Don't let the door hit ya on the way out! (2010 Edition)

Bushes and I don't get along. Unless they are flowery, smell good, or are aesthetically pleasing. My evergreen bushes were none of the above. They had to go. Mainly because they were right in front of my beautiful peonies. My peonies are hardy and gorgeous and smell soooo good. They're about ready to bloom, and I'm sick of the ugly evergreens blocking the view and the smell. They've been bugging me for three years.

On a very, very rare feel-good day a couple of weeks ago, I decided to dig the suckers out. I should have made Ben do it, since I'm preggars and all, but I knew he would never, ever get around to it. So I set to work.

It was, surprisingly, not as hard as I thought it would be. It's all about the shovel and the physics. It took very little tugging. I used my heft to stand on the shovel - that's easy. I am a heavy woman right now. And then just using the shovel as a lever. Boom. They were out, lickety-split.

Micah was my special helper. He sure loves being outside. Just like his mommy. I love to garden (when there aren't 30 mph winds). I take good care of my garden, but my kitchen... that's another story.

The area in front of my living room, sans ugly evergreens:

Things have changed a little since this picture was taken. The tulips were blown to bits by the wind, and I wanted to move some of them anyways, so I did that yesterday. Now they are in two more distinctive clumps. That was a much harder job than the bush removal, because when I planted those bulbs three years ago, I put chicken wire over them. I had heard that areas with mature trees have more squirrels, and that squirrels love to dig up and eat bulbs. This chicken wire presented me with quite the challenge yesterday. My butt hurts so bad today. That was hard work.

Where did yesterday's burst of energy come from, you ask? I started taking a new heartburn medicine yesterday and today, and I feel AMAZING. (And YES, it's pregnancy-safe. I called my doc to make sure.) It's over-the-counter, so it's kind of pricey compared to my prescription, but my prescription wasn't doing jack diddly squat. It's worth the price. I swear I'd pay $100 a month to feel this way all the time. I think the heartburn was causing more nausea for me. They were working hand-in-hand. So we'll see how it goes over the next couple of weeks.