Head Back to Work to Get Some Rest

Sometimes, vacation is more like work than being on shift ever is. It is Spring Break for our daughters, but due to insane gas prices and a serious lack of planning, we decided to stay put and enjoy things locally. I ordered some plants for the sunny yard of our new house and asked my husband to build me a fence to keep the dogs from fertilizing our garden. It sounded easy enough. Unfortunately Mother Nature didn’t get the family memo that clearly stated “Good Weather” would be in the forecast. 

Day 1 of Spring Break: It was dreary, cold and soggy. I shifted between sitting indoors muttering like a lunatic about the crummy weather and baking to cheer myself up. My husband got by with eating baked goods and shopping for supplies for the fence.  He did manage to get a few posts in the ground too.

Day 2 of Spring Break: The weather was pretty and sunny, but cold. Determined though, my husband and I dug our beanie caps out of the winter bins and headed outdoors. I know, I shouldn’t complain since some people are thinking, “It’s only March and this crazy lady has winter clothes packed away already?” First of all, I’m lucky enough to live in the South. Besides that, I’m always a bit ambitious about shooing Winter away to distant shores and ushering in Spring. Day 2 was make-up day, so we kicked things into overdrive. My husband and daughter finished posts, then laid top and bottom rails. I got to help pull wire and nail it into place before he built the double gate. I planted two trees and three bushes, then turned my attention to the area dubbed “Vegetable Garden.” That was a mistake. Our three girls and I dug, pulled, hacked, axed, pried, cussed (that part was just me) and somehow managed to lift a root mass the size of my kitchen stove-top out of the ground. There are others under there though.

Day 3 of Spring Break: I debated getting up with my husband to see him off to work, but changed my mind when I reached to turn off the alarm. My back felt like I spent yesterday cracking walnuts between my shoulder blades.  Apparently the post hold diggers were just as brutal on him, so leaving our warm bed was not on his list of fun things to do at 5:30 am. After the second cup of coffee though, I think shift might actually have been a blessing of downtime compared to vacationing at home. 

Then again, after his shift ends there are still three days of Spring Break left. What to do?