Round 1 to John Deere

If I were to make a list of the things I do everyday, it would be ridiculous. There's a lot of thinking on your feet, rolling with the punches, wiping up bodily fluids, and doing whatever it takes to not lose your schmidt.

You know, the usual.

And even though I am "the boss" at home, I don't like to do everything. Hubby gets anything to do with heavy stuff, mowing, changing batteries (especially of things that involve screwdrivers), changing light bulbs and - because I can - bug squishing and disposal.

That doesn't mean I can't do those things. I just don't wanna.

You see, I grew up in a house of women. You either figured out how to do it yourself or called somebody. We only called for big things, like leaking pipes or remodeling. My Nana mowed the yard herself into her 80s. As a result, I didn't really "learn" until I was married. Oops.

The push mower was easy - same theory as a vacuum and I've been doing that since I was about 9. The lawn tractor we bought after we bought our house was a different story.

Before kids, when I had a more flexible work schedule than Hubby, I would try to help out and mow when we had busy weeks. But after several attempts, when I'd get halfway out into the yard and something would stop working right, prompting a frantic call to Hubby, he all but banned me from climbing onto our dear green and yellow tractor.

I'm pretty sure JD was grateful.

But tonight we had no choice. Hubby was rushing off to a softball game after dinner, and there is rain in the forecast tomorrow. And then our week is pretty much done. The grass is already going to seed, so if we waited until after the holiday weekend, I would have to call my friend's hubby to bring over his combine to harvest the yard.

So after I threw the kiddos in bed, I spent the next hour and a half outside fighting swarms of rabid mosquitoes. The yard has added more obstacles since the last time I mowed - trees, bushes, a bench and 2 playsets - and I started in the backyard since I needed a refresher on ya know, what I was doing. As a result, I ran her out of gas in the FRONT yard for a change, but then freaked because it wouldn't turn over after I added what little was left in the can in the garage. Unfortunately, my lawn-loving neighbor was out, so I was pretty sure he was laughing at me the entire time. I finally caved and told him I couldn't start it. He came over, had no idea even how to start it himself, and just jiggled the key and she came to life.

Of course it did. She's got a thing for guys. I think she's still mad at me for the last time I mowed...