jennanddave.com

Dave's in major grading mode. He's grading labs and exams and more labs and since we're going on vacation next week he's trying hard to get it all done by Friday. This means I've had to try to not lean on him as much as I usually do, like no running out of the house the second he comes home because if I have to watch another one of these video's on youtube my brain will instantaneously liquify. Besides, it's my personal opinion that since Dave created that particular monster, he can deal with it.

This weekend I made a conscientious effort to give Dave lots of time to get some grading done with no distractions. Saturday I took Henry over to Megan's house and we had some lunch and played in Leo's new sandbox (which also has a water table because Megan always has to be better than me). She has this really nice flower garden alongside her house in the backyard and since the kids were contained by a nice tall fence I was able to sit down and weed while they were playing which maybe doesn't sound like a good time but really actually was. I've been dying to go out and weed our flower beds but by the time Henry's down for a nap, it's time for me to be down for a nap so it doesn't ever get done. Also, since we don't have a fence around our front yard and since Henry sometimes gets it into his head that it's hilarious to run over and teeter on the edge of the sidewalk, presumably because it's funny when his mommy nearly passes out from terror, I haven't been able to do any serious weeding. Did I mention Henry also likes to rip the tops off of our tulips? Because they're just so pretty they must be destroyes?

Anyway, later in the day Dave decided to take Henry to Sears to see about getting a new battery for our weed whacker. Riding high from the morning of weeding at Megan's house, I hauled out the wheelbarrow and declared war on some dandelions and a couple of huge masses of little maples (maplettes?) that were making a go for tree-dom. I raked, pulled, heaved, shoveled, and mulched for two hours. It was glorious. For two hours I reveled in the dirt and the bugs and the sense of accomplishment which increased with every weed pulled. The thing about living in a college town (and near the high school to boot) is you're constantly thinking back to what you were like when you were younger and experiencing all of the things all of the kids around you are going through. Sometimes I laugh at how disappointed the me of 16 years ago would have been to find out that 16 years in the future I'd be happily grubbing around in the dirt and lecturing my kid about not pulling out the pretty tulips BECAUSE I PLANTED THEM AND THEY'RE MINE SO JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE. I MEAN REALLY, NOW!

I guess those things just sort of sneak up on you.