And She Was

Once upon a time, a girl lived in a tropical paradise and had a cleaning girl, a lawn service, a handy man and animal control at her fingertips. Then she crash landed on Maggie's Farm. And she was without any of them.

In my ever changing moods, moving to Maggie's Farm taught me the ways of country living and it didn't involve a lot of outside help. Actually, when I tried to call around for a lawn service, leaf removal service and animal control, I got the same reply...Don't you live in the country? You don't need a service if you live in the country. You have fields. Ummmm...okay? I am still not sure what that means but what it meant for my new life as Hostess With The Mostess was that my life had changed. I was no longer just mixing cocktails. I needed to get with the country life program.

Before any of you ask about J and his role in country living. He does a lot of work, here. But, his business has long hours and he sometimes is not here until dusk and out of here at the crack of dawn. I am not a woman who sits and waits for her husband to get the jobs done. I do the jobs!! I am the job master! Somedays, I even amaze, myself. I challenge any of you to find a dead animal in your yard, grab a shovel and head off for the nearest field. It's not as glam as it sounds.

I find that the older I get, the stronger I seem to become. And I know no fear. I am up on ladders while I operate hedge trimmers on very high bushes and trees. I hang from ladders and spoutings to determine why they are not draining. This usually finds me grabbing a million nuts and acorns out due to the squirrel population that lives in our yard. I paint, I stain, I dig halfway to China just to remove old bushes, roots and trees. I mow, I weed eat, I weed by hand. I am in constant motion, outside. The cheerleader now finds herself with yard jobs. She has not yet embraced the love for all of it but I am hoping that someday, she will be able to pick up a rake and know what it's for when she is on her own.

I fix things, inside, too. If I don't know exactly what to do, I sit and figure it all out. It may take me a few days but after I obsess, I get the job done.

I like to think of myself as a do-it-all kind of girl. Who else can go through the bread baking process and it's different rises all the while being outside running lawn equipment? Who can Facebook while she stains? Who can plan a soiree while mowing and singing to her Ipod?

Over the years, we have found outside help to do some of these jobs but they usually don't live up to my controlling eye. So, when I think about paying these people for a so-so job, I would rather take on the job and know it's getting done, right. Perfection? Yes. I am a controlling perfectionist but I tweak the meaning a bit. J would totally disagree. He would say that I am a whirling, chaotic cyclone. My way of doing things may drive a sane person bonkers, but it's my way. And, I always get my job done to my liking.

In my ever changing moods, I find that the more jobs I take on, the happier I am. Who knows what's next for me but I plan on finding my next frontier to conquer. I just need a bit of time to formulate my plan. After all, I am not just a cocktail drinking, texting, Facebooking, goat caretaking, fashion fiend of a girl. Although, I do like my work clothes to match my flipflops and garden gloves..