Dad's Awakening

Dear Baby,

In the winter sometimes it is impossible to get your father to do anything other than sleep. Unless he has something pressing going on, he could sleep until noon and then later have an afternoon nap. In terms of leisure activities, I have to really push, and am met with many “…just ten more minutes…” which actually means, “…just two more hours...” Once I do manage to get him up, it is a slow process of actually getting him awake. If I’m not careful and I am distracted for the slightest second, I will find him back in bed hiding from me.

However, spring is another story entirely. The rare Tony Bear wakes from hibernation ready for action. Something inside him clicks, and every single day he is up like a light—almost as early as me—and immediately as busy as a bee for as many hours as he has daylight. I don’t think he even thinks; he just goes. He doesn’t take breaks, he doesn’t spread it out, and he barely speaks while in action.

Usually I oblige Dad and his spring insanity. I am rather fond of spring chores myself, as it’s a way to get exercise and be outside without actually “exercising.” However, even before I was pregnant with you, I couldn’t keep pace with your father’s level of intensity. I need things like lunch, and breaks, and to sit down once in a while. And now, being pregnant with you, I can do even less, so Dad had to bear the brunt of the spring chore burden. Bear it he did. I don’t think he even noticed I wasn’t there. It made me feel slightly useless and unneeded, but by God, we have a beautiful yard.

Your father took a vacation day on Friday and after our doctor appointment he went to town. Since he loves bullet points so much, I will do him the honor…

Friday:

·        Purchased no less than sixty bags of mulch (and drove about 15 MPH home because the bags were piled much higher than the height of his truck bed).

·        Laid all of the mulch, while Eli cut the grass and weed-whacked (this would have taken me at least 3 weekends to accomplish).

·        Somehow still had energy to fire up the grill and make us all dinner. In fact, this was his idea.

Saturday:

·        Home Depot first thing in the morning. Takes forever because it is Home Depot on a Saturday morning.

·        Plants flowers, then pressure washes the entire house, back stairwell, front deck, steps, brick walkway, and anything else that shows signs of needing pressure washing. Or anything that doesn’t.

·        At 8PM, I hear silence and find The Bear passed out on the basement couch.

Sunday

·        Fills his truck with two cubic yards of dirt at a garden center, which he secures with his camo tarp.

·        Plants more flowers, spreads dirt, spreads grass seed, and lays a mesh tarp over the top. Still has energy to wash his pickup, pressure wash a spot on the house that he missed, and water all plants. Uncle Eli is very helpful today as well.

·        Comes inside…and naturally proceeds to do laundry. IN-sane. But I can’t complain.

Baby, I’m sure you are familiar now with your father’s “springsanity,” but I feel like he was extra crazy this year because we have so much to do to prepare for you. He literally hasn’t wasted a minute of any of his free time, and it’s because he knows you’re coming and coming fast. He dedicated one extremely full weekend of his time to the yard so that almost every other weekend can be dedicated to preparation for you. Your dad is crazy, but without him, I would accomplish about 27% of what I want to before you arrive. Remember as you grow that sometimes there is a method to his madness (and remember that there is always a method to mine).

Love,

Mom

Look how happy Dad is to be at his grill.
I think the pure joy from the first warm weekend in a very long time is canceling out any exhaustion from spring chores.

I love this picture.
Dad and Uncle Eli are doing the "Grandpa Steve Peacock"
Whenever Grandpa Steve accomplishes something he is proud of, he will walk around with this sort of gait, fishing for kudos. Dad was especially proud of his pressure washing job, so he busted out the peacock. Uncle E does a pretty good peacock himself.

Sunday chores, spreading the dirt, and Dad's famous camo tarp.
Thank God we have the truck instead of the Mercedes (Dad's former vehicle).

Finishing up on Sunday. Uncle Eli worked all day on Sunday with your father. I probably didn't give him enough credit in this post. He definitely contributed more than I would have even at full capacity.