So Pennsylvania has finally decided it's April and not December. This weekend was GORGEOUS!!! The kids got to go out and play (instead of bouncing off walls in the house), and DH and I got to start on our yard work quest... a work in progress that started last year and seems it will never end!
I have developed an "appreciation" for yard work over the last few years, but that does NOT mean I actually like it!
When DH deployed in 2005 I finally decided to do all the yard work myself (instead of hiring a local 12-year-old or asking begging one of my neighbors to mow for me). This is when my "appreciation" developed... previously known as "loathing" the mere thought of it.
We bought a house last year and spent two months planting grass, removing stumps (14 stumps!!!) ourselves, clearing areas of our yard that was full of everything except grass, raking and shoveling, mulching, etc. etc. At the end of the summer we looked at our yard and marveled at the progress we made and how much better the yard looked. We even had people in our neighborhood (people we don't even know) stop by the house and tell us we did such a great job in the yard. It felt great!
But the best part of it all is that DH and I were spending a lot of quality time together, as well as with the kids (who help in the yard when they get "bored" playing). Granted, by the end of the day I can barely walk and have to take my Naproxen and Flexeril just to get up the next day, I love being outside with my family. I love looking out in the yard and seeing the beauty that comes from a hard day's work (make that a hard spring and summer!). It's a blessing.
What have you found an "appreciation" for when your spouse has been gone?
