I was tired of the browns of winter. I was tired of hunting. I was tired of the wind blowing the dry dust around. I was tired of hoping for snow, only to be disappointed every time our 30 percent chance for moisture was quashed by 70-degree days.

Now, I remember why I like winter. Things don't grow in winter.

The grass doesn't have to be cut once a week because we choose to water it twice a week. The stickers don't sprout their little yellow buds, indicating that someday, someone is going to get stabbed by one of the little suckers. And the dogs aren't bringing in new batches of foxtail every time they come in from outside.

I spent my first day in the yard Wednesday. I grabbed the rake and cleaned up three months of dead leafs and cigarette butts. By the time I was done, my shoulders were aching, my legs hurt, and I felt like I had a knife in the middle of my back. I'd been at it for at least 45 minutes.

Then I remembered why I hadn't spent any time in my yard since the last of July -- I hate yard work.

It's not that I don't like yard work -- I actually despise it. I hate planting things that don't grow and growing things I don't plant. I hate watering something in order to make it grow, only to spend two hours pushing a noisy machine around to cut it all down and start the process over again.

I hate spending three hours a week in 100-degree temperatures chopping down weeds with a machine that's just as likely to chop up my legs.

Now, here it is spring and we're getting the snow I wanted three month ago. The winds are still blowing the dust around, but now it's blowing the blooms off my apricot tree -- one of the few things that I haven't killed in the last seven years.

The only grass that's growing in my yard is crabgrass. And I think the bindweed is starting to break ground.

I do have a few flowers coming up now -- dandelions mostly. But I have a nice patch of poppies growing and there are a few day lilies that are about seven inches tall. I also have some other kind of annual I've never been able to identify. All-in-all, the flowers are looking pretty good.

That should all change when we get the weather they're predicting over the next few days.

But I will persevere. This year, I plan on removing about 240 square feet of yard work by building a deck on the south side of the house. I'll have to take out even more grass when I put in the new steps and sidewalks to lead to my new front door. If I have enough time, I plan to dig up another patch of grass in the front yard and put in another mulch garden.

Once I have 90 percent of my front yard grass-free. I'm going to work on the back yard.

I'm thinking an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a three-car garage. Surely that should fill up about 90 percent of my back yard -- leaving me with 90 percent more time to spend on my deck after a nice refreshing swim in that Olympic-sized swimming pool.