My doings this week

My garden is going great guns! I would show you guy some photos but my Treo won't play nice with Flickr. Since I last posted, we've harvested four healthy cucumbers and a banana pepper. The very first tomato to show up on any of my plants has now changed from green to orange-yellow, so we should be eating love apples soon. My watermelons are still on the right track to be ready for harvest at the end of July. I think the kids are excited about the melons most of all.

In other news, I am staying in my best friend Rabbit's house this week. She and her family have gone on vacation so I am caring for their pets. Truthfully, she has had these animals (two cats and a dog) for so long that they could take care of themselves if they could let themselves in and out the back door. The main reason I'm here is to babysit her neighbor's child. Rabbit normally takes care of her (she runs a daycare out of her home) and the poor woman didn't have any other option when Rabbit shut down for the week. Either that, or Rabbit told her that I've been unemployed for a year and really need the money. Rabbit takes care of people like that.

Anyway, this is the end of my second day minding a seven-month-old baby. This kid is easy as far as babies go, but it is still a lot of work. I tell people all the time that I thanked God as soon as all my kids were old enough to take care of themselves. I think it is time for me to get down on my knees and thank Him again -- heartily. As cute as this kid is, I don't see how women in their 40s who have already gotten their kids past the diapers and the teething would get the urge to have another one. My body is sore all over; I am too old to be carrying a baby around. I've never been in great shape, but I was healthier and more agile when I had my last kid 10 years' ago than I am now.

I don't want to make it sound like I'm miserable, though. The baby has an adorable smile and she flashes it a lot. Taking her out for a stroll has gotten me off the couch, which we all know is something I have trouble with. I don't have to cook or clean up my kids' mess. Best of all, ABM has to deal with the kids without me there as a filter. That means he get to see them doing all the stuff that I've been complaining about. He thinks I'm exaggerating, so he needs to be on his own with them periodically to learn that I'm not.