Tuesday, June 19, 2007

When the Going Gets Tough.....

....The Tough Do Yard Work!

Having children, even older teenagers, often prevents you from being as big a baby as you really are. Yesterday afternoon, had I been home alone, I would have curled up on my bed to cry and pout, and watched a chick flick, so I could cry and pout some more about how pathetic my life is.


BUT.


My daughter wanted to meet her friend Alexandra to go shopping. So I dried my tears and let her drive me over to the starting point for their "shopfest". She's a working girl now, she's got money to burn! Anyway, after dropping her off I picked up a blended coffee to pacify myself and I spotted the Garden Center at Meijer's. This gave me an idea.

An hour later, after hitting 3 garden stores, I am home with 2 beautiful hanging baskets and some marked-down purple vincas(in the picture). My dad had loaned me his hedge clippers, but being my dad, he didn't think I could handle them (even though I have before) so he volunteered to come down and do my bushes.

Talk about working out some frustration!!!


By the time it was getting dark, I had:



  • cut the grass in the front and side, including the man next door's front yard (he's handicapped, so I always do his when I'm doing mine).

  • cut all the huge bushes in the front and the side, and the big bush in the back (well, my dad did this step).

  • raked up all the bush clippings and dragged them off in bags.

  • turned over the dirt in my flower bed by the front walk, put out my flowers, and put mulch around them.

  • watered all the flowers.

  • swept all the sidewalks of clippings, dirt, and mulch.

Pictures to follow. My front yard looks great. I feel better.

As Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day".

J.

PS. Thanks for all your kind comments and phone calls (especially a real sweetie from California!). Life goes on.

10 comments:

captain corky said...

Glad you're feeling better. My eyes are still burning from that language J. I expect that kind of carnage from Corky, but not you. You're too sweet for that. Seriously, I'm glad that you're feeling a little better.

Brother Dave said...

Now you have had time to 'sleep on it' and you can consider all options in the matter a bit more clearly.

You have heard different perspectives from a few people. That can help you come to a decision on how you might proceed from here.

I do believe that usually things work out for the best. Have a great day and a fantastic week. (You might treat yourself to a movie you have been wanting to see.)

Jay said...

Dang, that is a busy day in the yard. It would probably take me a whole week to recover from all that. ;-)

Jodi said...

Corky - Sorry. I don't usually talk like that. I DO feel better.

Brother Dave - I think I will do that - the movie, that is.

Jay - Let's just say I was motivated. I always do that - when I'm upset, especially about a man, I throw myself into a project. Rejection gets a lot done around here!!! (ha, ha)

J.

Southern (in)Sanity said...

Well, that's some productivity. I can't wait to see the pictures.

yorksdevil said...

I'm not sure you should refer to your teenage daughter as a 'working girl'.

e.Craig Crawford said...

That's a great pic of those purple vincas, J. And, that was a lot of work, even with Dad's help. It sounds like that was just the 'ointment' you needed.

mitchgib said...

Nothing like the physical pain gardening can impart to distract from the pain you are feeling in your heart.
What a knucklehead this guy was. What the heck !
Stay strong, and do not sell yourself short for this jerk.

Peace

Jodi said...

RWA - Sorry, it was raining today when I had time to take the pics. But I will, I promise.

York - You made me laugh out loud with that one, and when I told my daughter what you wrote, she laughed, too! Good one.

Craig - I was wondering what happened to you. Yes, it was just what the kooky doctor would have ordered. It was good to DO something with all those feelings.

Mitch- Thanks. I won't.

J.

e.Craig Crawford said...

I think the important lesson for us is that you took all that energy that you were expending on emotional upheaval and put it into something constructive instead. The payoff was a helluva lot better, too.   :-)