I spent most of the week outside working in the back yard. I have no idea how many dozens of gallons of Roundup I sprayed on the shrub beds and the trails. I also weeded like crazy and planted and moved a few trees. I was sad to see that one of my beautiful Vulcan Magnolia trees had died and did not produce a bunch of bright pink blossoms like its 2 brothers did. Of course I had to find a replacement for that beautiful tree to fill the spot in the yard where the bright blossoms were sorely missed this year. It looks like everything else survived our insane winter very well, though. I also had to plant a couple of magnolia trees near our bridge. It just had to happen. Maybe right now it doesn't look like much, but in 5 years, it is going to be amazing.
In springtime I love the blossoms. The ones that make me super happy are first the forsythia in late February, telling me to not give up hope that spring is on its way. Second, it is the magnolias with their huge cup-and-saucer blossoms and bright colors. Last summer we planed 3 Butterflies magnolias behind our neighbor's house. Butterflies has a super bright-yellow blossom. And our neighbor just kicked stage 4 colon cancer's butt, so we planted those trees during his cancer battle to show off bright yellow LIVESTRONG blossoms every spring. Those trees are just now starting to bloom, and it makes me happy. The third type of blossom that makes me happy in spring is the dogwood. Maybe this is my favorite. Only 4 petals, but seriously it is such a beautiful flower. I told Mark if we ever get married again it has to be while the dogwood trees are in bloom so I can have dogwood blossoms. My wedding flowers were...hideous. I didn't really care at the time. I was just a kid. I just cared about having real roses in my headpiece and didn't really stop to think that perhaps I should have matching flowers in my bouquet. Whatever. Really, my sleeves were so puffy that I am sure nobody even noticed my bouquet anyway.
I have finished my jobs for the week, and now the wheelbarrow, sprayer backpack and shovel are put away for the weekend, but there is still much weeding to be done. And spraying. And then bark dust. The kids are so happy that we have a giant yard to work in.....
After running 10 miles last Saturday, I took this week as an easy week and had planned to run only 6 miles today. I found out about a 10k that was going on this morning, and decided to register for it to test my 10k speed. I was so happy to see when I got there that 2 of my sisters-in-law had also registered. I ran the race with Ellen, but in the last 1/2 mile she pulled out an 8 minute-per-mile pace and beat me by a few seconds. We placed 1st and 2nd in our age group, though! Overall I ran a 57:42, which made me pretty happy considering everything my knees have been through in the past year. Ogden 1/2 marathon is 5 weeks away, and then Seattle 1/2 is 10 weeks away. I am hoping that by the time Seattle rolls around I can run a 9:00 pace and come in under 2 hours. Ogden I am just hoping to survive with a 10:00 pace. I hope that my legs and knee continue to be pain-free, and hopefully I can keep getting my butt out the door to run every morning.
The big news this week is that Abram heard back from BYU about scholarships. He will be at BYU in the fall, and was able to get a bed in the one brand-new dorm building he wanted. If that wasn't great enough, we found out this week that BYU is paying Abram's tuition!!! Hooray for Abram and his big brain.
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