We have some big trees in the back yard, which causes us to have a lot of shade.  Not a bad thing, but it is one of the conditions in which mosquitoes thrive.  Also, all the trees means lots of leaves to blow or rake.  I am pretty obsessive when it comes to leaf blowing.  I can’t stand to have a yard covered in dead leaves, so I know that it will be lots of work for me (and Husband even though he doesn’t really care about it either way).  I’m afraid that with all the shade back there, the leaves that do accumulate won’t dry well and will end up sticking to the ground where they accumulate.  And we all know what that means.  More mosquitoes.

We hate the thought of cutting down trees, but we also realize that sometimes you have to do things that seem bad but help out in other ways.  So, today, we started Project Tree Removal.  This project will take at least a year because some of our trees are huge, and we can’t cut them down ourselves.  We will have to pay somebody to do it, and that gets pretty expensive. 

To avoid any huge expenditures in the coming months when we have a new baby and are trying to feed all three of us, we decided to start with the smaller trees and do the work ourselves.  Today, we cut down our first tree.  By we, I mean Husband although I did observe closely and was there to lend moral support.

When we first bought the house, it was Spring, and everything was in bloom.  Here is a picture of the area we worked on today back in May.  You can see there are several small trees around it shading the shrubery.

The small trees don’t really do much except crowd out the shrubs, compete for water and sunlight and provide shade.  Nothing that we want.  So, we decided to remove one.  You can see the one we decided to take out in this next picture.  I inserted a black arrow pointing to it.  Very high tech photo manipulation there.

And, here is what it looks like now.

Just removing that one tree really opened up the space so the bushes can get more light and nutrients hopefully.  Here is what it looks like from the other side.

And finally, here is a picture I had to include.

Doesn’t it look like this stump is giving us the middle finger?  Like Mother Nature is telling us she doesn’t appreciate us taking out one of her children?  I think so, and I accept her gesture.  Sorry ma’am.

I call the birthday girl JAM because she has been known to bust out the opening line of this song from time to time.  With emphasis and feeling.  I mean feeeeeeeeeeeeling.  It is always funny.  Always. 

I hope you enjoy it, and if you were a child of the 80s, I feel certain you will.  Hell, you probably have sung it a time or two yourself. 

Happy Birthday JAM and Happy Friday everyone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yVEGAuj8RM

The guy was actually a doctor.  One I was “interviewing” to be our teener’s pediatrician.  But, that didn’t make it less awkward.  No amount of professionalism can overcome the awkwardness of the word or substance smegma.  None.

After an hour together, I was ready to hand over Jin Woo to him and let him shoot him up with 14, 757 chemicals that were mixed inside of a monkey’s intestine then added to some cow blood and this thing I found on the bottom of my shoe, which will undoubtedly protect him from a virus that’s not even that bad but that he may or may not catch because it was around during the 1800s in London.  Kidding.  But, he did pass the test.

My point: we have our kid’s doctor all lined up.  Yes, the kid that isn’t even born yet.  All we have to do now is make sure I give birth on a day that one of the doctors I like at my practice is on duty.  Could be tricky.  I hear babies come when they want to and don’t exactly adhere to a schedule.  It would be really helpful if Jin Woo took after me and was on time and present when he was supposed to be.  That way, I could make sure to avoid bringing him into the world with Drs. Smiley and Rude Ass and instead have Dr. Sweet and Supportive or Dr. Semi-Hippie deliver him.  Yes, that will do just fine.

When you get pregnant, it’s very exciting.  Life changes overnight, and it’s fun.  You may have been trying for it for a while or it may have been quick, but regardless, it’s true excitement.  Unlike any you’ve ever experienced. 

Then, you go to pour yourself a glass of celebratory wine so you and your husband can toast and you realize you can’t have it.  Oh.   

Then, you get really tired and cranky because you are so hungry and there’s a tiny little baby inside of you sucking out your life force and you go for some coffee and realize that you can’t have that either.  Right.

Finally, you get to the point you can tell people the news.  Your belly starts to poke out, and you have something to show for all of the months you’ve been in secret secrecy.  Woo! 

Approximately 47 months later, you are tired and cranky again and hot and big and all you want in this world is to have this dang baby already.  The anticipation is killing you and it’s exciting and you can’t wait to see that little teener face and know that everything is going to be okay.

Then, someone installs a car seat in the car you’ve had since you were 24 and HO.  LEE.  SHIT.

Anyway, one of the funniest ones we saw and probably have ever seen was green and had a tractor on it.  It read:  I don’t need a tractor to pull hoes.

Words to live by.