like a good neighbor, their dog is there

What a day it's been so far! It feels like it should be dark already because Matt and I have been up since a little before 9 a.m. That's a rare thing for us!

And there's only one good reason to ever wake up early: FOOD!

We woke up at the crack of dawn (or something like that) for some tasty pancakes and sausage at Applebee's to support a fundraiser for the children's department at New Hope Baptist Church where we've been attending. It was lots of fun with good food and good people!

After our bellies were ready to explode, we headed over to Wal-Mart to pick up the smallest Smithfield ham we could find for our little Easter dinner next week. My family and I always eat with our extended family at my grandmother's house on Easter, and this will be the first year I'll miss that. Man, there's nothing like my grandmother's potato salad! Matt won't touch most things with the word "salad" in the name, except for an actual salad, so I don't ever make anything like that.

That's the negative thing about living away from your family - holidays are no longer the same. Our families both live four to five hours away from us but in opposite directions. It would be cool to have a private jet and easily travel whenever we'd like, but a jet isn't exactly in our budget right now (maybe next year).

Anyway, so when we got back home, Matt was really dreading the work I had planned out for him in our garden-to-be. I guess Matt's getting a taste of what a "honey-do list" really is! Like I said in a previous post, the poor guy doesn't like physical labor. When my parents were in town, I dug up the dirt in a section of the backyard for the future garden. The ground was still wet, so my dad said to let everything dry out before we broke up the chunks of dirt. That was of course music to Matt's musical ears.

Matt's been singing his excuse song ("The dirt needs to dry out more") all week, but through the huffs and puffs and sighs, he finally agreed to get started! He got the mattock out and was working so hard! For five minutes. Then I felt sorry for his worn out looking face and took over for a bit. We took turns until all the big chunks of clay mud were busted up. We added some garden soil with the help of the neighbor's dog (thanks for the extra fertilizer, buddy).

Now it's ready for plants and seeds. We'll see what happens. If all else fails, I'll turn it into a flower bed.

Here's Matt in action:



And here's me adding some Tennessee flare to it (barefoot style!):



Can you believe I got two blisters on my hand from that? I don't know how real gardeners do this stuff! Notice the neighbor's grass behind me. So pretty and green. We're trying to grow anything - green or not in the backyard. That's what all the hay is for.

This was taken after we added all the bags of garden soil. Matt's holding the rake, but I did all the raking. Hey, I have to make him look good, right?



Like I said, the neighbor's dog helped too.



And she apparently couldn't remember where she lived when we were finished.



And now my hard working husband's work at home is done. He's probably relieved to now be at his desk job. I tease him a lot on this blog, but he really is a good helpmate! Life wouldn't be so awesome without him. I am totally blessed!

Don't tell Matt, but I'm relieved the digging is over with too!