Now I own a tractor

Somehow, something that was a tedious and sometimes strenuous chore became an experience that I never saw coming.

My wife and I had been talking about upgrading our mower that cost me a whopping $35 a couple of years ago. I thought that it would be something that we would get in a couple of years due to other expenses we have as homeowners.

But a couple of weeks ago it happened. This was after I was annoyed with my first attempt at mowing my yard this year.

I was so annoyed that my bagger would not fill all the way up that I decided to mulch my grass, something that was mildly annoying since I like to weed and feed my yard two to three times a year.

I was prepared to pay someone with a riding mower to cut my yard and pick up the grass clippings, so I could effectively fertilize my lawn. Then I told my wife.

I spoiled my Father’s Day surprise because she had saved enough to purchase a riding mower for our family. She was saving the surprise for the actual holiday in June but knowing that I was willing to hire, she pulled the trigger and told me to find one.

Luckily there was a mower here in town and they delivered it to us.

It took a few minutes to figure out how everything worked. I didn’t have the luxury of a riding mower growing up but I had some experience with a zero-turner thanks to an on-campus job that I had during my college years.

This mower isn’t a zero turn radius but man does it save time. And mowing the lawn combines productivity and driving.

After it’s first use, I have noticed how much cleaner of a cut I had. I saved about twenty minutes thanks to a wider deck and a faster mowing speed.

I also cut behind my fence for the first time, so now I don’t have to worry about my name coming up in a council meeting for poor lawn upkeep.

I know that machine is capable of so much more than cutting grass and eventually I will look into it.

I am so thankful for my thoughtful wife, who understood my frustrations and made a choice to purchase such an awesome gift.

As a bonus, I also got a $10 walk behind trimmer from a yard sale. After some cleaning and TLC, it works!