The Misadventures of House Living

So I've been telling everyone how AWESOME it is to live in the Highlands, how much we LOVE our house, and all that. But there are always glitches in the grand scheme. Nothing's perfect. We're learning a few things along the way.

1. Petunias do not care for themselves. This is unfortunate, because apparently Amy and I don't do a good job of it, either. We were so excited that the home-owner was leaving us her huge pots of beautiful petunias. We promised to water and love them and pinch them. The petunias now look more like a ratty bird's nest. Next year, we shall fill our planters with fake plants or something much more hardy. Lesson learned.

2. Ants can live ANYwhere. They are just tiny enough that they can crawl into any place. They can go all the way upstairs. They can find your kitchen trash can, sink, and counter. They show up really well on white bathroom tile. They can have entire metropolises in your garbage dumpster. Ants are bad. But...they can be overcome if you carry around a can of Raid and set out 40 ant/roach motels and put globs of Terro everywhere. Lesson learned.

3. No matter what your dad tells you, you should ask for an actual demonstration of how to run a lawn mower before attempting it for yourself. I knew lawn mowing was going to be a daunting task. I hadn't looked forward to it. Luckily, due to the dry spell, it didn't grow for a while. Then, due to the monsoon season we had, it grew...and grew...and grew. It was way too wet to even mow for a while. But then the time came that the lawn HAD to be mowed. Amy was the first to volunteer. She was off work, and it was hotter than hell's kitchen, but she went out there determined. The lawn mower won the battle, though, and never even started. Amy says she just wasn't able to pull the cord hard enough to get it going. The weekend came, and I decided I would be the hero. I went out with an even greater determination. The lawn would be mowed. Dad tells me how simple it is to mow. "Just pull the cord, then push the mower, Lori." I can do this. I pull the cord. Amy was right. It IS hard to pull. I'm determined, though. This dumb lawn mower will NOT get the best of me. I set my feet firmly and give that mower string a YANK to end all yanks. Well...it actually did end all yanks. It fell right off into my hand. You see, Dad hasn't actually used a lawn mower since sometime before they invented sliced bread. He "forgot" to mention that there's this choke thing that you have to hold while you pull the cord. So...I'm left with knee-high grass, and no way to mow it. I peek over into my neighbor's yard, and by some miracle, she's out and about. I throw the broken mower piece to the side and dash to her yard. "Mrs. Kay, I'm going to need the phone number for your lawn mowing service after all." Lesson learned.

I didn't want anyone to think it was all fun and games here on Payne Street. We've been having to do some actual real life things, and I just wanted to make it clear that I'm still learning. Hope you all are still living, learning, and having fun with it as well!