You Asked For It
by Valerie Nusbaum
Spring is finally here! During our long, hard winter, I must have heard the phrase, “I can’t wait until spring” at least a thousand times. As my old friend Jay would have said, “Well, here it is—spring….” You asked for it my friends, so don’t come crying to me when you’re sick of doing yard work or when the robins and doves use your clean car as their personal bathrooms. When your allergies kick in and your back is killing you, I don’t want to hear about it.
This is a beautiful time of year. I’ll give you that. The blooming trees and sprouting bulbs are gorgeous; their bright colors are a pleasant change from all of the white stuff we have seen. It’s comforting to know that our trees will soon be filled with leaves again—the neighbors won’t be able to look in our windows and see all the weird stuff we’re doing.
It’s not that I don’t recognize the beauty and appreciate the spring season, but, I confess, I’m one of the few people who actually likes winter. As a menopausal woman, it’s so nice to not be hot. Granted, I don’t like freezing or having dry, itchy skin, but I do enjoy picking up a glass that isn’t sweating. When January rolls around, and the Christmas stuff is cleaned up and put away, I find it relaxing to watch the snow fall. There’s a certain peacefulness and serenity. That is, until the phone rings and my in-laws’ pipes have frozen or my mother’s oil line won’t work.
Spring always makes me tired. The aforementioned yard work is never-ending, at least until fall rolls around again. And don’t get me started on the home-improvement projects.
Randy and I are redecorating our guest room. I did my part early on in the project by going to Home Depot, picking out the paint, buying it, and bringing it home. Randy did almost all of the painting, but I helped him out a bit by painting the closet doors and two wall racks. I also went along with my hubby to pick out the new floor covering, and I offered him a cold drink while he ripped up the old carpet and disposed of it. He’s been busy installing the new floor, and we’ve both been looking for furniture options. I’m exhausted. This project has been in the planning stages for several years, but you know how it goes. Something else always comes up.
We’ve promised my mother that we’ll help remodel her kitchen; and, just the other day, I offered to help my mother-in-law clean out her attic. We’ll have to do those projects before summer gets here, because neither house is as tundra-like as ours and I don’t like to sweat. There’s so much to do. It must be spring.
Randy doesn’t plant a vegetable garden any more, but I usually start some tomato plants from seeds, and we tend to those all spring and summer. Those darned things are so temperamental. It would be easier to go out and buy a couple of plants, but my objective here isn’t to have fresh tomatoes. It’s to keep my father’s legacy alive. Dad painstakingly bred and grafted those original tomato plants years ago, and I’ve kept them going ever since he passed away.
These days, most of the flowers at our home are perennials. I figured out that it was too much work to replant all the flower beds year after year. We’ll probably add in some impatiens since they’re pretty and not much work. Randy and I are gradually paring down our trees and shrubs, too. I’m all about making life easier.
At least half of my spring cleaning is finished. I’ve been washing windows and curtains, wiping down walls and ceilings, cleaning light fixtures, and scouring all the nooks and crannies. We don’t have much carpet in our house, but the rugs and upholstery are getting cleaned, and the blankets and bedspreads will be changed. Turning and flipping mattresses is a job for Randy, and he reaches all the high stuff for me. The poor man never knows what he’ll find torn up when he comes home from work. Drawers and closets are being sorted and reorganized, and I’m finding stuff that I never knew we had. Things are being donated and given away left and right. Randy will do the outsides of the windows, and we’ll wash down the siding on the house and the porches and doors together. We’ve been cleaning out the basement, too. No wonder I’m so tired!
I think I’ll make some lemonade, sit on the porch, and watch the yard sales down the street. Yes, it surely is spring.
