Manning the Garden

My poor husband has re injured his back and is in tremendous pain.  Jody has been dealing with a protruding disc that causes extreme pain since November.  Recently he has received two epidural shots into the disc to relieve the inflammation and help him recover.  He was doing remarkably well over the last few weeks and we were hopeful that a third injection and the possibility of back surgery was not in our future.  Unfortunately, Jody damaged the disc again on Saturday while doing nothing more than emptying a trash can at the barn. He had to be taken by ambulance to the emergency room on Sunday after finding no relief with pain meds and bed rest.  The ER doctor felt it was a pulled muscle but I knew it had to be more.  I have never seen him in this condition before and knew it was more serious.  He gave him stronger medication and sent him home. 

Today we went in to see his back specialist and she confirmed our fears that he had indeed re injured his disc.  He was given a shot immediately to relieve some of the pain and will receive another injection into the disc tomorrow.  If he is not better in two weeks, we will meet with a surgeon.  He is in intense pain and is really suffering.  The boys, especially Sam, are so worried about him.  Sam constantly asks him if he is feeling any better and makes sure his Daddy is covered up and warm at all times.  Tonight Jody went to bed early in Sam's bed (his first attempt to sleep in bed) and the boys kept going into the room for "one more kiss" and to make sure he was covered up and warm.  It is quite sweet and the three of us are anxiously awaiting the day when he is pain free and feeling better.

It has been a tough few days with little or no rest for me.  I miss those little breaks I used to get when Jody would take the boys to check the cows and work in the garden.  The boys are missing playing with Daddy too.  We desperately need him to get well soon.  Tonight Jody told us we had to go pick the squash and zucchini because they quickly grow too big and aren't fit to eat.  I was also instructed to chop the weeds in the rows and check all the plants for signs of bugs.  So off we went, me and my two little men, to help Daddy by taking care of his garden.

Sam was happy to hop of the gator and show me that he is quite good at opening the gate.  He is extremely careful not to hit the wires and seems to take great pride in his important job.

I was happy to discover cute little round watermelons popping up under the heavy vines.  Summer isn't complete without cutting into a fresh, homegrown watermelon.
Our tomato plants are growing beautifully and we will gladly be donating these to whomever would like them.  Jody only eats tomatoes occasionally and I never eat them so we will be passing these out to any tomato lover we know.
I was thrilled to see our corn, my absolute favorite, is growing wonderfully and is now taller than me.  I can't wait to throw that fresh corn on the grill and plan to serve it at nearly every meal.  Sam and Jack love it too and could each eat their weight in it (just like their Mama).
The boys wandered up and down the rows looking for rocks and sticks.  Sam buried his beloved little bear in the dirt and we had a hard time finding it but thankfully avoided a melt down when we found him buried in between the corn rows.  Jack ran wild as usual soon ended up back on the gator pretending to drive.  Both of them thought they'd show off their ability to make silly faces for me all while looking ridiculously adorable.

I checked the plants and found no vegetables.  None.  I thought I must be losing my mind and proceeded to get down on my hands and knees and dig through the vines of each and every plant.  I found one lonely little zucchini.  One.  We headed back home and I asked Jody what I could have done wrong only to find one stinking veggie.  He was as clueless as me as to what could have happened to our overflowing plants.  Maybe the cows got in the garden.  Or it could have been Landry lamb who had already managed to devour every plant in G-Ma and Poppa's garden a few weeks ago.   Or maybe, just maybe, my husband asked his Dad to pick veggies for him on Sunday and in his drug induced fog forgot this and instead sent his wife and children hunting squash and zucchini in his freshly picked garden.  Maybe.