This evening I caught a glimpse of how spoiled we are these days.
Our lawn was growing insanely long what with the wet weather and another call a few weeks ago from the Army for Drew to be gone for 5 weeks again. He is typically the one who does the mowing, and when he’s gone a while, the grass keeps right on growing. Imagine that. I can’t get out and mow without help because I can’t leave Boo unattended, so my mother-in-law and father-in-law came over to help tonight. Often when Drew is away, my father-in-law will come over and mow for us, but our yard is big enough that it can take several hours to get it all done, and I feel immensely guilty letting him do it all every time. So, tonight I ordered pizza for all of us and together we and the boys harvested the yard while Gram played with Boo inside. Things were going just swimmingly in the backyard and J opened the gate for me to drive the mower on through to the front yard once we’d finished most of the back.
Drew’s parents have one of those old fashioned push mowers – not gasoline pow
ered, but the old 25 pound manual push mower you hardly ever see anymore – because they have a tiny little yard and that’s all they needed. There it is over there to the right. Looks harmless enough. This is what the boys were using to help with the trimming and Drew’s dad was trying to get our finicky weed whacker to do the rest. I got through slightly more than half of the front when the riding mower made a funny noise and then I looked back and realized it was no longer cutting the grass. Turns out some part on our 35 year old mower is now broken. Sigh. I always seem to have trouble with things with engines when Drew is away. At least it wasn’t the car this time.
I am the kind of person who, though it may take me a little while to get motivated to start a project, once I’ve started I want it DONE. So, the back up plan was that I spent another long time tonight pushing that manual thing around the front yard in the heat and there is still a fairly big patch in the middle of the yard left to do tomorrow, and a job that should have been finished hours ago took much longer. At first it was kind of fun to push it around, and it wasn't really that hard. But with each lap, my heart was pounding harder, sweat was pouring off me and as I was growing tired, the thing grew heavier and heavier. I was beginning to have a whole new appreciation for the Amish people. But there was something extremely satisfying about watching that patch grow smaller and smaller as I pushed that mower around, and I could feel my arm muscles toning up with every lap.
I am going to be sore tomorrow. I can already feel it in my arms and back, but it’s a good sore….so they say, anyway. I’ve been saying how I had to give up going to the gym since they don’t have childcare and my mother-in-law went back to work so she can’t watch Boo like she had been on those mornings I would go to exercise. I think I got a pretty good work out tonight! Stay tuned for what I am just sure would be a run away best seller exercise plan – Fitness the Old Fashioned Way, Through YARD WORK
Honey, if you’re reading the blog, what do you think about researching one of those lawn services the neighbors use?
For now, since I’ve just finished soaking in a hot tub to try and soothe my aching back, I’m going to go watch the movie I rented earlier and not move very much at all. :^)
Our lawn was growing insanely long what with the wet weather and another call a few weeks ago from the Army for Drew to be gone for 5 weeks again. He is typically the one who does the mowing, and when he’s gone a while, the grass keeps right on growing. Imagine that. I can’t get out and mow without help because I can’t leave Boo unattended, so my mother-in-law and father-in-law came over to help tonight. Often when Drew is away, my father-in-law will come over and mow for us, but our yard is big enough that it can take several hours to get it all done, and I feel immensely guilty letting him do it all every time. So, tonight I ordered pizza for all of us and together we and the boys harvested the yard while Gram played with Boo inside. Things were going just swimmingly in the backyard and J opened the gate for me to drive the mower on through to the front yard once we’d finished most of the back.
Drew’s parents have one of those old fashioned push mowers – not gasoline pow
ered, but the old 25 pound manual push mower you hardly ever see anymore – because they have a tiny little yard and that’s all they needed. There it is over there to the right. Looks harmless enough. This is what the boys were using to help with the trimming and Drew’s dad was trying to get our finicky weed whacker to do the rest. I got through slightly more than half of the front when the riding mower made a funny noise and then I looked back and realized it was no longer cutting the grass. Turns out some part on our 35 year old mower is now broken. Sigh. I always seem to have trouble with things with engines when Drew is away. At least it wasn’t the car this time.I am the kind of person who, though it may take me a little while to get motivated to start a project, once I’ve started I want it DONE. So, the back up plan was that I spent another long time tonight pushing that manual thing around the front yard in the heat and there is still a fairly big patch in the middle of the yard left to do tomorrow, and a job that should have been finished hours ago took much longer. At first it was kind of fun to push it around, and it wasn't really that hard. But with each lap, my heart was pounding harder, sweat was pouring off me and as I was growing tired, the thing grew heavier and heavier. I was beginning to have a whole new appreciation for the Amish people. But there was something extremely satisfying about watching that patch grow smaller and smaller as I pushed that mower around, and I could feel my arm muscles toning up with every lap.
I am going to be sore tomorrow. I can already feel it in my arms and back, but it’s a good sore….so they say, anyway. I’ve been saying how I had to give up going to the gym since they don’t have childcare and my mother-in-law went back to work so she can’t watch Boo like she had been on those mornings I would go to exercise. I think I got a pretty good work out tonight! Stay tuned for what I am just sure would be a run away best seller exercise plan – Fitness the Old Fashioned Way, Through YARD WORK
Honey, if you’re reading the blog, what do you think about researching one of those lawn services the neighbors use?
For now, since I’ve just finished soaking in a hot tub to try and soothe my aching back, I’m going to go watch the movie I rented earlier and not move very much at all. :^)
5 comments:
This is a great story! Whenever husband was gone with the army, something always broke--guaranteed. This summer I was gone for a week at a Bible study institute and the a/c broke. I told him that it took 17 years for it to happen, but it was definitely his turn. Here's to those muscles!
We used to have one of those old-fashioned push mowers, too! I loved that thing, but probably because all I ever had to do was push it around the sidewalks. I can't imagine doing a whole yard with it! You are strong. You are powerful. You are woman and I hear you roar. :) or is that a groan??
Elle: We've had our a/c go out in the middle of the summer before. No fun. At least your husband got to deal with it that time!! He, he.
Karen: I'm so glad I wasn't drinking my ice water when I read your comment. I laughed out loud! yes, just pushing around the sidewalks wouldn't be too bad at all.
Ahhh, mowing! I feel your pain!! I actually do enjoy mowing our half acre--lots of quiet thinking and reflecting time--but there are days when I long for a riding mower!! :-)
Okay, I shouldn't laugh but I can so relate to wanting to finish a task once it's started, even if that means I kill myself trying. Hope your muscles are getting a much earned rest.
Terri
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