I just want to be outside...I would live outside if there was no danger of dying of exposure during some of those freezing cold spring nights. Turning over the earth, embraced by the sun, glorying in the thrill of invigorating bursts of showers, caressed by the breeze. Marveling as new life emerges from soil, and under rock, and tree cavity.
Liam and Ian are taking Little League this summer. On day two Ian got clocked in the face by a ball and earned his first LL shiner. It was a pretty big deal the first day and then he seemed to forget all about it. I'm still dealing with residual guilt about the whole ordeal because it was a Saturday morning, I was running around in my pajamas yet trying to get the house cleaned, and decided it was safe to let them ride their bikes over to the ball park alone. I mean, we just live across the creek and road from it. Fifteen minutes later a neighbor, one of their friend's dads, was at the door with Ian. So I wasn't there for my little guy.
This month disappeared in a blink and I find myself looking back through pictures to remind myself just what we've been so busy with. I've spent a lot of time planting, thinning, and relocating perennials along with weeding already. Upkeep outside could be a 12 hour a day, 5 days a week job. The sand pit and rock bed by the bird feeders are still full of weeds but I made a lot of progress digging rocks out of the last 20 feet of bed along the driveway. It's become so overgrown with raspberries and bishop's weed that it's slow going.
I bought three new daylily plants to fill in the bald spots that I hope I can share with you if they live and bloom. I've made two trips to K&K Gardens, about 20 minutes from us, and each time have found a plant I've been looking for for years. (The kids' favorite part is watching the koi in their little pond.) The flower bed in front of the house is filling in nicely with a mix of pink and orange coneflowers, black eyed susans, dianthus, purple speedwell, daisies, lupines, bee balm, Russian sage, creeping Jenny, and amaryllis.
The veggie garden is doing fantastic and we've already enjoyed radishes, lettuce, and spinach. From left to right, what I planted this year are cucumbers (many thanks to my Dad for getting them started early for me!), pole beans (along the back perimeter of the garden), peas, head lettuce (first time!), four zucchini plants, four purple cabbage plants, leaf lettuce, spinach, red and yellow onions, cherry belle radishes, jalapeno and green and orange bell peppers, four "Beef" varieties of tomatoes, and garlic. In the smaller plot I have six hills of butternut squash, six hills of watermelon, and a hill of decorative gourds. I have cilantro and dill popping up everywhere else, which I'm super excited about!
One child finished school for the year. The other two don't seem to be bothered by the fact that their math work is extended into June. That's all I care to talk about at the moment in regards to school.
We did start a new read aloud called "Walk Two Moons" which is funny and interesting, winner of a Newberry Award, but so glad I'm reading it and not the boys. There have been a couple places I've had to scan ahead and skip because they're not appropriate.
The kids (and dogs) and I have been taking road trips occasionally in the evenings after supper while Eli's at work. One night we went storm chasing, which turned into a beautiful, exhilarating adventure. We found an abandoned house with a gorgeous, bleached front door...thought provoking in the love and detail that once was given to what has been so long abandoned. We found a mama deer and her fawn, grazing before the storm broke. We spied a couple neat old cars and ended up down an unimproved road with a half-rotten bridge covered in mud....and we risked crossing it, praying the entire way.
It turns out that was to be the last adventure we had with the old girl, my Suburban. May 30th after Mass and celebrating my parents' 40th anniversary with them, I hit a deer on the way home and totaled it. We are now car shopping and out our main vehicle.
I completed three watercolor commissions this month, one for my Mom, and started another larger one (which I'll show progressive photos of next month). I so love this type of painting...I know some day I'll have more time for it, but sometimes I wish I could just find it now. It's a form of therapy for me.
I suppose it's time to talk about the elephant in the room. It is me. Literally. THIS (see below) is a $5 cup of coffee, which is more than I pay for coffee in a month. Someone asked me if I wanted to try samples of a skinny brew coffee, and I said sure. I need skinny and help would be nice. She then told me that would be $15 for 3 packets, and I felt it was a matter of honor at that point not to back out. I mean, I'm not a free loader, dang it. Note to self: sample does not always mean free.
My weight started escalating after the death of my baby niece last summer. I couldn't think to cook and we ordered a lot of pizza. Food was also a comfort, a way to anchor myself in the swirling fog of what felt very much like PTSD. You guys, I missed Mass because I couldn't focus long enough to keep track of what day it was and what was on the calendar. It was just horrible. By Christmas I had gained twenty pounds, by St. Valentine's, thirty. I lost eleven pounds over Lent but fell right back into the same ruts I had created for myself and gained it all, plus ten pounds, back. I am now in pregnancy weight range with no baby to explain it away. After many false starts and exceeding frustration, I've resolved today is the day. It's easy to ignore my weight when I'm hiding, so my monthly updates will now include my progress--or lack thereof.
This skirt, by the way, is my absolute favorite piece of clothing lately. It's double brushed poly, butter soft, and though the print is of the type my husband would call "grandma's sofa," I absolutely love the colors. And Aidan loves it too.
*EDIT: if you walk away from a screen for a moment chances are at least ONE child will sneak on and add his own two cents to whatever you were working on. I spent a full three minutes in utter confusion trying to remember when and why I wrote that last sentence.
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