Lily and Signs of Spring

While I don't much care for DVD players in the car on trips, I HIGHLY approve of them for air travel. Sure, I don't much care for Lil screaming her fool head off in the van, but when she does, she's only disturbing her Daddy and me. An airplane is a whole different situation.

Brien found a new fun toy and has been busily playing with it (what is it with my husband and electronic devices??), adding all sorts of fun video clips for Lil's entertainment. We now have numerous "Bippers", "Shaun the Sheep", "Angry Beavers" (that one's for me ;oP) and various MP3s.



The only way Lily will be allowed to view her "Bippers" on the plane is if she uses headphones. I was a bit concerned about this--how do you make a two year-old wear headphones? B started Bipper on the Archos and while Lily was engaged in looking at the screen, he popped the headphones on. Her little eyes lit up when she realized she could hear the dialog as well as see the movie. :o)

When I asked Lil if she liked the ears she said, "Uh huh! I wike it!" and ran off to find them to show me how they work. :o)


She spent the rest of the evening snuggled up in the big chair. :o)

Lil surprised us all by sleeping in until 8:45 this morning! I'll confess I was delighted by the opportunity to sleep in. :o) After that, though, it was a full day of WORK...

I groomed both dogs, giving them haircuts and baths. Waylen is easy to trim and bathe, but with Holly, well, it is quite the onerous task.

While I was taking care of the furry babies, Bri and Lil were outside as B trimmed the front shrubs. I swear, those things would take over the front of the house if we didn't keep them in check! It was my job to collect the trimming and clean up on front of the house. It involved a great deal of bending and hands-and-knees work and now my back is KILLING me, as are my knees.

The weather was positively gorgeous for the majority of the day, only greying up towards late afternoon/early evening. Brien and I spent much time outside cleaning the back yard as well. I collected all the leaves we didn't bother to gather in the fall, cleaned the deck and patio and trimmed back all my dead geraniums with the hopes they'll spring back in a few weeks. :o)

Meanwhile, B fixed a piece of siding that had fallen off the workshop and set about delineating where my little vegetable/herb garden is going to be. That's right, folks, I'm going to have a little garden. I'm planning on some corn, tomatoes (some large variety and grape), green peppers, green onions, and cukes as well as basil (LOTS AND LOTS!), parsley and cilantro. We might even throw in a couple of pumpkin seeds. :o) The plot should be large enough, and I've helped grow all these items at least once in my life. ;o) B is a little frightened at the prospect of corn but I'm not too worried. :oP.

And, having written this here, I'm committed. You see, I always have these grand plans for gardening in the spring. The weather is cool and lovely, the sun is finally shining for extended periods of time and I have these fuzzy visions of how wonderful it will be to have beautiful flowers and delicious vegetables during the summer.

Then, summer arrives with all the heat and humidity only a summer in Williamsburg can bring. I know there are so many who love summer, I however am not one of them. I cannot STAND the heat nor the humidity and will do anything I can to avoid it. That means lazing about the house in the A/C, not going outside to deal with the blanket of air that often reaches temperatures close to 100. Ugh.

If I have veggies and herbies I need to tend to, I'll have to get out of the house to weed, water and tend my plants. I'm envisioning a summer with Lily spent learning about plants and plant growth and the rewards once receives from hard work. I'm also hoping to be able to can some pickles and tomato sauce at the end of the summer.

And, without Jessie here to ensure my plants survive, it'll be up to me to take responsibility for my plants. (I just REALLY hate the heat and humidity here...)

I would also like to make a few purchases for the yard. I'd like to get a few forsythias to plant along the deck by the porch swing. I'd also like to plant a tulip tree and crepe myrtle ("Look, Mommy, it's a cray myrtle!" the Monkey would say) in the backyard and a crepe myrtle and poplar tree in the front yard. We've got to get mulch (Pop found someone who would bring it and spread it and I'm TOTALLY on-board with that!) and bedding plants and my veggies and herbs. I LOVE spring!


Speaking of which, here are some of the signs of spring and other sparklies from today:


Flowers on our maple tree. Han had such fun helping select the tree and dig the hole in which to plant it. :o)



The MacGregor's tulip tree (gotta love a zoom lens).


The MacGregor's jasmine. Which reminds me, I also want to purchase a jasmine plant to climb the pergola.



The beautiful pear tree across the street.


Our purple leaf plum tree.

A close-up of the blossoms.


Another neighbor's daffodils. I love the sunny faces of daffodils.


Kristine's forsythia and crocuses (or, as I call them crocci ;oP).


The crocci are such a lovely deep purple.


Kristine's forsythia. There is something quite delightful about a blooming forsythia bush.


I have no idea what this guy is, but the flowers are big and showy and I can foresee this being an even more beautiful tree as it matures.


Lastly, here is our poor, pathetic forest pansy redbud. I have to remind myself we purchased this little tree for two reasons. The first is I loved the shape of it. The second, we knew it would just be beginning to bloom just as all other flowering trees were losing their blooms. I wanted something I could enjoy once the rest of spring had passed. I'll be sure to post a photo as soon as this sweet little guy blooms.

Now for the rest of the sparklies:

1. I found a piece of a bird's egg that had obviously hatched and shared it with Lily.
2. While clearing the clippings and trimmings, I discovered a snail's shell which I promptly shared with the Bit.
3. Although my back is sore and my knees hurt, the pain is completely worth the beauty and satisfaction of a clean backyard. :o)
4. The shock I received upon discovering there is FAR more money in our bank account than I had expected to find. Everything has cleared and the total was correct. It's rather like finding a $20 your coat pocket the first time you wear it after the summer.
5. I got a new baby thanks to that found money. :o) I can hardly wait for the battery to finish charging so I can play with it!
6. We bought me a new iPod with a bit of our tax refund. I got a PRODUCT(RED) Nano. I'm currently importing every album I love to iTunes so I can load them on the Nano. I'm also looking to rejoin audible and purchase Billy Bryson's A Walk in the Woods as narrated by him. There is something wonderful in listening to an author read their own works. They know precisely what they meant to say and read the text accordingly.
7. We bought Jack Johnson's new album today. I LOVE him! :o)
8. Hm. Methinks I've been doing a little retail therapy again. Hmmmmm.
9. The Hokies almost beat UNC in the ACC championship game they played today. Considering they lost by almost forty points the last time they played, losing by two in the last 0.8 seconds isn't too shabby.


Milestones:

I'm starting to feel guilty because I'm not hurting as much. I feel guilty because this new "normal" feels so, well normal now. It is normal to have a life without the Monkey and I resent that and feel so utterly guilty about it, as if I'm somehow forgetting her and her importance in our lives. How do I counter this? How do I tell myself it's okay to not feel shattered and pain-riddled? I KNOW Han would want us to feel okay without her physical presence I just wish I could convince myself of this.


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One final note and then I'm off to play with the new baby. I found two very delicious-looking items this evening, Lemon Creme and Orange Creme Number Fives (Hershey's Kisses to those new to the blog). I adore the combination of chocolate and citrus fruit and couldn't wait to dig into the bags. Alas, they are NOT milk chocolate, they are white chocolate, and I'm SORELY disappointed. As I have written before, I'm not a fan of white chocolate. It masquerades as chocolate when it is in actuality a poor imitation of the real thing. :oP :sigh: