Choices

I am very fortunate to be at a point in my life where I get to make more choices about how I spend my time.  I can choose to work just part-time or not at all.  I get to choose what kind of work I want to do.  You don't always have those choices when you are younger and trying to support a family.  I am grateful for the opportunity to choose.

We had spring break two weeks ago.  I used that time as an opportunity to try my first activities at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden.  I assisted with a class called "Looking at Leaves".  We taught children how to use a microscope.  They made a slide with a bit of a leaf, and examined it.  It was really fun, and I learned a few things.

The next day I had a table where I taught children how to use a Chlorophyll meter to examine the amount of chlorophyll in leaves.  I had never seen an instrument like this, so it was fun to experiment with it and to show others how to use it.  It was fun to be in such a beautiful environment, and I felt very encouraged about volunteering there in the future. I am grateful that we have this beautiful garden in our community.

After helping at the Botanical Garden, I was inspired to come home and get seeds going for my own gardens.  While I have some flowers, I mostly like to grow vegetables.  So far I have two types of tomatoes planted, two kinds of peppers, both green and Anaheim, and some Kale.  I also have some marigolds started.  I am fortunate to have a big backyard.  I am really grateful that I will not be teaching summer school this year.  It will give me a lot more time to work on my garden, which hopefully means I will win the war with the weeds this year.

I saw this meme on Facebook from the Power of Positivity. 

I am going to give it a try. Day #1:

1. I am grateful for having choices about how I spend my time.
2. I am grateful for having the Des Moines Botanical Gardens in our community.
3. I am grateful that I have a home with a place to grow a garden of my own. 

The Des Moines Botanical Garden

This morning I went to a meeting about volunteering at the Des Moines Botanical Garden.  I am still working as an AmeriCorps reading tutor during the school year, but I will not be teaching summer school this year. I am so excited to have the time to be home, work on my garden, and just enjoy some free time.  It also is the perfect time to try some new things.  I am a gardener, so it seemed natural to explore working at the Des Moines Botanical Garden this summer.  I attended a meeting there in January, and I am amazed by all the different opportunities there are to volunteer there.  

It has been a difficult winter. It is bitter cold, and everything is encased in ice and snow.  It was really refreshing to be inside the Botanical Garden where it was warm and green.

I recently read the book, Retirement Reinvention by Robin Ryan.  That really got me thinking about pushing myself to try something new.  Not only is it a chance to help out, it is a great opportunity to learn something new. Instead of waiting until summer, I'm going to help with a couple activities during spring break. I'm always a little nervous to try something new, but I am also excited.

Another goal of mine is to get back to blogging.  This is my first post in almost two years.  I hope I can do better than that in the future.