Yesterday was my 18th wedding anniversary.  My husband, who is not the remembering type, brought home 7 fuscia mums for me as a gift.  Of course, he did not think about how much work this was going to mean for HIM (since I am not an outdoors/gardening type).  I love the end results, just not the doing!

So, today is beautiful here in Butner.  There is a light breeze and it's only about 70 degrees.  The skies are clear and the sun is bright.  My 2 younger girls (Rachel and Missy) along with my friend's daughter (Ileana - whom I also homeschool) are all outside helping Gary put the mums in the ground.  They are hauling dirt from the tomato pots to the bed that the mums will call home.  And, of course, they are complaining.  But by the time they are finished they will be so pleased at their work.

As I sit at my computer trying to get some work done, I find myself drawn to check up on their progress frequently.  They are really having a good time out there.  They are all in their element.  They all love being outside, you have to have a good drenching rainstorm to make Missy get off the swings and inside, and Gary has always been an outdoors type.  So, that leaves me -- the perpetual hide inside from any element outside -- looking through the window as they work.

But, I am content to "visit" with them for short periods of time -- and they know that I will love looking at the mums "from afar."  It all works out in the end.  They get to enjoy the outdoors and I get to enjoy the fruits of their labor.  Sounds like a plan to me!

Well, back to work -- sure wish I could get out of it today.  Maybe later I'll join the planting crew and take them some iced tea with lemon.  Who knows, I might even pull up a chair and sit for a while with them -- but I doubt it :-)