Babysitters, Lunches, Gardens, and Fish

I know it's a weird title. But my mind is having a hard time coming up with a good one for this diverse blog post. I just can't come up with a unifying theme right now. 

And this was supposed to be posted yesterday but Internet stinks in the country, and I am now in the city of Nashville where the Internet is wildly rapid. 

I'll start with Thursday. I'm out of the house by 2 and on my way to Jackson. I had some errands to run and wanted to see my grandparents. I walk in their apartment, and it's full of stuffed boxes. They are moving to our family farm in Arkansas. This, to me, is not good news. I love my grandparents and am particularly close to my grandmother, Suey. I won't go into it, but I'm sad she is going to live far away again. But this is probably the selfish analysis of the situation. I pray that all will go well with everything and that they will be happy. Of course, it's whatever makes them happy and healthy. It might turn out to be a wonderful move, I pray. 

So Suey and I are taking one last road-trip to Nashville tomorrow. She needs to see her great grandchildren before this big move. Before we leave, Suey will take a tour of my home, and we will leave from here. Needless to say, I've been cleaning tonight like Mr. Clean himself. 

Back to Thursday afternoon. Right after visiting with my grandmother, I went straight to my nephews' house. W and I were to babysit B and B (my two nephews) for the night while sister and brother-in-law were out of town. I had a little glimpse into what having children would be like with W. Between the two of us, who do you think will be the disciplinarian? My children better love me too. 

Friday morning, I grab a chai latte at Cups (tiny interesting tidbit: my mom started this coffee shop chain in Jackson in 1994 or 1993 or something like that and going there helps me to feel the entrepreneur spirit). Anyway, I got out my laptop and started maybe to blog? No time: 5 minutes until my hair appointment. I apologize to my blog audience, if there still is one.  

After the hair appointment, Daddy wants to meet up for lunch. I say let's meet at High Noon in the co-op. We love the co-op. Daddy helped start the whole operation back in the 80s. Going to these places like Cups and the co-op in Jackson reminds me of my parents' contributions to this city that I find myself back in (we moved when I was 9). Rainbow is the health food store and there's also a neat retail store and a computer co-op, and then the restaurant High Noon. So we meet there at high noon.

Playing catch-up, eating awesome food; It was a fantastic lunch date. Daddy and I talk about everything. And then he tells me he likes my blog. And that's when I say I need a fine camera to spruce up this thing.  And that's when Daddy makes his contribution. So from now on, every picture is dedicated to my father, except if it says otherwise, and not the blurry, foggy BlackBerry pics either. 

W and I seem to collapse Friday night. Sleep like babies. I'm just not the babysitting city girl that I used to be.  

But Saturday? The most gorgeous, glorious spring day! I mean, I've never felt a temperature so perfect. We worked in the garden hard and hardly broke a sweat. It was warm enough, however, not to wear anything long-sleeved and to wear shorts. There was a little breeze and the blue sky was lined with long white clouds. Wow. 

So our mission was to clean up my old mess of a garden so we could start making decisions for the new one. We tore out the old pants and weeds, removed the bricks that were my border and stacked them against the other side of our house by the AC unit. This entailed stacking the bricks on this little green garden cart because we could think of no other way to make this simple. 

Our patio. I know it looks like we just moved in after no tenants for a decade, but this is what winter neglect will do to the most loved part of your home. We decided to haul all the furniture off and spray the patio down, removing all the unnecessary foliage that makes our house look like it might be haunted. 

All the plants of yesteryear piled up. 

We wanted to spray all the weeds and stuff that was making our house look like an abandoned house so we took a drive to the farm shop to get the chemicals. I'm not a big fan of chemicals, but these weeds got to go. So we went and say the shop animals: Shop Cat and Shop Dog, who just had puppies.

She's worn out. She is an adopted mut on the farm.  

The puppies. I love puppies. If you know anyone who is looking to adopt, please comment or send me a message.  

Shop Dog has more...12 puppies this litter!

Back to the yard...W over there spraying. Is this an awkward spot for a birdhouse? This is about the 17th time I've moved the thing. I was just thinking the best spot for a birdbath is right outside my bathroom window. I can watch them bathe while bathe in my tub! Perfect. Don't want to think about it anymore. 

Birdhouse #1. Christmas present from my sweet father-in-law. 

Birdhouse #2: posted up on a post. It's a little church birdhouse. Cute wedding present. 

Sunday provided a relaxing morning. Jackson got a little feisty with W. Love it! 

Then he calmed down, got on his mat and started working out. See how he pushes his chest out--great Upward Facing Dog position. Yeah, he does yoga with me all the time. 

Don't you love his haircut? I like it when he shows his teeth like this because he is nothing but a big bundle of cuddly love, and when he shows his tough side it's hilarious. 

We went over to friends' house, D and L to go fishing and then fry some catfish on Sunday. So much fun getting to visit with them.  This is J, me and W posing on the porch.

Sha and Drew fishing.

Caught.

Action shot on the BlackBerry. I wish I had gotten a whole group photo with D and L, but I didn't. Next time when I have a camera.

And that concludes the rundown of our weekend activities. I wrote this on Monday on the farm, posting it on Tuesday, in a different state...so confused, all over the place. Forgive me. Going over to MBC's place tonight. So excited to see my dear friend! Happy to be in the fabulous city of Nashville.

Have fun this week! Hopefully, I'll be posting.

Bewilderingly,

Liza Jane