Thursday, 4/21/11: Happy Birthday... to me (sort of)

Yes, today was my birthday.  Woo hoo!!  After a leisurely start to the day, we headed out to our house to make sure things were in order for a second showing.  After about a 75 minute drive we arrived at the house to find a yard that was in dire need of mowing.  Terri was originally going to give me the day off for my birthday, but after one look at the yard, I realized that wasn’t happening!  Happy Birthday to me!  The plan was for Terri to tidy up inside while I ran over to the storage unit to try and find my USB cord for the camera.  So I dropped her off and headed out.  Luckily I found the USB cord in the second box I checked.  Then it was back to the house.

When I got back Terri was sweeping the front porch.  I knew what I needed to do:  start cutting grass.  Now, we have about 1.5 acres.  Subtracting the space that the house occupies and natural areas bordering the property, there’s between three quarters and an acre of grass.  Since I don’t own a riding lawnmower, I generally mow the front yard one day and the back yard the next, but not the whole thing the same day.  I decided it was to be the front yard today to improve the curb appeal.  Then I realized I was low on gas, but there was enough to at least fill the tank.  By the time I got started it was a little after 4 PM.  So I decided I would mow until I ran out of gas or daylight, whichever came first, and finish the rest in the morning before the showing.  I got the front yard finished and there was still gas and daylight, so I headed for the side yard which isn't real big.  Just as I was about finished with that, I saw something black on the ground just before I hit it with the mower.  It was one of the knobs that holds the mower handle together.  The knob got a little damaged but not so bad that I couldn’t use it.  However, the real issue was finding the bolt that fell out into the grass, and the sun was beginning to set.  We both looked for it, but it wasn’t to be found.  So I got creative and used packing tape to hold the mower handle together.  (I didn’t have any of that ever useful duct tape handy.)  As I finished up the side yard I changed my strategy.  Now my plan was to cut grass until I ran out of gas, daylight, or strength to keep going.  I emptied the rest of the gas from the can into the mower and set off on a rapid pace attacking the back yard.  (Terri later said she got a good laugh because I looked like I was practically running!)  Well I finished it!!  I still had some gas and a tiny bit of daylight left. . . and I was exhausted!  Terri was finishing up inside with the vacuuming, so while I waited, I decided to spray off the Accord.  It was covered with pollen, little seed pods, and bird droppings.  We were finally ready to head home about 8:30 PM.

At the beginning of the day the original plan was to stop over at the house for a little tidying up, find the USB cord at the storage unit, go out to eat or pick up some take-out, and get a birthday cake.  By the time we were done at the house I was too tired to get something to eat or get a cake.  We just called it a day and drove the 75 minutes back home.  We'll go get a cake tomorrow and go out to eat.  On the way home I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything all day.  I drank some orange juice in the morning before we left and of course some water, but nothing to eat.  I decided I better eat something, so I grabbed a sandwich when we got home.  We both worked really hard today, and it was a. . . wonderful. . . birthday!