Barefoot, Pregnant, & Using Power Lawn Tools

We really needed our lawn mowed today. Andrew, fortunately, was off early and didn't have to be to work till noonish. So he went out and mowed, before the neighborhood association folks sent us a "we breaka your legs" letter. In the spirit of helping, I went out and used the leaf blower to get all the oak leaves that were liberally littering our driveway & sidewalk. In Texas, the live oak trees shed leaves twice a year-- fall & spring. So it was a mess.

My feet have officially swollen, and pretty much none of my shoes are comfortable anymore. Now I know why the stereotype of barefoot & pregnant persists. You just can't stand the pinching anymore! I had shoes on when the lawnwork started, but kicked them off after a while. So visualize me with the leaf blower, in a pair of Andrew's jogging shorts and a really old t-shirt from his days in AOCS (it says "Batt II" on one side and "AOCS 4" on the other in ugly yellow letters)*. Hugely pregnant, of course. I'm sure it was amusing. My neighbor, who we hardly ever see because they own a restaurant and work what must be 20 hour days almost every day, saw me and smiled and gestured towards her belly-- saying, basically (in a nice way) "Look at you; you're pregnant!". She looked all trim and elegant in a long black dress. Sigh.

But at least the lawn fascists won't get us for a few days.

*In fact, this is the t-shirt I came home in after our first "sleepover" date (knowwhatimean nudge nudge wink wink). I had worn something a little less comfortable, and he let me sleep in his big t-shirt. Boy clothes, as I've said before, are special. But he was a little uncomfortable back then (almost 14 years ago!!) bringing me home to my mom at 6 am wearing his clothes. Heh heh. I was such a brazen hussy. :) But don't tell the kids. As far as they know, our first 6 months were completely chaperoned, studying Bible verses and drinking cocoa.