Welcome spring!!!

Last thursday it was a record low high of 43. We got 6 1/2 inches of snow. I took these in our yard on Wednesday.
My poor magnolia tree, where the first few flowers all froze as soon as they opened.

Some of the new bulbs I put in last fall.
I wish the color were more true to reality. Or maybe I wish reality had some blues in it. I have a blue garden that always seems to be purple or pink.

And these Hyacinths are really a very pretty pink with purple flowers around them.
One thing I have learned though. Even 20 dozen tulips don't look like much spread over the whole yard.
We went to Thanksgiving Point on Wednesday and I find that the best looking clumps of tulips are about 24 bulbs in 3-4 sqare feet. I planted them too far apart. I will take some pictures down there to show you the difference. On the other hand, I love my yard, and it is getting prettier every day. I love spring. I love the tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and other spring flowers. The fruit trees are in bloom too, and the lilacs will open soon. Smells so good out there. The grass is so green this time of year. May I suggest everyone who can take the time to go to a garden nearby.

Snow II

After what I said yesterday the air warmed enough to take all the snow off the little branches. Then last night it got colder and more snow came. Talk about lots of snow! Notice the pile on the branches! Some of the branches out front have 4 inches piled on them. The thing is, the sap has started flowing, so unlike the winter, when the branches are stiff, they are rather soft, and they drooop under the weight. Look at the opening to the garden. The lilac branches are hanging so low you'd have to crawl under to get to the garden. But now the sun is shining, and it is absolutely gorgeous out!!!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

I keep thinking I'll post but have been so busy with the non-work stuff, like taxes (aaauuuggghh!) and putting in the spring garden, that I don't get here. I just want to say that spring could come anytime. I am really ready! I am more than ready!
I say this because right now outside my window huge flakes of snow are coming down and swirling around in circles. We have a warm day, then a storm, then a warm day, then two storms in a row. Today started out rainy, and while it is supposed to be 75 by Saturday, there is so much snow coming so fast I wonder how it can all melt. The little limbs on the trees are two inches deep, then it drops in big chunks. Then it builds up again. It really is a heavy winter storm. Hah!
I am now going to go back to figuring out how one should apply for a management job in the Provo Census office which opens in the fall. I am going to be administering tests, but am finding the process a little hard to understand. I need to be able to tell people how to apply, and check over their applications. Wish me luck.

Many thanks

Well, it turned out to be an appendicitis attack. My baby girl is better now and home - see her blog for a terse version of the whole story. I just want to say thank you all for your prayers. She truly needed them.

Prayers Please!!!

My baby girl is in hospital. We aren't sure why yet, the test they would normally use to figure it out they cannot do now due to other medical concerns. She has excruciating pain in her stomach and is throwing up. They are thinking appendicitis. Please pray for her. In the meantime, anyone want to go to Ottawa to take care of my baby girl's baby girl?

update on Water

I just thought I ought to mention that my vertigo must have been an inner ear infections since it faded away after about 3 weeks. An inner ear infection generally lasts about 3 to 6 weeks and then heals on it's own. I do have a friend with muniers disease, and that will come and go for the rest of her life. I am very glad it wasn't that!

Whoa, baby!

It is something like 2am, there is a full moon out, shining on new snow, and I can't sleep. Some nights I just wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. If I get up and do things my body gets used to the idea and I will wake every night for night after night and go around with a major sleep deficit all the time. Also I wake sweet C if I clean house or do laundry.
I have reached my recruiting goal for the Census Bureau for the first operation. We get all worked up at the beginning with concern that we aren't getting enough applicants and "how do we get more people interested in doing the census?"; and then as our advertising begins to work, and word gets out that we will be hiring, and people start coming, there is no way to stop the onslaught. We simply have to schedule fewer testing sessions with the idea that they will get discouraged if they have to wait for weeks for an appointment. Then a year from now we go through it all again. The two biggest operations are the first, beginning immediately, and the last, beginning about this time next year. In between all the operations use far fewer people so we are able to hire those we have already used.
So, my job is winding down but I couldn't take the next thing offered because I had made other plans for the summer that would interrupt the last week of the job. (More on that later) Therefore the responsible thing was not to take the job. I feel a little jealous, though, of the person who did take on responsibility for "my" people. Also, address listing is probably my favorite operation with the Census Bureau. I like maps and love to see the houses and imagine what they are like inside. I won't get to do even an enumerator job with that operation as I will be recruiting the management staff for the new office that will open in my county in the fall. That is another slightly sore point with me. Since I did this job ten years ago I have wanted to be on the management staff this time around. I really want the census to be accurate. However, as I am to be testing 100 applicants for each management position there is very little chance I will be chosen. Not enough experience. Sigh.
Well, whatever job I do, I will be doing my best to see that we have an accurate count. It means so much to our state, and to each city within our state, to have accurate data. And that is the civic reason to do the census. The personal, or maybe I should say the religious reason is that census data is one of the more important ways we find out about our ancestors, people who have lived here before us. That is why I care about the census. That is why I got involved in the first place and why I will continue to be as involved as I can be.