Right Before Thanksgiving-It's interesting to find out...

"Charity, I think you should know...If we were Pilgrims, we would've never made it."

That's what my husband said tonight after we spent the better part of the afternoon trying to make some sense out of our backyard.

Have you ever seen the Tom Hanks movie called "Money Pit"? It's a comedy about a couple that buy a home and quickly find that disaster after disaster, they have purchased a house that is endlessly falling apart.

That is our backyard.

I was practically raised in the woods so you'd think that I would have factored in tree issues but I did not...at all. I guess back home, if a tree fell-it fell. No biggie.

Not so the case in city limits.

We did pay to have a huge tree to be cut down when we moved into our home but today's oak (of equal height and volume) came tumbling all on its own...Just a few feet from our house.



The new wheelbarrow Matt just got was not so fortunate...



Nor was the kid's slide...



So, with the hopes of a relaxing Sunday afternoon suddenly squished below a broken tree, we headed off the Lowe's for the official first purchase of the chainsaw. Chainsaws aren't a cheap buy but I guessed that might be the case because it is for our backyard and our backyard is like the movie...

Matt went back and forth from being slightly empowered by the new tool and potential weapon he held in his hands and being a TOTAL FREAK..afraid that he might accidentally cut someone's head off.

In my opinion, He was WAY more scary than the saw or the falling trees!



I followed him around "carefully" and attempted to drag a bunch of brush and limbs to a pile. Occasionally, I would stop to amuse myself by taking self-portraits and thinking optimistically that at least the tree that fell was one that scattered beautiful leaves. (Not my worst self-portrait..Maybe "Shannon" is dead...But I am sad that I cannot eat ANYTHING that is not room temperature because I have been trying to whiten my teeth and they are so sensitive and yet I see my teeth are still as yellow as my freaking hair! I'm giving up on vanity...I am what I am.)



Ironically, the tree that fell landed right in the center of our holly tree and split it down the middle. When the fear of the chainsaw finally got to Matt, he decided to chop the remainder of the holly tree with an axe.

Yeah...Whatever.

That's when we realized that if we had been one of the unfortunate Pilgrims, the boys and I would be frozen in the cabin without a fire while Matt was collapsed on the ground beside a half of a tree with an axe in his hand.

Even more ironic...We have more firewood than one family would ever need for winter and an excellent wood burning stove in the kitchen and yet, it still takes THREE Harmless boys to try to start a fire and blow it into existence...



You know, most days I walk around feeling like a loser and total dork that can't seem to stay ahead of the game, but it's really special afternoons like this one that life kicks you in the butt and yells, "Right On!" and you know it's true.