It wasn’t a planned e-hiatus but I’d have a very long nose if I said that I didn’t enjoy it. With my internet down for 10 days, I dug deep in both my closets and my garden. My mom, a green thumb owner, came over to assist with the front flower beds. We went to the local nursery in the pouring rain where she taught me what a hosta was and how they can indeed be variegated. Don’t get the wrong idea, I love, love, love to garden but I’m a little lame with the lingo. I like the pretty stuff that doesn’t die easily. Do you have that in a perennial?

And then came the mulch. Please tell me that I am not the only one who finds mulching delicious and addictive. I discovered that I somewhat freakishly enjoy getting down on my knees and crawling around the flower beds to spread it with my hands. Around and around the bushes on all fours, I mulched. I was one with my garden and it was grand.

After the front was done, I moved on to planting my first ever vegetable garden around back. Tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, peppers and strawberries are what I am trying first. I’ll be lucky if anything grows large enough to be edible before the critters get to it. I rigged up a handy dandy deer fence to dissuade the wildlife but this was a first for me as well so I have no idea if it will work. It was an interesting undertaking though. While unwinding the netting to wrap around the stakes, I got myself caught like an idiot in a web. So as long as the deer are no smarter than I am, I may be okay.

If you now happen to be sitting there at your laptop with your cup of coffee picturing me both caught in a body-sized net and crawling around in my flower beds wondering how I must have looked to passerbys, fret not. We have a bit of land (not enough if you ask me) sheltering me from the eyes of our neighbors and I adore the privacy. Next year, I’m considering mulching in the buff. Talk about one with nature.

Along with digging around in the dirt, we also celebrated my daughter’s 12th birthday while I was out of the bloffice. Last weekend, we had 11 girls over for a pool party/sleepover. My sister came over to assist with the preteen drama princess fiesta so between us, no tears were shed and no parents were called to fetch their daughter in the middle of the night. Yes, my husband was here as well but besides cooking a fajita dinner for the girls, I think he would fit more solidly in the “kid” category. At one point during a long and lively round of flashlight tag, my husband unearthed his bull horn and scared the almighty skittles out of the girls. He had it in siren mode and then said something like “This is the Police” yadda, yadda, yadda…shriek, shriek, shriek. Oh yeah, and then later he brought out his super soaker and let loose on one girl that teased him all night. He walked right up to her in my freaking living room and blasted her in the chest with a water gun. Maturity at it’s finest, I tell you. Thankfully, the girls had a great time and my daughter had a wonderful birthday. There were chicken fights in the pool, popsicles in the hot tub, a dance contest in the dining room, a pinata on the patio and limbo in the living room. We kept them totally occupied until midnight and then we all collapsed.

Sunday was Mother’s Day so after shooing all of the tweeners home by 11am, I prepped for the family coming a few hours later. We had too much food and not enough sleep necessary to provide the patience required to deal with my Nana and my crazy aunt but we survived. It seems as though I am always saying “why do I even bother?” after holidays lately. I’m thinking that is not a good sign but I need to get over it. Family is family no matter how nutty they are…at least the ones I choose to put up with.

The dogs are doing well although having a puppy reminds me of why I do not want to bear any more children. Jack neeeeeeds me a.lot.

With only a month of school left for the kids, the schedule is busier than usual but I am beyond relieved to have my internet back. Yes, yes, I need it to pay the bills and do other household doo-tys but blogging, writing rather, centers me in a way that nothing else does – not even crawling around in the garden naked. Yep, it’s good to be back.

Share it:

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!