at 2:45 and went on in to work at 4:00, as per my usual.   There, I was greeted at the door by third shift supervisor, saying, "You can't come in until 5:00."  The power was still out, and he said the maintenance men were coming in at 4:30 to start turning it all back on.  Being that I only live 5 minutes from the plant, naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I went back home and cooked myself a regular breakfast, which I then ate leisurely with a cup of hot coffee.  

I'm telling you, you feel so much better with some actual nutrition in your body than when you're trying to work 7 hours with nothing but water to fuel your body. 

I went back to work an hour later, and after a few moments, the power came back and we were able to work.  They sent the assembly lines home at 9:00, but guess who had to stay day long?  Yep.  I was so hoping they'd let us go early, too, but no...At least we got a little bit ahead.  For now. 

And finally...It's day 10 of the siege: