Finding Joy in Snarkville

I’m not sure anyone is unaware that one of the greatest hates of Frankenhouse was its overgrown yard.  It appears that the owners thought if a little green was good — a LOT was so much better.  There were a metric ton of plants in the yard (most of them rose bushes) and everything grew BIG.  I hated it.  I much prefer clean open spaces in my landscaping (my desk is a whole ‘nother story).  I like to SEE the individual plants.  I like knowing what is a weed and what is a plant.  Simple is my motto.

(On a sidenote:  I ought to mention that Frankenhouse is on the market.  It is horribly overpriced and already had one price drop.  In prepping the house to sell, the owners ripped up much landscaping; painted the front door; and painted the walls inside; and finally put the inserts in the cabinet doors that hadn’t been there when we rented so many years ago.)

So, when we looked at homes here, we basically had reactions to Frankenhouse.  We wanted larger (enough room for our stuff).  We wanted AC (because really — Frankenhouse gets 100 degree days — here not so many and people have AC here).  We wanted a real yard with grass (Duke told his kindergarten teacher about the new house and the ONLY thing he noted was the grass).  We wanted a usable kitchen (One of my friends once picked a house out because of the counter tops — I think she or her husband laid down on them when measuring them — I totally see their point).  We wanted a non-overgrown yard.

Um, we got it.  In fact, it appears that to the opposite of the Frankenpeople (great name for owners of Frankenhouse); the previous owners (we shall call them the Hermits*) thought that bushes of evergreens was all that was needed.  Not pretty evergreens mind you — the kind that are dead inside and only green on the outside.  There are about 6 that are currently marked for death.

A few days ago, we learned of a sale of my favorite shrub (hydrangeas) at the garden center.  So, we decided to re-do ONE bed of plants.  This bed only had one of the evergreens and a few smaller plants and a TON of weeds.  I weeded and pulled all the ugly small plants.  Prince was to dig up the evergreen and plant the bushes.  He stuck his shovel in the ground and promptly BROKE our shovel.  There was cussing and running to post the photo on Facebook.  Prince goes to buy a new shovel.

He continues to try to remove this evergreen thing.  He BENDS this shovel in the process.  More cussing.  I start to giggle.  He threatens me with the bent shovel — which was far funnier than it looks in print.  Finally, with the aid of clippers we get this plant out of our yard.  The sun shone.  The birds sung.  There were happy chipmunks and squirrels knitting dresses for me — it was a moment.  Up until Prince began to dig the hole for my new shrubs.

Prince: “Wow, I was under the mistaken impression that there was DIRT in these beds.”

Me: “Really, is it all mulch or bad dirt — should I go pick-up some top soil or something.” (See me, being helpful and apparently stupid.)

Prince: “No — there’s nothing but ROOTS in these beds.”

I’m guessing why those ugly evergreens stayed.

Next call — a landscaper for ugly shrub removal AND stump grinding.

*We will call them the Hermits, because as I’m meeting my neighbors, I’m learning that despite living her for 25+ years — no one knew them.  How that is possible baffles me.

I know it has been a hugely long time since I blogged — let me bring you up to speed (in case anyone still reads).

1. I’ve driven nearly 3000 miles — many of those included a screaming cat in the car.
2. I’ve lived in hotels for nearly 3 weeks.
3. Have witnesses the packing (and mostly unpacking) of 200+ boxes.
4. I went from being the new kid in the neighborhood to the welcoming others who are newer — of course, I welcome them with brownies.
5. I’ve had house guests for the first time in YEARS.
6. I’ve toured the yarn stores, attended knit nights, found my people, and thought about picking up my needles again. (They were set aside for the needed unpacking part.)
7. I’ve appeared on stage again after more years than I can count — it was everything I remembered it to be.  Adding to the checklist to do that again.
8. I found a church to attend in near record time.
9. I took a trip underground.
10. I survived 24 hours with no phone or internet.  I know, I was shocked too.
11. I found home.

Perhaps the last is the most impressive.  I do love it here in my new home.  This is despite the fact that the locals seem to get great joy out of reminding me that it does snow here and I might like it now, but I haven’t seen winter yet.  But I do love it here.  I hope Prince feels the same way I do, because I’m not really joking anymore that I’m not leaving for while.

But this all has nothing to do with last night.  You see last night, I got a call from my old yarn shop during their knit night — they set-up a video feed and I got to hang with my peeps.  Now, they know that they were what made our time in the Snark State better for me.  They know that I hold them in my heart with a level of awesome that we don’t hold for much of those years.  Heck, even Prince knows that my ‘peeps’ were the best thing for us out there.  They gave me friends and an outlet — heck, there is a group of people that attempted to understand me and my weird ways.  They gave my son a girlfriend that I hope he will know for the rest of his life.  He misses her too and asks about her (He kept her little plastic ring with his special things, like rocks.)  When I unpacked my yarn, I thought of my friends — most of whom helped me pick it out, teased me about my stash, and encouraged me to do better.

I have a lot to be thankful for my friends back there.  The thing I’m most thankful for is that they still love me.  They still include me, even if it has to be from afar.  And they need to know that they made my night.  I stayed up way past my bedtime and I wouldn’t change it.  (Though, next time I think I want a tour of the new yarns there.)  Maybe this will usher in a new era in knitting groups.  We are a more mobile society than ever before — and to have cyber moments like this was truly connecting.

It is thanks to this group that I was looking for my next group.  LLK people, you’d love this group too.  They are just like us and we them.  And that was refreshing.

So, here’s to more cyber knit nights.  I miss you so much.