{pretty, happy, funny, real}

This week has been pretty rough with going back to work and having to leave Juniper.  I won't go into my diatribe on how it is no good the way our modern economic system pretty much requires you to be a double-income family, or how ridiculous it is that we do not have year-long maternity leave in this country, but know that each of those things are both no good and ridiculous.  Instead I offer you:

{pretty}

The hummingbird mint is doing so well in the garden, and has managed (unlike some of its other plant friends, ahem) to not become a midnight snack for the deer

{happy}

I went back to work this week, which was decidedly not happy, but this picture is from Monday, the day before I went back to work, so it is happy

{funny}

The best part about the floor bed is seeing all the interesting positions Juniper gets herself into.  Why use the full expanse of the bed when you can snuggle with the wall?  

Here, Juniper offers her explanation on the wonders of wall-snuggling.  Well, you see...

{real}

The deer in our neighborhood have spread the word that our yard offers up an excellent salad bar.  I woke up the other night and could smell basil so intensely, so intensely I tell you, that I made Daniel get up to check and see if the deer were nibbling on the basil growing on our deck (Daniel: "Margaret, the deer didn't come up on the deck. We would have heard their hooves." Margaret: "But all I smell is basil, BASIL")   Nope, basil was all fine, the mint on the side of the house, on the other hand, was being enjoyed by Bambi's mom.  She also enjoyed some baby lacinato kale.    I wonder if she needed to cleanse her palate after the kale or before? I also obviously really need to learn the difference in scent between mint and basil.  Sigh.  

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

A blog I've read for awhile now does a Thursday linkup, and this week I thought I'd join in, mostly because I'd like to include the non-doctor related aspects of our life too.  Here goes:

{pretty}

We got a lot of gardening done last week, and then we've had a lot of rain (for us here) so my plants are  happy (and pretty).  I will not, however, show you the ones that the tiny fawn promptly snacked on the day after we planted them- those are decidedly not pretty.  I guess the baby didn't understand that spirea and sage are 'deer resistant.'

Kale and swiss chard seedlings.  I stupidly did not plant a vegetable garden this spring, so I'm hoping we can get a small fall harvest.  

{happy}

I started cooking again!  Daniel has taken on the majority of the chef-ing in our house since I had Juniper, and I have to say I really don't know how women with husbands who don't cook manage in those first few weeks.  But, it had gotten to the point where I was just out of my cooking groove and I really just needed to get over it.  My favorite tomato and basil salad that my grandad made every summer.  Last night I even made a full meal and the sky didn't fall!  Huzzah!

Sadly, these tomatoes are not from my garden, but were delicious heirlooms from the farmers' market.  Basil was , however, from our garden

{funny}

I got the bumbo potty seat this week, and it's a big hit.  I'm not a fan of the regular bumbo seats for babies, but for little EC babies this seat is awesome.  Daniel just laughs every time she's on it.  Photos do not do the hilarity justice.  

{real}

We found out after  our hour long drive and arriving at therapy that our appointment on Monday was cancelled.  

We improvised and did Juniper's massage on the table outside.  Waiting around for three hours until her next doctor's appointment wasn't super-fun, but we're done with 3 x weekly therapy appointments now so we got over it pretty quickly.  

This is actually a pretty good shot of me doing the massage on J's thigh right after we took her bandage off

So, that was pretty much our week.  I had a meeting on campus yesterday which was definitely a reality check that going back to work is coming up soon.  I should probably start prepping....