It has been a busy spring break. We got some long overdue house cleaning done. The only room that is still deeply humiliating to me now is mine and my side of it is clean and organized. There is only so much one can do about the habits of other adults. There is still mold in the bathroom thanks to the lack of a vent and it is still all duct-taped together, but it is clean. I need to take domestic satisfaction where I can get it.
This past summer and fall were pretty neglected in terms of gardening, and I feel much better and much more creative and much healthier when I garden, so I am hoping to do better this spring. I still have a fall tomato plant leftover, and chile pequin peppers and a ghost pepper plant and that green that tastes like cucumbers and nasturtium and going-to-seed-lettuces and basil and dill and chives and a bit of kale and collard greens, in the edible (non-tree) category. Also, non-edibly, I have citronella geranium, begonia, kalanchoe, gardenias and various cacti and succulents including thousands of mother-of-thousands. Hardy suckers, all of those - survived my neglect. These past two days, I planted some tomatoes and mustard greens and eggplant and cantaloupe and habaneros. Chocolate mint. Of course, marigolds. Some radish seeds. Last night, the Lone Star Baby and her friends helped me loose several hundred ladybugs into the plantings. Ladybugs make me so happy. I am going to try to keep up with these plants and with the harvest of my orange and grapefruit trees. That outdoor time is so good for me.
I have spring flags in the garden, including a Jolly Roger in honor of our Pirate Queen, the Lone Star Girl.
Basically, after the cleaning and greening, I am back to feeling happy and homey about my house, instead of stressed and embarrassed and overwhelmed, as I have been feeling about my house most of this school year. I hope it lasts!
We have also been bustling all around with arrangements for the Girl's Buc Days stuff and her pre-med interviews and all the stuff she needs for school and the endless college paperwork that is her life and all of our own school work. Also, we have been trying to make sure the Lone Star Baby gets lots of play dates and friend time, as our busy lifestyle often means she gets less of that than she likes lately.
Whew.
Things barely managed: Girl Scouts. I am just barely keeping my troops going this year and I am getting it together to try to have an active spring to make up for that with the little girls (in the fall, we did a beach clean-up, an underwear drive for foster children, nursing home caroling, the MLK Day March, a toiletries drive for the homeless and a Journey for each level and World Thinking Day - sounds like a lot but really just did not seem up to our usual standards) . Things almost totally neglected: writing and politics - majorly. I just have not been able to fit everything in this school year. I am doing my best to prepare to do better, but having a kid getting ready for college in the first year of one's new dream job is A Lot. A Lot. I need to be kind to myself and realize that not every year is for everything.
Onward, Mamas. Onward.
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