Meet "Phyllis"

Dear fellow blog readers,

     I have decided that it is time to introduce you to a member of our family whom I have not spoke of until now.  She has been around as long as Richard can remember and was a gift to his parents when he was younger.  We adopted her when Jonah was a baby.  However, due to the logistics of having a baby and living in a one bedroom apartment, my parents graciously took "Phyllis" in for us until we had room for her again.  

When we moved back to Grand Forks Richard was so excited to bring her home!  Once we got into our home and after our 2 week renovations we were all able to move in.  We lived with my parents for almost a whole month and then we all moved into our new home. This included Phyllis.  She spent the first few weeks in our living room.  However, due to her size I told Richard Phyllis might have to stay some where else.  Richard was heart broken of course and I came up with a compromise.  She could stay, but she had to be moved to our bedroom (which is much more spacious than we need).  So she did and has stayed there since.

Meet "Phyllis"...

That's right...Phyllis is a plant!  A split leaf Philodendron to be exact.  The above picture is monumental for her.  Richard repotted her and gave her a little bath and let her enjoy a little fresh air.  More on this in a moment.

Since I am all about being honest on this blog I am not going to lie. Phyllis and I are not real close, in fact I am a little jealous of the attention she receives from my hubby at times!  Like the fact that Richard insists on opening the shades immediately when he wakes up so "Phyllis" can have her much needed sunlight.  Or how she is loud when I am trying to sleep during the day after a night shift. I turn a box fan on high while I am sleeping so that the boys can be boys and not walk around the house trying to be quiet while I sleep.  It works well, however a box fan is quite powerful on high.  This causes Phyllis to flap her leaves on against the ground making lots of noise.  If I move her over a little she isn't as loud, but I still notice her.  I have warned Richard that she might have to move out someday when we have another kiddo because there just might not be room for her and a baby in our bedroom.  He is adamant that she will stay.

In fact, after a recent conversation with my wonderful sister-in-law Jaime, who laughed while I shared my frustrations with Phyllis, but offered a great suggestion to her large size.  Give her a haircut.  While I wished I could have done this and surprised Richard, I knew that I could not stoop so low.  Richard did however give her a small one and she is considerably smaller and taking up less space.

He also gave her a bigger pot as she was outgrowing her old one.  She seemed to enjoy this: fresh air, more room to grow, a little shower, and some fresh dirt.

Here is Richard standing next to his precious "Phyllis" so you can get a better idea of just how big she is.  

Sorry this is so long, but I just have to add one more thing.  So if you haven't caught on yet, Richard and I joke about Phyllis and she is growing on me (don't tell Richard). Phyllis had spent a few days outside after her "upgrade" mostly because she is BIG and HEAVY! Today when I got up Phyllis was inside again and looked a little droopy and sad (if you can attach emotions to a plant).  I laughed when Richard shared with me information he found on the this friendly blog explaining this depressed appearance. 

"The Split Leaf Philodendron prefers medium lighting, so it is best to keep this plant located within 5 to 8 feet of a window.  However, be careful when choosing the location for this house plant because once you have placed it somewhere it does not like to be moved.  This plant has an attitude of its own, because if you then move it to another location it may drop its leaves in revolt to your moving it." 

Hilarious!  I think Phyllis just moved up in my book.  A sensitive plant with an attitude. I guess since I am the only female in this house maybe we can stand together.   She just might fit in better than I imagined in our family!