No Children, But I Have Coleus Plants

This is going to be a partial post about birth control, and a experience I had with them recently. So, if you aren't one to want to read about them... stop now. I was put on the pill over 2 and a half years ago, and have been on them since. When my insurance from California ran out, I went in to the local clinic for some more. Well, I have high blood pressure. I know this, and no matter what I do, it won't go down. There was a period in my life where I ate really healthy, cut out sugars, salts, and everything I loved from my diet. I ran every other night. but yet, the blood pressure never went down. As a person with no health insurance, seeing a doctor about it is not in the question at all. After seeing that my efforts were not going anywhere, I resumed my original diet. My philosophy now is: Life is too short to eat foods I don't like. Anyway, when I went into the clinic for birth control, I told them about my problem with blood pressure, and after she took it, she was baffled why I was given them in the first place. Then refused to give me anything with estrogen. My only option was either, the depo provera injection, or a pill form of it.

I had researched the depo shot. Weight gain, mood swings, not being able to have kids until years after stopping it, this was NOT what I wanted. I can deal with the weight gain, mood swings, but... not being able to have children when I want them? That's the hardest for me. The sad thing, was that the night before this happened, the fiance and I had talked about having children. We decided on the month we were going to start trying for a child, and talked about our near future. Now, however, we have to look at the possibility that it won't happen in the next few years. He was upset about this when I told him in the car, I came home and cried in bed for hours. I was heartbroken, and still to an extent, I still am.

So now, after sobbing about it probably much more than was necessary, I plan to put my nurturing need into something else. Fiance and I have decided to get a plot at the local community garden. Well, actually... I decided, he's just going along with it. My windowsill plants have pretty much been my life since I came here to live in Iowa, so I'm excited to actaully be able to plant real fruit bearing plants in the ground. And being able to cook with something that I've grown myself. Hopefully, this is what I need until I get over the depo ordeal. I plan to throw myself completely into gardening for the fall season. Then I'll decide what to do from there.

That said, today, I woke up early and gathered all the seeds I have, and I found several that I can plant for this fall. I have already started some carrot seeds, as well as some basil indoors, under my grow lights. Once they sprout, I should have my garden plot, weeded it, and should be able to plant them in the ground.  After I plant them, I'll start growing lettuce, and other cool season vegetables under my lights to transplant later in the season. So, it should be good.



As for the indoor plants, I have some really beautiful coleus plants lately! The seeds came in a mix of everything, so I really wasn't sure what color leaves I was going to get. I keep getting surprised! The leaves on most of them are absolutely gorgeous, I love them. They are definitely grown for their foliage, that's for sure.



I'm not sure what kind of coleus they are, if I go through my seed catalog again, I can probably figure it out. But I don't really mind what kind they are, they look pretty, and that's all that matters to me.



Dear coleus plants, why must you make me love you so much? When I bought them, I honestly wasn't sure I was going to like them. I don't like buying mixes of plants, because I like to know what I'm planting and what it's going to look like. But I have to admit, I'm really loving the surprise I get when I see the leaves pop with a different color than I was expecting. I only planted about 10 of the seeds (I think I have over 50), so now I'm contemplating just planting them all. I love surrounding myself with beautiful plants.