Eddie, Seth, Katherine and Heather came over yesterday to help us in our yard. Eddie had bought us some plants and herbs. He showed me how to clean out a bed and plant. I am constantly amazed with my pleasure in digging in dirt. Eddie said it is because we come from a long line of farmers!
We first planted some herbs; parsley, thyme, rosemary and oregano. Kei planted most of the herbs after Eddie showed her how.
HerbsVincaColeus
We also planted 20 Glads.† I can’t wait for them to start coming up.† After all that work, Eddie and Heather left.† Since it was their anniversary the kids stayed for the rest of the day.† Seth helped my clean out a flower bed that was in yucky shape.† He worked his butt off digging up a dead rose bush.† At one point he came up to me and pointed to his “Hobbit Feet”.
There and Back Again..
We spent the afternoon outside.† The kids swam for a bit, I read in the rose garden, and Nomad frolicked!† Late in the afternoon Kei and Nomad put on another play.† She was the sun and Nomad was a flower.† I sure hope he loves having crazy costumes put on him.
We woke up today to rain.† We took Nomad outside, he put his little puppy paw on the grass, turned around and peed on the patio!† We have a Diva Dog I guess.† After church Kei introduced him to the wonders of Disney Channel.
Important Stuff
I can’t believe tomorrow is Monday once again.† The middle of May.† How quickly time goes by.
The 2nd anniversary of my Mother’s death came and went. I laid in bed on the eve of her anniversary in the same room she died in. I thought it would really upset me to be in there and while I didn’t sleep much, it wasn’t a ‘freaking out’ restlessness.
I remember that night. My brother and I spent the night here. We knew Mother didn’t have long. It was a horribly long night. They had hooked her up to a breathing machine and I spent most of the night on her floor listening to her struggle to breath. My 2 aunts stayed late. When they left it was just my Daddy, my brother and I. I finally got on the couch and spent all night back and forth from the den to her room. I talked to her and held her hand and touched her face. I remember looking at the clock at one point and it was 3:00 AM. That is such a lonely time. I remember thinking “I don’t know if I can exist in a 3 am that doesn’t have my Mother in it”.
We woke the next morning early, around 6:00. Eddie and I knew that she was almost gone. I called my aunts to ask them to come. They got here around 7:30. We all sat around her bed talking to her. All of us except my Daddy. He couldn’t handle it. It made me think of the line from “Steel Magnolias”, “I find it amusing. Men are supposed to be made out of steel or something. I just sat there. I just held Shelby’s hand. There was no noise, no tremble, just peace. Oh god. I realize as a woman how lucky I am.” My Mother breathed her final breath at 8:03 AM on May 10th. I walked outside and was surprised to see the world moving on. The sun was out, birds were singing, flowers blooming and my Mother was dead. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life.
But time marches on. We are living in her house. We are loving living here and I have discovered I actually like yard work. I have never done it. I grew up with 2 brothers who did the yard work. When I was married my husband did the yard work. Since then I have lived in apartments. But I enjoy it. I am learning, slowly about flowers and shrubs and just yard stuff.
Nomad is adorable. We are loving having him in our family. I never thought I would ever be a ‘dog person’ but I love him. Kei is wonderful with him and we don’t even mind the 3:00 AM potty breaks. He is the cutest thing.
A girl and her dog
Isn’t he just beautiful??
Awwwww
We had Brit and Cody here for a few days and had a blast.† Kei and Brit gave Nomad his first bath.† The girls loved it, Nomad not so much.
They played games, sang, talked and gave Nomad tons of attention.
Rub a Dub Dog..
Kei and I put up a Stage Curtain for outdoor plays.† Her and Nomad put on their 1st of what I am sure is many plays.† Nomad had 3 roles, a lion, an alligator and a bunny.† I was cracking up.
Hippity Hop BarkFinale
I love living here.† I love our yard.† I love sitting in the rose garden and reading in the swing.† I love waking up early in the morning and walking outside and everything is crisp and lovely.† I love watching the birds and squirrels and bunnies and chipmunks.† I love the feel of the cool clovers on my bare feet.† I love watching my sweet girl running with her dog.† Life is good.
We got Nomad yesterday.† Nomad is the dog Kei has wanted since she was old enough to ask for a puppy.† We have never been able to get a dog because of where we lived.† Now we can.
We have looked at many, many dogs.† None was “Nomad”.† My brother’s friend has some Lab mixed puppies.† We love Labs so we told him we would be interested in a male.† He said he would save us one but didn’t send a picture.† It was ‘assumed’ we would take him, but Kei really wanted to see him first.† He sent a picture last week.† Kei opened the email and promptly said, “That is Nomad”.
We have been busy getting ready since then, toys and food and treats and information.† I know nothing of dogs.† Yesterday was the day.† We had plans of going to Wal-Mart to finish up buying a couple of things for him.† Kei wanted a WELCOME HOME banner.† Well my brother called early and said “I have the dog, come meet me”.† Kei was beside herself with excitement.† Imagine Christmas, birthday, and Halloween all rolled up into one.† She quickly made† a sign and put on the front door and we were off.† On the ride over she sang a little song.
Well I got lost <imagine that> but finally we arrived at our rendezvous spot.† Kei bounded out of the car to see her “Nomad”† It was puppy love at first sight.
Our 1st Look at Nomad
When we got home she told him all about his new home.† He loved his Welcome Home sign.
Welcome Home
We brought him in where his bowl was ready.† He promptly had to drink and eat.
Yum Yum
It was a great day full of Nomad love.† He seems to be a very sweet puppy.† He was good and pretty much slept most of the day.† He would be running around in the yard with Kei and just lay down and fall asleep.† It was so cute.
Grrrrrrrrr
Kei had an online Science class in the afternoon.† She and Nomad learned all about Einstein and relativity.† Nomad wasn’t so interested.
E=mc snoozed
Kei found time to spend a couple of hours in her pool.† I am so glad we were able to put it up this year.† It was a beautiful day for swimming.
Water Water
After swimming for Kei and playing and sleeping for Nomad they were both tired puppies. It was time for a nap.
Nap Time
I dewormed Nomad.† No biggie.† But did you know after deworming they poop WORMS!† Lots of worms.† But Kei and I persevered…. barely.
Nomad’s first night was pretty good.† He slept in a basket by Kei’s side of the bed.† She and I got up and took him outside 3 times.† Which was not so bad.† At least it wasn’t January, in the snow.
So on May 5th our little family of two became 3.† Life is good.
“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.” – Milan Kundera
