Growing a beautiful day

Our daughter in front of the rose arbor several years ago.

The rose arbor this May.

Yesterday I was at my husband's office and bumped into a colleague of his who I haven't seen for many years. I was holding our baby, and she was surprised, as she didn't know we now have three children. She asked me, "How do you do it? I just had one and I could barely manage!"

Well, I don't always do that well! I told her that morning we were late to school because when I was getting out of bed I put my feet on the floor and...fell back asleep halfway out of bed! The IRS issue, my daughter's week-long illness, the re adoption, our oldest son's two projects this week, cleaning the carpets, and then all the regular stuff. The craziness is just unbelievable sometimes! This morning I had just dropped my daughter off at school (we walk up through a wooded park behind the school) when I got an email saying the school was on lockdown because a bear had been sighted outside at exactly the time we were walking there! Luckily the bear was across the street. We don't normally have bears around here, so it was a big news day!

Sometimes I'm so tired I can't believe it. I am always trying to get my pre-childbirth waistline back (something my grandmother has assured me will never happen; we belong to the hourglass figure type with teeny waists that disappear post-pregnancy!) so I do a lot of exercise. I often wear a pedometer to make sure I'm moving as much as possible. Today I didn't remember to out it on until almost noon. When I took it off at 9PM I had over 18000 steps! Many of those were taken while carrying my 30+ pound toddler!

But no matter what is going on all day, there is still just so much beauty. It's really an art to remember to look for it. Other times you have to create it yourself. Besides my artwork, sewing, and writing, I also enjoy gardening. Like Claude Monet, I want to create a beautiful environment both to feed my soul and to paint. For the most part, my garden doesn't measure up to his. But I do have a really stunning area of the yard. Several years ago we planted New Dawn climbing roses on a trellis. I laid a flagstone path underneath. I wait every year for the first or second week of May when those roses just go over the top! The rest of summer they'll bloom a little, but they have just one week of really impressive flowering before the heat gets too high for them. But what a week! It's worth waiting a year! I make sure to take the children's photos under the arbor each year. Our youngest was too busy to stand still for his first portrait under the roses; he's waving and running away! It is wonderful to see the roses and the children grow year after year. Sometimes the main thing getting me through the day or week is just waiting for the newest bloom. Next up, my lilies! I missed them last year because we were in China, so this year will be even more special!

Thank goodness, after this hard week, we're off to the mountains for the weekend. We need the vacation!