[summer break in 80 days] day 62
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7:38 Imagine how nice it would be with staff. Not the infection but prople who eorked for you. I could sit and edit more photos instead of getting up to get the boys breakfast, start the laundry and get dressed for gardening.
Andy has gotten out his Dr. Seuss books and laid them out on my bed. Ryan is getting in the mix and making Andy upset. Andy is getting better at telling Ryan to leave. The problem is that Ryan won't listen.
9:41 Some one please stop me from pruning any more jasmine. I had to get the dead vines out but they were so twisted and tangled that I had to cut back about 3 more feet. It was showing new growth which makes me sad but I know it will grow back.
I dug up a barely surviving indian hawthorn and cut down the cape plumbago. Weeds had grown through the middle of it. And as it was my last plumbago, it looks lonely and odd being the only blue flowering shrub.
My hair has gotten too long (it's still short but I haven't had a cut since early June) and is getting in my face. I'll have to pull it back tomorrow.
I am still contemplating what to plant. Do I want flowers? Low maintenance shrubs? More jasmine? I would love some crotons but they failed in the front because of the cold winter winds. They would be protected in the back.
Only 3 more weeks of gardening during the week. Once the boys go back to school, I will be walking again. I will try to garden on the weekends but then I tend to get lazy.
2:10 It's quiet except for the dryer, the air conditioner, the ceiling fan and the fake tapping of my typing on my iPod. I just did my work for the day, 2 orders that I got on Sunday. I am in a different mind set these days. I used to get sad when I out sold out of an item I was fond of. Now I am happy for it all to be sold and move out. Since I have come to the realization that retail will not make me a living, I want to move on. I want my living room space back. Not that I would use it as a living room but maybe move my office back and use the dining room as a studio? I had thought about using the living room as a studio but I think it might be too big. That is, the dining room is packed with my office stuff and maybe it would be better to move the office into the bigger space. Oh well, plenty of time to think things through.
Every time I open the freezer to get ice, and I do this a lot as it is summer in Florida, I see the bagged chocolate chip cookies and my sweet tooth groans a bit.
4:57 Andy is playing the piano. Since he talked to Poppa on Sunday, he has been asking to "practice." He tries to play the Raffi tunes by ear and does come close. Other times he picks a rhythm on the keybords that is close and makes the song his own. He especially likes playing the applause and saying "Thank you!"
8:52 Andy picked up a track piece off the couch and set it in the train table. Good thing I was sitting down or I might have fainted. What? Oh let me start this again. I have been trying to pick up more often. I know it's easier to do a little everyday. But I also had trained my vision into ignoring a few items here and there until hazmat needed to be called in. So every evening, I pick up the stray bits off the floor and fix the cushions on the sofa. I had picked up the book and pencil but missed the track piece. A while later Andy saw it and knew it was out of place.
In the past, Ryan would put things away if he got them out or knew where they belonged. Andy has never been like that. Objects are left wherever he lost interest. Though if he knocked something down as he went by, he would put it back. Ryan still has problems with this.
I know the best teaching is by example. My mom was not the best example as putting her things away. (For years, her clothes never made it up from the basement after they were washed. She would go down each morning and pick her outfit as they hung on the water pipes.) Though I do put away a lot of things, I have never expected the boys to pick up there own stuff. It's never too late to learn.