Sunday, March 20, 2005

Mowing the lawn

After 10 years of living in an apartment, I couldn't wait to have a house of our own so I could have grass to cut (among other things). Well, we've been in the house since early January and the grass had finally gotten long enough to start thinking about mowing it. So, I bought a self-propelled Troy-Built mower and a Black and Decker trimmer/edger at Lowe's a couple of weeks ago to get the ball rolling.

I decided this was the weekend I was going to finally cut the grass. I couldn't wait. I got started at 11 a.m. today. I started in the back yard, but I had to move some junk that the previous owners left, so that took a little while. I then got the mower out and started it up. It started on the first pull. Can you believe that? Anyway, I started cutting the grass. And more grass. And more grass. Our property is a quarter acre. Thank God we have a pool and concrete in the back yard to cut down on the amount of grass.

After the back yard came the front yard. Our lawn in the front slopes down pretty dramatically. That was tough. I had to stop a few times so I wouldn't pass out.

Then I had to edge and trim the weeds. That took a while since it hadn't been done in about four months. After the edging came the cleanup.

When all was said and done, it took me five hours from start to finish. Damn! I am sore all over. I'm telling myself that this was a one time thing, and that it should take less time as I keep it up. But I can only think of summer when I need to cut the grass each week.

I still thank God that I have a lawn of my own to mow. But I hope it gets easier than today! At least in the summer I can jump in the pool after mowing to cool down :-)

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Been a long time

Sorry about the lack of updates. It's been so busy around here, what with us expecting a baby in May, moving into a new house in January and work being busy for both of us--oh yeah, we also took a trip to New Orleans in February as well.

Let's hit the highlights since the last post two months ago: We completely moved into our new house and did some minor renovations (painting, new furniture, etc.). You can see the progress here. Were keeping these pictures somewhat updated so you can check back and see the changes.

Tammy and the baby (Megan) are doing fine. Tammy went for her bi-weekly checkup today and got a clean bill of health from the doctor. Everything is on schedule for the due date of May 18.

We went home to New Orleans in February at Mardi Gras. You can see some of the parade photos here and here. Our families threw baby showers for us and everyone was incredibly generous with their gifts. You can see the photos here and here.

In February I also had the opportunity to meet 4-time NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon. It was the thrill of a lifetime for me. You can see the pictures here. I want to thank Tammy and Melissa for coming with me, but a big thank you goes to Chris for coming along and taking all the great pictures. Thanks a million!

Well, those are the highlights. I promise to try to post more often, especially about the silly and meaningless stuff I normally post about :-)