Feeling 40! (and not in a good way)

As many of you know, we live in Alabama and there is grass.  LOTS of it.  I have not once offered to mow our lawn in the last 3 years.  Not once.  Ernesto handles this.  Why shouldn’t he?  He’s a stay-at-home dad after all?!  To be honest, I’m just lazy about lawn care.  It’s a man’s job…I always say with inner-guilt.  We still chuckle over our very first lawn mower purchase.  If you’re a native of the south, lawn mowers are serious business.  You either invest in a gas push mower or a riding mower…but NEVER a corded push mower.  Yes, we did.  Let’s save money and buy one off amazon!  We purchased a corded appliance that you literally plug in and drag the cord all over the yard without severing it.  It’s an absolute PITA.  It’s almost unheard of and let me tell you, when the neighbors watch us from their living rooms, I’m pretty certain they’re shaking their heads as they observe us trying to manage the endless amount of wire wrapped all around us in order to avoid mowing over it (OMG).  In any event, I cringed at the condition of our yard today.  I complain about it but never lift a finger to do it.  So today was “the day”…I mean how hard could it be??  We have a lot of yard but so what.  As I began, I was ready to quit only 15 minutes in.  The yard is not flat but a sloped mini-valley.  Oh and did I mention it was 92 degrees with 90% humidity.  But I kept churning along…repeating to myself “I can do this.  Don’t give up.  Plus, I missed the gym yesterday.  This is my cardio.  Suck it up!”  So after I managed to finish the entire yard, I sat there, dripping with sweat and feeling like I wanted to literally DIE.  Ernesto comes out with some water and half-smirk I’m sure. How the heck does he do this lawn thing every couple weeks??  I barely survived the back yard!  That’s HALF the job.  My heart was beating so fast and I felt like a 20-year old smoker with emphysema.  I realized that I wasn’t as tough or in-shape as I’d let on, scoffing about how easy it would be to mow a measly lawn.  Well the joke was on me.  Hopefully, I’ll recover.  Tonight happens to be date night and yes, it will involve an cold adult beverage.  Cheers to getting older and your body reacting to everything that requires exertion 🙂