All in the Family

So, something kinda funny happened this weekend while I was in Warren...

Yes, for those of you who don't know, besides being a man's name, Warren is also the name of a city. I mentioned in an earlier post that I live in a small town and that is true. However compared to Warren, my town looks like a true Metropolis. Warren is where both of my in-laws grew up and now they actually still have a very nice weekend home there. Both my mother-in-law and -father-in-law are in their eighties now, so my husband goes up quite frequently to help them with the upkeep of the house and land. He has very fond childhood memories of the place in Warren and loves to go, too.

So, this past weekend he was going up with his parents and asked me to go. Usually when I go there are lots of family members there, ( my husband has 4 sisters, each with grown kids and grand kids, you can do the math), so I figured this might be a nice, quiet weekend hanging out with my mother-in-law. And get some brownie points with the hubby, too.

I guess categorically, I wouldn't classify myself as the outdoorsy type. I mean, nature is beautiful and all, and I do like to play tennis, but beyond that, I can find plenty of things to entertain me indoors. My husband, on the other and, loves camping, hiking, burning things, mowing grass on tractors, you get the picture...

Anyway, off we go to Warren. Saturday morning we woke up, Father-in-law and Hubby are already out mowing and burning. Mother-in-law and I make a great breakfast, then just relax at the table afterwards, while the two men quickly get back to, yes, you guessed right, more burning and mowing. Something with the Y chromosome, I guess. About half an hour after breakfast, Hubby comes in and says, "Hey, could you help me for a minute? I need someone to drive the car for me."

Immediately, I am concerned. You see, I set the boundary with him before I left: "If I go, I am not burning, mowing, carrying sticks off so you can burn or mow, etc." so, for him to ask for help was an obvious sign of desperation. I very hesitantly say OK.

Off I go in my PJ's and flip flops, true mountain woman gear, with Hubby to "drive the car." Once safely inside the car, Hubby confesses, "I got the mower stuck in the mud on the bank of the pond, so I need you to pull me out." I almost jumped out of the car right then, but felt a little sorry for the guy, so I just took a deep breath and mumbled,  "Oh..."

Here, there are a few things you need to know: first, the "mower" is one of those zero-turn mowers, In other words, cha-ching. Secondly, I honestly would rather have my gums scraped than help Hubby with this kind of thing. Let's just say he isn't always the most patient person in these situations and I tend to get my feelings hurt. Thirdly, in order to get to the banks of the pond,  you have to drive through some dense woods, trees everywhere.

We finally drive through the national forest and I see the mower, just as he'd described, stuck near the water. Then, Hubby gets out and starts attaching a rope to the FRONT of the suburban, instead of the back, which means I'm going to have BACK it up to get the mower out. The last thing you need to know about me is that I am terrible at backing up. I have been known to have other people back my small car up for me when all I had to do was back out straight with nothing anywhere around for me to hit. Now I'm starting panic and start talking to Hubby, even though he's not around to hear me: "Are you out of your mind? The first time you yell at me, I'm out!"

He comes back to the window and says, "OK,  all you have to do is watch for my signals, and back up slowly." Uh-huh. Surprisingly enough, we were able to get the mower unstuck in a very short amount of time, with a little bit of maneuvering. And I didn't hit one tree. I'm feeling very victorious, a lot like Mario Andretti, when Hubby walks up and says, "Great, can you just stay here while I finish this area, in case I get stuck again?" WHAT?? Have you been standing too close to the fire? But, in five minutes, he gets the mower stuck again.

This time it's in a steep spot surrounded by trees. After lots of maneuvering, going backward and forward, the mower is still stuck. At this point, Father-in-law has noticed the crisis, left his fire, and come to help. He and Hubby confer, then he starts gathering sticks to put under a tire on the mower to help. More going forward and backward, no dice. Now, here comes Mother-in-law, carrying a long board. I smile and think, "How many family members does it take to get the mower out of the mud?" Finally, after even more forward and backward, the mower comes flying out of the mud. My work was done and I had still not killed a single tree. This time Hubby says, "Thanks. Why don't you ride back to the house on the golf cart with Grandma. I think I'll keep the car here for now." Great idea, I think. On the way, Grandma says, "Let's head over to Dollar General before we have to go back out there." An even BETTER idea!

Basically, my take is, even the strangest of jobs, crises, problems are handled much easier whe you're surrounded by family. What's your take?