It's that time again!

The garden is in bloom, somewhat anyway. All the plants that I put in last year have already started to fill in the bed, so I don't think I'll need to get too many new plantings. Still need to find a spot for my small peach tree and the Japanese maple that we have. Don't really want to put any trees in the yard since we got a nice open space and plenty of nice shady spots to - kinda a nice mix. I've already managed to mistakenly pull out my black and blue salvia and a few of the tiger lily seeds that I planted last year. Hopefully, I left enough behind for me to enjoy. The compost has turned out really well - time to get more started.

My newest hydrangea bush in bloom



My lily and all her new babies.



My euphorbia, surprised to see it made it.



Dragons tongue in her glory.

Writing

So, I've started writing again. Just kinda writing whatever pops into my head, whether it sounds good or bad. I missed writing as I used to do it quite a bit when I was in high school. Unfortunately, whenever I'd write in the past, it was usually followed by a deep depression which was always hard for me to come out from. So for years, I've been a little scared to pick up a pen. I've had an incredible urging for the last year or so to release some creativity and haven't been able to find my outlet because I didn't want to fall into depression, but it is actually helping me this time around. Maybe I'll pick up where I left off on the book that I was writing years ago. Never know - you may see me on the best sellers list. What a dream!!

Spoutings...

Everything feels so surreal
The air thick with regrets.
Walking through this haze
I feel a sense of dread.
Where do I go from here?
Fear builds as doubt comes in
This life is not mine now
The end of the road seems so close
Is this where I get off?

Fluttering wings of the Tooth Fairy

Before I've even had a chance to post that my daughter lost her first tooth, she goes and loses another. Let me correct that, she grabbed her tooth, wiggled and yanked until it came out. That was my daughter, little Miss Priss that won't let you pull off a bandage because she's afraid it'll hurt. Looking at her tooth made me realize one thing - maybe we're not doing too good a job at brushing those teeth.

Remembering How to Love

I saw a sign on a church yesterday. Normally the signs you tend to see in my neck of the woods tend to be geared toward hell and damnation, but this one was different and got me thinking. It said "Love like this is your only chance". This got me thinking about my relationship. I've been married almost 8 years (as of April 7th) and I know that things aren't the same as they used to be. We've got 2 kids and we're both working. We pick up the kids from daycare and get home, fix dinner, sit and eat, get the kids in bed - next you know, it's 8pm and we haven't even sat down and relaxed and have barely spoken to each other. How sad? We plan on spending the rest of our lives together, yet we hardly manage to make time for each other. So, my new goal is to make time for my husband, give us the attention we deserve and to make sure that my husband really knows how much I love him and appreciate him.

Paging Dr.McDreamy

I am in love with my doctor! Ok, maybe not "in love", just far more satisfied with his treatment than I thought I would ever feel again with a doctor. For years I had driven 45 minutes or more to see my doctor because I thought she was a great doctor. It took me so long to find someone that I really liked, that I didn't want to give her up. After a while, the long drive and the difficulty in getting an appointment (she was a solo practice) was just more than I could take, so my quest began. I had been more than 2 years since I'd visited a doctor and the one that I had seen since then was your typical family practice doctor - leaves you waiting for 15 minutes or more in a room, comes in, hardly looks up at you while talking to you, diagnosis you and leaves all within 2 minutes. Exactly what I was scared would happen. So, recently I had decided that I needed to start my search in earnest again. I'm getting older and really needing to take care of myself more, so I asked around. I settled on visiting a (gasp!!) large practice, Wake Internal Medicine and chose to visit Dr.Gillespie since he had a cardiology background and heart disease runs in my family. First visit goes great. He ask lots of questions, seems to genuinely be listening, lets me do some talking, and schedules test for some issues that I was worried about. Not once did I feel rushed or like I was wasting his time. Within 2 weeks, I've had more of my concerns cleared up than in the previous 14 years.
Now, none of this is what you would consider extra-ordinary. This is all stuff that doctors should do. What really has put this doctor over the top is the extra little things he does that I appreciate. If my appointment is at 1pm and I don't see him until 1:10 because he's behind, the first thing he does is apologizes profusely. Most (if not every) doctor that I've ever gone to feel that my time is not valuable and I've had to wait more than 30 minutes past my scheduled appointment to see a doctor, without an apology or any consideration for my wasted time. Also, I left a message for the doctors nurse to call because I had concerns about the price of a prescription the doctor gave me ($170 - with insurance). I called on a Friday morning and never got a call back. So, what happens?? Saturday while I'm out with my mother, he leaves a message on my home phone ( I can hear his kids and family in the background) apologizing for not retuning my call and for prescribing such an expensive medicine and leaves his cell number for me to call him when I get home. Is that not the most insane thing you've ever heard? Then today, I come in to work after having been sick for an entire week and he calls me at the office. I had gone to see him twice last week and the last time I went to see him, I had pretty much begged for pain killers because I had strep throat and it was really, really hurting. I ended up leaving with a prescription to Prednisone and no pain killers. So, he calls to see how I'm feeling and to apologize for not giving me any pain killers. He went into a bit of a story as to why he failed to give me anything for the pain - but it didn't really matter to me. How could I even be upset with my doctor??!
So, I have found my Dr.McDreamy. No - not like in a lusting for Dr. Ross from ER or anything like that (not that my doctor is hard on the eyes), but in a "I have my dream doctor" way, someone who actually acts like a doctor should act - respectful of their patients and attentive to their needs, while giving firm, honest answers and advice.

Snow day

How wonderful to get to stay home and watch the inauguration and have a snow day - yeah!!!

This is the first time Isabel has really seen snow and had a chance to play in it and boy did she play. She completely wore herself out playing in knee deep snow.