The 2nd craziest thing I have ever done ... or the one where I show you the outside of my house

I am not a very adventurous person, so this may sound boring to many. I also may define crazy differently than you. Taking a red-eye to New York for a madcap weekend is not crazy to me. Diving in a frozen lake for a Polar Bear plunge is crazy to me. Lining up at midnight for an after Thanksgiving Day sale is crazy to me. Strapping wood on your feet and throwing yourself down a mountain for fun is crazy to me. Seeing Twilight movies is crazy to me (just kidding!) So there is your frame of reference. 

One day, I may tell you the craziest thing I have ever done. Not today. I am getting ready for a long weekend vaca with Mom. 

Last night I left my office early to run home and get my leaves up off my grass before the lights went out. Whose idea was daylight savings? I would like to meet that guy (wasn't it Benjamin Franklin? I actually would like to meet that guy!) and tell him it was not a good idea in my opinion. Of course I am not a farmer so having daylight early is not important to me. I am in HR, so we like daylight after work to get things done. Just sayin. 

So I get home, put together my riding lawnmower ... oh did I mention I have a riding lawnmower? It is pretty sweet action. Two of my brothers did help me with this step. Pat was driving by and came to help. We discovered there was no gas in the mower. What?! So I ran to get gas and then Ev came by to teach me how to use the darn thing. Off I went after a brief tutorial. Let me show you what I encountered first:

This big apple tree is in my back yard. It has some nice low hanging branches ... for now. I will cut them next year. It was an adventure mowing under them. By 5:30 the sun was down and it was pretty dark. I was determined not to quit. The lawnmower has headlights. I know, right? So I flipped them on and kept going. Well Sister dropped by around this time. She came around the back to see what in the world I was doing. She vowed to stay until she could not stay any longer so that "if I knocked myself out mowing under the tree someone could call 911." I did the only logical thing anyone could do: I went downstairs where I have stored the construction supplies and pulled up the halogen lamp. Plugged that puppy in, and shone it on the back yard. (Is that the right tense of shine?) I finished the back yard and headed to the front:

Where I ran into trouble was on the side. That dumb apricot tree is pretty bare. I could not believe how many leaves there were. So here is where I encountered an audience. My neighbor was out in his yard with a pal working on a project also with a halogen lamp. Oh did I mention my Aunts live next door to me? Well they do. So Aunt C came over and just shook her head, but told me she was proud of me for not giving up. The neighbor just laughed and laughed; I told him I wished I could tell him that I am normally not that person, but to be honest I really am. Picture me, on a riding lawnmower, mowing by the light of halogen lamps, wearing an awesome winter hat. I was not going to give up! Was not. And for the record I HATE apricots. 

Yup, that is what I felt like ...

So the project that should have taken an hour, took 3. I finished at 7:30. I bagged 3 huge bags of leaves and grass. I missed a few spots. I have bumps, cuts, and bruises to prove that it was a fool-hearty mission. I am allergic to grass, so my eyes itch and I am sneezing. BUT, I did it. I mowed my lawn for the first, not the last, time. This morning the apple and the two little trees on the side of my house shed more leaves. I shake my head and fist at them. Who mows their lawn in the dark? Could it BE more dangerous? (Thank you Chandler for your guest appearance!) Second craziest thing I have ever done. 

Oh, by the way, this is my house. House meet my internets. Internets meet my house.

I am fully aware that I have not posted the "moved in after"photos. Once one box is unpacked I seem to find another one. So it'll happen one day.