My Mom & I

Today was kind of a big deal for my mom & I.

After months of battling cancer with chemotherapy and the help of the nice people at Dana Farber in Weymouth, MA she received some not so reassuring news.  That the chemotherapy was really not going to be able help anymore.  There is still going to be another scan to double check and make sure that there are no other options available in her particular case, but I think my mom's body is tired of the chemotherapy.

My mom & dad got the whole family together the other day to prepare us for the inevitable.  I know my mother is a fighter and will not give up.  I know that the RickSimpson Oil has helped already and will continue to help her immune system recover from the abuse the chemotherapy causes.   That being said, as we were having the meeting delivering the awful thoughts of the cancer winning this battle, I was making my mom an appointment at MedWell Health in Brockton.  I told her that I was taking her and we just got back.  

My mom got approved for her MMJ card as I knew she would but the Dr approach to someone who had been a nurse her whole life is quite different from that of a regular guy like me.  The things he explained to her were not different per se but they just used words she was used to hearing from her days as a nurse.  Before 1937 he explained, every good Dr had cannabis oil in their medicine cabinet.

Anyway this not exactly how I hoped to get my family introduced to the world of cannabis, but sometimes you can't chose the how and why of things only how you handle both of these things.

April Fool

I know I didn't even tell anyone at Trader Joe's that I was taking a vacation until a couple days ago, but it was necessary and if they asked, they knew.  It's no big deal I am one of many on the morning crew at Trader Joe's and everyone else has time off planned or taken, so I do not feel bad at all that I am not there.  That is huge for me, because in the past I have always taken my responsibilities at Trader Joe's waaaaaaay too serious.  Today starts 10 days off from the store we call the 513 (or I do anyway).

And of course I am not going away on some lavish vacation, I took the time off so I could help Rodrigo, my brother-in-law and boss-man at my other job.  Rodrigo started a landscaping company seven years ago, Gardenin' Angels.  Look back at my last post to see why 7 years ago was a turning point in my life.  Anyway his company is now flourishing and for the last 4 years I have helped him with his office in some capacity.  It started with helping with the lawn mowing & fertilizer schedules and invoices associated with those jobs.  From there it just took off, I mean I have learned what I can as I go and figured the office out as much as I can. 

Gardenin' Angels is a great company and they are so young.  Rodrigo is an inspiring dude!  I really don't know how he has done it, but I can tell you first hand that he does it, every day. 

Seven Years Ago

My life completely changed 7 years ago tonight...  At that time I lived in Hanson, MA and worked a part time job in Plymouth, MA.  For the sake of re-hashing everything in my mind which happens from time to time anyway, let's just say it was the worst 6 hours of my life.  In that time though I realized that everything about my life was about to change.

And did it ever change.  Shortly after that night I moved to Pembroke and rented a room from my friend Joe.  After 2 years I decided to move back to Brockton with my family in the compound we all call home.  

Since 2014 I have been back at my childhood home in Brockton.  The house is double the size it was when I was a kid and my sister, her husband and their 2 girls all call this place home along with myself and my parents.  We all share the cost of living in such a huge place and we all have plenty of room.  Not far down the road my brother and his two boys live in the house where my grandparents lived for nearly 50 years.  I love my family and the fact that we are all still so close.

There are parts of my pre-2012 life that I will always miss, but walking away when I did and not looking back is something I will never regret.  I am in a better place with myself and now hold down 2 great jobs that keep me busy enough to be more than content.

and now for my Zen moment

lil sprout

I like it when the seed sprouts like this, 

I dunno it just kinda looks cool, no?

garden update

everyday something new to see

watch everyday as the babies push 

through the soil and become green knuckles

week 3 of flower for GC #1 & #2

the canopy spread is the best I have been able to achieve

trying to use all the available light 

and create many bud sites 

they will all have an equal chance of getting big 

the light is as high as it can be without changing the hardware 

this is day one of the flower cycle

these two pictures were taken yesterday on day 18 of flower 

these two pictures are taken at a different angle on the same day

I am really enjoying all the time I get to spend in Black Sheep Garden.  I am not quite in Club 15, but I am surely not part of Group-85.  There aren't many people who would know what I am talking about here, but I have been doing a lot of reading about growing medical cannabis.  That explains random references to things that might not mean much to those who don't garden.  

front porch again

front porch again
back to when sat 2nd floor
front porch on the floor
waiting for friends to arrive
not too sure where
all those friends are now
but my hope is they are doing well
some remember me and some 
probably don't and that's okay too
front porch where I belong again
have but one path to travel
and it always lead me back to this spot
in my mind that travels with me
while I travel within it
grabba & ganja ready to eye spark
that journey tonight only the mind knows
and it reveals it slowly as reality can only 
handle so much until it becomes 
a wave of tiredness that allows the body 
to come to rest after maybe one more
revelation for the day and it is to be 
more disciplined...

the journey it is

something necessary 
to stop
the monotony 
that regular life 
becomes somehow 
someone asked and got an answer
that led them here 
and then he is two people
and things just got interesting again
and that too is necessary 
because someone
has to remind everyone 
to wake up and live
or they forget the purpose
the journey 
it is...

Happy Birthday Nando

ok so I missed a few days but back before the month hit double digits...  At Trader Joe's the customers are buying the shit out of produce which works for me because I work the produce and it makes the days go by super fast.  Rodrigo, my brother-in-law is in Brazil right now visiting family.  He owns Gardenin' Angels Landscaping and I work in his office.  Part of that responsibility involves manning the phone while he is away.  It's hard when he is away in Brazil because the internet in Brazil, where he is staying, is not great at it's very best.

some of the plants I am working with at Black Sheep Garden are starting to show some pretty flowers.

here are a few picture of Zsweet Insanity

Today is my nephew Nando's 16th birthday so of course I have to shout him out here even if no one he knows, know me.  It's the thought as they say.  I probably won't see him until the weekend and he has a fight.  He is a boxer.  I have seen him lose once, and of course redeem himself a few months later and won a unanimous decision.  He is fighting again this Saturday in Foxboro and I hope to be able to go and see him do it again.  Happy Born Day Nando!!

first day of the current year

of course every year I do this... make some sort of promise to think more with the pen and keep track of the days...  maybe it should be correctly termed keeping track of the daze...  life is interesting to say the least and some day I hope to fill in the last year and a half on my blog...  my life has been completely without writing...  every now and then I would not work long enough to put down some thoughts...

here are a couple pictures of ZSweet Insanity and they seem to be coming along just fine...  Black Sheep Garden has allowed me the opportunity to try out my gardening skills and keep the garden going all year round...




along with 2 full time jobs and gardening I like spending a lot of time with my family... my brother has two teenage boys and my sister has 2 wonderful little girls...  Ana the oldest girl and I took a walk today because it was nearly 50 degrees on the first of the year...

I talked to my friend Dawn in Virginia today via the book of faces... she mentioned she had begun a new journal in an older journal going back many years... I, in fact, had done the exact same thing this morning while puffing this morning to ring in the new year after a night of good rest... she is a friend I never want to lose she is too far away, but I believe we stay in touch for a reason and that reason some day will reveal itself to me...