Day 17 - There's no place like home

Some days, the mind generates prose so sweet and swift, writing it all down is only a formality. For me, today is not one of those days. I am exhausted both physically and mentally. Still, I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until I relayed to you, my faithful readers, the reason why I will sleep so happily and soundly this fair eve. It may not seem like much, but for me, it goes a lot deeper than the level of mere chore.

My body aches from head to toe right now, especially the points of pain on/in my hands. A smile graces my lips as today I pushed myself out of my comfort zone once again and found myself to be stronger than before. What did I do today that was so different? Simple... I mowed the lawn.

Not quite the climatic piece of news you were expecting, eh? Well, sometimes big rewards come in small packages... or in this case, 3 hour time frames. A couple pieces of background that may help put this in perspective...

All of my life, I never thought I would ever mow the lawn. It seemed to be the one chore the men in my life assumed was theirs and so they took care of it. It's not that I didn't think a woman could mow a lawn. Not at all! It just never seemed to be my chore and I was never taught how to use a lawnmower. I never asked and, to be honest, never really thought about it one way or the other. It was a household chore. The guys took care of it. End of story. Well, not really the end as today proved.

Two weeks ago, I had a strange urge out of left field to find out how the lawnmower worked. Well, it was more like "What would happen if, for some reason, hubby couldn't mow the lawn? What would we do then?" The thought struck me that I was not capable of caring for my home in this manner and that that fact was unacceptable to me. I mean, come on! It's just mowing the lawn, not rocket science. Yeesh!

So, I asked hubby how the mower worked and did a test lap. Satisfied, I let him finish the rest of the lawn. Hey, even he said that's his job. ;P

Fast forward to today... The lawn looks like a jungle due to all of the rain and warm temps of the last two weeks (since it was last cut.) Hubby had a job today and wouldn't be home until after 10pm. The weatherman was calling for severe weather the next several days, so today was it! Either mom or I cut it, or it would continue to grow out of control. I chose a nicely manicured lawn over the wild prairie look. I was not prepared for the next 3+ hours...

Quick note: Our house sits on an approximately 3/4 acre corner lot. It's big and right there on the main road of the development, so we have to keep it looking fairly nice. It's also not flat; front yard is a decent slope from the house to the street and the backyard has lots of slopes, dips, even a few small holes. When I win the lottery, I'm going to have the grass ripped up, the land leveled out, and re-sodded asap!! Looks great, mows rough.

So, I started with the backyard which went great, taking a few water breaks in-between. Ok, by the end of that, I had had a good workout; my legs, back, core, chest, and arms all had that great after-workout feeling and I was feeling proud of myself for not only doing this for the first time, but doing it well.

Then I realized I had the entire front and side yards to do as well. *sigh*

1/3 of the way through the front, the "Ok, enough" feeling started. My body began to rebel, but I kept going.

2/3 of the way through the front, I felt weak, but kept going.

Front yard done; still had side yard to do. By this point, I realized I hadn't eaten anything since 2:30pm (it was now 7:45pm) and headed inside for a short snack: lite cheese stick, 1/2 a banana, 1 serving Special K multigrain crackers, and 1 small all-fruit snack (one of my son's). I was halfway through my second liter of water overall, so I headed back out with renewed energy. I finished the side yard, cleared off the walkways, and went inside to clean up and pass out. Well, more like grab dinner, then relax and blog, then sleep.

For those that do Weight Watchers, I racked up 11 Activity Points today, just for mowing the lawn. In comparison, my normal workout at the gym (speed walking 5K in 60 minutes) generates 6 points. Quite the difference!

Would I do this again? The whole lawn... if needed. Hubby and I talked before I started blogging tonight. He was impressed with my mowing. We may start splitting up the job, so we both can benefit from the exercise, but not be overwhelmed with the whole lawn. I think this will end up bringing us closer and that I really like. :)

As a treat, Hubby brought me home a couple of my favorite crab rangoons from our local Chinese restaurant. I had already eaten all of my daily points, but these were worth diving into my 35 weekly points (first time this week.)

So, lessons learned:

- I can be successful when I step out of my comfort zone. Just takes some confidence and a little knowledge.

- New tasks can be enjoyable with a positive attitude and perspective.

- I need to wear gloves whenever I mow in the future. My hands are killing me! Blisters bad.

I hear the rumble of thunder in the not-to-distant skies as I write, so I'm going to end this here for the evening. The predictions were for serious storms and, being from the Midwest, for possible tornadoes (scary!) Keep your fingers crossed, say a prayer, and thank you for reading. Means so much to me!

~H