Oh, the smell of victory...i mean lilacs...

Love those summer Saturdays working in the yard! Currently our landscaping is “under construction”! Crunk (a.k.a. Eric, courtesy of J & S) has a new passion for chain saws! (Yet another trait defining the o-so accurate nick-name!) He’s a brute! In fact, since he started on a few shrubs I wasn’t fond of and asked him to get rid of…I’ve noticed at least 3 trees missing! Not including the three large shrubs I asked for! After tilling the front portion of our lawn that looks like butt I found him wondering around the house with that look in his eye, chain saw in hand, and zoned out of anything but the noise of that bad-boy. I was half scared to approach him, but it if I knew if I didn’t…we’d be the closest thing these days to the description of Nephi’s days in the “wilderness”!!! And, you all know me….I LOVE A CHALLENGE!!  So, I hesitated for a moment but it was short lived and I perused a “discussion” about the situation. However, when I arrived out back I instantly became more interested in “discussing” the fact he told me he was going out back to get rid of that “little ugly tree” that turned out to be the full grown lilac bush that admittedly doesn’t look hot after a long winter but turns into a huge beautiful blooming bush in the spring! Indeedy…we had “the discussion”!! I’ll spare you the details but let’s say Crunk put the chain saw up! (This is my blog so I can tell it how I want!) But, in all fairness, I should mention he stood by his “idea” to get rid of the “ugly little” (20’ LILAC) bush and old stump as he did so! I went back to leveling out my tilled up “football field” gloating in my point-proven victory!! Yes, I know…you’d think that I’d learn not to gloat in my victories because…well….I’m usually humbled quickly…and I was. The next day at church I was rounding up the kidz and met up with Eric when he casually mentioned “that must have been some important ugly little tree I cut down cuz about 4 people have mentioned they noticed it was gone and it hasn’t even been 24hrs yet “. As you can imagine, my pride got the best of me…again…gloating and lecturing in I told-you-so’s, with an uncontrollable grin from ear to ear when our “Man-Stewart” (male version of Martha) neighbor (whose family has owned practically the entire block that we live on until recently with our purchase and whom also has an impeccable yard/garden) walked up to us. At this point I can hardly contain myself from an all out burst of “the victory dance” !! I can already see the lecture I know Eric’s going to receive for cutting down that lilac bush old Billy and Daisy planted there in 1826, got married under in 1830 and built our house around in 1838!!! Setting couldn’t have been better for my final un-spoken victory!! That was until he gave Crunk an atta’ boy for knowing that lilac’s need to be cut down to the stump every so many years so they can grow back full and beautiful and than topped it off with…”that ones needed it for years!” Soooo…here I am sending a special thanks to Man Stewart! 1 for Crunk-0 for me!