Challenge #1: the yard

Amongst the many things I had never done, like jumping off plane, or deep sea diving, is mowing the yard. Not just my yard. ANY yard.

True. Until two weekends ago, after finding out how much the handyman charges, I promptly told the boy "$50 bucks! No way, I'll freakin' do it and you can pay me $50." So one sunny afternoon before he left, I got a 30 min crash course on how to use the lawn mower and the weed eater.

When my friends and co-workers found out what I signed myself up for, they offered up a bevy of advice:

"Mow it often, long grass gets much harder"
"Don't try to mow the yard when it rains, the clumps of grass will cause a clog"

some are better:
"We're just a phone call away"
"You can call the FRG (family readiness group)"

and my personal fav:
"I'll be glad to come over and show you what you're doing wrong"

The weather was cooperative this Saturday, the sun was shining longer than expected and the rain kept away, so after lunch I decided to try my luck on the mowing the yard and cleaning up the edge with the weed eater.

The backyard was no problemo. The front yard was another story. Steep slopes and heavy lawnmower definitely do not bode well for me. I mowed the top as much as I can, and then let the mower slide down the slope to finish up the side walk. My big challenge came when I had to push the mower back up the slope. It was getting warm, my arms were tired, and even though I backed up a good 4 feet to get a running start, I. Just. Couldn't. get the mower back up the slope.

Finally, I took the bag off the mower, and that made it light enough for the push uphill. Thank goodness I didn't have to use my "phone-a-friend" card.

Next is the weed eater. Using that thing is like using the chop sticks for me-I know how to use it but I'm not very good at it. I tried to use the weed eater to clean up the front yard, and in my haste I left patches of bald grass spots all over. It. was. pathetic. but funny at the same time.

Overall I gave myself a 7 / 10 for my first attempt. It was definitely good exercise for the hour I spent outside. I'll have to do rinse and repeat in 2 weeks. Maybe I'll better arm strength by then. Now moving on to the next challenge... cooking a meal for myself.

I broke a rule

We have this long standing rule in the house - no electronics in the master bedroom. Bedroom is a place of sanctuary, and should be calm, quiet, and free of electronic energy and buzzes. I'm sure all you feng-shui believers will agree with me on this one.

I broke the rule tonight. I am sitting on the boy's side of the bed with my laptop. Writing this very blog post. Hah.

I have not blogged in 9 months. I was running out of things to write about, and then twitter and facebook just took over.

Now with the boy gone for an extended period of time, I want to document all my trial and tribulations of living by myself again.

And thus the revival of Southern Fried Wonton.