Working Girl

This is the time of year when I go into overdrive. It seems like May has become the new December, if that makes sense. If you are a mom, you know what I am saying. December is busy and crazy and jam packed with obligations, holiday parties, shopping, baking, gift wrapping. May is the spring holiday season. End of the year school wrap up, exams, prom, graduation, graduation parties, all end of the year school assemblies, honor awards nights, sports awards nights, lots and lots of clubs, teams and schools all needing money, donations, drop offs. I had a few out of the ordinary things thrown in this month and now that the month is coming to an end, a busy end, my head is still spinning.

Getting the necessary end of the year obligations over with leaves me feeling behind on all of the outside work I like to be busy with at this time of year. For the first year, ever, we have hired landscapers to do all of the mulching, mulch prep work, weeding and fertilizing. The job seems to get bigger, every year, and we seem to have less and less time, each year. Currently, there is a mountain of mulch in the drive that rivals Mt. Rushmore. I am just happy that it doesn't need Mr. Man and me to distribute it all.

In my ever changing moods, it seems like the more time I have now that I am no longer the Secretary of Transportaion, finds me with less time to get things done. I am not sure how that works out. I do think that it is because I end up volunteering for outside fundraisers and the like that take me away from home. After this weekend, my plan is to try to remain, at home, focused, and working like a machine.

I am going to stain the whole deck, front and back and all of the stairs. I used to do this job and it looks nice when I do it and lasts quite a few years. The past couple of times we have hired it out and it lasts all of six months. What is up with that? Well, I will tell you...I do it the old school way with the stain and a brush and take my time. The people we hire use a sprayer that leaves a flimsy coat on that immediately starts to peel. Not to mention the fact that they also spray the windows, the deck furniture and anything else that takes a second to move out of the way. Mr. Man and I have always been along the lines of do it yourself kind of people. We get the job done and we get it done right. Hey, maybe once I am done and tally up the money saved in labor, I will take myself on a major shoe shopping spree!!! I can kick back and admire a good job, well done, in some spectacular new heels.

I am cursed with a good work ethic. Well, it's my kind of work ethic even if Mr. Man sometimes thinks it's the work ethic of a crazy person. My grandfather was a do it yourself, Mr. Fix-it, all work from sun up to sun down. I got to be his sidekick for many years. We painted, we hammered, we cleaned, we organized, we weeded, we hauled things. I carry that with me, today. In our household, there is no such thing as guy jobs and girl jobs. For one, Mr. Man is rarely home due to the nature of our business. If I waited for him to get home to do the guy jobs, well, things would be in a sad state of affairs. I take tools and fix things, I paint, I stain, I mow, I take trash out, I weed, I dangle from high places on ladders to work at things on the house. I am a full function girl/guy worker!! I take it all in stride and just do the jobs. I realize that it's easy since I am a SAHM but I am just one that jumps in and gets it all done.

So, right now, I have a staining project, I need to plant all of my herbs, I need to pot flowers for the front porch, need to buy all of the hanging ferns for the front porch and I am tossing around building my own raised veggie garden.

May is almost over and I need to get on track. This is when I put on my working girl clothes and revisit my grandfather's sun up to sun down work strategy. It's spring....Merry Christmas, er, May!! It's basically just as busy, just no gifts waiting for you.