I keep telling myself that we aren’t that strange. That we are ordinary people living an ordinary life. I believe that. Really! So this past week, I decided that I needed to do my annual “by the street” trimming of the jungle. This is necessary because our front yard is basically a rodent infested, weed-packed jungle of junk trees. Truth is, I don’t own the first 30 feet of my property, since it’s an easement, so part of the jungle isn’t even mine. But because we like to safely enter and exit our driveway, I must trim back the jungle, so we can see oncoming traffic on the busy street that we live on. We also have a hill to the right and a 90 degree turn to the left when exiting the driveway, with cars completely ignoring the speed limit, so we also have to be aggressive when we decide to go. No hesitation. An oncoming car can hit the brakes to slow down, but cannot stop! So, GO when you decide to GO! Since I cannot control those things, I control what I can. That includes trimming back the encroaching jungle. 

Trimming is such a tame word. If you saw me down there (and many people did), it’s more like hacking and stacking. I might do better with a machete than the trimmers I used. We actually own a machete… doesn’t everyone? It hasn’t been used in years, so it needs maintenance (cleaning and sharpening, etc.). Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to. We also have rodents… well, mostly snakes if I’m being honest. The other rodents run when there is activity. Luckily, this time, the snakes kept to themselves. I did see one along the roadside ditch while mowing yesterday. But the biggest problems are the ticks and the poison ivy. I am not a country girl, people. Did you know that poison ivy can basically look like a tree. Who is prepared for this? So, Tessa snapped a picture of me while I was heading to the ditch to hack at the jungle. And yes, I should have had long pants on (poison ivy), but it was already so hot. I had a swim suit top under my long sleeve top so I could strip to do other yard work when I was done taming the jungle beast. I thought the outfit looked fine. Tessa was laughing at me. 

We also tackled the bathroom floor this week. Actually, we started to tackle it, but it is going to take longer than expected, as usual. We installed a new floor just a year and a half ago… that time when Travis hit me with rusty nail shrapnel and I had to get a tetanus shot. So, I was looking forward to enjoying the plank vinyl floating floor that we put in for a long time. But it buckled. Badly. There are many reasons that a floor can buckle, but it really doesn’t matter. Travis decided that he was going to put in regular porcelain tile. When we pulled up the vinyl planks, there was a soggy wet residue under it. It looked like wet cardboard, but it was glued down. Then we remembered! When we pulled out the old, yellowed, sheet vinyl floor, only the top part came off. We didn’t think it was a big deal because the new floor was a floating floor, and can be installed right over the previous floor if we had chosen that. I never choose that. There is something about layers of old flooring that grosses me out. So we pulled it up. But it didn’t come up like the sheet vinyl in the family room, which only left the adhesive behind. We decided that it would be extra insulation under the floor, so we left it. Apparently, it holds moisture, even though it seems like it shouldn’t, so that moisture is probably what caused the new floor to buckle. And it seemed that we needed to use elbow grease and a putty knife to remove that wet cardboard like stuff. And only the small putty knife seemed to work. Awesome. I even tried the huge driveway ice scraper, but that only skimmed the surface, which made things worse. 

At some point, Travis got really frustrated and pulled out the belt sander. And it WORKED! We had to wear N95 masks and eye protection, but it worked. It did leave a weird, sticky residue all over us and the rest of the room. And it set off the smoke detector. But at least we only have to putty knife the edges of the room, and under the weird floating vanity that Travis constructed out of the old vanity. We are currently on pause for that project because we ran out of time. Well, that, and Travis had to detour to help a guy with a flat tire in front of our house. He actually walked up our driveway and rang the doorbell. That guy hit the jackpot for someone with tools for the job. Travis rolled down one of his 3-ton hydraulic jacks and brought his impact wrench. Then I rolled up his spare, since that was also flat, and pumped that up. I have never rolled a flat tire up our driveway before. It was a good workout. 

Got that guy on his way, but our work was interrupted, and it was getting late, and we were sticky and in need of a beer and a shower. Travis’ one comment about the guy with the flat was, “What was his backup plan if we weren’t here with all those tools? Aside from having an actual spare tire (with no air) he had nothing.” I should have taken a picture of us the way we looked while we helped that guy with his tire. That sticky residue was like Bed Head hair glue. And we had double strapped N95 masks on. We looked crazy. The flat tire guy was smart and kept his mouth shut, allowing the crazy hair-glue people, complete with retired volleyball knee pads, change his flat tire. 

I don’t know what normal is, but I think we are closing in on it! Next time, I bring the machete for the jungle. That way, I can hack at the snakes if they come out. Have a great week everyone!