Sunday, May 20, 2007

Can I mow my lawn before the weekend is over?

This has been a strange long weekend for me. Usually, on May long weekend, I have a lot planned, people to see, things to do and last minute extras to accommodate for. The past few days have been full of random events that bring me to learn a new life lesson.
Friday was a fun night out with one of the girls from the Africa team, we sat at Starbucks visiting until the Starbucks barista came to our little corner to tell us they were closing in 7 minutes. I love that feeling where you can't believe how long you have been visiting and the conversation was full of fun memories and new events. I felt that it made for a good evening out after another hour of visiting in the car before she went home.
Saturday morning rolled around with my crazed dog jumping up on my bed to wake me up before 7:00am. As much as I like getting up early - this was a bit ridiculous!

It was a miserable day with overcast skies and cold temperatures. My brother phoned at 7:45am to see if I had changed my mind about coming with them to see my parents out at the lake. It was confirmed - I do not want to go to the lake! Too cold! Instead, I plopped myself down in front of the TV and started flipping channels in hopes that there would be a good old movie on Turner Classic Movies but I got caught on another old/new classic - School of Rock with Jack Black.

Why I like this show, I do not know, but I find myself laughing at his stupidity and enjoying his change of heart to see these kids do well. I also really enjoy the roommate and his girlfriend. They are both so annoying - she does a good job at that role and he is such a dweeb! And Joan Cusak is so funny as the principal! After the movie was over it, I started to read - but somehow fell asleep. It was a good book but I think the morning came too fast after my Starbucks hang over. It was a great little nap but I realized it was the afternoon and I had done NOTHING! So the guilt started to creep in... I decided I needed to mow my lawn but the mower was stashed in my shed in the most awkward position (My dad put it in there last fall - No idea how he got it in there!) I tried to lift it out but it just wouldn't come. After tipping it up and turning it and just plain old ramming it out, I finally got it out just to realize - it wasn't working. I started to panic, did I wreck it by tipping the engine up on it's side? After all that effort, I couldn't do anything! So back in the house! I made a marinade for some steaks and went for a nice long walk with Paris. We BBQ-ed the steaks later that night but accomplished almost nothing with hope that Sunday would bring about better results!
This morning (Sunday) looked promising - the sun was out shining and maybe the mower might work today. I made a list of all the things I wanted to do including some laundry and vacuuming along with the yard work of yesterday. Things started out great, kitchen was cleaned, pulled some of the weeds, my neighbour asked if I wanted any of her perennials for my yard and then my friend Danielle came over. Danielle is my "Mover and Shaker" - if she wants it done - she does it! One day she decided to buy a house - then she wanted to renovate it - not just one room but all of them - within one month she had re-painted her dining room 3 times! Then she bought another house - and sold her other house - then she renovated her new kitchen! She is very motivating to be around! She wanted to go to the farmers market today - so we went! I loved it! She is so spontaneous! But just before we were about to leave we were snooping around the yard next door and I stepped on an old fence board that was turned upside down with two nails pointing up! It was weird - like slow motion - I could feel the rusty nails skewering through my foot. I stood there for a second and said "I think I stepped on a nail" lifted my foot and sure enough - Blood! My left lime green garden Crocs were full of blood! I hobbled over to the house to look at it closer and sure enough it was a deep one!

I cleaned the puncture holes and put a band aide on it. At first it felt tender but nothing serious but after a couple hours it really hurts. My toes are stiff like as if they had lactic acid build up in them from a work out. So far I don't have lock jaw because thankfully I had my tetanus shot before going to Africa!

It's weird because right after it happened we still went to the farmers market and it hurt but I was able to hobble around. Now that I am home and my shoes are off - the pain is increased and I can barely put pressure on it.

Well, I might have to phone Capital Health link Hotline to talk to a professional to see if there is anything else I can do to prevent infection or anything more serious! Stupid fence boards!
I can't wait for tomorrow - Victoria day! Holiday Monday! What could be in store for me then! Will I ever get my lawn mowed? It is like a jungle! Soon I will need a swather to get through!
I have learned that when I don't stick to my plans strange things happen and simple things like mowing my lawn don't seem to ever happen. I get so easily distracted by more appealing things... When will I learn to stay focused? Well, maybe now I have learned!