The Garden Path

I love working in my flower bed. I may have a list of other things that need completing in the house but I find that I will drift outside and my feet will lead me to the garden. I may just browse through it for a few moments to clear my mind or other times I will literally lose hours. I begin with pulling a weed here or there until I just become consumed with working it and time disappears.
This year my husband bought me an adorable bench to put in the garden. We had already bought two new rosebushes, one for my mother’s day gift and the other as his father’s day gift. But that was not enough and when I mentioned the wish for a bench, he jumped all over the idea and off we went on Mother’s Day to find one. We found the perfect one at Menard’s. It looks like it has always been a part of my garden.

Of course the bench prompted me to complete the “garden path” that I had begun a few years earlier. Actually, the placing of the bench allowed the path to find its destination…and now the garden will continue to grow beyond its rock border. The misplaced plants from the garden’s path need new space and this allows me to expand the boundaries by about ten feet…for now. Rocks have to be moved and I can already tell that more excursions will be made searching out additional rocks with character to join the scenery.

If more people were able to work in the dirt with their own hands…there could be less ranting in the world. It does help the soul more than words.

A new day

While my recent rant allowed me to release my inner tension, I can now reflect upon the effects of a new day, a new situation and progressing in life.  It continues to rain here and I continue to pray for our farmers.  A rural community is affected by the farmers success and loss in a strongly felt "trickle down" system.  Both the economy and our overall emotional climate reflect the health of the "crops" and right now they are drowning.

I still have a basement wall that leans but the ceiling remains water mark free! So progress continues...however the biggest news of the moment is that I am no longer reliant solely on my two legs for transportation.  We purchased a new vehicle, and that is a first.  If I were keeping a bucket list I guess that would be something that could now be checked off.  I have never experienced that new car fragrance personally before and it is nice. Life would have been fine without this, but bless my husband, he thought it would be a good thing.  We will manage...together.  That is the best part. Together.

Life is Good !?%!

I try to be a "cup half-full" kind of gal...but even then sometimes you just want to rant and get it out of your system. The problem is not having your rant come back to bite you in the ass at some later point in time.

It's just that most of us go along and life pretty much holds it own. There are more good moments than bad if you keep an upbeat attitude. Today I just had an extra dose of "things to deal with". Our basement has a bad wall (it's braced to keep from falling, but I wake up at night and wonder if it won't just all fall in under us while we are asleep!)
We (hopefully) just fixed that spot on the roof that ALWAYS leaks in on the ceiling when it rains too hard. We have tried for years...reroofing, reshingling, new rain gutters... and it still leaks. This time it took my husband outside on the roof and son inside the attic to find a pinpoint of light and caulk up that p.o.s. Time will tell, but it looks good for that project.
My car, a 95 Olds, is going to sh*t one piece at a time. I just want it to keep taking me where I need to go for about 6 more months. Just until our son graduates from college and...has a job. Other parents know what I mean when I say "Federal PLUS" loan. Parents pay this one...and begin paying after their kid's first semester...and just keep on paying. The interest rate is higher than my mortgage. I don't care (I mean, what can I do) I want my kid to get a college degree! He will be the first in our family and we are SO PROUD! I know he will help when he can but the payments are now more than a car payment by far...and that is just the interest. Big business spends without consequence but the little guy pays and pays and...pay$.
Back to my car, it took a dump today and I had to leave it set and walk the rest of the way to work. Hopefully it will think about what it has done and shape up. I have treated it with kindness for over ten years now and deserve that much. Yeah, my husband will go look at it after he gets off work...sounds like just the starter which we resently had replaced and should still be under warranty.

If the house falls in we will lift it back up, if the roof leaks we will repaint the ceiling, if the car breaks I can walk. Nothing stops the world from turning so you just as well smile while it spins, right? Right!

So many books so little time...

Mother's day was the greatest day this year. Not just because of the extra attention from my 2 children but because I had succeeded in another 4.0!!! This semester I took Intro to Psychology and Intro to Literature. Psych was easy if you read the book, did the workbook etc. A+ was attainable. Intro to Literature was WORK!!! I feel like I self-taught myself through it. The instructor listed assignments and then very little discussion. I read and re-read stories and poems until I felt that I understood them enough to write my papers and then focused on the MLA format and citations like never before. Well I learned a great deal and that is what college at my age is all about so I consider it a complete success. Plus another A (on the wire) made for my second 4.0.
On a break now. The month of July I have a math class (classroom). This is my first math class in 30 years so online was not my first choice. More on that in July.
What I have been doing is reading for my pleasure. Of course work at the library, bookclubs, house, husband, garden and family are all still on the agenda...but reading for myself has been worked in there again.
Recently, I read the One Book One Nebraska 2010, "The Home Place" by Wright Morris. A day in the life of 1940's was interesting, but the photos were the best asset. I am hoping to get people in the library to bring in their own "Morris style" photos for our wall. I have finally brought in some of my own to give them a kick start. Well see, hopefully more will follow!!
Out of time! More later!

March in Nebraska

Ok, it's been a long winter. Agonizingly l-o-n-g! Cold, snowy, icy, rainy and foggy...these are the terms defining our winter of 09/10! For Nebraska this has been one for the record books. The extended number of days (weeks) without sight of the sun has made it possibly one of the most depressing as well. Spring...warm breezes, dazzling sunshine, rainbow of flowers, sing-song of robins, soft green grass...Spring is desired by each of us and it teased us recently. The last two days brought smiles of sunshine and warmth. The majority of the snow cover melted and new life began to appear. "Ha ha ha" laughed Mother Nature "Another blast of cold and snow just for fun! I can do this!"
The Harley had been out, dusted off, and ridden with glee for 2 days. The wind on the face was cool... but welcome! It was glorious...and short-lived. The bike has been rolled back inside the garage, not so deep inside, a bit closer to the door now...but back inside as the temperature outside dropped last night and the snow began to fall. This morning the ground was familiarly white and the sky the color of wet cement. The humor of Mother is wicked, but we can wait...Spring is fighting for its chance. And you will hear us cheer!

Life's challenges

Sometimes you just have to laugh, don't you. I mean if you didn't you might forget that all the little tragedies that others choose to thrust in your face... drop in your lap...try to blame you for...are not worth the personal stress others would like to see you deal with.
So take a breath, a deep one... and let out a big ol' belly whopper, preferably where they might even hear you!

Life in December

December was a whirlwind! Snow, ice, wind, packing, grades (A & A+), storage, moving, family, Christmas, birthdays (what better ages are there than #6-Olivia and the first birthday-Ana?) family, food, pine, family, traditions, love, farewells, family. Did I miss anything? You get the picture.