Stop and Smell the Roses
I thought this post was going to be about my awesome Craigslist find this week. I had it almost entirely written in my head and was just waiting for a moment to be able to sit down and write the post. I was also waiting for a moment when the sun was out and my house was clean to take a picture of my great score. Those two things, the sun and the clean house, almost never happen simultaneously.
When I arrived home today, I planned to clean my house so that I could take the required pictures, but it was such a glorious day, 65 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly cloudy with a light breeze. This is my idea of perfection. It has rained frequently in the past month, and we were also away the past couple of weekends. I have had little time to work in the garden, let alone be outside at all, so I decided to take the opportunity.
Things started off well with me working hard. My tulip foliage has all turned brown, so I cut them and pruned some plants. After several minutes, however, I just sat down. Every once in a while I would reach over and pluck a weed from the bed, but for the most part I just sat there contemplating my yard and thinking about my life.
I realized that I am exhausted, physically and mentally burnt out. I have been going like a freight train for the past several months and had not had time to just sit and do nothing for a long time. The truth is that I like to be busy; even when nothing is pressing, I usually keep myself occupied. When I have free time I get on the computer, I read, I start projects, I get together with friends. Rarely do I sit and do nothing. Yesterday, I sat in the yard for a good hour smelling the roses and thinking about life. I really needed that time. It felt great to be outside connected to nature; I need to do it more.
My life is great. The things that have been keeping me busy are all worthwhile. It is not as if I want to stop doing any of the things that keep me from sitting and doing nothing. I have been traveling. While I do not like to travel, I know no one ever expects me to say that, I do love to be in different places. That means that traveling is the price that I pay to visit family and see the world. I love spending time with my family, you can check out pictures of us in the photo booth if you have any doubts about that, but that means often sacrificing my weekends to visit them.
I love my house, and it makes me happy to work on home improvements. My projects at the Cape of Dreams are a labor of love, and I relish transforming this little space into a home for Douglas, Kahlua, Crème and myself. As exhausting as it can be to come home from a long day at work and start another project, it is not something that I am going to give up any time soon.
My job is also demanding. I love teaching, but the profession requires long hours and late nights grading. It means giving up free periods to meet with students and going hours without getting a bathroom break. I put careful thought into lesson planning, creating new activities that I hope will engage my students in the subject. I worry about the students that are not doing as well as they or I would like and come up with strategies to help them. I give extra time to go to my students games, when I am not coaching, and time at their track meets. I attend plays and concerts in the evenings and on weekends to celebrate their achievements. I attend tedious meetings that seem to go on forever, spend hours every day answering emails, have “lunch duty” and proctor study halls. The latter duties are the less rewarding aspects of teaching.
My students are amazing people, but they range in age from ten to eighteen. We all know how self-centered children are at those ages, so my efforts are rarely acknowledged by them. However, there are moments when one of them will come back to tell me that he/she appreciates me, and those are the moments that make it all worth while. On Wednesday, one of those moments occurred. It was the last day of school, and I was in my classroom when one of my students stopped by. Some of students had come by that morning to find out what their final grades were, but he is a stellar student who rarely earns anything less than an A, so I asked him what he needed. He told me that he just wanted me to know how much he enjoyed my class and that he had a lot of fun this year. I am tearing up just thinking about it. Rarely are ninth-grade boys that thoughtful, but that is why I teach. Because every once in a while someone comes back and tells me that I made a difference in their life. How lucky am I to be able to know that?
So, as I sat there in the grass realizing how exhausted I was, I also knew in my heart that I am grateful to be so blessed. I appreciate my family, my husband and animals, my home, my job and my students. I need to take more time to sit in the grass and smell the roses. This is my meditation.
Therefore, the post about my awesome Craigslist find will have to wait for next week. In the meantime, I hope you take a moment to sit and smell the roses. I wish I could send you the smell of mine with this post. Have a great weekend.
I am also linking up to Tootsie Time again. Go there to see lots of beautiful gardens.
Happy Homemaking!
I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com
Was a privilege to read and view your roses! Wow!
Thank you Theodore. The wonderful thing about roses is that they require very little care to look great. I simply deadhead them after they bloom, and they do the rest.
Glad you had time to sit back, relax, and enjoy all that you’ve done. You deserve the time, and have lots to appreciate due to all the hard and caring work you have put in. You’ve made a beautiful home, and garden, you take good care of me and the girls, and you truly make a difference in your students lives…
I could not do half of what I do without you. You are the one who keeps me glued together.
Hmmmm, I thought I was the one that caused you to come unglued… 🙂
Only sometimes my dear.
Awww, I loved reading about your teaching. My parents always backed up our teachers (at least to us kids, I found out when I was past grown they had a few concerned conversations with our teachers) and my Mom always instilled respect and admiration for how hard teachers work.
I remember so fondly some of my teachers. In the 12th grade a senior thesis was required. I got so excited and wrapped up and in depth researching my poem, “La Belle Dame sans Merci” by John Keats, I couldn’t get past the outline and finish my paper. My English teacher still gave me an A and I was so appreciative. Especially considering that I worked almost as hard in chemistry and nearly flunked out. Now that I am 60 y/o, I wonder if I could track any down to write thank you notes??
The internet has made it a lot easier to find people. I do know that they would really appreciate hearing from you even after all these years. I get so excited when I hear from former students. I used to teach in Illinois and now I live in NY. A couple of my students from Illinois have looked me up while visiting NY, and we have had lunch. It was great to see them again.
Thank you for sharing these stunning photos! I’m glad to know that you took a well deserved rest ~ Reading this post I’m in awe of your commitment and dedication to your students. You are one amazing lady.
Plus ~ I think you deserve an award for putting up with Doug’s shenanigans.
You are correct! Where do you think they hand out those awards?
You never know how your actions affect others. This is a lovely garden. I can’t wait for winter to be over here in New Zealand.
You are correct. Your profile picture is beautiful! I love that multi-colored rose. Winter is good because it teaches us to appreciate the spring. 🙂
Goodness, hasn’t your property “woken up” since March, when I last visited it. Your roses look so much happier than mine. I can *almost* catch their fragrance through the computer screen!
I guess I have good conditions for roses. I planted the yellow bush in the back, and they are doing well. The pink roses in the front are a miracle. When I moved in there were only two small azalea bushes in the front bed. Then, a year later I noticed these plants coming up that looked like they had rose bush leaves. They were in a clump, and I dug them up and spread them around the bed. Now, two years later they are quite tall and producing enormous roses. I am not quite sure where they came from, but I love them!
There is nothing as wonderful as a “freebie” coming up in the garden! From what I know of roses, yours may have died back all the way to the ground as the result of some sort of localized trauma. Roses are actually really tough creatures (like their cousins apple trees and raspberry bushes). They might get black spot or some other “unsightly” disease, but they are difficult to outright kill, and can live for a century or more.
Yay for roses! Tough and beautiful like a good woman.
Glad you took the time out!…Overdoing it, makes things much less joyous…taking time to meditate and appreciate is really important.
E.g. My dad popped round the other day and was shouting at me from 10 ft away to come open the gate, I was miles away watching the husband mow the lawn, I was totally mesmerised…thinking he was generally awesome…of course my dad told him and he was all billy big britches for a bit, but it was important to just sit and appreciate, as we do bicker doing this mammoth DIY project as it is stressful!
That is a sweet story, and you are right about home renovations being stressful. I hope that you will be able to relax some over the summer and enjoy the good weather… and your husband who mows the lawn. 😉