In Which I Celebrate Michael, Find Another Baby Who Was Not A Bad Baby, Get To Visit With Two Of My Most Favorite People In The World, And Other Things.

I had lunch with these two beautiful people today. It's Michael's birthday and I really didn't plan on having his birthday lunch with him but due to a long series of events, I did. And I'm glad. I don't know about them but I sure had a lot of fun. We had a lot to catch up on. 
May and I had been trying to have lunch together for weeks. Her days off are Sunday and Monday and she and Michael, who both have stressful and demanding jobs, like to go out for Sunday brunch to relax and recoup and enjoy some time together. So Monday is the best day to meet up with her and we were going to go two Mondays ago but that was the day my phone was arriving and someone had to be here to sign for it and so we were going to go the Monday after that but dang it- I had a dentist appointment I'd forgotten about and so it was going to be THIS Monday, which was today of course, and Ta-Da! It was Michael's birthday. 
Michael, being a darling son-in-law and a kind gentleman swore that he would be fine with me coming to lunch with them and I hope he's not regretting that now. As I said, I had a really good time, anyway. 
There was one thing that was odd and that was our server. 
Bless her heart. 
She was young but a fine server. 
However. That woman had the biggest, most brilliantly white tooth-filled smile I have ever seen in my entire life. 
As in, after she took my drink order, I whispered to May and Michael, "She scares me."
I was getting Beetlejuice vibes. Like- this cannot be real. 
I'm not going to even identify the restaurant, much less her name which I honestly don't remember anyway. And as I said, she was a fine server and I tipped her almost as big as her smile which would not have been possible. 

When we were almost finished with our meals, we started hearing a baby. At first I thought the baby was crying but I soon realized that no, this baby was just talking. And on our way out, after I'd used the restroom, I absolutely had to go find the baby. My baby obsession is not easing up, y'all. 
I found the baby. She was sitting on her mother's lap and this child was screeching her thoughts and opinions and emotions with the lungs of an opera singer. I was going to just pass by the table but no. I could not. That baby was so damn cute and smooshie and gorgous I had to stop and I said, "I'm sorry but I had to find the baby." And then I told the mother and either her friend or her sister who was also in the booth about my baby obsession and how I'd had four babies myself and now have five grandchildren and the two women seemed delighted that someone who obviously had so much experience in cute babies thought THIS baby was special. 
And she was. 
The woman who was not the mother said, "She's part pterodactyl," and I agreed this must be true. The most charming pterodactyl you can imagine. She was five months old and in my deep wisdom I told them that this was the best age because they can sit up and talk (okay, sometimes it's pterodactyl language) and grin and really, what more do you need to do? 
They also hastened to add that she can roll over! Of course! 
She really was just about the perfect baby. And I did not ask if I could hold her. I did not grab her and run from the restaurant. I did not look at her and say, "You shall be mine!" No. I did none of those things. I just flirted with her for a few seconds and then with great force of will, dragged my crazy ass away. 

After May and Michael went their way and I went mine, I stopped at a plant nursery in hopes of finding late tomato plants to put in but they didn't have any. I got the okra seeds Mr. Moon has been wanting to plant, some artichoke seeds, and a Cuban oregano. 
That was an impulse buy. 
I've been wanting to try and plant artichokes for a long time and according to the seed packet, in mild climates (which I assume is what we have here, except in summer, of course) you can plant artichoke seeds in the fall and harvest in the spring. 
Say what? 
Man. I am so excited. I was tempted to buy all the lettuce and greens seeds I know I'll be wanting to plant very soon but I knew I still had some seeds left over from last fall and it would be the smart thing to check that out before I went on a seed-buying frenzy. 
Do you suppose this is somehow related to my baby obsession? 

Speaking of babies, here's what the arugula I planted a week ago looks like right now. 

And yes, I will be thinning them and using what I take out in salads because even at the infant stage, arugula has the punchy bitter taste that I find so delicious. 
From that small picture you can see why Mr. Moon likes to make the rows for me to plant in himself. 
Sigh.

The bee balm is purpling up. 

There are quite a few blossoms on it. 

The Seminole pumpkins are making enough pumpkins that I have no idea what we'll be doing with all of them. Giving some away, I guess. I doubt that all of the pumpkins now forming will grow to maturity. And by golly, I just did a little more research on these heirloom pumpkins and I am going to be harvesting that first pumpkin the vines produced tomorrow AND I am going to pick a few of the small, immature ones to cook like squash because I am reading that the pumpkins are good like this. Plus, picking them will encourage the growth of new ones. 
Well I'll be darned. You learn something new every day. 

And because it wouldn't be a complete post without a picture of Maurice, here we go. 

She's keeping an eye on me while I distribute the mealworms. 

And, okay. Here are some pictures of a cicada I found dead on the back porch. These bugs fascinate me. 

They definitely have some bulgy eyes, don't they? And they are large. Very, very large. But completely harmless and they make music. I love and respect them.

It's been a terrific day. 
Thank you, Michael for letting me share your birthday with you. I enjoyed it so much. Keep on with this living thing, okay? You are precious. 

Love...Mary