Cactus Flowers

~ JodiLea

Big Momma is going to be a Grandma this summer!

Big Momma is my oldest and largest Aloe plant. Each year her flowers are more beautiful than the last.

The First of Big Momma's Flowers
The First of Big Momma's Flowers this Year

Big Momma has “given birth” to many aloe pods, which took root, and grew into the aloe garden I have now.  I was watering my prickly girls yesterday and discovered that several of the 3-year olds had flowers of their own.

Of course I had to take photos of this to share with y’all.  Last summer I introduced Big Momma and we watched her flowers progress from petals to pods.

Big Momma and the little mommas
Big Momma (on far left) and the little mommas

Now there will be twice as many pods dropping and no soil available.  Look at how the cactus’ (cacti?)  are crowded together, and growing over and under each other.  Try to weed that garden, I dare you! [It is  possible, but you have to wait until the weeds grow tall enough, then use the BIG BBQ tongs to grab them. I’m glad my cactus garden is in the backyard so there are no witnesses to this bizarre gardening technique.]

Little Momma
3-year old "Little Momma"

A light-bulb begins to flicker in my brain. Yes, that can, and occasionally does, happen!  I could adopt these soon to be born aloe pods, tuck them into pots, and  move them with me to our new house.

To be Continued…

Diary of a Nicotine Addict: Month 11

~ JodiLea ~ 4 Comments

I could tell you that my life is one big happy party because I quit smoking eleven months ago. But why start lying to you now? That would be like using a pencil to write diary entries so I could change things to be how I wanted. And wouldn’t that be cool? But I digress…

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The Bitch has been restless. (In case you missed earlier posts, “The Bitch” is my term for addiction.)  Being totally aware of my approaching 1-year anniversary, Ms. Bitch has been throwing opportunities at me to buy, borrow, or steal a cigarette. She is very good at this. And because her wicked ways have worked so many times on me, she is relentless. She’s hanging around patiently waiting for stress and weakness to bring me down.

Not to worry – I have beefed up security and will issue a “high-alert” warning to my reinforcements.

No, I am not trying to be flippant or funny (this time). I really do have reinforcements. One friend supplied me with enough sugar-free candy the day I quit to last a long time. I still have some in my office.  My BFF sent me a care package of assorted sugar-free lollipops, so I can do the “Kojak thing” when I need to. (If you don’t know what the Kojak thing is, you may be too young to be reading blogs on the Internet. Especially ones written by insane addicts. Just sayin’)

Fellow bloggers & readers cheer me on. The “Diary of an Addict” blog series has the most read posts this year at Not Pretending (to be sane). I hope that these posts sometimes help others keep their Bitches at bay. It helps me to write about it and be accountable for my behavior. I finally learned I couldn’t fight The Bitch alone.

I have a wonderful family scattered all over this United States praying for me to kick The F*^&$@! Bitch’s ass. Maybe not in those exact words…   I admit asking God to send my Guardian Angel down to kick The F*^&$@! Bitch’s ass for me. In those exact words, BTW.)

God is pretty used to me by now, so no sense pretending   😉