Lawn Mowers, Bull Riders and Those behind the mask

The lawn saga continues on and on. I was able to share it with my massage therapist last week during my session. Love those days. But I really loved what she had to say other than the fact that she thought she needed pink underwear like mine since her husband liked pink! Now, for you faint of heart...those of you who are not able to handle the vocabulary of the world, click off now! I would like to share with the rest of you who can handle it, the words of the massage therapist! She worked long and hard on my shoulders. Asked me what I had been doing that made me so tight? Of course....I have been hauling a heavy gas weed eater around. She worked on my lower back. Then she began to work on my rear. She compliments my "pink" and then exclaims: "Trina, for a woman your age, you have, may I say, the tightest ass!" I just about rolled off the table laughing. She repeated the comment when she continued to the other cheek. I laughed again. So, that mower is good for one thing. I may have a tight ass, but she really had to push through the fat to find it. I wish that everyone could see that! But I have a tight tush! And I got it from hard work! (Okay, so she may not have meant it that way, but hey, I am taking it to the max.)
Then for the rest of the massage, I explained to her the landscape and the mower. After talking to some of my neighbors, I have discovered that the previous owner wanted to be a farmer/rancher. Therefore he bought a tractor. He just drove it every three or four months and plowed up the dirt. No disc. No planting of seeds for wheat, maize, cotton, or grass. Just till up the dirt and watch it wash away in the rain. So...now I have 5 acres of land that are uneven, sloped, riveted, sandy, and filled with grass burrs. All because he wanted to be something he wasn't! Hello, Barbie and I are the same age. I would love to look like Barbie. But I don't. I just don't think the rest of Abilene is ready for me to walk around in no bra, painted on underwear, and clothes that are skin tight. I just don't think that would work. I don't have the figure for it. I am thinking that he didn't have the true meaning of the word tractor...well unless he thought his tractor made him sexy. So, I work hard at being Barbie with a real woman's figure!
This brings me to my thoughts as I was riding that tractor for 4 hours yesterday. Something that has been on my for the last few days. Something that hurts others more than it hurts ourself. How many of us pretend to be something we truly aren't. This is one thing I struggle with and try not to do! It is hard sometimes!!! But I want people to love me for me. I love my family...but I don't want people to love me because of them. I want to be loved for me being me. So...yesterday I went to dinner without styling my hair, or applying makeup (of course, I was so tired I couldn't lift my arms up to do any of that!!! I had been holding onto the wheel of a lawnmower). i told the wait person that I was totaly exhausted and sleepy, but I would be a very polite diner. Point is....I didn't cause anyone to pass from this life because I was just me. I didn't get shunned. I was allowed to enter a restaurant and order dinner......without styled hair and makeup!!! And, even though I was totally exhausted, I was still courteous and fun to the wait staff. I was without my mask! It was wonderful!!! As for who I am at home versus school and public life. I try to be an open book. Ask my students.....Ask my kids. I will chew them out in public as well as in private. I will love on them at home as well as in public. The question to myself yesterday during that 4 hours was: When I get my feelings hurt, or am frustrated with someone, or angry with someone, am I hiding behind a mask when I don't step out there and voice my thoughts (not in an ugly way, but even in a kind way?) Is that a mask, or is it just my way of keeping peace among all people?
As for the bull rider in the title? I won't even pretend to be a bull rider, but after 4 hours of a bucking lawn mower, I think 8 seconds would be an easy ride. It's just getting off the bull that would get me!

Front Porch moment

Today's lesson on yard work is small. Pull weeds while it is sprinkling! You can't tell if it is sweat or rain running down your forehead, cleavage and back. However, I do have a question. At the time of the flood, why did the Lord leave us mosquitoes and grassburrs. He could have done away with both, and I would have been okay with that! One would think childbirth, passing kidney and gall stones, and dealing with Social Security is punishment enough.
On a better note!
We are a "Front Porch" family lately. Twice today, my children and I sat on the porch to watch our newest friends........ Tiny, Flower, Mumble, and Spot (the hummingbird clan). Our front porch has also grown to include two baby birds who rest there at night. However, our front porch included some other important friends through out the day who were as mesmerized by our little birds, as we were. Grandad came for a spell; Tony came for supper and sat out to watch, then Ashley and Jordan came calling. Tony just couldn't believe how relaxing and cool these guys are. We visited and watched the birds.
After two days of enjoying these hummingbirds, we decided to check out where they nest and sleep at night. We found a great site to read and enjoyed several videos. We were watching the amazing video where the mother was feeding her two babies. After about day 28 the babies are fairly grown, and the mom is still feeding them a mixture of insects (spiders) and nectar. She does this by sticking her long slender beak down into the mouths of the babies. My daughter without missing a beat said: "That's gotta hurt! That gives a whole new meaning to a nosey mom!" Enough said!
Loving our front porch times!

Lessons in yard work.

I bought this awesome mower last month. Every male within shouting distance of my house (about 5 of them) think I got a steal and did great in purchasing it. I agree! So...with such pride I took off mowing my "Green/Red Acres". I started with the front at about 1:20. It was a pretty wild ride the first round....I had NO idea how to drive that thing, and it was in high gear. I am certain "passerbyers" thought I was hysterical. After that, I moved to the "bar ditch" and then to the east side of the house. That is where I made the startling conclusion....there is not enough money in the world to pay someone to mow from the east back to the rest of the 5 acres. Oh my stars! If your child is asking to go to Six Flags and you have no money....send them to my house. They can mow the law and get the same bone cracking, teeth jarring ride as they would on the roller coaster; and you saved money. Or, if you are wanting to loose weight bring it on. Do you remember the little machine that ladies used to use where they stood up, put this belt around their rear end, turned the button to on, and the belt started shaking their butt? I now own that machine, except that you are seated. And you don't want to stop the mower to take a break because you feel like a pilot starting up or shutting down the airplane. Then there are so many buttons and levers that you have to move just to stop the thing...you keep mowing for 4 1/2 hours straight so all you have is water to drink (a bottle in the cup holder which is deep enough to keep it from bouncing out). Finally, I was majorly concerned that my boobs would be hanging to my ankles by the time I finished bouncing around. Did you know that IF a large object gets stuck in red clay mud, you can't just sit there and rock it out? So...lesson learned. Eat, drink and pee before getting on the machine, and slow down when you see the ripples in the upcoming area. And for the mud...well, let's call it a science experiment.
The next lesson...... I have a beautiful view and am working on having a beautiful front yard. This morning I assigned each child a job to help me with the yard before it began to rain. The son was to rake the rocks out of the yard and the daughter was to hoe the weeds out of the front bed. I was busy raking dirt to put in grass seed, and fertilizing. They both lasted a whole 20 minutes or so. Hello? Who is the old person here? (The same one that by herself climbed to the 1/2 way point at the falls in Colorado....) I also ended up finishing the rocks and had to go fill the culverts that my daughter created. I must say that I taught her to use the hoe correctly, but I think she thought I said "hole".
As for the final lesson in yard work, we experienced it tonight. We sat in the back enjoyed the smell of rain as we admired the green grass and trees and smell of flowers. Then we sat on the front porch, swathed in a cool rainy breeze, looking at the freshly mowed beautiful green weeds and the distant blue hills blanketed in clouds while our three humming birds played at the feeder just two feet from us. Even better.......I sat there tonight in my jammies, drinking coffee and two precious children on either side. Hmmmmm love me some yard work!