All week I've been mixed up on what day it is. On Monday morning my oldest sister texted me and I had to literally stand there for a second to determine if it was Friday morning or Monday morning. That's pretty bad. Yesterday Red and I were leaving his daughter's house and I said, "tomorrow's Friday!" No, actually today is Thursday. And just now I looked at this blog -- thought -- gosh I haven't posted in a week! But no, I haven't posted since Monday; that's just 3 days. At any rate... I shall try to get oriented and tell you what's going on.
I haven't gotten as much done as I've wished, but that's pretty much par for the course for me. My week in reverse chrono review? My ankle is nearly healed -- today I am Ace wrap free -- maybe I'll actually make it all day this attempt. Ah, positive thinking. Tuesday evening I spent several hours with 6 neighbors in what we've taken to calling our local fallout shelter (the nicest crawlspace we've yet found on on our street) and then enjoyed the following 24 hours without electrical power. It's good for your skin. And, backing all the way up to Monday morning, I awakened to my dog being violently ill and took her to the vet. She's still there. But I think I get to bring her home tonight -- a couple of days worth of IVs later, and today's exploratory surgery averted. So yeah, I haven't gotten as much done as I thought, but I've sort of had some things going on.
I do have a backstory to tell you, and it falls into the category of, "you've gotta want it." In Monday's post I glossed over the story about neighbors helping me get a half a yard of granite for my yard. This can either be "persistence pays off" story, or it can be a "calamity of errors" -- you choose.
My next door neighbor (really -- I must come up with nicknames -- but I am not feeling clever today --) and I were working on an unrelated project Sunday afternoon and the topic of granite came up. We got the glint in our eyes... smirked, and then it was "I'd totally do it. Do you want to do it? Let's do it!" Paint brushes were put down, and we both went inside to change. When we emerged a few minutes later I was in work boots and we both had bandannas on our heads: We were ready. The plan? Rent a Home Depot truck and got get a load of granite. The draw was that the Home Depot truck has a larger payload, so we could get twice as much with it versus as a personal truck. We're giddy.
We sail into the Home Depot tool rental and we're told as the renter I need three things:
1) Driver's license
2) Major credit card (why are they never minor?) and
3) Proof of insurance
DL? Check. Credit card? Check. Insurance? In the glove box -- be right back -- ohhhhh. This card expired last week. In the little red plastic envelope I have cards going back literally years... but the current one is on my desk at work. We go outside and regroup.
Neighbor suggests she'll rent the truck. We'll go to her house and get her insurance card. We drive home. She scampers into the house, grabs the insurance card and head out. I make the mental connection that another Home Depot location is probably closer to the gravel place. But will they have a truck? Oh! We know neighbor-across-the-street was going to Home Depot, and probably that one. We call her. Yes, she's there. A quick scan of the parking lot and she can report yes, there is a truck. Stellar! We point my car that direction.
We get there, and bandanna neighbor goes in to rent. She comes out too quickly... doesn't have her wallet -- surely its in the car... hmmm. No. Did she leave it at home? We tear the car apart -- nothing. So now we have insurance, but now no DL or CC. Seriously?
We ask the 3rd neighbor -- can you rent it? No, she has the DL and insurance, but no CC on her. Any way you slice it, we have 2 of the 3 required items. And, we're told, all three items must be in the same name. Oh, and the gravel place? Closes in less than an hour -- early, because it's Sunday. We look at each other. I say, "You know, it's okay. It's not meant to be today -- I'm fine with that." Bandanna neighbor is having none of that. Her plan? We move the sod from the 3rd neighbor's truck into my car, and put the granite in the truck. Neighbor with truck agrees... and we implement the plan... driving to the gravel place with the sod in the back and the convertible top down, we make an aromatic observation as bits of grass are blown intou our faces and onto the dash: the sod supplier must fertilize with manure...
We got the granite (orange -- choices were white, gray or orange) went home, and first laid the new sod. Then on to my yard, unloading the granite. Just then a third neighbor unwittingly walked over -- probably thinking that idle garden chat was happening -- ha! and walked right into the work. She didn't hesitate a moment, though, and soon the four of us were tackling the unloading. Shovels, wheelbarrows, rakes, we had it going on. At 4:15 I realized that Red would be picking me up in less than an hour for our anniversary celebration -- a nice dinner out and a show at the Winspear Opera House. I had 45 minutes -- talk about a transformation! I felt t e r r i b l e about abandoning my neighbors working on a project in my backyard -- but reservations had been made, tickets had been purchased, and I really had to go. I owe them big time -- dinners for some and gimlets for another -- no doubt about that.
It went further than I'd expected -- and it's going to look fantastic. I'll need more... but it's a great start.
I haven't gotten as much done as I've wished, but that's pretty much par for the course for me. My week in reverse chrono review? My ankle is nearly healed -- today I am Ace wrap free -- maybe I'll actually make it all day this attempt. Ah, positive thinking. Tuesday evening I spent several hours with 6 neighbors in what we've taken to calling our local fallout shelter (the nicest crawlspace we've yet found on on our street) and then enjoyed the following 24 hours without electrical power. It's good for your skin. And, backing all the way up to Monday morning, I awakened to my dog being violently ill and took her to the vet. She's still there. But I think I get to bring her home tonight -- a couple of days worth of IVs later, and today's exploratory surgery averted. So yeah, I haven't gotten as much done as I thought, but I've sort of had some things going on.
I do have a backstory to tell you, and it falls into the category of, "you've gotta want it." In Monday's post I glossed over the story about neighbors helping me get a half a yard of granite for my yard. This can either be "persistence pays off" story, or it can be a "calamity of errors" -- you choose.
My next door neighbor (really -- I must come up with nicknames -- but I am not feeling clever today --) and I were working on an unrelated project Sunday afternoon and the topic of granite came up. We got the glint in our eyes... smirked, and then it was "I'd totally do it. Do you want to do it? Let's do it!" Paint brushes were put down, and we both went inside to change. When we emerged a few minutes later I was in work boots and we both had bandannas on our heads: We were ready. The plan? Rent a Home Depot truck and got get a load of granite. The draw was that the Home Depot truck has a larger payload, so we could get twice as much with it versus as a personal truck. We're giddy.
We sail into the Home Depot tool rental and we're told as the renter I need three things:
1) Driver's license
2) Major credit card (why are they never minor?) and
3) Proof of insurance
DL? Check. Credit card? Check. Insurance? In the glove box -- be right back -- ohhhhh. This card expired last week. In the little red plastic envelope I have cards going back literally years... but the current one is on my desk at work. We go outside and regroup.
Neighbor suggests she'll rent the truck. We'll go to her house and get her insurance card. We drive home. She scampers into the house, grabs the insurance card and head out. I make the mental connection that another Home Depot location is probably closer to the gravel place. But will they have a truck? Oh! We know neighbor-across-the-street was going to Home Depot, and probably that one. We call her. Yes, she's there. A quick scan of the parking lot and she can report yes, there is a truck. Stellar! We point my car that direction.
We get there, and bandanna neighbor goes in to rent. She comes out too quickly... doesn't have her wallet -- surely its in the car... hmmm. No. Did she leave it at home? We tear the car apart -- nothing. So now we have insurance, but now no DL or CC. Seriously?
We ask the 3rd neighbor -- can you rent it? No, she has the DL and insurance, but no CC on her. Any way you slice it, we have 2 of the 3 required items. And, we're told, all three items must be in the same name. Oh, and the gravel place? Closes in less than an hour -- early, because it's Sunday. We look at each other. I say, "You know, it's okay. It's not meant to be today -- I'm fine with that." Bandanna neighbor is having none of that. Her plan? We move the sod from the 3rd neighbor's truck into my car, and put the granite in the truck. Neighbor with truck agrees... and we implement the plan... driving to the gravel place with the sod in the back and the convertible top down, we make an aromatic observation as bits of grass are blown intou our faces and onto the dash: the sod supplier must fertilize with manure...
We got the granite (orange -- choices were white, gray or orange) went home, and first laid the new sod. Then on to my yard, unloading the granite. Just then a third neighbor unwittingly walked over -- probably thinking that idle garden chat was happening -- ha! and walked right into the work. She didn't hesitate a moment, though, and soon the four of us were tackling the unloading. Shovels, wheelbarrows, rakes, we had it going on. At 4:15 I realized that Red would be picking me up in less than an hour for our anniversary celebration -- a nice dinner out and a show at the Winspear Opera House. I had 45 minutes -- talk about a transformation! I felt t e r r i b l e about abandoning my neighbors working on a project in my backyard -- but reservations had been made, tickets had been purchased, and I really had to go. I owe them big time -- dinners for some and gimlets for another -- no doubt about that.
It went further than I'd expected -- and it's going to look fantastic. I'll need more... but it's a great start.
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