Hi.

Longtime no see. It's been one of those weeks, so pardon my absence. Work has been nuts and I've had my laptop home every night, trying to catch up on stuff. We had to make another trip to the funeral home this week, which was pretty sad. Is there something in the water around here or what? On Wednesday night, Chad took me out on a date. We went to see Earth. It was a really interesting movie with beautiful cinematography, but I wouldn't recommend it for little kids. Sad in parts. The circle of life and all that.

Add that on top of some major regrouping after the birthday party and... you can see why I have been quiet lately. This weekend is supposed to be lovely and I am hoping to spend lots of time outside. Now that it's spring, I am just itching to plant a bunch of stuff. I spend many hours gazing out the back windows, trying to plan things out and picture how it will look in 5 or 10 years time in my head. I don't want to be hauling the big things in and out of the ground too often so I am trying to get the placement right the first time. A few weeks ago, I went to a parking lot sale that one of the local nurseries puts on each spring. I beat out the 250 other people who were lined up outside the gate when they opened to grab a few things I was interested in, and have been making a list of other things I think I want, visiting other nurseries on my lunch hours and doing some research to see how big things eventually get. I think I have a good sense of what will go where except for this north wall of our house: what do I put here? It's shaded almost all day long and gets windy in the winter. I want to try holly but am wondering whether the wind will kick its pants. As a last resort I could plant some yews, but they are really kind of boring. And I would like to try a hydrangea out where there is a bit more sun, around the nook, but can't decide whether there's enough light there for it to do OK or whether it will struggle. Oh well... they're only plants, right? Might as well give it a try. I can always dig it up later if it doesn't work out.