Flowerbeds and gardens galore!

This last week has been a nice one. I was phenomenally nervous about going back to school with my back still in a poor state of health, but I managed to make it through just fine. Having two days off from school due to doctors appts definitely made the work more manageable, because I could take down time on the days I needed it most. I've been contemplating taking a day here and there as needed for the rest of the year, but we'll see.

Another exciting part of this last week is that my Momma came down to visit for her spring break! My dear husband and I so enjoyed her visit. We played the board game Life together, we watched a really strange movie, we hung out, ate wonderful meals and just bonded. Plus, Momma introduced us to a new restaurant, The White Rose. It had just re-opened so on one of my days home from school we ate lunch there! Wow! The sandwiches, soups and tarts were amazing! And even more impressively they actually offer high tea! I can hardly wait to go back. In fact, I actually mentioned to Josh today I'm planning on inviting a friend to go there next week with me.

Another major event that occurred over this week is that I *finally* got in to see the Orthopedic and Neurosurgeon in my own town. I'm impressed. He's obviously an amazing doctor and quite skilled at what he does. Even better, he has a wonderful bedside manner. So both Momma and I are pleased. He let us know that my re-herniation is HUGE. He continued on to say it was quite massive and large. I think he was trying to impress upon us how bad this new rupture is. So he checked me out thoroughly and told me about some new medicine. We're still hopeful my body can reabsorb some of this rupture, but aren't really confident that is going to happen.

Bottom line: I'll probably be having surgery within a few weeks. It's a much more complicated and difficult surgery than the one I had before, BUT I feel confident with this doctor and I'm ready to truly begin recovery. Recovery will take 6 weeks this time rather than 2...so we've got to hurry this horse up because I have plans to go out of the country later this summer. :)

But more about this weekend. On Friday, when I had lunch out with Momma we also invited my Mother-in-law to join us. As we talked she began mentioning a flower bed and that she'd like to help Josh and me put in. So I gave her the okay and we made plans to do so on Saturday. Wow!

You know I've never had my own flower bed with landscaping timbers and everything so I'm excited. It's beautiful. Beth let me help pick out the flowers and okay the arrangement for them. And I can hardly wait to see them grow and develop, but the best part is..they are already beautiful and we can already enjoy them. :)

Also on Saturday, Josh picked up the tiller that we'd reserved to plant this year's garden. We'd decided it needed to be a bit larger this year than last so we doubled the size. And we've added new vegetables too. :) We started planting it today.

Unfortunately, there's also an ant bed taking up the majority of one side of the garden right now so we're going to have to encourage the ants to move elsewhere before we can fully plant on that side, but even the start that we have now is exciting. I'm even contemplating trying watermelons....hmmmm...who knows.

Here's what we've planted so far. Basil, rosemary, oregano, lavender, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, squash, and cucumbers. Now we just have to get the radishes, remaining cucumber plants, Brussels sprouts, onions and cilantro in. Whew!

I can hardly wait to see what kind of harvest we reap. And I promise we'll keep you posted as our flowers grow and our plants develop.

But now, I'm off to make plans for tea. Join me won't you?