Under Construction

I've been very thankful this summer that I generally have a pretty high tolerance for chaos. I'm very, very far from Type A. Occasionally, I wish I were more orderly and structured, but I think this summer would have pushed me over the brink if I were. As it is, we've just been going with the flow and having a wonderful summer together while making slow and steady progress on the house. 

 Since June, the road in front of our house has been under construction. And since we lack a back alley, that has meant parking a block away, which isn't a huge deal until I come home from running errands after dark with a sleeping toddler, a crying baby who wants nothing other than to be held by Mom, and a van full of groceries that need to be unpacked. Fortunately this has only happened twice when I didn't have Elena, Sam or Seth around to help unload. The inside of the van could also use a very thorough cleaning - not an easy feat to do a block away from the house. Plus, the grocery store, library, post office, etc. are all on the other side of that street.  I don't know which is more work: loading everyone up in the distant van to drive around the construction, or trying to get the kids and a stroller through the muddy canyon (it's been raining a lot this summer) on foot. Today we had to leave for Mass 10 minutes earlier than usual so we could walk around all the muck to get to the church across the street. It dawned on us as we were walking that it would be easier to drive to the next town and go to their Mass than it is to go right next door. You know it's getting old when the 3-year-old, who was initially delighted to watch all the diggers and construction trucks working day after day says to you, "Mama, I want our street to be black again." Even the retired men who would come to stand and watch the action along side the little boys back in June have seen their fill and stopped showing up (apparently watching heavy machinery holds an attraction that does not go away with age for males).

The road in front of our house

Our front yard (formerly a beautiful perennial garden and hedges) as they relaid the pipes. On the plus side, we now have less weeding to do...

In addition to the outdoor construction, we've also had ongoing indoor construction since February. Things are coming along nicely, but there is still a large portion of our house full of all the stuff that will eventually be stored in yet-to-be-finished cabinets and closets. This picture is of the clutter at its worst, but that's more or less what half of our home has looked like throughout the summer - just add a bunch of tarp and tools to the mix. One recent improvement: I think Frankie is finally starting to realize that those bits of sheetrock on the floor aren't that tasty. More pictures to come of Seth's beautiful wood-working skills. I'll wait until things are a little closer to finished before sharing.

Here's a shot of Seth sanding the floor to get it ready before installing the new island. Rather than cover everything with tarp, he taped down a "tarp tent," inserted the end of a shop vac underneath while he sanded, and shot the dust straight out the window. The things this man comes up with.... It sure has been great to watch his immense talent in problem-solving over the 15 years we've been together.