Busy at work, and a trip to see "oma"

Ahhhh, sitting on my front porch, enjoying a root beer float in the dimming post-sunset light, listening to the sounds of a neighborhood in the evening -- kids protesting bedtime, cars pulling into their garages for the last time, traffic dying down in the distance. Silence from my house, where my kid is asleep, the dishes are done, and projects are cleaned up for the evening. It's a good life.

I didn't write a blog post last week, and I make no apologies. I was incredibly busy with work and didn't have the time. It happens. I got hammered with data requests from all over the state, coming at me two a day for more than a week. At the same time I was working on the oh-so important survey and final report -- data cleanup, chart making, writing. It sorta felt like college, but more awesome. (Think: original data, the work belonged entirely to me, the output will have a real-world impact, and I get paid.) Plus I'm smarter than I was in college. It figures, though -- I got caught up on all my work and cleared my calendar so that I could focus on writing my report, then got hit with five times as many data requests as usual. It meant I worked every evening for at least an hour after the baby went to bed. And I worked on Saturday.

I turned in the report late Monday night. It came back to me Tuesday (ahhhhrrrrg!) from one of the managers; he asked that I make some changes. Totally valid. Gave me a chance to run it through one of the smartest people and best editors in my acquaintance, my mom. She noted some important corrections, whew. So I worked on it again late Tuesday, then sent it in again. Now it's going through the formal editing process. Soon the draft final will land on the desk of the uber boss... and that will be a defining moment. I am quite worried that he won't like it. I imagine him calling me into his office and, in his very British way, saying that he really liked it, but... (If you knew the boss, that'd give you a chuckle. He's a super nice guy, and when he criticizes your work, it's very gentle and polite. One of the many superb things about him is that he can give critiques without being harsh or insulting because he doesn't get mad or disappointed, he just sees opportunities for improvement. He's a really good boss.)

After the report was turned in, I took it down a notch. I was able to relax while doing my work, without the breakneck pace or beads of sweat on my face or late evenings. And since I worked late on Monday and Tuesday nights, I wrapped up a couple of hours early on Friday and enjoyed the sunshine with my family. Sweet.

Last weekend our big accomplishment was finishing the garden! We got a new shovel early Saturday morning, so Nate was able to shovel out the last of the weeds and pine needles from the garden. Then he got a load of compost and we tilled it into the garden. Oh, it's nice. The soil is rich, cleared, and ready for planting. We went out... Tuesday? Wednesday?... to put in some seeds. Onion, kale, carrots, leeks, and mixed lettuce. Later this month (or next, depending on the weather) we'll put in corn, tomatoes, several types of squash, pumpkins, and bell peppers. And sunflowers, but in the front yard. Nothing has come up yet  but within a couple of weeks we'll see some sprouts. I am very excited.

(An update on the weather this evening -- the skyline in front of me shimmers with a final touch of pale yellow, the clouds warmed to baby pink and the sky cooled to baby blue. Far overhead the air is darkening, a deep blue; all too soon it will be the blue-black of night, speckled with twinkling white lights. In the distance a siren sounds but the cars are mostly quieted. Here the neighborhood kids are all but silent; house lights turned to the gentle illumination of lamps, windows cracked to let in the soft breeze of a summerish night. The tree next to me rustles a little in the breeze, then calms. All is slipping to stillness. Bedtime is soon.)

Today we went to visit my grandma. For many years my mom's mother's day tradition has been a visit to grandma, where she weeds the yard, plants flowers, prepares the garden boxes, and so forth. Some years we have been able to help with this tradition; we made it an essential goal to visit her this year. I know she's been missing the baby (she's been pretty busy helping her sick brother and hasn't been able to visit us) so we went to her. Nate and my mom did most of the heavy lifting. I was much less useful because I had to cart the baby around, and she was a bit cranky. (Not enough nap time this morning.) But I managed to plant all of the flowers my mom brought down, while she and Nate worked in the garden. Grandma weeded out the pots so I could plant. It was a very nice day.

When we got home I did some pressure washing. On a warm, sunny day, pressure washing is one of my very favorite things to do. It's almost like running through the sprinklers or something, except that it's productive. So I get "two birds" with the task -- the spray of cool, refreshing water on a hot day, and cleaner cement surfaces around the house. Score.

Tomorrow after church we will go visit Nate's mom and dad. Nate's mom has been very, very sick for a few months now, so I don't see her very often. It's hard for her to leave her house. And with work and the baby, I don't have a lot of time to go over there, either. Thankfully Nate usually makes time at least once a week to go visit them with Baby Girl, so they get to see each other.

Oh yes, and speaking of the baby...

A few updates....

But darn, I just looked at the clock and it's past 9pm. So I must get ready and be off to bed. More on that precious subject next time.