Mr. Owl, a recent addition to my garden

If you follow my blogging with any regularity, you may have noticed that for the past two months or so, I have been rather, ahem, preoccupied with gardening ( and related, complimentary outdoor-improvement, DIY pursuits.)  Given that I have never really been into gardening as a hobby in any notable way in the past (or any actual hobby at all in a very, very long time)  this may seem slightly puzzling to readers, and also to people who actually know me in person.

But see, here’s the thing; I’ve been just as puzzled myself. What in the WORLD is up with my sudden compulsion to dig in the dirt?

After pondering the question, I think I’ve come up with an an answer (or two). And I figured it out while – you guessed it – working in my garden.

Recently, some of my Babble Voices compadres have been sharing lists of things people probably don’t know about them, and I’ve definitely enjoyed finding out things about my bloggy pals, like that time Tracey Gaughran-Perez got a full body hug from Bill Clinton. (Coincidentally, back in 1994, I had a very pleasant dream in which the exact same thing happened to me.)

So remember last week when I asked folks for feedback on the best type of paint and painting method to put some color on my wooden Adirondack chairs? Well, many of you were very, very helpful, and you made me feel like I could actually DO a project like that.

So I decided to do several projects! (And I actually haven’t gotten to the Adirondack chairs yet …)

I had intended to write an entirely different blog post here at Home/Work today, but then the news broke; legendary University of Tennessee Women’s Basketball Coach Pat Head Summitt announced her retirement this afternoon. At only age 59, and still heading up one of the most successful college sports programs in American history, Coach Summitt shouldn’t be retiring. Instead, she should be looking ahead to the next big win.

But you see, this former Olympian who has coached her own teams to an unbelievable 1098 victories and 8 NCAA titles has a pretty good reason to step down at what should be the height of her amazing career; Pat Summitt is suffering from early onset dementia – a type of Alzheimer’s Disease.

As I’ve mentioned again and again and AGAIN over the past year (I bet y’all are getting sick of reading about our kindergarten angst, and guess what? It’s over!), after much research and gnashing of teeth and scouring of budgets for extra $$$, Jon and I finally came to the conclusion a few months back the only reasonable option for us when it came to C starting kindergarten in the fall of 2012 would be a public elementary school.

Erma Bombeck at work....FOR PAY!

Earlier this week, I was chit chatting on Ye Olde Facebooke with a couple of friends of mine who also happen to blog right here at Babble Voices, as well as on their own personal blogs. These are women who –  just as I do myself – earn some, or in a few cases, all of their income as writers/bloggers.

That’s how we support our families.

Let me start out by saying that I am a longtime Alicia Silverstone fan. In fact, “Clueless” is one of my all-time favorite rom-coms, and if you’ve never seen an even younger AC in “The Crush,” you’re missing out. She nailed the role of a precociously creepy 14-year-old, dangerously obsessed with Farmhand Westley from “The Princess Bride.” And who can forget her star turn(s) in those classic 90s Aerosmith videos? Not me! That’s for sure.

Henry in Kathmandu

I find it hard to believe that the second anniversary of the start of Henry’s hospitalization (April 27) and death (May 31) are so close. Last year at this time I was really not doing very well. I was finding it pretty hard to function, actually.

In hindsight, I think that the 6-8 weeks leading up to the first anniversary of Henry’s death, and the weeks right afterward caused me the most intense, fundamental, indescribable, non-stop suffering I have ever felt in my life – so far, anyway.

My 4 year old niece NC at the Lincoln Memorial

I love Washington DC. Always have. During high school and college, I assumed I’d end up living there as an adult, working full time in politics. Didn’t work out that way (although maybe it still will at some point!)

Spring Break is officially upon us, and both of my big kids, J and E have fun things going on this vacay week.

J was lucky enough to be invited to join her lifelong bestie pal N’s family in their travel to a foreign beach locale, and I hear from N’s mama via text that the girls are (not surprisingly!) having an absolute blast.