Best. Wife. Ever

The first week after school is out is usually when I take the time to catch up in my garden. I often say that I love the garden in the summer, but not so much in the spring. That's because in the summer I go every other morning or so, pull weeds, prune and fertilize plants, and harvest the bounty of our springtime labor. But that's only if we actually get the garden in. The spring is full of must-do tasks both at school and in the garden, and it is really hard to find the time to get everything done.

That was especially true this year-- a combination of teaching so many more kids and bad weather kept me behind, and even though we got some stuff in, a busy June made it impossible to keep the garden weeded. My plans were also to leave town for a visit with my mom a couple of days after school got out. So I asked Heidi to go with me to the garden on the morning before my flight left. "Don't worry about it being such a mess," I told her. "Just water it if it doesn't rain. Try not to hate the garden while I'm gone, and I'll clean it up when I get back."

Heidi doesn't love the garden, but she loves me, and so she agreed. Even so, I was a little worried about it, especially since we are heading out of town to visit Heidi's parents a few days after we get back, and "How's the garden?" was one of the first questions I asked when I picked her up at the airport yesterday. She was vague but positive, and I thought I appreciated everything she had done.

That was until this morning when I was opening my birthday gifts. After I was showered with an awesome t-shirt, sweatshirt, 2 pairs of shorts, a camp shirt, Bombas socks and t-shirts,  and a gift certificate for a facial, Heidi told me there was one more thing. She pulled out her phone and handed it to me. "Do you know what that is?" she asked.

It was the garden, but not the way I left it last Sunday. In the week that I was gone, Heidi enlisted the help of family (thank you Treat and Emily!) and friends (Lauren, Lauren, and Traci) to completely weed it out, put down landscape fabric, and mulch over everything. They put hours and hours in to get my garden into the condition where I really can do some projects I never seem to have time for, and actually enjoy it.

I literally wiped tears of gratitude and joy as I scrolled through the pictures, and it felt as if a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. I honestly didn't realize how worried I was about the garden.

But Heidi did.