that time of year

This is hands down my favorite time of year. Everything is coming back to life. The grass is bright green and the flowers are blooming. I LOVE IT!! Having a nice lens for my camera has been such a blessing this spring. Although I must admit it is very difficult to get in the correct position to take some of the pictures I want. Here is a peek at some of the beautiful things in my world right now. If you want to see more check out my Flickr page. http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxey/

I'll lend you my ear

Taken today at my grandma's.
There are days where I wake up and want nothing more than to shut off the alarm and stay in bed. Lately there have been more of those days. Today was one. My late night shopping trip wore me out. I remember those days at EIU when I was able to stay up until the wee hours finishing that paper or studying for that test I had put off until the last possible minute. I have fond memories of playing Tetris in lieu of studying. If I remember right, Kimberly may even have the evidence capture on VHS. I digress. I made it to work on time, somehow. Slowly I started my day deciding which chart to attack first. Oh the paperwork. Why must the state have so much paperwork? Why must we kill so many trees on a daily basis?

My morning was not all that bad. I left for lunch early so that I could get out and do an unexpected home visit. I was going to do it after my 2 already scheduled visits but decided to squeeze it in early. When I called to let them know I was coming early the son said, "Oh, bless you. I know you are busy. I really appreciate it." Ha. Just doing my job, sir. After that I went to see a client of mine that has been on our service since '96. Her home is aging with her and slowly falling apart. There are creatures large and small in there. I tried my best to not pay attention to the little dog licking my toes, but it was difficult to concentrate. She told me about her problems and I listened. We talked about her current service and add some things to help her out. As I was trying to leave she thanked me for everything we do for her and that she "doesn't know what she would do without the help." She gave me a hug (believe it or not she is shorter than me) and I told her she was welcome. My last client is what one would call a talker. I sat and listened to her stories and everything that has happened to her family lately: sickness, death, financial issues.

As I sat there I could not help but think that I am blessed. I have a job that allows me to go into homes of those who are in need. They have so many needs that I can not meet, but there is one thing I can do and that is to listen. How many people get to do that and get paid? Sure I ask them tons of questions and make them sign even more pieces of papers. Most of all though I listen and try my best to show them that I care about what it is they are going through and if there is any way at all I can help them out I will. My last client ran over a little and I didn't get back to work until after it was "quitting" time. Oh, well. If I made one person feel a little better today by letting some things out then I feel like I did my job. The paperwork can wait.

So, the moral of the story? When the alarm goes off and I don't want to get out of bed I'm going to try to remember days like today when I feel like I just might have mattered a little to someone out there. I know that I chose the right field. When I graduated high school 10 years ago I had no idea what Gerontology was. I never would imagine that I would some day earn my Masters degree in the field. God's hand was completely in this one.

I'll end my post with a picture of me showing off my rather large zucchini plants. Can you tell I'm proud of them?

how did I miss that?!

Last night Tommy and I were outside watering the gardens and pulling weeds. While we were out there I noticed something I had not see before, a pumpkin vine. It had worked its way around the bucket and out from under the tarp. It is growing in an "unused" part of our veggie garden. It is probably about 5 feet long. That's taller than me! Last fall I threw our pumpkins out there when they started to rot and I'm glad I did. I have tried to plant pumpkins every year, but with no luck. I'm hoping that since this one has such a good start it will continue to do well. It was a really nice surprise for me! The rest of the vegetables are doing well. By the middle of next week we should be eating fresh zucchini and possibly some cucumbers. It is so nice to be able to go out in your back yard and pick what you are going to eat for supper. I can't wait!

in the dirt

Like many others I have been wishing for warmer weather since about the middle of January. This weekend it finally came. I was able to get outside with the D40 and take some pictures. Once again the neighbors get to enjoy watching me lay in the grass or climb a tree to get an up close an personal shot of nature. Barbie is usually outside with me while I'm playing. She too enjoys laying in the warm grass.

Sunday, Tommy and I decided that we need to work on the front yard. It seemed like a much more doable task to just focus on one part of the yard. He manned the raking and mowing and I worked in my flower bed. It is always excited to pull away all the dead foliage and see the green underneath. My spring perennials are almost in bloom and that makes me really happy. Tulips are one of my favorite flowers. I also tackled the yucca plants that were here when I bought the house. I hate yuccas. If you are thinking about planting them, make sure that you want them around FOREVER. They will not die. No matter how far down I dig or how much weed killer I put on them they always come back. I cut them down and dug the suckers up. At least for now my flower garden is yucca free. I had Tommy run and get me some dirt to fill in some holes in the back of the garden. While digging up the yuccas we discovered a bunch of bricks, thus leaving holes. I covered the dirt with some mulch and now my garden looks so much better. There is more to be done but I will leave that for another weekend. I am pretty sore today and actually have a little bit of a sunburn. I guess I should have listened to Tommy when he told me to put on sunscreen.

I enjoy gardening which is something that I learned from my parents. My dad always planted a very large garden when I was younger. His garden is not as big now as it used to be but it is still bigger than mine. My mom has a rather large perennial flower garden. I have a lot to learn to be at their level of gardening but I still enjoy it. It is rewarding to make a dinner that mainly consists of veggies that you grew. I look forward to seeing who has the first tomato this year, my dad or me. Last year it was me, but who's keeping track? I would not say that I have the greenest thumb, but I like to pretend that I know what I am doing. For know I would say that my thumb is a light shade of green, maybe lime.

*Tommy took this picutre of me. If you look real close my eyes are closed but I still kind of like it.*