Honey, can I get a chainsaw?

Ask me again, I'll tell you the same...NO. Hell to the no. Over my dead body. Every fall my husband asks me, countless times, if he can get a chainsaw. Maybe because I have two X chromosomes, I don't understand the obsession.

Today we went to Como mower. Each fall we not only have the chainsaw discussion, but we also have a leaf pick up discussion. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how many bags of leaves are removed from our property every year. Dave, maybe we could have a contest? If you don’t know Dave, you should click here. Our leaf excess is due to these….

And these….

But most of all because of this one….

This is the mother of all trees. It is beautiful, but it drops millions of these

And those are just the trees in the front yard.

In the early morning hours this past Friday, my car alarm went off because it was being pelted by acorns. Because, during the slightest breeze the acorns fall like rain. We are forced to protect our melons when sitting outside in front of the fire by wearing hardhats or our bike helmets. You would think that we couldn't get friends to visit this time of year. Strangely, they seem to want to sit outside with a bike helmet on..... Speaks volumes about our friends...

So, back to Como Mower. Mr. Big Momma didn’t get a chainsaw, but got a leaf blower. Not just any leaf blower. It is a leaf blower that has straps. Like a backpack. It almost blew the dog over. It almost blew me over. I strapped it on and was surprised to find that the expelled air from the side of the unit was enough to make me walk like I would after many beers. Seriously.

Manly, isn't it?

Last year the leaves were my job. It took me about 30 seconds each week. Basically the time it took to write a check. The guy that I hired had two payment options: per bag or per hour. I chose per hour. I think that he realized, quite quickly, that he should have offered me the per bag option only. The last bill we received was per bag and I choked when I got it. I paid it, without questioning it because I felt a little bad about paying him so little for such a big job. This year the leaves are Mr. Big Momma’s job mainly because he doesn’t want to hire anyone. I told him that if the “job” couldn’t be done in 30 seconds or less, that I wasn’t interested.

Happy Blowing honey!! Anyone know a good chiropractor???

Tough decisions

From a very early age I was challenged by my parents to make my own decisions. I remember my parents empowering me to decide for myself as early as 7 years old. For all I know, they empowered me earlier than that, but I just don't remember. My Dad always told me to make a list, weighing the pros and cons. This advise has always served me well, and I have done this many times in the last 30 years. For a control freak like myself, nothing feels better than starting with a clean sheet of paper and drawing a line down the middle. One side for pros, the other for cons. I would rack my brain for items to write on each side of the page. At the end of the process, it was always easy to make the decision. The answer was right in front of me.

I am not sure at this point that this process will work for every decision. Today my sister was faced with a difficult decision. A decision that is too important to surrender to this process. This was a difficult decision made more difficult by the fact that she had to make it for herself, by herself.

My sister and I have always felt that parenting decisions could be made based on the answer to a single question: What would the Cos do? And when I say Cos, I really mean Dr. Cliff Huxtable. Those crazy Huxtables always had a fun (and rating increasing) way of guiding their children to the correct choice. Do you remember the episode of all episodes? Theo entering the real world, working as a model for Cockroach Enterprises? Renting an apartment from Harvey Weewax? I probably remember too much, but it really is the mother of all episodes. I have it saved on DVR. Sad but true. The beauty of the Huxtable lessons were that they were taught and learned in a single, 30 minute episode. Unfortunately real life isn't that succinct. Or that cut and dry. Or that funny.

Unfortunately there is not a single episode of The Cosby Show that addresses my sister's dilemma. Her decision isn't a parenting decision, but a decision to be made about her husband's health. A decision that unfortunately can only be made by her. I just want her to know that I am behind her 100% and believe that she is making the right choice. So, I am curious to know how you all out there make difficult choices? We could use the insight right now.