I just signed a contract...

...with a new magazine to write a series of articles for them and I think it's pretty neat! I have to write 7 articles, all about Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate for president. I worked on his congressional campaign years ago so I sort of know him. I'm hoping that he remembers me because I need to start trying to call him today to interview him for the series.

I know it's a sucky picture, but that's what you get when you use a sucky camera. I'm really happy about getting that job, especially since it's a serious topic. Most of the time, anyone familiar with my work thinks of me as a humorist, so it's nice to be able to stretch my political fingers a bit as well. The editor of the magazine knows my work and she wanted ME! Isn't that cool?

Yesterday I spent most of my day out in the yard again. This time I wasn't mowing, I was doing relatively easier stuff like edging and trimming. I had a hedge trimmer but I trimmed the stupid cord, that made FOUR cords this year that I trimmed the first time that I used them. This time I just sat down with a knife and some electrical tape and stripped the wires and taped them all back together. It worked, but only if I held the cord in the right position.

Then, I had to trim the grass and clover that was growing out of the lawn onto the sidewalks so I had to go shopping for a trimmer. Did you know that those suckers can cost hundreds of dollars? I was amazed. Of course, there's always the one cheap thing for people like me so I bought the $30 one and since I was at Home Depot anyway, I went ahead and bought another cord, this time I got a 100 foot cord because I knew that the 50 footer wouldn't reach the back fence with all the weeds and chiggers.

I'm determined to get this yard cleaned up before the season changes. We've lived here for over 10 years and even with a husband and two sons, I couldn't get anyone to clean the overgrowth out of the yard. Damn, I was lucky if they mowed the stupid grass.

So, this year I've been busting my backside trying to do it myself. Last night I went out to try to take advantage of the last few minutes of light when my neighbor tapped on her window and tried to say something. I couldn't hear her so she came out and asked me if I knew what I was doing. I told her the truth, "Nope. I'm just killing everything."

She pointed out the wisteria and some small tiny rose bushes that had grown about ten feet high. Now I know what NOT to kill. That wisteria was a hard kill anyway, I'm glad I don't have to keep on killing it.

That was the first time that woman has spoken to me in years. The last thing she said to me was, "Yankee trash!" I think that was because of the weeds along the fence that divided our houses, if not the general state of the yard. But after watching me working out there all summer, I guess she likes me now. I'm glad because we ended up speaking over the fence for well over an hour and she said that I could borrow her tools and she has some good ones!

She has a chain link saw that I very well may use if her loppers don't work on some trees that grew up along the side fence. So, now I have high hopes for getting the yard done, I don't have to go out and buy a new tool every time I face a new task. I'll just borrow the tools from her! Over the summer as I was working out there I was thinking to myself, "I know that lady wants me to do this, I could do it a lot faster if she would offer to let me use her tools!" And finally, it happened.

Since we haven't spoken in years, we had some catching up to do. I told her all about Rick and the cancer. She told me how many other husbands on this block left their wives. She's lived there for 40 years and if there's anything you want to know about the neighbors, she's the one to ask!

Well, I should get started on those articles, I actually have a deadline to meet and I want to do a good job on this project. Then, when the sun comes up, I'll go out back and kill some more hideous weeds. Oh, and today I get to chop down a tree!

It's my first.

:)