Grass, Sprinklers, and Gratitude

I am taking a moment to myself. We have been busy this weekend, T, Ava, and I, getting our backyard ready for grass.

We have been buying things...steer manure, plastic pvc pipes to connect sprinklers, connectors for the pvc pipes, and sprinklers. T rented a big powerful rototiller and rototilled many times the same dirt. He rented more shovels to dig trenches, and then was heading back out. I asked "did you forget something?"

"Yes," he replied, "guys to dig the trenches." There is always a line of men lined up outside the Kelly Moore paint store on Ceasar Chavez so he enlisted a couple and they came and dig trenches. My friend Amy calles them "day laborers" but we called them Mexicans, because they were from Mexico. Either way, they got money, we got trenches, and we all went away happy.

The dirt is ready. It has been tilled, raked, tilled, and raked again. The sprinklers work, even automatically! We have removed all of the wild onions we could see, which was thousands. I asked the onions if they would please move on, they have lived in our backyard for long enough.

We went to go get sod, but no sod was to be found today. That's okay, we'll get it this week. Turns out T wanted to rake a bit more because of some low spots that he wanted to rearrange.

I wanted to go to a meditation/breathing class tonight, that I haven't been to since before I was pregnant. I used to go to every monthly class. I seem to be resisting it for some reason. It's hard to tear myself away from things, anything, everything, to carve out the delicate space for me. I did, however, book a weekend in Calistoga with my friend Tracey for November when we plan on running away from husbands and daughters. We're so good though, we only decided to go for two nights because the place where we're staying will only do two night reservations on the weekends. So we're leaving late Friday and coming home by lunchtime on Sunday. We have one full magical day at Calistoga Inn & Spa and part of two others.

Next weekend Ava and I take off for Colorado to see my Mom. For the past four years I've gone to Colorado in October. The timing wasn't intentional, it always seems to happen that I go out there in October.

But I am rambling and digressing as usual.

I forgot about grateful friday, so here's a teensy bit of Grateful Sunday.

I am grateful we are getting grass in the backyard!
I am grateful that anytime I feel stuck, it eventually goes away.
I am grateful to have such a wonderful daughter who amuses me for who she is.
I am grateful for all of my women friends - if you're reading this, you are one of them! You add warmth, depth, humor, and compassion to my life.
I am grateful for T, he's a hard worker, he's determined, and like me, continually strives for more.
I am grateful for my parents. They have each contributed to me in their own ways.
I am grateful for artichokes and especially the two I ate for dinner. They are one fabulous vegetable.
I am grateful that Ava is always with someone who loves her. My wish when I was pregnant was that she would always know she was loved.

But now, it's bathtime for my little girl. I've been hiding upstairs for half an hour now and it's time to join my family.