Please Don't Show My Uncles

I literally have spent every available moment of daylight I've had for three straight days weeding.

Though this isn't the most fun I've ever had in my life, I do find weeding incredibly cathartic. Uprooting all the unwanted sprouts that shoot up and ruin our perfect picture kind of puts my mind at ease. However, it is really hard work.

I'm sure the fact that I worked for three days -- and this was just on the bed in the front and side of my house -- tells you something about how bad the weeds had gotten. Which makes me feel awful.

You see, the beds were a gift. Not the land itself. That obviously came with the mortgage. But the plants, and the labor that went into changing the difficult little strips of grass into a beautiful flower bed, were a gift from my Uncles Keith and Pat.

Last year, they visited for a Fourth of July family reunion spectacular, which was also an early surprise birthday party for Mommy. My uncles didn't come without a surprise for me, too, though.

Everyone had really been pulling for me to buy a house. I'd wanted to for years, and it was quite a struggle getting to the point where I could (I'll tell that story another time). So, upon arriving, they indulged me as I gave the tour of my brand-new first-home-ever. They oohed and ahhed in all the right places and nodded and added tips as I talked about what I hoped to do. Thinking back, and knowing Uncle Pat, I bet he was just a flurry inside the whole time, impatient to show me what was waiting outside.

They took me out to where their car was parked at the curb, to give me my housewarming gift. I couldn't imagine what it could be until they opened the trunk.

The entire thing was filled with plants.

As if that wasn't the dearest thing I've ever seen, Uncles Keith and Pat proceeded to spend hours -- of their vacation, mind you -- digging up the strips of grass, and building me my first-ever flower beds. And before I knew it, as many members of my family that would fit in those beds were clomping grass tufts together to shake the dirt off, laughing, shouting and having fun.

And Uncle Pat was spectacular in all his gardening glory.

The old adage about many hands -- well, in my family, it doesn't make light work. It makes a party. We have fun together, no matter what we're doing. And it very seldom is sitting still.

So, it was with shock, horror and a fair amount of embarrassment that I realized Monday I had a significant amount of work to do before I could give my beds, in which the hostas from Uncles are thriving, a bit of color in the form of Marigolds from Weesies. I hadn't been honoring the present I'd been given.

Three days later, the beds are weeded, the Marigolds are planted and my gift -- one of the very best I've ever received -- is looking absolutely lovely. And I'm feeling like a much more deserving niece.

A tip from Mommy on weeding: (Mommy hates weeding, so she tries to make it as quick and painless as possible.)
WATER FIRST. The weeds practically jump out into your hand.

Also, it's nearly impossible to just pull some weeds. A lot of them will just break right off, so use a trowel -- you know, the little shovel thing -- to loosen them up first. It makes a world of difference.