I have a standing weekly date with Caitlin.

I have a standing weekly date with Caitlin. We go wander about and get our steps in. She took me by the place with the Jack-o-Lanterns the other day and I got to get pictures of the other side and ask about them. The lady inside said they bought the pumpkins a couple of years ago and they just change the paint for fun.

The inside of the building is interesting, as well. They have some vintage/weird stuff displayed. They said that people were decorating the counters and they just went with it. It's a gas station/dispensary. I don't know if they sell anything else, but they were super nice to me and seemed happy to answer my questions.

So I guess they are there just because the store owners wanted them. That's as good a reason as any! 😊

Not my plants, but my cholla bruise. 😂

Not my plants, but my cholla bruise. 😂

Teddy Bear cholla is my favorite. Looks all cuddly and glowy in the sunlight, but peak violence. 🔪

I accidentally backed my hand into 5-ish spines when I was watering plants on Sunday. It was hard getting detached from my plant. It was holding on. This is the result.

Check out this reddit post. They got punctured, too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cactus/s/TLd81eRDJu

Stay weird, Albuquerque. I love it here. ❤️💙💜🧡

Stay weird, Albuquerque. I love it here. ❤️💙💜🧡

My Monkey Tail bloomed yesterday.

My Monkey Tail bloomed yesterday. That's a weird flower, but I like it. 😍

Bear is making sure I'm watering the plants correctly.

Bear is making sure I'm watering the plants correctly.

I love his helpful li'l heart. ❤️

I checked on the greenhouse today.

I checked on the greenhouse today. I'm gonna have to water my plants soon.

I have a few flowers on the way, a crazy one, and one I missed.

I missed this one today, but maybe it'll reopen tomorrow. We'll see.

Look at this crazy thing! I love it!

I think this will be more open tomorrow, too. I'll check back.

Two!

This bud dried up and fell off while I was gone, but it looks like another small one is growing in.

Echeveria flower.

I'll get around to posting a little bit of my video from the concert eventually, but first:

I'll get around to posting a little bit of my video from the concert eventually, but first:  

Look at me in these stills from a video the venue posted. I look like a goblin that wanted to steal Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso's souls. 😂😂😂

I never know wtf my face is doing. Ever. I had no idea that I looked so crazy.

They probably saw me because I was right up front. If so:  Sorry, guys. 😂💙

SWEATY.

SWEATY.

You nasty, Houston. 😂

I've been working on updating my Etsy...

I've been working on updating my Etsy (unfortunately not the photos or videos, yet) and that's pretty much all for today.

I did take a break and watch Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso live at Coachella on Hulu. They were great. I can't believe I get to see them live next Friday! I'm so excited!

I find this so annoying.

I find this so annoying.

Facebook said they were switching my profile to "Content Creator" so I wouldn't lose any followers and I was like "Yeah, ok. Most of what I share is original, so I guess that label fits." and I didn't really think anymore about it.

I've never really cared about post stats because I write most of what I write for me. It makes me feel connected and happy to share my life, and if I help anyone else in the process, then that's a wonderful bonus. My friends check in. I'm good.

But now FB is always trying to get me to the "Content Creator" dashboard. And the first thing I see when I come on today is that my reach is down.

Facebook needs to calm down. It's really not that serious. 😂

Some flowers from today.

Some flowers from today.

The first cactus is planted in my yard. Everyone else is in the greenhouse, except for the one tiny white flower. That's in the house on a spider plant. This is the first one I've ever had flower.

Ooh, I went to the city today! By myself!

Ooh, I went to the city today! By myself!

I checked out the Web Development boot camp in person. I spoke with one of the instructors, and then sat in on a class.

We talked one-on-one for about 45 minutes. He answered all of my questions and I really feel like this would be a good move for me.

They start with HTML and CSS, which I've been familiar with since I was on MySpace. Then they move onto JavaScript and focus on that for a while. I have some familiarity with it, but it's not my strong suit and I'd love to improve. Then they move into a project - creating a website from scratch, which I've never done. This is where it gets exciting and really starts to fill in my gaps.

So I sat in the class for a bit and there was 1 group working on their project in week 11 of 12. These guys were communicating so well about the code and trying different approaches and troubleshooting and I was honestly really impressed. They were pushing and pulling from git with detailed notes, etc.

After a while the instructor asked me what I thought and I said that they were doing great and that I was curious about their backgrounds before starting. All of them said they had no previous experience! I was gobsmacked! Like... This seems like exactly the hands-on experience that I need!

Don't get me wrong:  I love and appreciate my education from JSU, but I feel like it was focused on theory, like this is what a for-loop does and how you write it. This is this language, etc. But nothing actually taught me how to put it all together or what programs to use. I feel like I just need help putting the pieces together and I'll be 💯.

So, I'm pretty excited. I wanna be like the guys I saw working on their project today. Wish me luck!

Caitlin took me to the mall today...

Caitlin took me to the mall today so we could get our steps in and these big guys were in one of the stores. I don't think I'll ever get over seeing these sculptures around. They had to be at least 8 feet tall. You can take one home with you for around $20,000. It's out of my price range, but how cool would it be to have one of these guarding your yard?

 

I've been dealing with a headache that won't go away most of the day, so I'm about to take a migraine pill and call it a night. Hopefully, I'll be normal-ish tomorrow.

But I do have one other good news:  I got the scholarship for the Web Dev program I want to take, so I'm super thankful for that. I don't think I would have been able to go if I had to pay out of pocket for it.

Happy weekend, friends! ❤️

This is how my plants are looking today.

This is how my plants are looking today. Some teensy flowers and a large one.

Also, I just love fresh cactus spikes! 💚

I feel like I'm amassing too many social media accounts, but if you're interested, I now have a plant Insta:

https://www.instagram.com/blus_botanicals

Fresh spines are so pretty!

Just a few months ago this poor thing had mealy bugs all in its grooves. I painstakingly removed as many as I could, then put a pesticide on it as well as dusted it with diatomaceous earth. It's looking much better now!

I love this big ol' crazy-spines thing!

This is a Madagascar Ocotillo. The large piece in the back needs to be tossed; I think it froze in the sunroom and I don't think it's coming back. I had another piece in the pot that was doing well, but I believe a creature stole it.

My first one of these to ever try to flower!

Little speckled flowers

Bright blooms

Almost a year in!

Almost a year in! This is one of my favorite parts of the day.

Some of my plants are making babies!

Some of my plants are making babies. I got a couple more flowers today, too.

This Aloe is so tiny, but it's got a baby sprouting, anyway!

So many little ones!

Another bunch of littles.

An Echeveria flower.

This plant blooms several times a year, and I'm always taken with its weird flower.

This is my first time having one of these flower!

I think this was a cutting that was gifted to me in one of my succulent orders. It's really grown a lot. It's getting bark! That's like, plant puberty, right? 😂