Outside my comfort zone

See that hand, the one with the dirt under the nails and all over the fingers. That's my hand. I had Baseball Boy take a picture of it because this was a once in a lifetime event. I wanted it recorded so in the future I have evidence that this happened. Especially once my mind erases it from my memory.

The Engineer, at my request, tore out all this old overgrown landscaping along the edge of our driveway and around the mailbox. I just wanted grass and a simple group of flowers around the mailbox. So yesterday he's got it all ready. But as usual our timing sucks and he had to stop to take Baseball Boy to a baseball game. It's little league so they kinda make up some of the rules as they go, like how many innings they are going to play. The Engineer had hoped to get home before dark and spread the seed/fertilizer and plant the little flowering plants (I think they're petunias). Well the coaches decided to play until it got to dark so that plan went out the window.

No biggie, he's got an hour or so after work today to take care of it.

This morning the phone rings and The Engineer is not a happy man. He just found out that rain is moving in and all his fluffy perfectly raked out topsoil will all pack down if it rains. This will make it difficult to start grass from seed and his flowers will not have soft soil to lay out its roots. So he calls knowing that he is up against someone who cringes at the feel of dirt under her fingernails. Who hates to sit on the ground and dig and refuses to wear gardening gloves because all they do is grind the dirt into your skin. He makes his plea and is met with whining. But he was well prepared this time with his defense and I was forced to concede. He almost blew it though. See I've never spread grass seed. As far as I'm concerned you stick your hand in the bag grab a handful and throw it. Who knew there was an art to this? I was not interested in a seed spreading lesson on the phone when I'm already unhappy with this job ahead of me. He took the hint and accepted that he was going to have to get what he gets.

I planted the flowers. Put the mulchy stuff all around them and threw seed and fertilizer willy nilly. I couldn't find the darn little garden shovel and had to use one of my spoons but that's why we have a dishwasher.

I gave the flowers a little water and wished them well. The Engineer will fuss over them and the new grass that will grow and in a month it will be a clean and beautiful area instead of the overgrown pit it was.

All day I waited for the dreaded rain to start; and it did, exactly one hour after The Engineer got home from work.