My Resume is Growing

It may not be my prettiest work but at least my precious newly air conditioned house remains cool with this nice patch job I did on the window shattered while cutting the back yard.

Not only am I a home window repairman, I can do auto repair as well. Zach's back window began with a small tear and within a month  the entire back window collapsed.  One of the cooks at work suggested sewing it up with a certain type fishing line he had that was really heavy duty. I went to Wal Mart and bought a pack of upholstery needles and borrowed the fishing line from my buddy at work. Three days, two buckets of sweat and six needles later I had the back window tight as a drum and didn't even leak when it rained like crazy. I was pretty proud of this job, especially when my neighbor Mr. Slow Lee watched me the entire time from his driveway saying it would never work. HA... Showed him!

I was on a roll and decided to add landscaper to my growing resume. Years ago before our fall from grace my yard was perfect every summer. I pulled weeds and had one of the nicest yards in the subdivision. Lately we've been lucky to just keep our house and paying work took precedence over yard work. The bushes had taken over our front yard and you couldn't even see our windows on the first floor.

Tim actually helped yesterday and trimmed back the bushes in front of the garage while I was at  the furniture store. The kids were amazed at his handiwork, he's not much of a yard guy. Years ago when I asked him to trim the bushes with the electric trimmer he cut through all three drop cords while trimming and so never asked him to do it again. This time he successfully made it without sawing through the drop  cord and I was very impressed with his work.

I got up this morning all pumped to finish the job. The bushes in front of our living room window were so tall you couldn't even tell we HAD windows. We had trees sprouting up behind the bushes,  poison ivy, weeds and unknown sticker plants (for lack of a better word) sprouting out in all different directions.

I got out the little aluminum ladder my Diddy  had given me for Christmas years ago and went to town. I cut as much  as I could from  the ground, then put the ladder in front of the bushes while Massey held it and leaned back against the ladder while reaching as high up as I could with the trimmer. The aluminum rungs were killing the back of my calf's but just kept on  cutting. Once I got to the higher parts, I had to hold on to the ladder behind me with one hand while swinging the trimmer as high up as I could with my other arm. I am sure at  least two of the neighbors across the street were laughing at me through their window or making a video tape of the crazy determined mighty might slinging away with one arm waving an electric trimmer around above her head.  Massey was a nervous wreck and thought I was going to fall off the ladder at least ten times.

Dang... I got through, and guess what? There was a HOUSE behind all the bushes! You used to not even be able to walk to my front door without catching yourself on the briars and bushes shooting out in all different directions. I had forgotten we had steps leading to the front door.

Four hours later, I weighed fives pounds less but hacked off at least a hundred pounds of  shrubbery and weeds and could actually see what my house looks like.

My sweet sister came over a couple of weeks ago and painted my front door for me. Next  she is going to paint my shutters the same color and my house will begin to resemble a house again.

I'm tackling my front island on Monday. I have gladiolas, irises , day lilies,  and brown eyed susans screaming for help from the weeds overtaking them as well.

My house may not look like a mansion, but is a mansion to me...just a neglected one.

I call our home "The house of hard knocks" but at least I have a house to name.

I went into work tonight after finishing yard work at four and clocked in by five. A co worker who I absolutely adore who reads my blog said to me  "You got a crazy life and nothing comes easy, always gets effed up but you always seem  make it happen."

You know, she is exactly correct. Life's NOT easy... but if you are a good person and try your best, good  things happen. Sometimes you have to be patient and and a lot of times you  have to pray.

As Zach once said to me when he was only about six years old "Momma, my prayer's came right."

My prayer's have "come right."

With so much help it's not even funny and determination, it's amazing what you can do.

I never get tired of saying it because it's so fantastically true...I am  blessed.

Til next  time...one tired COTTON.


PS  I will upload a picture tomorrow of the bruises on the back of my legs from leaning against the ladder. I call them victory marks!