Spring is here!

A wonderful Wednesday working in the yard. I love to get out and clean up the beds this time of year. Lots of bulbs up and ready to burst into bloom...grape hyacinths, regular hyacinths, daffodils, primroses are up and my easter lilies are up. I trimmed all the mums, planted pansies, raked up leaves and weeded the beds. Michael and John helped and then Daniel when he got home from school. I was also able to get the dormant oil spray on the apple tree. So nice to be outside again. We swept the porches, walks and deck. Tomorrow it's going up to 70! I'll be able to work from 7:30 until about 10 - then I'll have to get ready for work. I only work until 4:30 - so maybe I can come home and do a little more.

Happy Birthday to me!

Well it has been a great birthday! Nice cards, wonderful, thoughtful gifts! Michael got me a pear tree for the backyard...I think it'll be 3-5 years before we'll get pears, but I am so excited! Tomorrow is my day off and we are supposed to have nice weather, so I am going to use my new organic spray on the apple trees and the grapes. This year we should have nice fruit without the "rust" spots we've had in the past. I'm using products from Gardens Alive and they have great instructions to follow.
Michael also got me a pair of those bionic garden gloves that are recommended by the Arthritis Association. He gave me a pair last year and I used them so much I wore through the fingers. Daniel gave me the special edition DVD of the Legend of Zorro! (I love Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas!) Michael and Daniel took me to Mimi's Cafe for a birthday dinner. John gave me a pot of tulips and is going to get me a big load of dirt for my new beds. A garden girl's dream!! My great team of co-workers gave me a beautiful minature rose plant! I got a IM birthday wish from my college roomie and lots of beautiful cards and e-cards! Thank you everyone for making this a special day!!

Basketball & transplanting

Sweet Sixteen! Of course the game I'm most interested in starts the latest (9:57 est) But UCLA plays Gonzaga - could be worth waiting up to see. I'm going to be busy during the games transplanting my seedlings into bigger pots...I have the little tv all set up in the basement. It snowed here on the first day of Spring and we are supposed to have more this weekend. I was hoping to be able to get some of my hardier plants out on the porch but I'll have to wait. So the plants are spreading throughout the house. I had to set up another small greenhouse in the living room. It's like living in a conservatory!

What a tournament!

It's been quite a weekend...seems like more upsets this year than ever! It has made for some of the best basketball I have seen. Nothing is better than a low-seeded team fighting tooth and nail against a "powerhouse" and winning! Even though the results reeked havoc with my bracket, it still was great basketball.
Today has been hard, remembering everything that happened a year ago - my dad's last day with us. But my mom told me today about a card she received in the mail from an old friend who wrote "Thinking of you as you celebrate Jack's first year with Jesus." And all throughout the year I have thought "this is daddy's first easter with Jesus" "this is daddy's first christmas with Jesus" but I hadn't thought of this one year anniversary in that way - but it is how I am going to think of the passing of time from now on. Every day brings me one day closer to joining my friends and relatives who have preceeded me to heaven - one day closer to being able to sing praises together to our Lord and King.

Hoops!

Every year I say it - every year it seems to be true: College basketball offers the best in games to watch. Always surprizes, always great first round games....the little guys upsetting a #2 or 3 seed - always a #12/#5 upset and just the most entertaining sports tv! And this year is another great one... even though some of those upsets ruin my brackets - I just love to watch them. Overtimes, double overtimes - it is no wonder we all have March Madness! I'm staying up way too late, but IU has a late game and I just have to watch. Go Hoosiers!

Update

My CT scan is clear of any more lung problems! So I don't have to take the anti-fungus medicine. All my pulmonary function tests were better than last time. I am feeling better than ever. I've lost 28 # and have a good handle on my diabetes.
Today I planted my first seeds outside - peas and snow peas. All my indoor seedlings are growing well. Only a few more days until Spring is officially here. And the NCAA tournament starts tomorrow! It's a great time of year. Of course we are also drawing near to the one year anniversary of my dad's passing - a very sad time. Yet knowing that one day we'll be together again is a wonderful gift. I think of him so often when I am working out in the yard, as I think of his dad's flower garden also and my grandparent's farm. Wonderful memories of times spent as a little girl helping with the planting. Memories of my dad and how carefully he tended his tomatoes and watched over the planters of flowers that my mom arranged each year. I am so grateful for this love of growing things that was passed on to me.