I’m not a huge Taylor Swift fan but I do enjoy her music. I was not thrilled to hear the new song every hour on the hour the other day for it’s debut . . . until I realized that Brendon Urie was singing with her (that dude could sing the phone book and I’d listen to him!) so I paid closer attention to the song.
That’s when I heard the line “I never want to see you walk away” . . . which reminded me of the promise that Prince Charming made me when he came back into my life “I will never willingly walk away from you ever again” . . . .
So that’s the story of how the new Taylor Swift song turned me into a puddle of snot this morning . . .
Picked the brains of Little Brother and Older Brother In Law . . .
Thought, re-thought, agonized over the decision . . .
Finally made a decision and ordered the mower . . .
Arranged for in-store pick-up . . . prayed that the mower would fit in Hal . . . worried about how the heck I would get the mower OUT of Hal once I got it home . . .
Mower fit in Hal . . . wasn’t too hard to get it out of Hal once I got home . . .
Now I have to put it together . . .
But first I have to make sure I “read, understand, and follow all instructions” in the manuals provided . . .
First of the season lawn care stuff . . . the yard looks like poop and the grass needs cut . . . I really should get the mower serviced . . . I’ll mow the yard one quick time before I send the mower out for a tune-up . . .
Starts up on the first pull . . . yay me!! Take off to cut the back yard . . . holy crap I can’t believe it’s time to do this again . . . all goes well until (you knew there was an “until” didn’t you) . . . the mower decides to be stupid after about six passes . . . self-propelled thing isn’t working . . . curse, swear, filth fowl . . . heck, I’m too old and too tire to push this mower without the self-propelled thing . . . curse, swear, filth, fowl . . . I didn’t want to mow the dang yard anyway . . . put the thing away and go have a beer . . . Prince Charming would be so proud . . .
Next day . . . call the mower guy and arrange to have them come get the mower.
Few days after that . . . mower guy calls me with sad news . . . the little mower that Prince Charming got from his dad is broken beyond repair . . . time to buy a new mower . . . holy shit . . . I’ve never bought a mower IN MY LIFE . . how the “bleep” am I supposed to know how to do this? Nobody ever taught me about buying a mower! This is not how this is supposed to be . . . I am not the one that’s supposed to be buying a mower. Curse, swear, filth, and fowl . . . (and yes I said this to Prince Charming . . . out loud) I really hate your ass right now . . . I know you’re not really happy with the whole “being dead” thing but dang dude . . .
So what’s a girl to do . . . she asks her little brother for help . . . and he finds me a mower!!
I do some research of my own. I read reviews. I read owners manuals. I research the option of having it delivered and assembled. I ask little brother a gazillion questions and he patiently answers EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. like I’m one of the guys and not his stupid sister that has no idea what she’s doing . . . bless his heart . . .
Now I just need to make sure I can fit the mower in the car . . . and have the patience and skills to assemble a mower . . .
I’m doing the dishes. Millie comes into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Then walks to the back door to see what’s happening . . . she starts barking and wants out the back door RIGHT NOW . . . which brings Rocky into the kitchen to see what the fuss is and decides he wants out the back door RIGHT NOW as well . . . I’m thinking “WTF” as I go to open the back door and step out on the deck to see what the fuss is all about . . . and that’s when I notice The Burbs neighbor behind me has started the first bonfire of the season . . . and it’s so big that, yes you guessed it, it looks like my garage is on fire . . .
Apparently my two big barking dogs scared the crap out of The Burbs neighbor . . . he put out the bonfire and went back into his house . . .
I did a 5k on Saturday . . . the second one of the season . . . I am so out of shape it’s not even funny . . .
But I started the race . . . and I finished the race . . . one step at a time . . .
And, like always, about half way through the race I thought to myself . . .
“Why the hell do I do this to myself?”
“I don’t even like doing these things!”
“Isn’t there a statute of limitations on doing these stupid things in Prince Charming’s memory?”
Then I hear a voice tell me . . .
“No. There is no statute of limitations on your love for him, so yea you keep doing them as long as you have breath in your body and you can walk.”
“Walking is good for your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your weight, your bones . . . ”
“You know he’d be here doing this with you if he could.”
And then when I thought I didn’t want to do another race ever again . . . I heard this song on my iPod . . .
It was the song playing when we walked into the restaurant on our first “adult” date . . . when it gets to the part where John sings “everybody was looking, but I saw you first” Prince Charming turned and looked at me with that mischievous smile and the devilish twinkle in his eye . . .
“Damn you, Bowman, you always know just how to get me to smile and stop bitching about something . . . ”
This is my favorite GIF – Jason Momoa opening a lawn chair. I’m not a big Jason Momoa fan but this thing brings me so much joy.
He’s so cool and he opens that chair so easily. It’s poetry in motion. I wish I could do that move. But I’m not coordinated at all. It would not end well.
Today was the first t-ball practice of the season. I was loading the car with my lawn chair and tried to do my Jason Momoa imitation. It did not end well. I pinched my finger.
Prince Charming was a huge astronomy buff. He loved space, stars, and planets. He even made his very own telescope.
There were many nights I’d find him just standing in the back yard looking at the stars. And he’d tell me the names of the stars and the planets and point out constellations to me.
I am not a huge astronomy buff. I know the Big Dipper and the North Star. Because of Prince Charming, I know that the red spot in the sky is usually Mars. The really bright thing is Venus . . . or Jupiter . . . I can never remember.
I loved standing in the back yard with him looking at the stars and listening to his descriptions. I wish I had paid more attention to what he was saying . . . yes I realize I say that a lot . . . I was just so happy to hear his voice . . .
I told you that story to tell you this story . . .
It’s been cloudy, dreary, yucky winter weather here for a while. I usually go from the house, to work, to where ever I’m going and not pay much attention to the sky. Except to grumble about the rain, the snow, the clouds, the very cold wind . . .
Tonight was a little different . . . I was hurrying home from my haircut appointment. Thinking the dogs are going to be mad for having such a late supper. Wondering what I’m going to fix myself for supper. Looking forward to watching a couple of episodes of “Blue Bloods” or “Corner Gas” and doing some cross stitch . . .
I don’t know what made me stop and look at the sky . . . but I did . . . and it took my breath away . . .
The sky is clear (for a change) and it wasn’t horribly cold . . . and all the stars were out in their glory . . . I stood on the front sidewalk and just stared up at the sky for a while . . . the neighbors must have thought I had lost my mind . . . but for a few minutes I swear I could feel Prince Charming standing right by me . . . and I could imagine hearing him say how beautiful it was and telling me which star and which constellation I was looking at.
And suddenly the drab dreary winter didn’t seem so drab and dreary . . .
