Yardwork is for Landscapers

So as if there is not already enough chores to do, like endless laundry, vacuuming, cooking, washing dishes, etc, then you look outside and think, oh my goodness. We recently moved into our house last winter and, with the cold, we were able to ignore the back yard. Then spring and summer come and you realize you got used to ignoring the yard and its quickly becoming one of the worst looking yards in the hood.

A few weeks ago Blake and I set out to make our yard beautiful. We needed to cut the grass, weed eat some areas, trim the bushes, and kill and pull some weeds. No big deal right? Ha! Of course the moment you are ready to start a project, everything falls apart. We knew our weed eater had been causing problems and probably wasn't going to cut it (or anything really), so we borrowed one of those. We go outside ready to cut grass and when Blake cranks the lawn mower it starts pouring black smoke - something was wrong. Blake could tell you what exactly, I just knew that now the mower wasn't going to work either. So we called the Faunces to borrow their mower and got back on it.

I have never used a weed eater or a lawn mower, but I thought it would be safer for me to volunteer to cut grass while Blake was on the weed eater. I will never volunteer for that job again. It was miserable. Our yard has a very slight incline but it felt like I was pushing a 500 lb machine up a mountain. I was pouring sweat but couldn't wipe my face because my shirt was covered with the same dust I was eating.

When we were about half way done, the lawn mower just cuts off - Now what? It's out of gas. Do we have any gas....no, of course not. So Blake leaves to fill up our gas can. I had to laugh when he came back with not only gas, but a 6 pack and candy. I knew he was trying to get his spirits back up to finish, and the beer was sooo cold and good. He looks really happy, huh?


Then it was on to tackle the bushes that were literally twice the size they should be. We have a good sized yard and as I started to look around, I just got angry; there were so many of them! If you have a blank space in your yard, think of something better than a bush. However, I refused to be beaten and started cutting. There were a few limbs that got the better of me though. After about 5 or so cuts I would tell the limb, "Well done green one, you will live to jut out another day."



The back half of our yard is more "natural." It's covered with pine straw and ivy and is not supposed to look landscaped. But there is a difference between natural and unkempt. There were a few weeds that had grown to the size of small trees and so I named them weed trees. I decided that the weed trees weren't allowed to exist anymore. At this point I started to think of my friend who works for the pharmacy at MCG. She had told me just the day before of the numerous cases of rattlesnake bites they had seen come through the ER lately. Great! I didn't even know we had rattlesnakes in Georgia and now here I am tromping through the thick ivy and pine straw snake haven to chop down stupid weed trees.

We finally finished after creating a mountain of branches. We are still dividing the piles because our trash company will only pick up a trash can full at a time. The last time I was as dirty as I was that day, or have gotten that many bug bites, my age was probably a single digit! I am proud of our progress but I really hope that at some point in the future I can just hire someone to do this, at least in the summer months.

Reprint

So I take everything back I said in my last post about Finn becoming a better dog. It's like he knew I wrote it and said "I'll show you..." He's been on a rampage and is back to not being allowed out of my sight. About once a week I'm left wishing there was a poison control hot-line for animals. If this does exist, I'm unaware of it and please let me know. I know I could call the vet, but I kind of feel like a parent who has not been watching their child closely and may be turned in to DFACS.

Just this summer Finn has eaten swimming pool cleaner (straight sodium bicarbonate), a bottle of Prilosec, and today he got into a bottle of Hydroxycut with Hoodia (none of these chemicals belonged to me by the way). I counted the pills left in the bottle and determined that he couldn't have eaten very many of them. I thought, well, it was probably tested on animals before it was put on the market. So I shrugged my shoulders, made him eat and drink and he's been fine for the rest of the day.

Still wouldn't give him up for anything in the world, but come on Finn.

I do have one bragging point for him. This week on his days off, Blake went to LaGrange to help his parents with some "projects". I had to work and I stayed here. I think Finn sensed that I was alone, and more fragile than Blake, and he felt more of a responsibility to guard me. He was on high alert and every noise put him on edge. At once point my stomach grawled and he snarled. I appreciate his barking but it kind of freaked me out, especially at 10:30 at night when he was barking into darkness. I called Blake while he was visiting my family and told him Finn was scaring me. He tried to reassure me and said "you know where the guns are." I heard my whole family behind him start to laugh. It is laughable, I don't have much experience with guns and if there were an intruder, I would have no chance of getting out the gun, putting it together, loading it correctly, etc. There is a higher chance of me being hurt than the intruder. I opted to go to bed with a fire poker rather than a gun. I am glad that I didn't have to use the fire poker and even more glad to have Blake back home.

Youth Lock-In

This weekend we got to spend our Saturday, Sunday with our favorite high school students, the Quest Youth Group. For the past year and a half Blake and I have been acting as assistant youth leaders at our church. This is a title we gave ourselves. We really just jumped in and started helping. Blake is all about ministry, but I had to be coaxed along. I'm so glad he convinced me to join in because it has been such a blessing and a joy.

We started off the weekend by spending a few hours at the Golden Harvest Food Bank. Our job was to take mountains of raw egg noodles and sort them into 1.8 lb ziplock bags that could be easily distributed. We created two production lines (boys vs. girls) and I was so impressed by the teamwork, diligence, and lack of complaining as we worked 3 hours in a warehouse. We sped along and sorted through 1600 lbs of pasta! The girls out sorted the boys by about 200 lbs, what what! It's neat to think of all the families that will benefit from those bags.


When we finished everyone was hot and sweaty so we headed to the pool to go swimming. There wasn't much swimming done, just several high energy games of pool volleyball. Then we headed to the Evans house to eat and hang out. We ate, threw frisbee, played charades and other games. After the sun went down, our games turned to pranks played on several carefully chosen church members/friends. Below are two yards that got marked "Quest" "Youth" with forks. We finally were able to go to bed at about 2 am - this is WAY later than my usual bedtime.


Blake was worn slap out and spent his Sunday afternoon like this...



We always have fun when we get together with the youth, but by far the greatest thing is just being part of their lives. We have a great group of young adults but some of them have stories that will break your heart. Their life lessons have been far harder than any I have had to learn. It has made Blake and I even more aware of how blessed we were to have stable and loving families.

One youth shared that he wasn't able to live with his mom anymore because of an adverse relationship with his stepdad. He asked Blake, "What does the Bible say about stepdads?" You can't say, the Bible says nothing about stepdads because that is not God's design for a family. You can't tell him what you really think of his stepdad or his mom for allowing another man to mistreat her son. Instead you have to try to come up with a biblically sound answer and offer encouragement. It has been a challenge and has caused me to strengthen my faith and knowledge because you never know what they are going to ask.

At the end of this month we are taking them to the lakehouse. We did this last summer and everyone really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to it and I pray I have a positive influence in their lives and am able to act as an ambassador for Christ.

Adventures with Finn

Finn is our year and a half old Brittany and this is his personality...I am at home today and all morning he has sat in the front two rooms frantically pressing his face to the windows, pawing, and dashing from room to room. What is causing this behavior? A squirrel playing in the front yard that is paying him no attention. He has access to an entire backyard where he can run and chase all the critters he likes, but he'd rather watch this one he can't get to. Finn is intense and not easily distracted.



If you have not met Finn, he is a high energy spaz - but so much fun. He has been very difficult to train and raise. All of our friends with dogs kept encouraging us to give him about a year and a half to grow up, get the puppy out, and he would be so much better. I never really believed it when they said this, but it is starting to be true.

Finn was the cutest holy terror you have ever seen as a puppy. He'd drive you crazy because he knew what he was supposed to do, he just didn't have the control to do it. He knew to use the bathroom outside and was perfectly capable, but for the first 6 months he would sometimes decide he's rather use the carpet. He was also impossible to wear out and craved attention - we could not get anything done. If his energy was not satisfied, he would destroy things; things like shoes, wallets, cell phones, cash, etc. I think if I tried to talley up the monetary value of the things we've lost or had to replace because of Finn, I would just cry.



He would drive us insane. I can't tell you how many times Blake threatened to get rid of him; but he knew I would never allow this. Finn loved to find something he wasn't supposed to have and take off in a sprint. His favorite were socks, underwear, and dryer sheets. My best strategy was to trap him in the bedroom and stand in the middle of the bed. Even with me in this position he would run circles around the room, jumping on and off the bed for sometimes 10 minutes before I could catch him. He loved this game.

He is getting better though. Yesterday Blake and I could not recall the last time he destroyed something just for the fun of it and he does not pester as much. He has recently earned more unmonitored access around the house, more than just one room and the backyard. And yesterday was the biggest test. We went to the grocery store and left the doggy door open for Finn instead of locking him outside. He kind of failed - he found something to snack on and ripped apart a package of pop tarts, but this shouldn't have been in his reach, and I know it could have been a lot worse.

We are enjoying our "maturing puppy" and would not give him up for anything in the world.