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Location: Northern California

Friday, April 20, 2007

 

Don't sit under the Japanese Maple tree with anyone else but me


Japanese Maple and Thomas
Originally uploaded by marytsao.
Ugh. I have to admit that I have been in a foul mood lately. Personal things are getting to me and the massacre at Virginia Tech is, too. It's hard to quell the feeling that I want to run away with my kids and husband and live on an island. If only that were possible.

And this is the year I decided to give up the drink? What was I thinking?!

Two--no, make that three--things have made me happy in the past week. One, I finished the May newsletter for my mothers club and got it to the printer. Two, I had a blind playdate with a mom and her little girl and it wasn't horrible at all. In fact it was quite nice, and Emily and I have been invited to the little girl's birthday party this Sunday. Three, Thomas and I stormed our local independent nursery (Carlmont Nursery) on Tuesday with diagram of yard in hand and left less than an hour later with a receipt for all of the plants needed for our current yard project.

With the help of a wonderful saleswoman who realized immediately that I meant business, we picked out thirty three plants, eleven different varieties, including two Japanese Maples. It was an exhilarating experience because it was fast and furious, and sometimes that's the best way to make decisions. I'm also proud of myself for acting as our landscape designer. Last time, we paid somebody to suggest plants. This time I felt much more confident that I could figure it out myself with an accurate diagram of the yard that included measurements, direction, and sun exposure, and with the help of the woman at Carlmont. They're wonderful there. I don't mind going to a big box store if I know what I want and am okay with no service, but nothing beats the knowledgeable advice and helpfulness of the folks at small, local nurseries.

I've Flickr'd some pictures for those of you whose thumbs are green and who drool over Podocarpus and Nemesia.

Tomorrow we've got weekend day babysitting arranged (so decadent!) while we go on a neighborhood tour of newly-remodeled Eichlers with some friends. The kids are excited because we're sharing a babysitter and they get to spend most of the day with their little friends, and I'm excited because there's nothing I like better than seeing the inside of people's homes. I guess that's the voyeur in me.