Good, Bad and Really Bad

As spring draws nearer, I feel hope and dread about my yard. I just started planting things last year, and I get to see how the perennial portion of that planting fared. I don't know much about winterizing plants, and I really didn't do anything special to any of them. I planned on asking the neighbors for their decorative bale of straw at the end of fall, but I never got around to it. Then a big windstorm wreaked havoc on that bale of straw, and it disappeared into nothingness. So I opted to let the plants fend for themselves.

I pruned and cut back plants that needed it, like the roses and hydrangeas a couple weeks ago. They look ok and have buds and green stems, so I hope they do well this year. I've never planted anything like this before. Shoot, I haven't really planted anything since I had my parents watching over me. This is a big experiment for me, hopefully a successful one.

There are signs of life all over the yard. The daylilies are green. The daffodils are sprouting up, probably getting ready to bloom while I'm gone to Nebraska. It's not exactly pretty right now, but it's enough to make me happy that something is going to make it through the winter.

The only things that don't look good are what used to be the hostas. There's a bunch of grassy looking stuff where the one is, and a brown clump that used to be the other. People grow hostas around here like weeds. Why I couldn't make those happen is beyond me.

The greater mystery to me is how bamboo can survive here. I have a very large patch of it growing on the back hill, and it stayed green all winter long. I always thought it was a warmer weather plant (It was abundant on tropical Guam where we lived), so I was surprised to see it growing here. I chalk this one up to ignorance about bamboo plants. It sure looks beautiful up there without all the other weeds and stuff that infest the area in the summer.

So that's the good news. Spring is slowly creeping its way into western Pennsylvania, and I couldn't be happier. It does amazing things for my disposition to be able to get outside and not freeze to death. I just have to make sure I keep the gardening project as stress-free as possible and not let it become another addition to my long list of unfinished projects.

I created a new burden on myself this weekend when I backed into a very low fence with a long piece of wood sticking out of it that wasn't visible through the back window of the truck. I have no way of explaining how sick I am over this. John is none too pleased about it either, but he was kind enough not to get angry. I think he understands I am suffering over this far more than he could ever put upon me. This truck is my baby. I know it's a dirty mess at the moment, but it's been rainy and mucky out until yesterday. Now I have to take it in for an estimate on the damage. I know it's not going to be cheap, and we probably won't want to put it on our insurance, but we have thousands in taxes to pay. Why did I have to back up? Why? Oh yeah, I had to.

Even worse than that though is my son's confession that his recent bad attitude and sadness Is to be attributed to his being bullied at school. The bully is a boy that Hammy has invited to his birthday party, though it doesn't come as a complete surprise to me. The boy has always been difficult. It was under great pressure that Hammy finally spilled his story and some of the shocking details of it. It seems things were said about our family looking at one another naked and sleeping with each other, so it's not just a little harmless teasing. It took me nearly an hour just to get those two pieces of information from him. I have a strong suspicion there was more, and that the statements weren't said so nicely, but Hammy was far too embarrassed to share any more. We finished up with minor details of when, where, how long and other circumstances. I came to find out he's been suffering this for two weeks with only a friend getting the same treatment to confide in, until now. It's no surprise he's been so hard to deal with lately.

So today began the official process of taking care of this problem. I called the teacher and left a message. He called me back in the afternoon with very little time to talk, but he wanted to make sure I knew he got the message. I gave him a quick overview of the whole situation at which he too displayed a deep disturbance. He said he would call me later with more details but talked with Hammy, Hammy's friend and the principal in the meantime. When Ham came home, he said he met with the teacher and principal, as did his friend. A more in-depth investigation (that sounds so criminal) will begin tomorrow. Hammy seems relieved. Now I'm the nervous one.

At this point, it's just a matter of waiting to see what happens. I'm not patient about these kinds of things, and I worry about the fallout. I casually know the mother of the bully. She's active in the PTA and always helped out at school parties. People like her. So I'm just waiting for the phone calls to begin and the rumors to spread, because I'm not one of the "in" crowd. It's a hassle for which I'm preparing just in case but will gladly confront rather than sit quietly and allow my son to be humiliated. I have faith in Hammy, the teacher and the principal, and that's really all I need at this point.

While I wait to see where this ride will take me, I'm trying not to eat everything in sight. There's nothing like stress to send me into a feeding frenzy. Later, I'll run and do my strength training that I said I'd do yesterday and didn't because I was hobbling around too much. The exercise should help the tension. I think it's a yoga night all the way.