Cutting the Grass - Surprisingly Hard the First Time

Cutting the lawn is a fairly easy task. You just pour some gas in the gas thingy, start the engine, and walk back and forth across the lawn until the grass is cut, empty the bag of grass clippings, and put the lawnmower away. Sure, you might have to empty the bag a couple of times, and it might be hard to get around trees, but it’s still a fairly simple process…and one that I had done intermittently for my parents for years.

Of course, I haven’t touched a lawn since moving out, since I’ve been living in an apartment. But now that I am a homeowner (a fact that still makes me squeal and jump up and down until I remember that I’m supposed to be an adult), I get to cut the grass again!

 Or you know…I have to cut the grass again. Because unfortunately, grass grows continuously, and needs to be cut continuously. And unlike when you shove the overflowing laundry basket in the closet, or when you quickly vacuum the center of the room and hope that no one notices the corners…you can’t let cutting the grass go, even for a week.

 But that’s okay! I like being outside and I like owning a home! Cutting the grass! Whoo!

 Oh wait, that means I need to buy a lawnmower doesn’t it?

 So I did some research and guys…there are so many types of lawnmowers!

 Self-driving vs. push: Self-driving mowers have an extra bar that you hold down while the engine is running to make the lawnmower wheels turn by themselves – you don’t have to push, you just have to steer. With push mowers, you do all the work of…pushing…the lawnmower forward, as well as steering it. According to my research, push mowers were about $50 cheaper for comparative self-driving mowers, and I decided that I was perfectly capable of pushing a lawnmower around…given that my yard is basically a flat square.

 Gas vs. Electric: Electric mowers tend to be cheaper than gas mowers, but gas is a way cheaper commodity than electricity. I also don’t know how to use an electric lawnmower, and didn’t want to deal with learning. I read mixed reviews on which was better for the environment, and decided to just get a gas.

 Engine and Model Types: Apparently, Honda makes the best, most long-lasting lawnmowers. These are also the more expensive lawnmowers. I opted for a cheaper model because it should still last 10-15 years (with the proper care), and by that time I’ll probably want to get a nicer, fancier mower anyway.

 Size: Bigger lawnmowers are…bigger…and so they let you cut the lawn faster. Bigger lawnmowers are…bigger…so they cost more money.

 My Lawnmower Purchase: A $199, 21”, gas-fueled, push lawnmower.

 So, I went to Lowes (because I had a 10% coupon to Lowes) and grabbed the lawnmower that I had picked out online. Then, thinking I was smart, I picked up a bottle of motor oil that said it was designed for small engines, like lawnmowers. I had never actually put motor oil in a lawnmower before, but I knew that they needed oil to work, just like a car. Perfect!

 When I got home, I excitedly opened the box and set about putting the lawnmower together. The instructions were terrible and poorly labeled, but thankfully I was able to figure it out – you had to raise the handle, thread the pull-start string through some hooky-things, and adjust the cutting blade to the proper height. It wasn’t too hard.

 I also found that the lawnmower came with a small bottle of motor oil, so I used the oil I was given to fill up the oil compartment, and set the oil that I bought on a shelf for future use.

 Now it was time to cut my grass!

 Okay, I just needed to gas up the mower…wait. I didn’t have any gas. At my parents house, there had always been several cans of gas sitting in the corner of the garage. But I didn’t have a gas can. Crap.

 So I drove to Home Depot (the closest hardware-type store), and bought a gas can. And then I drove to a gas station and filled it up.

 Okay, NOW I could cut my grass!

 Oh wait. I hadn’t attached the bag to catch the grass clippings. I pulled a bizarre looking metal frame out of the mower box, along with a loose cloth bag and could not for the life of my figure out how to put it together. There were no instructions, and I fumbled around for about 30 minutes before I sort of attached the bag to the metal frame (there was no way to secure it, so I just slid the back over the piece of metal) and set it on the grass-dispensing part of the lawnmower.

 Now I was going to cut the friggen grass. I started the lawnmower, pleased that it started on my second pull…and the grass clipping bag promptly blew off.

 I turned off the mower, got the bag back in, and tucked it in as thoroughly as a possibly could. And then, finally, I cut the grass in my backyard.

 The mower worked reasonably well. My backyard’s lawn is pretty patchy and ugly looking from the giant dogs that the previous owner let run back there, so the mower did get caught on a lot of holes and dips in the ground…but it wasn’t too bad. The bag, however, was an issue….there was a gap between the bag and mower, so although some of the clippings went into the bag, some of them ended up on my lawn. I messed with it for another 30 minutes, but couldn’t figure it out. I eventually gave up and finishing cutting the backyard.

 By the time I was done, I could tell that the bag was pretty full, so I figured I should empty it before cutting the front grass.

 Wait. I didn’t have a trash can to put the grass in.

 I had a trash can, of course, but in my city the yard waste trash goes in separate barrels that you are supposed to mark with an X, and are picked up by a different garbage truck that takes it to some kind of compost center. And….I had no such trash barrel.

 So it was off to Walmart, to buy a trash can.

 And then back to my lawnmower, where the bag blew off TWO MORE TIMES before I managed to finish cutting the front lawn. A 30 minute chore had become a four hour activity.

 When I was talking to my dad a few days later, I mentioned the issue of the bag not staying secured on the lawnmower, and he promised to stop by and take a look at it while I was at work (he has a key to my house). He texted me the next day, saying that I hadn’t put the bag together correctly and he had fixed it. And sure enough, when I got home, the bag was somehow securely attached to the frame, and the mower. And no, I don’t actually know how he did it (he is supposed to show me next week).

Morale of the story:

1)      Make sure you have all the things you need to cut the grass: These include a mower, motor oil, gas, a gas can, and a place to dump the lawn clippings.

2)      If the bag isn’t working, you don’t have it on correctly. Don’t stubbornly refuse to google the problem or ask for help.

3)      Try to buy and set up a lawnmower BEFORE your grass desperately needs to be cut, so that if you run into any issues, it’s not the end of the world.

 It’s okay though! It was a learning experience! And when I cut the lawn yesterday (for the second time), everything went smoothly and it really did only take me thirty minutes. 😊

Moving Part 3 - Unpacking

Unpacking is simultaneously the best and worst part of moving. It’s the worst because it is a never-ending pain in the butt…but it’s the best because you get to set up your new home, and that’s super fun!

Maybe I’m just weird.

EITHER WAY, there are some simple steps you can take to make the process better:

1. Go Room by Room. If you followed my moving advice, you should have most of your stuff pre-sorted into the correct rooms. Now, you can turn on some music and settle in to unpack one room at a time, without running back and forth between 1000 different tasks. Focusing on one thing at a time, you will be more efficient – and else overwhelmed.
2. Start with the Bedroom. This is the easiest room to unpack – it’s mostly clothes and furniture – and you kind of need your bed to function as a human. Plus, when you go to bed, you will feel SO MUCH BETTER when you’re surrounded by you neat, unpacked, and put away room than if you’re in a sea of boxes.
3. Unpack the Kitchen Next. The kitchen might be the biggest, toughest job because there are a lot of cupboards to fill and stuff to arrange – and re-arrange when you don’t like the first arrangement. However, it’s also the most used room in your house, and while you might be able to get away with just plugging in a coffee pot and a toaster for the first morning or two, the sooner you can cook normally, the better. And once the kitchen is done, the rest of the rooms should feel easy.
4. Arrange Furniture First. Your furniture takes up the most space and is the most cumbersome to work around. If you have the space to push your boxes to the center of the room, do that. Otherwise, push everything to one side, arrange the furniture that you can arrange, then switch sides of the room.
5. Don’t Neglect Closets. A lot of stuff tends to go in closets, and by unpacking closets you’ll get a lot of boxes out of the way, so I like to do it early in the unpacking process. However, don’t just shove everything haphazardly into a closet, close the door, and pretend you’re done. Take your time to organize the closets from the get-go – you’ll thank yourself later.
6. Create Oops Bins. You were supposed to pack and move your stuff in an organized way, but nobody is perfect, and you might have used some towels to cushion your casserole dishes or thrown a few books into a blanket box because it had extra space. Repurpose a big empty box or bin to collect this misplaced items during unpacking. Then, when you are done unpacking the room you’re working in, you can take this bin and drop off these items where they are supposed to go. Doing this keeps you from running around the house like a crazy person and getting distracted. You might also want a bin for things that don’t have a place at all; you can deal with those items later.
7. Take the Time To Organize. Just like you shouldn’t neglect your closets, you shouldn’t neglect any organization. When you finish a room, the closets, cupboards, drawers, and corners should be neat and orderly. Doing things quickly and haphazardly will just mean that you have to return to the same room again to re-do what you’ve already done – do it right the first time!
8. Keep Cleaning Supplies Handy. Although you should have already cleaned your new home, now is good time to clean any area that you might have missed during the cleaning process. It’s also a good time to clean any of your possessions that you notice are dirty – such as a lamp or the back of a dresser.
9. Don’t Decorate. Unpack all of your usable stuff, but leave your decorating for another day. Let yourself live in your new space for a few weeks before hanging pictures or setting up décor – you might end up wanting to rearrange the furniture or change the way something is organized, and you don’t want to have your favorite painting hung over the couch…and then move your couch and have to move the painting and patch the wall as well.
10. Don’t Buy Stuff. You can buy things you need, like a lawnmower or a vacuum, but don’t buy extra furniture or decorations until you live in the house for a few weeks. Give yourself time to decide what you really want to do with your new space before spending your hard-earned money.
11. Make a Box Zone. A box zone is a designated area to stack your empty boxes. Garages and basements are great for this, as are spare bedrooms. If you’re in a small apartment, you might be stuck using your living room. But either way, pick a specific area. When you finish unpacking a room, take your empty boxes to the Box Zone, DON’T leave them in the room you just unpacked. Trust me, this will make your life better and less stressful because this way, you won’t have empty boxes floating around randomly forever.
12. Empty Your Box Zone. When your box zone gets too full – or when you’re done unpacking – EMPTY IT! Don’t fall victim to letting them sit there for months. Oh and hey, remember how you weren’t supposed to buy moving boxes? Well, now that you’re done with them, pass them on so that other people don’t have to buy moving boxes either! You can see if there is anybody else who wants your boxes – friends, family, neighbors, or internet sites like FreeCycle. I gave most of mine to a neighbor in my old apartment and am giving the rest to a friend who is moving next week. If you can’t find anybody to take them off your hands, flatten them and recycle them. But whatever you do, get them out of your house so that they’re not your problem anymore.

Unpacking is a LOT of work, but it’s SO rewarding when you’re done, and you can look around your home knowing that it’s yours and everything is where it should be. I’m FINALLY done unpacking myself, except for the basement, and am getting ready to decorate soon!