brain autocorrected the title to "mowing the lawn at grandma's", and it almost still made sense.

Dang! That's from 1985. That's true even today! Maybe all generations feel that way? And we just rediscover it in our own way?

I first heard a version of this quote as a U.S. Marine Corps quote.

I wonder if its origins are different than that.

I did a quick search and it seemed to still point to a military origin.