Out of Gas…Again
Oh my, no more dirty car this year! That was what I thought when I decided to declare a resolution this year. Here is a status update:
This is what my car looks like three months in to 2014. It is worse! Now I resolve to never making any more New Year’s Resolutions.
Out of Gas… (Original post from December 2013)
I know this is the time of the year to reevaluate your life, nit pick your misgivings and come up with a resolution that will change your life for the better. Whatever! I have never been a big fan of New Year Resolutions; I usually try to just keep my expectations fairly low, it seems to work for me, but my five year-old was able to glaringly point out where I need to improve.
My car stinks! And that was exactly what I said to Azul this afternoon. To be fair, I have always had a dirty car, even before Azul, but no doubt the trash has grown exponentially since his birth.
I am a true Virgo and have a deep-seated need to straighten things out — things don’t need to be super clean, just in order. My car is the exception, the one place I can let loose. So, I told my five year-old, “My car stinks!” And he replied, “Maybe it cuz I tooted in there!” In a state of amazement I then said, “You tooted in my car?” Without a second thought he said, “Yes.” I am not sure why I continued the conversation at this point, and come to think of it, I’m not sure why I do half the things I do now as a parent, but I said, “I didn’t hear it.” Immediately his response was, “Toots are quiet.” I put my head in my hands, shaking left to right, thinking, Oh my, no more dirty car this year!
Spring Sucks!
Tis the time of year to get back outside and start cleaning and prepping the yard for the summer! I love working in the yard and right now is perfect, it’s not too hot yet, but warm enough to enjoy the sun. I decided to start in the front yard and use my blower/sucker to remove all the old leaves from under the bushes and trees. I do like my blower/sucker because it also mulches. It’s a smaller machine which is perfect for me to handle and it has a big strap I can put over my shoulder so I can carry it easily. In order to use the mulch option you must have it in suck mode. So, there I am, in full suck mode in my front yard.
We live in a dry climate and we haven’t received much moisture this year, so as you can expect there is a lot of dust that gets kicked up. So, I’m out in the front, sucker on high and it is loud! I didn’t realize how many leaves were actually out there and I filled my first bag fairly quickly. I dumped the bag’s mulched contents in my compost pile and went back at it for round two.
After removing the top layer with my first trip, this second time around seems much dustier! And it’s so loud, you really can’t pay attention or focus on anything but directing the nozzle into the compacted ground. Also, this second bag isn’t filling up as fast as the first, which is weird. Then I looked up for a second and there is dust everywhere! What is going on? I thought. Then I looked down and I am covered in dust! I paused for a moment and was overwhelmed with the feeling of being a total jackass. You know, when all of a sudden everything comes together and you know exactly what’s wrong.
I turned the sucker back on pointed the nozzle to the ground, watched some leaves get sucked up and then shoot straight out the back of the bag in tiny little pieces! I forgot to zip the bag back up after I dumped my first load! Although, the damage was already done, and I had been out there for almost an hour, of course I looked around to see if anyone had seen me. I’ll never know, but one thing I do know now is spring sucks!
Like Comparing Melons to Oranges
I spend a lot of time with my five year-old son and as a result, I feel we are kind of in sync with each other. It’s something that happens in all relationships, the more time you spend with someone the more you know exactly what they are talking about. Something magical happens, when you can finish each other’s sentences and an extended preface to a conversation is no longer needed.
Today, out of nowhere, Azul said to me, “If you give a pig a melon it will last 1 day, if you give a pig an orange it will last 100 days!” The what, the what?! I didn’t even know where to begin to be able to respond to that. But, I did wonder if I sound like that to him sometimes when I’m talking. Magic huh?
Carmelina Hart 