Thinking of Spring

Yesterday, an old friend from high school posted on her facebook page that she was interested in putting together a container garden this spring. She's posted about it before, but I think now that all the stores are starting to stock seeds & seed starting materials, the bug is setting in. Happens to me every year, but generally speaking, me & seeds don't jive. Don't get me wrong. I am perfectly cabable of seeing them through germination, and even past that gangly first few leaves thing. My problem is simple though: I start my seeds too soon.
I'm sure it's a problem many folks have here in the great white north. I start them too soon, and they get tooo tall trying to soak up a little sun from our overcast Michigan winter sky. Grow lamps don't help. They just try to wrap themselves around it, even if I keep them un naturally close to the lamp. I just don't know what the hell I'm doing wrong. IF I try again this spring, I'm going to put my little peat pots over a heating pad - you know, the ones designed for aching arthritic joints? I think that would work. It works great for raising bread! I don't know.
Probably the best thing I can do is forget the seed starting all together and just buy my sorry ass some already started plants. It's much more encouraging to my sorry instant gratification self.
One day, it's just dirt filled pots then - BOOM! WOW! Look at these lovely 8 tall plants that have materialized! It's like ... MAGIC!! ooooooooo. Then of course, all it takes is just occasional weeding, fertilizing & little adjustments for placement (not too hot, not too cold).
I am by no means a pro at container gardening. I am a hack, at best, at ANY gardening that requires too much supervision. I am very much the 'water & go' kind of girl. Maybe that will change as my boys grow up, but if I know myself, that's not bloody likely. I have too much to do, too many things to see. And it can't even have a prayer of getting done if I'm tinkerin' around with weeds & pumpkin rot & powdery mildew, tomato bugs, aphids, and the like. Ugh.
Having said that, I may write more about how I've done - what's worked, and how NOT to do it. But, the day is early, I have chores to do, and even get to meet up with a couple of old friends later. :)