Wednesday, May 17, 2006

So Much For Yard Work

What a day, what a day. The KU and I woke up around 10-10:30 this morning after recovering from the weekend at the cabin. We made some waffles and went over some of the ads from the weekend. Last night we rented some flicks from the Blockbuster in Roseville including The Dying Gaul and Ellie Parker. Both of these films were independents that KU and I saw trailers for and wanted to see but never got around to.
The Dying Gaul was an interesting film involving love, bisexual love, betrayal, deception, and a boatload of other messed up things for a film way more explicitly graphic than the Brokeback Boys of Ledger and Gyllenhaal.
We watched Ellie Parker this morning, a crazy film starring Naomi Watts as a girl trying to make it on the mean streets of Hollywood Los Angeles as an actress going from one crazy audition to another. Afterwards, Kristen and I went on a bike ride to Como Park and took a lap around the lake. When we got back, the two of us made some sandwiches and ate some toll house crackers along with lots and lots of water from the Nalgene Bottles.
Fearing that the weather would turn for the worst after our ride, I decided it would be good to mow the lawn before it got any longer and more uncontrollable. Kristen offered to help me outside by picking up twigs and branches from the trees in the yard while I mowed. We went through the backdoor from the garage and retrieved the lawn mower. I moved to the front yard to start mowing and Kristen began working on the back and front yard. I forgot to pen the garage door, but didn’t worry about it until I noticed Kristen trying to get in the house through the front door and the back door again. Turns out, in our rush to do good and take care of the lawn, we locked ourselves out of the house.
Kristen and I tried everything to get back in the house. From jiggling and attempting to pick locks in some of the doors, and scrambling for other possibilities. Then an idea occurred to the two of us, go through the one of the windows. We attempted to pull out the screen in the dining room, but had a little trouble. Having hit a block, I suggested we rip out the already damaged screen in my bedroom that the voles had chewed 8 to 10 holes in. We did our best, but couldn’t get the window open from the outside.
We went back to the window in the dining room. Using the other blade from the lawn mower in the shed, we slashed the screen, and I was able to boost Kristen through the window and into the house. Kristen quickly unlocked the front door and opened the garage door.
One of the things I learned from this encounter, is that I quickly lose my temper when I feel that I have no options left. I made the mistake of blaming Kristen for locking us out of the house, when it was nobody’s fault. If it was anyone’s fault, it was mine. The backdoor closed behind me and I had forgotten to unlock it and open the garage door before we started mowing. Afterwards, Kristen brought to my attention how easy it is to break into a house like this, and when we told Frank what had happened he mentioned the same thing and how none of the neighbors called the police or even saw what happened.
With the house unlocked and open once again, I returned to mowing and Kristen did some work inside. The backyard was a nightmare, nothing but weeds, old tree stumps, branches, and tree roots all getting in the way of my lawn mower. The problem with the backyard is that there is far too much shade for good sod to grow. Suburban grass needs lots of sunlight to do well, and there are too many trees in our backyard. If a couple were removed, I think the yard would be a lot easier to maintain. However, it is not my place as a renter to make major landscape changes in a yard we only have to mow.

Some excitement for a change, now it is time for The Sopranos marathon of Season 3.

Until next time,

Andrew

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