Is That GGG Trying to Mow Her Lawn Again?!?

Almost, but not quite. While some of you may think I bear some off-the-wall resemblance to Prince Harry (see picture), I assure you that I am not any blood relation, haha... HOWEVER!! That is almost the appropriate gear to don when attempting to do yardwork at my house these days.

Now let me just set the record straight: I do not live in a rural area. Granted, the town in which I live has a high ratio of farmers/rednecks:normal human beings, but I do live in a bona fide subdivision within incorporated city limits. That being said, I simply have the thickest, most dense St. Augustine grass in the south and it laughs at me when I crank up my lawnmower. It scoffs at my naive attempts to manage or manicure my property.

Two weeks ago, as I stand in the mid-90 degree, 75% humity-infused, central Texas heat, trying for a solid 10 minutes to crank my buggared, old green lawnmower, I nearly had a stroke from the effort it took just to crank the darned thing. I had run out of gas after mowing the front yard and had made one pass around the back when it gave out. Once it was filled up with about $3.50 worth of gas, I went through the aforementioned cranking ordeal and then had a breakdown: "NOOOOOOO!!!! I don't have to take the abuse any longer!!" I walked away from the monster, leaving it in the backyard and marched to Lowe's to buy a fancy-schmancy new lawnmower. She's candy-apple red, with an electric start AND a manual crank. I feel like I just bought a Corvette! (It should've come with leather hand grips for what I paid for it, but that's a totally different story. Just as you should NEVER go grocery shopping when you're hungry, NEVER, EVER, EVER go shopping for major appliances or power tools within 24 hours of your old one claiming victory over you -- it's not pretty... But I digress...)

Fast-forward to today. I have given up precious time at the gym to get back to my lawn, which is tall and out of control. It's too thick to let it go so long, and the poor Corvette/lawnmower kept gagging on all the clippings. Mulching blades are apparently a mixed blessing. As I looked back on the side yard just after mowing it, it looked as if there was green snow on the yard. Silly me, I think, "Maybe if I put the bag on it and go back over it all, it will suck up the clippings into the bag, kinda like a vaccuum for your yard!" Girls, apparently this is something that boys are figuring out while we're watching the period film in the 4th grade: lawnmowers are not, in fact, vaccuums for your yard. I had to hand-scoop this miniscule stuff into the dang bag.

Then, to add insult to injury, just as I get into my Amazonian back yard and make that initial pass around the edge of the yard -- mind you, the same stretch done two weeks ago, while the center 80% of the yard has gone unruly and untouched for three weeks and is now practically halfway up Bud's legs, still rests unscathed -- it begins to rain, and I mean pour. The gardener in me is thankful for the rain, but the homeowner in me wants to throw a grade-one FIT!!

So if any of you should catch me skulking about in the backyard all camo'd up and low crawling, I'm probably just venturing out to either find my children or tend my garden...

Random Thoughts While I Wait on the Grass to Dry...

Outside My Window … some overgrown nandinas are waving in the crazy wind we've been having for several days now. And the rainshower we got this morning that foiled my idiotic attempt to put the smack-down on the lawn filled up my empty birdbath in about five minutes. Waiting on my birdie buddies to come and entertain me...

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I am thinking … about a website I looked at earlier today, Aish.com . Kinda interesting. It's a Jewish website. They had a funny "Yiddish-Yinglish" dictionary and even a dating advice page, not to mention educational info and virtual tours of the Western Wall and tunnels.

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I am thankful for … naptime; a 3 year old who is *almost* potty trained; Pilates; fresh fruit; summertime berries; my children; Pookie, in all his quirky goodness; cold Pinot Grigio; my garden; lovely sunsets from my backporch during the summertime, when there's a nice breeze and a good deal of humidity in the air...

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From the kitchen … I have fresh mangoes that I can't wait to dive into; have to use the ground meat in the fridge today or it will be too late to use it; been craving homemade bread to go with the strawberry preserves I made, all of which make me miss my grandmother and wish I'd been born in 1905...

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I am wearing … Texas A&M basketball grey t-shirt, maroon workout shorts; running shoes; obnoxiously large blue topaz ring that R. gave me for our first anniversary :)

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I am creating … nothing at the moment, which isn't good. I've got too much to be doing to not be doing anything!

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I am going … to try and relish my kids and the ages that they are and live in the moment with them this summer; to give God more of my worries and quit hanging onto them like dirty little scraps from an old security blanket; to get caught up on unfinished sewing projects this summer; to read more books and watch less TV (which I don't get to do much of now that Noggin is 24/7...)

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I am reading . . . too many things at once! Look at my Shelfari over there... I don't think, "Wide Open Spaces," by D. Palmer made it onto that list, but it's along the lines of a Don Miller kind of book... I guess I'm a real non-fiction kinda girl. I want to get into fiction more often; it might contribute to a lighter mood, i.e. "relaxed and groovy..."

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I am hoping … that my children will forgive me for all my shortcomings and remember their childhood with smiles rather than tears...

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I am hearing … the quiet, subliminal white noise of the air conditioner pushing chilly air through the vent in my office


Around the house... looks like a bunch of busy people live here; need to tackle that and re-organize some stuff...

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One of my favorite things … isn't things -- it is people, music, nature, geography, foods, love...

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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week … nada; taking kids to the pool tomorrow with my brother and his girlfriend; church as per usual on Sunday...

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Here is a picture thought I am sharing . . .

This was taken as R. and I were walking into St. Peter's Square in the Vatican last November. This is peeking through the columns at the huge basilica... Ciao, bellas!

Triple Snap Action!

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

Sounds like Chicas '07, right?!?

"Just Like The Seeds In The Birdfeeder, So Are The Days of Our Nests..."

By a showing of hands, how many of you had the theme song of "Days of Our Lives" ticking in the back of your minds just a second ago?!? Man, I crack myself up... Hahaha!

John and Marsha are sticking pretty close to home these days. I don't think I've seen Marsha rise once from her post. I saw John and his father-in-law having an early morning conversation over at the birdfeeder just before he and the wife hit the sky after the Easter weekend. Apparently they had wanted to be here for the hatching but could only take so long off of work. So, they left the expectant couple with well-wishes and got going around sunrise.

Chyna has apparently been crashing at some other nest, because she has been completely absent from the construction zone that is their nest. Apparently Rex has been guilt-tripped into finishing the home improvement project before Chyna is on nest-rest, as he has been working his tailfeathers off to finish the nest and have an end to Chyna's constant nagging. As I walked out on the porch the other day to water my garden, he stopped his construction to wait impatiently on the fence, as if to say, "Hey, lady, can't you see I'm tryin' to work here?!?"

Luke and Laura are keeping things close to the vest. Apparently Laura's nesting instinct must've kicked in at some point, because the string of partiers and fly-bys are dwindling. There is little ruckus going on on the front porch these days, except the rare times Luke is allowed to hang out at the birdbath with a few buddies. And even though I have dark solar screens on the windows here in the office, any time I am typing on the computer and one of them is at the birdbath, they hop around and cock their heads like they know I'm talking about them and are trying to size me up. Maybe I shouldn't be using their real names, due to Internet security reasons... I'll take it into consideration...

Join me again soon for another installment of my birdie saga! Until then, be tweet!

Don't Be Such A Titmouse!

He he he, the "Beavis" in me just has to come out every now and then...

I have discovered, after working in the front yard this morning, that we have yet more birds nesting with us! This family must be really well-to-do if the height of their penthouse view is any indicator. Also, the exclusivity of the front porch is a strong argument, as there are almost no other places that could possibly house any nests. Luke and Laura Titmouse (I can't quite discern what specific breed they are, but they are tufted like a titmouse, although their beaks are longer and their coloration is mainly grey) obviously like to entertain. They have wild, swinging parties at the birdbath below their nest, as evidenced by the birds swooping and bathing around my front porch and flowerbed.



John and Marsha watched cautiously from a distance today as the kids and I planted our garden this morning. I think they understand that we're not going to mess with them, but John is still keeping a watchful eye on us, telling Marsha to just "calm down, he's got everything under control!"

Rex and Chyna were nowhere to be found, undoubtedly sleeping off last night's partying or something. Their crazy, unkempt nest has huge twigs and long strands of St. Augustine runners hanging down. They are starting to be a blight on the neighborhood, and I, as the President of the Birdie Homeowner's Association, may have to issue a citation for them to maintain their home a little better.

Carpal Tunnel Lawnmower

Mowing a lawn isn't supposed to hurt this bad. I'm only 31 -- this is as healthy and fit as I'll ever be!!

I have spent the better part of the last week "springifying" my yard and garden. I have worked like a man and weeded, hauled soil and compost, mowed, and am getting ready to plant my garden and fertilize my yard. Rather than basking in the soft glow of a Central Texas sunset with a co'beer in one hand, looking out as the successful master of my domain, I feel like I've got arthritis already!

I'm actually quite proud of myself. I have prepared my soil and selected my plants in preparation to enjoy more homemade salsa and fresh herbs for my ventures into Italian cooking. My garden yielded a great harvest last year, so here's hoping my green thumb hasn't turned gangrenous and rotted off yet.

As for the lawn, it's been mown and mulched and after tomorrow, will be properly fertilized. I have this sickening obsession with having the most awesome yard in the neighborhood. The main reasons why I care are twofold:

1) There are several widows and single women of all ages living on my street. 100% of them, except for yours truly, has a lawn service taking care of their lawn. We all have sprinkler systems, so they basically have lawns that survive (I won't really say thrive) with little to no interaction on their part. I take pride in the fact that I do all of it myself with no assistance and no childcare. It's just a part of being a homeowner, and I take massive satisfaction and pride in knowing I'm not only doing it, but doing it well.

2) The majority of lawns that are maintained by the owners are done by the man living there, and of course, they all seem to know what they're doing, and their lawns are always green, mown, and look great. I've declared an unofficial war on the men -- I want to have a lawn that even the guys are envious of and even would assume that a man is taking care of. Take that!

Let me take a minute to throw something spiritual in here: one of the biggest struggles with sin that I have is with pride. I am uber-competetive, to a fault, and oftentimes my pride is what fuels this characteristic. I have never before taken the time to properly care for my lawn, so I'm trying to use my competetive nature as motivation to be more consistent without letting pride gain a foothold here. Isn't it irritating when the Holy Spirit gets you all convicted over yard work?!?

I had to get all of my outdoorsy responsibilities checked off my list before this weekend, as I enter my third semester of Parish Lay Ministry Academy. To figure out just what the heck I'm talking about, take a peek. I am officially halfway through my training and on the down-hill stretch. If I can just pin down my internship project and get that monster under way, I'll be money. (Boy, is THAT a whole other blog...)

Here's to spring and being a better steward of my little piece of dirt...

**The evil lawnmower picture was snarfed from a fellow blogspot site called Toon Club.