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Thirteen stresses and joys around the White House....
1. Nick is a joy. He's funny. He's smart. He's a talker. I really like hanging out with him.
2. Nick is a big giant stress. He has been to the ER more than the other four children combined. He's got that whole "Play hard or die trying" thing going on.
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See the huge lump and swelling on the outside of the foot? Skateboarding. He can't put weight on it at all. They tell us is is not broken, but since he can't stand he was sent home in a splint with crutches. (Oh, and he still can't stand this morning).
3. Emily, Olivia and Lucas are some of the joys of my life.
4. Being locked in a teeny tiny exam room with them was more stress than I can handle. You think they look sweet? Oh, you should have seen the action before and after this shot.
5. Lucas was my planting helper this morning. It was a joy having his little hands hand me the pots and ask so many questions about the "tiny seeds".
6. The fact that it is April 10th and most of my seeds aren't planted yet has me completely stressed out. All my visions of a lush garden in June have faded, and the best I can hope for is beauty in July. Unless we have another crappy summer of no sun and then it will never happen.
9. The photo does not express the danger involved with every trip to the upstairs. That is a skinny little path of 3-inch thick ice. Not a chance we can chip it away and it's too shaded during the day to do much melting. The kids take the high road on the hill, but I can't get down the other side without killing myself so I gingerly slink across the ice. I have to take this path over and over all day long as it is the only access to the upstairs...bedrooms, laundry room, plant room. Our "inside stairs" aren't constructed yet. This is where I will go back and forth hauling the dirt once it is thawed. This is STRESSFUL!
10. Another stress is the iceberg I have to cross to get to the thawing pile of dirt. I HATE this time of year. I have to be so careful. If I hit the ground my back/hips go out and then I'm done for. I'm not 20 anymore!
5. Lucas was my planting helper this morning. It was a joy having his little hands hand me the pots and ask so many questions about the "tiny seeds".
6. The fact that it is April 10th and most of my seeds aren't planted yet has me completely stressed out. All my visions of a lush garden in June have faded, and the best I can hope for is beauty in July. Unless we have another crappy summer of no sun and then it will never happen.
7. Lucas and I actually got a few things planted before he insisted on going downstairs. This brings me great joy. We've added:
23 Shock Wave Ivory Petunia
29 Tidal Wave Hot Pink Petunia
92 Crackerjack Marigold
24 Giant Marigold
30 Scarlet Starlet Marigold
8. I'm not sure if it brings me great joy that the heater is thawing my dirt or if it brings me great stress that I have to use a space heater to scrape up a little dirt to plant.
9. The photo does not express the danger involved with every trip to the upstairs. That is a skinny little path of 3-inch thick ice. Not a chance we can chip it away and it's too shaded during the day to do much melting. The kids take the high road on the hill, but I can't get down the other side without killing myself so I gingerly slink across the ice. I have to take this path over and over all day long as it is the only access to the upstairs...bedrooms, laundry room, plant room. Our "inside stairs" aren't constructed yet. This is where I will go back and forth hauling the dirt once it is thawed. This is STRESSFUL!
10. Another stress is the iceberg I have to cross to get to the thawing pile of dirt. I HATE this time of year. I have to be so careful. If I hit the ground my back/hips go out and then I'm done for. I'm not 20 anymore!
11. Believe-it-or-not this bundle of energy is a joy. He loves me. A lot. His unconditional love feels good. I feel just horrible that he is chained outside, but unfortunately he is shedding like no other. My hubby has bad asthma and the two don't mix so good. He's plenty warm enough, but he gets lonely. (The dog, not my husband).
12. The grey skies raining/snowing on me this morning are a big giant stress. As long as the cool temperatures continue the ice won't go away.
13. This man brings me great joy, but right now I am feeling a huge amount of stress. This is day eight of him being far, far away leaving me to raise five kids, six dogs, one sheep and a goose all by myself. Not that I'm not used to doing this all alone....I spent most of my first marriage with my husband gone working and it happens a lot now, too....but it still doesn't mean that it isn't stressful. I can handle it. I don't like it. I miss him. (I look pregnant is this photo. I'm not. It was New Year's Eve and way cold out. That's massive layers of clothing and I was still cold).
12. The grey skies raining/snowing on me this morning are a big giant stress. As long as the cool temperatures continue the ice won't go away.
13. This man brings me great joy, but right now I am feeling a huge amount of stress. This is day eight of him being far, far away leaving me to raise five kids, six dogs, one sheep and a goose all by myself. Not that I'm not used to doing this all alone....I spent most of my first marriage with my husband gone working and it happens a lot now, too....but it still doesn't mean that it isn't stressful. I can handle it. I don't like it. I miss him. (I look pregnant is this photo. I'm not. It was New Year's Eve and way cold out. That's massive layers of clothing and I was still cold).
I am a whiner. I have way more stresses than joys listed. As Nick would say, "That's crap". I'm out the door to pick up Mr. Gimpy from school (early outs for testing). I'll see what I can do about finding more joy in my day to share with you.
Anything bringing you great joy or a little stress?
9 comments:
Thanks for sharing. That is a lot of kids, dogs, and various other animal and plant life to be taking care of!
Gayle...do you ever have an easy day???? I don't know how you do it. I didn't think you could leave a dog outside all the times with your temperatures. Don't the other dogs bother your husbands asthma? Can't you just brush him to get through the shedding? Sorry, it's that animal mush coming out in me. I wouldn't keep a dog outside in the winter down here either.
His foot looks like mine did in December - repetitive stress because the path I was running curved all the time and I was only running in the same direction... now I switch off! Anyhow, ice is his friend, and I hope it heals quicker than mine did (no running for 6 weeks = gained about a pound a week!)
Tink *~*~*
Kids are a mixture of joy and stress, sometimes a lot more of one than the other. For that matter, life is a mixture of the same. Hope your hubbie gets home and relieves some of the stress so you can enjoy more of the joy end of the spectrum.
Hope your days get easier! Happy TT!
HI Gayle....
Did you try salt on the 'icebergs?' That would help with melt. Also for the dog...it sounds cruel, but get him a shock collar. Our dog has one, and that thing is a life saver. I don't leave him in the house when we arent home either cause of the hair, and with the collar he does not have to be chained up. He knows his boundry and never gets shocked, and when he did, it was not horrible, as Derek tried it on his hand. He is scared of the warning beep more than anything. Get them from Cabela's or even Petco maybe.
And as for the cold, these are Alaskan dogs...they are fine. Mine stays out (has a doghouse) to minus 20. Colder than that I feel bad, and leave him in now that he is older. He has a blanket in his house and it never stays in there. He kicks it out the door everytime I put it back in. So I know he is plenty warm.
Wow, you do have a lot of challenges going on! I'm also stressed that I don't have more planted yet. And I'm in Georgia where they heat and lack of rain will make the summer worthless for growing. I need to grow what I'm going to before it gets too hot!
Wow. Sounds like you have your hands full. Hope Nick's foot heals quickly.
Gayle: Do you have room to store a couple large rubbermaide containers in a garage or basement? You could fill them with dirt in the fall and store them inside, out of the way, for spring planting. I would hate to have to thaw out that dirt pile - yech. You are one determined lady!
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