Yard of the month.

Our neighborhood started this thing a few years ago. A committee chooses a yard each month and places a sign in the yard saying , "Yard of the Month." The yard must look well cared for , pretty flower beds , trimmed bushes and such. We have always joked about never getting "yard of the month." Secretly , I have always wanted this honor. When we built our home and moved into it 11 years ago , maintaining the yard was way down on the priority list. I was too busy trying to be super nurse and super mom. My husband was consumed with his job and working way too many hours. Our yard was simply the ground surrounding our home , nothing more. Many things have changed around here in the last year. Some things subtle. Other much more obvious. Just like dry ground soaking up a long needed rain , our home has soaked up much needed attention. My husband has become much more attentive to a crisp , clean cut yard. Our flowerbeds have taken off with beautiful colors and growth. The weeds have been carefully pulled to stop them from crowding out our Impatients. The bushes have taken a nice shape with continued trimming. The changes may not have been so obvious to those walking past our home , but to me , it has been staggering. Yesterday , I was doing laundry and catching up on household cleaning , my husband yelled for me. "Guess what? They just came and put the Yard of the Month sign in our yard for the month of October." I was thrilled. I have seen the changes from the inside out and now others have seen the changes from the outside in. Yard of the month is more like "Living for the past year."