The happy parts of the week

I just wrote a long post complaining about all of the things that went wrong this week (including the loss of all of the files on my primary thumb drive; other computer failures; car seat near-decision and then sudden indecision after the manufacturer announced new models are coming soon; long hours spent working on job applications for both Nate and I; fresh rounds of teething trouble; and more). After I got done spewing all of my thoughts onto the "page" I realized how very dark and bleak and whiney it all sounded. Yes, it was kind of a crappy week. But there were also some great things that happened, and I would much rather think about them. So I saved the unhappy reflections as a private post, and I am going to start over with the better stuff...

We got to visit with some good friends this week, the Hansons. They have a lovely and very energetic two year old girl (uhm, are all two year olds fast and loud? Because if so, don't know how I am going to handle Darling Girl at that age!). Momma Paige is one of my favorite people in the whole wide world, and Adam is one of Nate's oldest friends. They like to talk about paintball. A lot. It was a really brief visit, but it was great to see them. (Paige, if you're reading, I <3 you!)

At the beginning of the week Nate was very busy and under a lot of stress because his agency was undergoing its once-every-three-years audit by the federal government. Super important. He survived and it looks like they passed all of their benchmarks, whew! So Nate took Thursday and Friday off of work. I had a furlough on Friday. Since it's Memorial Day on Monday, that makes for a four day weekend for the whole family. Awesome. We decided to celebrate on Friday by driving up to visit my mom at her work, then doing a little bit of shopping. My mom bought us lunch (thanks mom!) and got to show off her babies (me and Darling... mostly Darling) at her office. The shopping was quick. The kid hated the car ride home and she let us know.

When we arrived safely back home, we had time enough to do a bit of yard work together during some very fine evening weather. All in all, it was quite the blessing to spend the day together.

On Monday we're going to travel an hour southward so we can visit some old friends, their handsome son, and our alma mater. It will be a wonderful trip, I'm sure. More on that next week.


The garden had a good week. I planted some onion starts today because the seeds we put down never sprouted. (I think I planted them too late -- apparently onions like to be seeded when it's cold.) I also thinned the lettuce and put in a few more leek seeds. I need to reseed our carrots because only a half dozen sprouted. Still waiting to see if the bell peppers pop up.

I put some seeds (tomato, squash, and pumpkins) in starter pots last week and put them in the greenhouse. Every last one of them has sprouted and I am delighted! I feel very blessed that we are going to have so many delicious, home grown foods this year. Doing all this yard work takes me back to some fond memories of my childhood and the house on "D" street where my mom always had a big garden. Actually, mom did a lot of gardening when we moved in the "C" street house, but I was in middle school by then and had stopped paying attention. It's the earlier gardens that I remember, and love, the best.


I was about to say adieu but I just remembered one more good thing about the week: Yesterday morning, Nate super-cleaned the kitchen. He moved absolutely everything off every surface in the kitchen and into the dining room, then he cleaned all of the surfaces (including the sink) in the kitchen. As he brought things back into the kitchen, he wiped each item off -- microwave, toaster, knife block, etc. The kitchen is smooth and shiny. (Literally, the stove top shines; even the buttons and the display board were cleaned.) I am very grateful for his hard work!


Well, it's not yet bedtime, but I have a bunch of work to do, so I'll leave you with this sweet, peaceful shot from Thursday afternoon: