Wow! I can’t believe spring is over. In a way, it feels like spring never happened – with the way the temperatures jumped up, it was as if we skipped over the season entirely and went straight from winter to summer. Not that I’m complaining. Spring is actually my least favorite season. Give me languid heat any day, especially over spring rains and sneezes. Anyway, even though it felt more like summer than spring, I put in some time working on my spring list and I’m pretty happy with how much I got done – especially after I’d barely accomplished anything by my mid-season check in. Here’s how the season ended up shaking out:
Enjoy my maternity leave and get in lots of snuggles and bonding with Nugget.This one is the easiest and the best, and I’m doing it every day. Nugget is a sweet, cuddly little guy and I am loving every moment he spends in my arms.
Take a spring hike at Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve.Done! We enjoyed seeing Reinstein Woods without a blanket of snow on the ground and had a great time exploring the trails with our favorite hiking buddies, Zan and Paul.
Plant a patio garden (herbs, tomatoes, beans and peas) with Peanut.Done! Peanut and I planted herbs, lettuces, tomatoes and strawberries in pots on our patio and we’ve been watering them together each day. As I expected she would, Peanut has been delighted with this activity, and it’s giving me a great opportunity to talk to her about nature and about our food. I’m so glad we are doing this!- Take a tour of the Roycroft campus in East Aurora.
Continue our family project of hiking in a different place each month.I’m glad to say we’ve kept up with this goal. In April, we hiked at Times Beach Nature Preserve; in May, we visited Darien Lakes State Park; and in June we explored Sprague Brook Park.- Take Nugget to the “Book Babies” program at our local library.
Start training for the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon (as soon as I’m cleared to exercise again)!Training is officially underway – my plan started on June 8th. I have a long way to go before I’ll be ready for this race, and I’m more than a little nervous about the work ahead of me. Expect to see plenty more marathon chatter over the next few months.
Organize my yarn stash and put together a usable craft closet.Done! I spent about an hour sorting and organizing and now I have a space that makes sense to me and is so much more inspiring than the jumble of tangled yarn and loose gift bags that were there before. In the bin (front left) is my fabric and sewing supplies; the cube bookcase holds my yarn (arranged in rainbow order because that’s how I roll) and on the floor on the right is my wrapping paper storage. On top of the cube bin I have two milk crates – one holds ribbons and embroidery floss, and the other holds writing paper and cards. Hanging on the bar are my project and notions bags, and the shelf, from left to right, holds overflow yarn storage, knitting needles (which I’m gradually transitioning from plastic to rosewood – much nicer to knit with) and bags of tissue paper and gift bags. I got rid of anything I don’t use or won’t finish, and now I’m motivated to actually use all of this stuff.Invite one of Peanut’s school friends over for a playdate.Done! One of Peanut’s little pals came over for a morning of playing followed by lunch. Peanut and her friend had a blast tearing the playroom apart and I enjoyed chatting with Peanut’s friend’s lovely mom.Paint the living room fireplace.Done! The ugly green painted faux marble had been grating on my nerves ever since we moved into the house, and after six months it was long past time to do something about it. I primed and painted it, light layer by light layer, over a few days and I like it so much better now. (I still want to replace the hideous gold fireplace door with something in a matte black, but just getting rid of the green detailing has made a huge difference.)
Not a bad spring! Being home on maternity leave has been wonderful – not only do I get to enjoy days on end filled with snuggling my little man, but I’ve been so much more motivated to get things done around the house – hence the home improvement projects and organized craft closet – than I was when I was working long hours and weekends and juggling a lawyer’s schedule with housework and a willful toddler. I’ll be back to reality eventually, but in the meantime I’m loving every second I get to be at home bonding with my little guy and just recharging my batteries after a long winter and an even longer pregnancy. Believe me, I know how good I have it! Coming up on Friday – my summer list, and plans to make this next season the best ever.
Did you make a spring list? How’d you do?
covered in flour 
That’s great that you were able to do so much! I love the patio garden idea – much easier than crawling around in the dirt with a regular vegetable garden. We have a couple tomato plants on our patio this year. That’s a good idea to do lettuce too – then maybe the rabbits won’t venture up there to get it. Happy almost summer!
So far, so good on the rabbits! They do get into our patio (it’s fenced, but they don’t care about that) but they’ve left the lettuce and the herbs alone – and the tomato and strawberry plants, too, actually, even though those are in smaller pots and they could reach them if they wanted to. I do want to do a bigger garden in boxes, maybe next year or the year after, but the pots are a good way to start. Hope your tomatoes are doing well! Mine aren’t, but I’m planning to thin them out a bit and see if that revives them. My lettuce is doing well and my mint is going INSANE.