I’m not interested in getting out of my gardening responsibilities anymore. In fact, gardening is surprisingly satisfying and fun. Eating veggies from the garden, sunburned though they sometimes are, is more tasty than grocery store fare. Maybe it’s because I care, or maybe they actually taste better, but I like them better.

The garden is in the spot where the swimming pool used to be. It’s surrounded by a wooden deck where the kids like to play tag. Between Dick and I, we’ve planted broccoli, radishes, carrots, lettuce, spinach, corn, sunflowers, strawberries, zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

How do I keep the kids from trampling the plants? I don’t, always, but Degen helped me come up with an idea one day that has worked pretty well. We picked a small part of the garden where there are no plants and put some little toys and small gardening tools there, and Maggie and Degen are allowed to dig and bury their stuff there. Degen calls it burying (and digging up) his treasures and he marks it with a big X. That keeps them from digging up and burying our plants. The only problem is keeping them from bringing mud in the house…

So, we go outside together nearly every day and water the garden and do a little weeding. The other day I found some of those green worms on my broccoli plants. I care enough about that broccoli that I actually pulled a few of those worms off the plants and threw them away (I still have enough memory of my childhood to avoid stepping on them).

Yesterday afternoonwe went to a play group organized by some ladies in my new ward.  I’ve never been to a swimming pool playgroup before, but apparently someone in the ward volunteered their backyard pool and once a week a bunch of women and their kids get together to go swimming!

I LOVE swimming.  Not that I do much actual swimming with two non-swimming toddlers in the pool with me, but I got to be in the water for a while and it was great.  I’ve never done any competitive swimming, except I once won a trophy in a water ballet competition when I was a teenager, and I’m not an impressively strong swimmer, but it just feels good to be light in the cool water and stretch my limbs as I move.

We almost didn’t make it to the play group.  There’s always a lot of uncertainty about whether I’ll feel well enough to go anywhere at any time, especially if I have to be the only adult in charge of both kids, so the whole outing was tentative in the first place.  As Colin left for work, he said “Go swimming at all costs!”  Sounds a little extreme, but it was strangely encouraging for me as I thought about it all day every time I came up with an excuse to not go.  By the time it was time to leave, I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to get everyone in the car and give it a try.

The official word was that the activity was to go from 2-4, and at 2:06 I had gotten me, the kids, three towels, three sets of swim suits and sandals, and two blow-up floating toys in the car.  As I drove away from the house, I realized that none of us had eaten in a couple of hours.  I didn’t want to have my kids asking the hostess for a snack, and I don’t do well when I get hungry, so I decided to drop by Taco Bell on my way to the pool.  Almost to Taco Bell, I realized that I’d forgotten to take my anti-nausea medicine at noon, and if I waited any longer I’d be in big trouble that evening.  So, we stopped at Taco Bell for a snack, then turned around to go back to the house for my medicine.  When I finally got us back on the road, it was 2:45, but I figured we could still get a good 45 minutes of swimming in even though we’d be late.

When we finally arrived at the correct house, I took the kids to the front door and let Degen ring the bell.  No answer.  I wondered if the party was over.  Luckily, I had the phone number of the woman who’d invited me and called her up on my cell phone that was nearly out of batteries (that reminds me, I need to charge my phone)–and she answered!  She said that it wasn’t too late to come, and that no one was in the house and to come around the side of the house and down to the pool.  Just then, another mom with a bunch of kids drove up and showed me where to go.

But, I had to go back to the car for the swimming gear.  As I pulled it out of the trunk, Degen accidentally pushed Maggie off the sidewalk and into the gutter, resulting in a skinned knee and hurt feelings.  So, I held Maggie, my purse, a bag of swimming suits, three towels, and Degen’s hand as we walked down the steep steps to the pool.  Degen held the two floating toys and was an awesome helper.  We made it!

When we finally got in the pool, both Degen and Maggie insisted that they wanted to get out.  I insisted that they stay in!  After a couple of minutes of getting used to the temperature of the water, I let Degen get out so he could observe what the other kids were doing in the water–he’s always had a tough time with swimming pools and I thought that if he got to watch for a while he’d warm up to the idea.  Maggie generally loves the water, so when she said she wanted out I just told her no and let her cling to me.  Degen later found someone’s small boogie-board thingy and suddenly loved the water!  He let me float him around the pool as he kicked as long as he got to hold on to the boogie board.  I think that might be the magical tool to get him to be willing to practice swimming, and one of the ladies said they’re really cheap at Target, so I think I’m going to pick one up.  Maggie pretty much relaxed and enjoyed herself, though I was surprised that she never really wanted to splash in the water and wanted me to hold her the whole time. Oh well, it’ll just take some time to get used to.

Swimming was great, but meeting some other women and beginning the process of making friends was really good for me.  Pretty much everyone was friendly, and we began exchanging “life stories.”  It’d been at least a month since I’d spent any time casually with anyone my own age outside my family, and I think I needed that.  You think that’s why Colin wanted me to go “at all costs”?  Hmmm…