Watching Grass Grow

Sometimes things seem to take a loooong time to finish. I don't know it it's a matter of actual time passing or if it's the interest the task holds. Like doing laundry. It doesn't take any time at all really to sort or to load the machines. But folding and putting it away seems to take an eternity during which Little Man plays "ball" with the eggs in the refrigerator or manages to download apps on my cell phone. Really, folding and putting away laundry takes only 5 to 10 minutes per load. It's nothing. Still, it seems like it takes a long time. Like watching grass grow.

Aside from raising our Little Man, our biggest project is fixing up our fixer-upper house. We've been in the house a year already and it seems like we haven't gotten enough done. Truth is we've accomplished quite a bit. And the house is livable so it's not like we're camped in the garage waiting for it to be finished. This month has been "Dining Room" month. We've hung crown molding on the lower ceiling and in the upper tray. We repaired dry wall, sanded and primed the walls twice. We (my husband) caulked the crown molding. Next we'll (he'll) install the medallion and paint the ceiling. Then it will be my turn to to take over and paint the walls and trim. It's exciting to think about the finished project and having our first dinner in our new dining room! It just seems like it takes soooo looong to get each piece done. Like watching grass grow.

Side yard after all the work.

We're also working on the outside of the house now that it's spring. We desperately need to improve the curb appeal. The BIGGEST eye-sore on the house (visible from the street) was the side yard. I wish I had a "before" picture. Picture if you can vines of various and unknown kinds tangled together, a privacy fence falling down, over grown mint, bulb plants planted haphazardly with no intention or plan and apparently handfuls of wildflower seeds strewn across the area. It took 2 weeks to weed, dig out stumps and bulbs and roots, and take down the fence. It was a veritable archaeological dig in which we found reading glasses, broken solar lights, bricks, brick edging and rail road ties. Finally, we raked it out and put down grass seed. So we are actually watching grass grow.

The thing is, that it's okay to take time to do things if you are doing things right. It's okay to take time to fold the laundry and put it away. That way it's not getting wrinkled in a pile or left out out all over the place. It's okay if it take a couple of years or more to get our home finished. It will be our home with our touches on it and done the way we want it. And it's okay if it takes time to get the gardens and yard looking good. When it's all said and done, we'll just sit back and watch the grass grow.

Almost Isn't A Bad Thing

So, looking around at my home (inside and out), my writing calendar, my hobby bag, and my chore list, I'm pleased to announce I almost got things done. I seem to have difficulty meeting deadlines these days and I'm not sure why. After all I am hyper organized and I make my lists of things to do, checking the tasks off as they are done. Still, most items remain in the "in progress" stage - almost done but not quite finished.

I am almost done knitting my sister's sweater. I have the back completed, the right front completed and I am 4 inches into the total length of 38 inches of the left front. I just haven't had an opportunity recently to sit and knit without sticky fingers wanting to touch it or dog fur flying around or an active toddler wanting to "help" knit. I will get it done and it will be beautiful and I know that if nothing else, it will be a sweater my sister's cats will sleep on. But right now it remains almost done.

I almost made my word count on the novel I'm writing now. I picked up the novel I interrupted to write Murder at the Primrose Inn, reread it and started breaking it into chapters. I have 35,000 words to it already and my goal was to read it, do the chapter breaks, and crank out another 1000 - 2000 words on it. I will get to do it and it will be a good story when it's done (I like it better than the other one anyway). But for now, it remains almost done.

The gardening that we were doing this weekend is also almost done. There are a few vines that need to be cut out and a little more weeding that needs to be finished and then we will need to rake out the area and toss down grass seed. It would have been finished yesterday but we called it on account of the rain and a broken shovel handle. It remains almost done.

Our fixer-upper house is always in a state of almost done. The family room is almost done - the cable box and DVD player need to be put on a shelf and the cords tied up. I believe the hubby is holding out for a larger TV so he'll know where to put this shelf. We are working on the dining room. And we actually finished hanging the crown molding! And my husband actually finished mudding the walls. It is almost in a state where it will be ready to paint and have the furniture moved back in. It will remain almost done until we get a new chandelier. I'm holding out for a crystal one. We have big-ticket-item-itis.

As far as my chores go - I did manage to get the grocery shopping done. This will give me a few days of peace before the males start opening the refrigerator and pantry and telling me there's nothing to eat in the house. Or as Little Man says "I no like that." But the straightening didn't get finished and the laundry didn't get started. But it almost did.

In the past, I never had a problem meeting deadlines. Term papers were on time, deadlines at work were met, and tasks I set for myself were completed. Then again, I didn't have a husband I wanted to share a glass of wine with at the end of the week or a Little Man who'd crawl into my lap to cuddle.  The important thing is I will finish that sweater, even if it's with Little Man in my lap. I will finish my second novel and I'll start a third. The house is something we are building together and that's what makes it a home. So maybe, almost isn't a bad thing.

Gardens

It's spring, well almost, here in the southern section of the US. Like anyone, I look forward to spring (minus the pollen) because things start to bloom (thus the pollen). I like flowers and colors and pretty gardens. They make me feel like going outside. I have long fantasized about having beautiful landscaping and gardens around my home. I close my eyes (cue romantic music) and envision a lovely mix of sculpted boxwoods and evergreens and hydrangeas and azaleas and camellias and gardenias. I want a dogwood tree there and a mimosa tree here. Perhaps a magnolia down by the street. I love crepe myrtles and I mourn that we are too far south for lilacs. I want a bulb garden along the back, a perennial bed near the house and an annual bed along the walkway that changes with the season - pansies in the winter, snap dragons in the spring, vinca in the summer,  marigolds in the fall. I want to see something in bloom all year round - even if it is just the red berries on a holly bush to brighten a gray winter day.

My fantasy is not limited to flower gardens. I long for an herb and spice garden off the back near the kitchen. I'd harvest the herbs and dry them by hanging them upside down from my pot rack. And vegetables too! Tomatoes, all kinds of peppers, varieties of squashes, assortments of beans and peas, asparagus, okra, corn. Yes, I'd throw in some fruit too - black berries, strawberries, figs and dates, peaches and apricots. Yes, I would harvest carrying in the earth's bounty in a hand-woven basket and I'd spend days canning all our produce and humming.

(Screeching brake sound here) But, then I remember that gardens are outside. And with the outside comes heat, weeds, bugs and here in the south, snakes. And so far, my attempts to garden have been disappointing. In Florida, my first attempts were dismal because I tried to plant the flowers I grew up with. I grew up in Rhode Island - a completely different temperature zone. I didn't know about zones. My poor flowers withered and died. Even the bulbs didn't survive. Then I planted azaleas and hibiscus and gardenias and things were better except the snakes (heebie-jeebie dance) like to hide in them and that's scary when it is time to prune.

In Virginia we had sculpted boxwoods and evergreens and they were beautiful and not too much work to keep them that way. Because my husband did the pruning. But it lacked color. So I planted mums. I was so excited! There were yellow ones and orange ones and red ones! And I knew that they'd fade but then they would return the next year. But the deer ate them. First they ate the blossoms. Then they came back and ate the greens and stems down to the ground. On their third return they yanked up the roots and ate those. So much for my mums.

When we moved here, our first home had a huge garden area in the back and we planted our first veggie garden. It was growing and doing just fine producing bushels of beans and butternut squash and peppers. Then the heat set in. The tomatoes ruptured from the heat and the peppers began to shrivel. Mr. Bunny feasted on my zucchini blossoms. By mid-summer the boring bugs had taken over.

Gardens are work. There's pruning and weeding and thinning and spraying and watering and feeding. And all of this is done outside. And outside is hot and buggy and humid and there is a chance of running into bees or wasps or ground hornets or ticks or snakes. All of which are unpleasant. And after all that, there is still Mr. Bunny and the herds of deer that have no respect for your property or efforts. Besides, I don't have a pot rack to for drying herbs.

Still, I dream of one day having stunning gardens to stroll through, to cut flowers to put in the house, to sit on a bench (in the shade) and relax. Our fixer-upper house has many projects that need to be done inside (like the entire interior) and the exterior landscaping is one of those things that need to be fixer-uppered eventually. Perhaps, when it comes time to tackle the outside I can revisit the vision. For now, I'll just close my eyes (cueromantic music again).

Sooooo...This is Christmas?

We are into December. Still, only single digits, but it is Christmas time and the BIG day is approaching faster than eight reindeer can fly! This year is the first year that Little Man is aware of Santa Claus and understands that there will be presents.

His first Christmas was special to my husband and me, the Little Man was only five months old and had just mastered sitting up so he didn't really care. Last year he was seventeen months old and it was FUN to shred the wrapping paper and run, but other than that not a big deal. The tree was a big attraction and something that made mommy yell "Don't touch!" to him all day.

This year it is different. We have told him about Santa Claus, watched the Christmas shows, talk about getting and giving presents. Told him the meaning of Christmas. He lights up at the lights in the neighborhood. We talk about the family members that will travel to visit through out the next few weeks and he is excited.

Do we have a tree yet? No. Do we have the house decorated yet? No. Have I baked ginger bread cookies or started Christmas cooking yet? No. We still have the autumn wreath on our front door. We'd still have a pumpkin too if it weren't for the fact it started to decompose. I can barely keep up with the groceries and cooking needed to feed the Little Man on a daily basis let alone start cooking for a future meal. And the cookies wouldn't make it to Christmas anyway. Sadly, I suffer from procrasti-Christmas.

I start each season with excellent intentions to be perfect. I DO have the wreath ordered. I DO have all the gifts purchased. I DO have the Christmas letter written. I DO have some Christmas cards. But for all that, I can't finish. I don't have enough wrapping paper or tape. I don't have enough printer ink. I don't have holiday printer paper. I don't have enough Christmas cards. I don't have stamps. I don't have packaging tape.

My goal is to have all of these obstacles addressed and overcome by the middle of next week. I have to because that's when the travelling relatives start coming and the cut-off date for shipping hits. I'm beginning to feel holiday stress. And is this what Christmas should be about? Should I feel inadequate because I'm not quite done? And just who are these super people who already have their Christmas cards mailed and their houses decorated?

I have to remember that Christmas is for the Little Man and to show family members and friends our love. That message doesn't change whether there are lights on the house or not or if the cards go out in time to arrive before Christmas. I must embrace my procrastination and not let my wannabe inner perfectionist start making me feel bad. After all, 'tis the season to be jolly!