You got 16 tons and what do ya get...

Well, life is moving on out here. We are learning how to do things with one man down. It is amazing how when you function as a team, you really take for granted how you divide household duties. I am having to do EVERYTHING and it can be a little overwhelming at times. Chris is back at work, and that seems to be going ok. He was really getting bored around here, so I think it is good for him to finally be allowed to go do something with his time. We got him a new mouse that he can operate as comfortably as possible, and it seems to be working. By the evenings however, he is pretty stiff, so he still uses the pain medication as he needs it.

One of the things that is really hard is that we have been planning all winter to gut our back yard. We have basically a blank slate back there. The guy who lived here before (who looks like Lt. Dan from Forrest Gump...the one post-Vietnam with a bandana and tatoos and stuff. Nice, huh?) had "2 Pits" (said with a country accent, and he means he had 2 pit bulls) so he had hauled in tons of sand, and penned off half the yard for a dog run. We took all that down, and today we had over 5 tons of top soil hauled in that I single-handedly (thank-you-very-much) distributed all over the yard. This just kills Chris because he REALLY wants to roll up his sleeves, dig in and help. Once I distributed a wheelbarrow-full, he was able to kick it around and lightly use a rake to distribute it so he did get to help some. Next step is to roto-till (sp?) the top soil into the ground to create a mixture, and then plant grass seed. We are kind of fighting nature out here. We basically live in the desert and it is rare to see a full beautiful lawn. I am going to give it a try darnit!!! Funny thing is, we made all these plans intending to do it together of course, and now I have to do it all by myself. I was pretty darn proud of myself when I distributed that last wheelbarrow-full of dirt. I am capable of doing more than I thought!! By the end of this, we hope to have grass all over the back yard, a more established veggie and herb garden (which Chris's hops plant that he put in last year has come back with a vengence. He is SO excited about that), a bulb garden, and a large spot for perennials. We will post pictures to show the progress! Above is what we (mostly I) worked on today.