Spring has sprung!

Today, dear hubby took Katie out for an adventure while I decided to get down and dirty in the soil. I love digging in the garden. Am I a skillful gardener with a gentle siren song to coax life from the filthy soil? Uh, no. Do I have that innate green thumb that deigns that life shall shoot forth in rainbow blooms where ever I shall dig? Eh, no. Do I like the smell of dirt and the gritted slice of a shovel blade reverberating in my ears? Heck, yes I do! Honestly I live by the garden motto of "That which I don't kill can stay another year". It doesnt stop me from dabbling though. I've got knee high rosemary plants, lavender, sage, thyme, oregano, and sundry flowery doo dads that seem to keep liking this Oregon weather. Today's adventure was looking at the grass farm that the flower bed had become and deciding I would pull it all out, by hand. I didn't say that I was smart about this, did I? After wrenching and tearing and pulling out great tufts of the stuff, I realized that under all this grass was a huge bed of bulbs (what kind? i dunno). The next thing I knew, I had completely dug up half the bed and now had huge wads of dirt covered tubes with little emerald shoots staring at me, saying "well?!? you cant just leave us here...". Breaking apart bulbs is an odd thing, especially when you dont have a clue what you're doing. I kept trying to dislodge them gently while doing my best to channel the calm power of Martha Stewart. They kept snapping like fingerling potatoes and I kept wondering if I'd just killed another one. The 6 inch long tubers with no sprouts got piled together while I pondered if those should be thrown out. No yelling please, I called a friend that gardens, picked her brain and gave her half the bulbs. Apparently they're huge irises. I seem to recall a flash of purple color last year from the ones that struggled past the hoarde of snails that consider them to be a greens buffet. I diligently broke them apart and replanted after laying down some mint mulch and some potting soil. I gently splayed out their 4 inch long roots and picked the grass tendrils off. Finally I watered the little suckers. Now we'll see what mother nature has in mind. Oh yeah, I layed down some stuff to take care of the green grubs in the soil and I'm going out later with some snail killer too...but only the kind gentle for cats. So, now I have bulb shoots everywhere, garden, pots, still in a big clump on the patio (yes, I'll get those tomorrow). I'm exhausted, what a great day!

ugh, hormones

Took my first official day of "baby boot camp" today and paid up for the 6 month membership. The idea is that I can work out with other mommies and babies and have interaction, exercise, and fun. Miss Katie decided (as she did the last time we went) that she was miserable in her stroller and screamed for almost the entire time. My nerves were shot and then I began to cry too. Good times, working out, sweating, holding a 25 pound baby and crying. I found myself running between strollers, in a slalom fashion, with a screaming, crying baby in my arms, feeling like I wanted to crawl in a hole and cry. As if I thought there was no way to make exercise more miserable, I assure you, I've found it. Meredith, our super leader, let me calm down a bit and then came back and gave me some sage advice about toys and snacks....phew. Not the best way to start the workout routine. I will persevere, Katie will get used to seeing new faces and spending some time in her BOB, and hopefully, next workout will not include the tears streaming down my face. Ugh. I need a nap.