Gardening hell with a little shopping thrown in

I like owning a house. It's fun to sleep on a different floor from where I eat. And it's awesome to have an outside space to call my own. Other than a 6 foot by 2 foot balcony hovering somewhere at smog level.

But oh, how much harder this gardening is. Because when I lived in my little smog-level apt, I could throw a few begonias in a box, sprinkle some dirt and call it a day. They lived (sort of) throughout the summer, and the 5 minutes a day that I sat on that crowded little balcony, I enjoyed them.

Now that we have Miss 'SIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE (did that convey the essence of the whine in her voice when she wants to go outside?) we're outside all the time. And that's cool. Because that was one of the selling points Hubby used in his sales speech to get me up to the boondocks. Cue sales speak:

"You're always saying we never go outside and just enjoy ourselves. Now we'll be able to go outside every.single.day if you want to!"

And I did. I do. I like living outside in the warmer months, it's what I've always done and I get a little stir crazy if I'm stuck inside when the weather is gorgeous outside.

Except when you own a house, being outside and enjoying it means you have to make it look pretty. Otherwise you're just outside with constant reminders everywhere you look about how lazy you are, and damn, how nice is that neighbour's lawn?

And so, these past 5 days, while I was on holidays and Maddie was home and my mom was down visiting, that's what I did. I gardened. And I planted flowers. And I dug up flowers. And planted rhubarb. And mulched. And weeded. And and and...

My side garden with the new perennials is still looking pretty sad and forlorn. But the front and back gardens (which really? are just weird bushes that I don't know the names of and some wood chip - how can so little be so much work?) are looking pretty bloody fantastic. 

Oh, and the tip to mulching? Stamp it down after you put it down. So it sticks. Because otherwise it blows all over the neighbour's yard and you look like a jackass trying to clean it up. Just saying...

In other news, Mom and I bought out the Please Mum store during our shopping excursion. And then bought out Old Navy. And then went to Once Upon a Child to buy more - because you know, she needed more.

Hilariously, Maddie's name for my Mom is "Bucky". Where she got this from, I have no idea. But it makes me chuckle a little bit each time she says it. Because it's said in this loud (I-know-no-volume-control) child's voice that screeches the end into a question - like BUCK-YYYYYY????Fairly hilarious, must get it on video before that fades.

I love when family (or friends) visit and become amazed at how much Maddie has progressed since they last saw her. Even if it was only a week ago. 

Of course I'm like, I KNOW right, she's a flipping genius! But it is pretty amazing how much stuff they learn in such a short period of time. Like sentences. Last week she was just saying Mommy's car-car. Now she says, "all done", "no milk, Maddie juuuuuuiiiiceee - yesh yesh, please Maddie juice", and "snuggle-buggle". 

Okay, I realize the last one doesn't qualify as a sentence, but this is pretty much the cutest thing she says. We've been giving her snuggle-buggles at at bedtime for months and she now says it when she wants a cuddle. You could die from the cuteness of it all. DIE I tell you.

And lastly, she reads along with her books now. "Moo Baa La la la" to be specific. She makes all the sounds the animals make. Another must for that video machine that I let gather dust far too much. You'll see this and your heart will melt.

Um - okay, a gardening/weekend update post has morphed into proud-mommy-dearest-hell. And we're through here...

xxoo.S