Apologies, Explanations . . . and SHOES!

This post has a little to do with gardening and a lot to do with life around here. I feel like I'm being pulled in about ten different directions. When that happens and I try to do them all (as most of us usually do), none of them get done well. When I started blogging in January 2007, I did so at the urging of our older daughter Kara, who thought I needed a writing outlet because in her opinion, I was good at it. I'd always hated writing and loved editing, doing some of both for Today's Cacher magazine for about two years.

I did want to keep a journal of sorts, of what was going on in our gardens and whatever else was going on in our lives besides gardening. Both the girls were grown and gone and since I only work half a day a week, Jenna had this idea that I didn't do anything the rest of the time except watch All My Children and eat bon-bons. Okay, so I can tell you that Erica is in prison at the moment and that Emma is really Kate.

Now I love writing and I need to do it. There's something strangely addictive about putting what's in your head in writing, and sharing your passion for gardening with others through blogging.

As most gardeners know, this is an incredibly busy time if you live in a climate that experiences all four seasons. Winter is mostly for resting up for the spring, when the gardens come alive again and no, they won't wait for whatever else you have going on in your life to get over with. The rains come, the temperatures warm up, and the plants grow.

It's the best time to plant new things, since the weather conditions won't stress them as much as the hot, dry summer would. And if you don't get the seeds planted now, you'll run out of growing season before you have time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. So you clean out the beds, work up the soil that's gotten compacted from the winter's snow and ice, prune the dead away, prepare the vegetable garden for planting and plant the seeds, plant new perennials, spread mulch, water if needed, start the projects you've dreamed up over the winter, and a myriad of other tasks.

All the gardening work is fun, but tiring, and hard on the muscles and joints. And speaking of muscles and joints, many of you know that I'm training to run a half-marathon in September. We have group training in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, two nights a week and the rest of the days we're on our own with running and core strengthening exercises. It's been hard, as I knew it would be, but my body feels healthier because of it. The pain of fibromyalgia hasn't lessened yet, but I'm still hopeful. I ran a 5K last Saturday and surprised myself by coming in second in my age group! If you'd told me two months ago that I would be doing that, I would have asked what you'd been drinking.

Our younger daughter Jenna is getting married in two weeks and while I haven't had much responsibility as far as the planning of the wedding, there was a bridal shower held here at our house two weeks ago, so there was some preparation for that.

I have a lot of writing assignments lined up and I'm devoting this weekend to those. They include two product reviews, a book review, and as the webmaster for our church's website, I need to get that updated. It takes me a long time to write each blog entry, because I also try to include photos, which need to be taken and edited. And the editor in me makes me write and rewrite, and a lot of times, I'm still not really happy with it, but there it is.

Don't ask me about laundry, housecleaning, dishes, or cooking. I'm sporadic about the housework, and in the grand scheme of things, it comes last, when and if I've got the energy to do it. My saint of a husband must really love me, because he generally doesn't say much about it unless he's out of clean underwear or we've already had the same leftovers two nights in a row. Even then, he really doesn't complain much, and if the floor needs vacuuming, he'll vacuum it. He does dishes and windows and laundry, too.

Now that I've explained a few things, here comes the apology...

I love reading so many wonderful gardening blogs and leaving comments to let the respective bloggers know that I've been there and that I've enjoyed my visits. The number of garden blogs has grown exponentially in a very short time and I'm finding it hard to keep up. I'm finding it hard to keep up with writing my own blog much of the time lately!

So if you are the writer of a garden blog that I've frequented in the past, I haven't deserted you, I promise. My apologies if I've given that impression. It's just that this past month and the one before us both have dibs on my time, leaving less for me to just kick back and browse the garden blogosphere, which is how I relax.

I want to thank you, both loyal and new readers, for your comments and suggestions and advice. I read them all and appreciate each and every one of them. I'm going to try and reply to them this weekend.

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Now . . . "Why are shoes in the title for this post?" you ask. They really don't have anything to do with apologies and explanations, but I don't know when I've been this excited about a pair of shoes. I mentioned them in an earlier post and I picked them up yesterday.


I needed them to go with my dress for Jenna's wedding and as the sales associate at Macy's said to me, "These shoes look like they were made for that dress! You can't not buy them!" I agree! Don't you?