Mowing the lawn... part 1

So we moved into our new place and the lawn was beautiful. I spent 6 days and nights in the basement and neglected any yardwork. We then left for over 2 weeks and returned to a jungle. Having a thousand other things to do, I neglected it further for a few days until today. I filled up the lawnmower full of gas and started mowing. By the time I finished the front little patch on the one side of our house, I realized that was already more than what I had previously mowed at our Pullman home. I know this because the bag was full. So, rather than collect 50 bags of clippings, I tossed the bag and decided to mulch. I began to move to the side yard where I started to take on some of the bigger weeds. The first one I ran over and the mower just died. Umm... That is nuts. So I start it back up and go for the next one... dead again. So I start it again and this time prop the mower so the front end is about 6 inches of the ground. This worked by chopping off the top of the weed and then progressively cut it up as I pushed over it. And so I went with this strategy for the rest of the job. Rachel took the boys downstairs for a bath, I was still mowing. She got them dressed and brought them upstairs, I was still mowing. She let them play outside for an hour, I was still mowing. She put Ben to bed, I was still mowing. Lucas had a cup of milk, then came inside then crapped his pants, I had no idea because I was still mowing. The sprinklers in the front yard came on and they run for about 15 min so I began to pick up the pace so I could beat then before the ones on the other side of the house came on. Nope, still mowing. I was going to try and do the last little stretch that wasn't wet yet and then... I ran out of gas! I am going to say that the amount of mowing that I did today was likely equal to the TOTAL amount of mowing that I did in Pullman. Hopefully, it won't take nearly as long without the 3 foot high weeds to plow through, but it does put a bright point on the fact that the growing season isn't all year long! Fun fun fun!

14 beds in 31 nights...

We have returned to our new house! You should have seen how happy Ben and Lucas were to be home. They were totally crazy on the whole trip back and when we got here- there were like the best behaved and happy kids on the Earth. So, I started thinking "How much hell have we been through recently?" Since my back hurts like hell at the moment I decided to count the number of beds that I have slept in the past 30 days as a picture into the madness. So here is the recap:

1) 7/18 Pullman, WA: Last night in my comfy bed for awhile- seems like a year ago.
2) 7/19 Pullman, WA: Still at home, but on an inflatable mattress.
3) 7/20-21 Gardiner, MT: Shared a queen bed with Lucas- I think I still have a broken rib from his kicking.
4) 7/22 Rapid City, SD: My anniversary. See previous blog for that rant.
5) 7/23 Vermillion, SD: Nope not my new house, but another hotel room. I did have a queen bed to myself at least. (Cheapest hotel on the trip, and easily the largest rooms- I love Vermillion!)
6) 7/24-7/31 Vermillion, SD: Back in my own bed but in my new home!
7) 8/1-3 Woodland, CA: This was our HQ for our Northern CA trip. The Fosters rule for putting up with us! Queen bed with Ben in the room.
8) 8/4 Chico, CA: Visiting our good friends and sleeping in their 3 year old daughters room... all 4 of us!
9) 8/5-8 Woodland, CA: Not sure if this counts as "another bed" but since it plays into the madness of our schedule, I am counting it again.
10 and 11) 8/9-12 Redondo Beach, CA: My parents house. Here the kids sleep in the bedroom and Rachel and I sleep in the living room. 2 beds here because Rachel and I switched off between the couch and the pullout couch.
12) 8/13-15 Simi Valley, CA: Rachel's parents house. We slept in a queen bed in Rachel's old room.
13) 8/16-17 Simi Valley, CA: Same house, we gave up the bed for Grandma Krueger. So again all four of us sleeping in the bonus room. The bed was a KING, although amusingly only a few inches off the ground. It originally broke about 2 years ago...
14) 8/18 Vermillion, SD: Back home! Oh I am going to enjoy tonight's sleep! Well, what I will get anyway. Lucas starts preschool at 8:30am, which is the equivalent of 6:30am CA time- ouch!

Rachel has posted a ton of photos here- Even the dreaded 135 degree outside angles! I have beaten you with my mighty miter saw!