Gosh, it's just about the end of summer and I can hardly believe how the time has flown by. I just hacked my monstrous rose bushes yesterday when Little Buddy took a nice long pm nap. For the most part they were about 9 & 10 feet tall at the highest parts and taking over our back yard. You can see that there was once a nice little planted area with small rose bushes, wild grasses, peonies, and some really tall hedges that are now about 20 feet high in the middle. The roses are taking over and with a small child and a dog in the back yard all the time it's high time that the roses are tamed. I hacked and hacked and hacked . . . . . . . that was just the tip of the iceberg. It seemed to take forever but I finally got everything hacked down to less than 4 feet. Now I will be able to transplant my peonies in September and my husband can stain the fence without getting caught in all the thorny branches.
I have been going to my sisters house just a few towns away about once a week to visit her and sometimes my niece and nephew, but they are teenagers and often aren't around. We go for lunch or just go on long walks. Those are my favorite. Little Buddy does not sit for hours on end like last summer so we make several playground stops. She lives in the house that I grew up in and it's great to see my old neighborhood, hometown, house, yard, etc. I really hate where we live right now because nobody gives a rats ass about their house or their yards and there is garbage and crap everywhere. They tend to look down at me with a smirk every time I try to garden or hack rose bushes for example or clean my gutters or repair my Freecycled Adirondack chair. It gets so old. I love to go to my old hometown or the town where my in-laws live which is also the town where my husband is a police officer. Most people are working on their houses, cars, yards, etc. regularly. I love to walk around and see how people fix up their yards and get ideas and see all the plants and stone. That is what makes me VERY happy. Feels good. Like my therapy. Nature, beauty, peace, & order, plus I get lots of ideas. Now my sister is back at nursing school this week and her summer of long walks and talks with her sister and playing with her nephew is over.
I've also been going to my mother's apartment about once sometimes twice a week. I lived with her in that same apartment for close to 13 years. It's a building with 8 apartments in it. Old school with glitter laminate counter tops in the kitchen, elementary school tile throughout the entire building, old aluminum windows, no disposer, no dishwasher, single basin kitchen sinks, you get the idea. We had been frequenting Chipotle. We both would get the vegetarian bowl to go (but eat it there and save the rest for later), and then I'd get Little Buddy 1 or 2 containers of guacamole. He'd eat it straight. This was all before they stopped using fresh jalapeno and now their food is a little too salty and hot for Little Buddy. Still go to my moms and hang out though. Lately been going to the forest preserve and see my husbands old friends (yes he was a forest ranger before he became an officer of the law). I take Little Buddy with my mom and let him throw rocks in the lake. He LOVES it. We also walk around but not too much if he feels like lolly gagging and the bugs are out.
My husband is going to midnights most likely in September. Not a favorite shift of mine but I'll take it over days. Hardest part is trying to keep a boisterous & noisy toddler quiet in the dead of winter during the day so daddy can sleep. OY! I get great sleep when I have the bed to myself but feel a lot more vulnerable in the event that something bad should occur in the middle of the night.
BIG NEWS: I started working out at a gym. With a real gym membership and everything. I am not a gym person at all but once I had one child and am now 35 the weight likes to hang around. My weight loss was fabulous I took off 30, then put 8 back on and leveled off. I need an little mp3 player though. Keepin' my eyes out for a tiny little cheap dealy that holds like 20 songs (that's all I need).
We are constantly on the move. I never nap but am often tired. The inside of the house has been neglected because all my free time I'm in the yard. I still keep up with the dog, dishes, & laundry but everything else . . . . . . oh well. Want to move . . . . . .badly. Neighborhood is getting worse every week. I promised to post some pictures of the hood, which I will but hate to bring everybody down. Yuck!
Gotta go, my hubby just got home with Pizza Hut. What's new with you?
Garden Progress 2026
2 weeks ago
4 comments:
This is a great update. Thanks for sharing! Sorry about your neighborhood. That sounds like a big downer.
How are you liking the gym? I keep mulling over joining the Y, because I don't get nearly enough exercise and there is one convenient to my office. But I have never done the gym thing before... and it seems like such a lot of money. The Y is a not for profit, but I think they must use the gym memberships to subsidize other programs? Maybe I am just cheap.
I actually have an mp3 player I could send you. My work's magazine gets random free samples, and a generic mp3 was one of them. Holds about 100 songs. I'll have Hubby check it out and make sure it will actually work first.
Well Berrybird, I have always been opposed to working out in a large room (that smells 1ike sweat) in front of other people. I've battled with weight a few times in my life and knew I needed to get it together and not just walking around in good weather, that just doesn't cut it anymore. The place I go is park district owned and very family oriented so I'm nopt working out in a meat market (Thank God!!!!!). I'm starting with just treadmill & bicycle, then I'll work my way up from there. I have to say that I LOVE it. I also get time to ME. I watch their TV's and just crank up the treadmill & incline and go to town. I'm starting to feel really good not just afterwards but all the time AND I'm sleeping like a log!!!!! Yesterday I used muscles in my butt I don't think I knew I had. Skinny or fat everyone should be getting decent exercise. Unless you walk several miles a day at a really fast pace you can't get the cardio needed to keep your heart really healthy. I would suggest going for the Y! I haven't missed a day yet. I go for one hour every day when I can squeeze it in. I don't want to over do it in the beginning and then be sore and not want to go so I'm working my way up to faster harder stuff. Now I want to go every day even holidays. It's a fabulous way to start your day, especially when it's NOT a meat market type gym . . . . UCK! Good luck on your decision and keep us posted. $$ Is your heart worth $200-$300 dollars a year . . . . . . definitely!!!!! That's not even counting all the rest of your parts that will benefit. $$
Goose Juice, I would LOVE the MP3 player. Sure you won't be wanting it for your trek to work? Hope it works. Let me know and send it when you can. I have been putting a box together for you (Aria). Don't buy a Bundle Me, I got one for you at the thrift store for your stroller cold weather walks.
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