An Unexpectedly Magical Saturday

Yesterday should NOT have been one of the most magical days of my life.  But it was.

When I woke up, the house was already dancing to the rhythm of Doug's hammer.  We've been working on putting up siding on the back of the house.  This isn't your every day siding project either.  It's been done and redone and researched and stewed over by its very attentive founder for over a year.  I was tickled that Doug had finally decided to let other people work on his project with him.

I had invited tons of people.  I expected about two or three to show up.  So I prepared food for twenty.  I ran to Smiths for groceries, came home and set up the white tablecloth with peaches, nachos and donuts, using my fanciest glass and garnishing the table with pretty little vine ripened tomatoes.  Just because.  That's my party-hostess DNA from Mom trying to manifest itself.

Nobody came.

So I fretted and tried quickly to get rid of feelings of frustration and anger that only destroy.

Then I got to work.

I worked with Doug on that siding.  It was hard work, not because it was hard to lift but because I have an irrational fear of doing house projects wrong.  Which is silly.  I built bookshelves a few years ago, all by myself.  So that means I've got skills.

Throughout the day, I rotated between fussing over Doug's comfort, helping him, and recovering by doing indoor chores (I have a dizziness and fatigue problem that bites into my projects sometimes).  I set up a canopy for him and brought him snacks and water, played his favorite music and held things still while he worked.  Eventually, I learned how to make the process of siding more efficient by leading the way with the stud finder and pencil.  I enjoyed using the stud finder to find Doug, who's a total stud.  It goes off when I scan him with it.

The three cats and the dog supervised the siding project.  They love being close to us.

I went to pick up my repaired violin at 4:30 and got home at 5.  Doug was tired and dragging after 10 hours of siding.  I asked if we could find a stopping point and he said we could.  I proposed buying flowers for the front yard (I neglected my previous flower crop too much and it died) and getting groceries.  We did.  It was fun. Doug traipsed around Lowe's in a sun baked daze and said "You can buy whatever you want."  Being a responsible little wife, I stayed on budget with the flowers.  Buying groceries is a lot easier than ever because I have a list now.  Be so proud of me!  I printed three copies on neon green paper and I actually use them and have stuck with them for three weeks.  This whole shopping experience was full of satisfaction and fun. Doug thanked me for helping him with the house.

Our boy didn't want to come over yesterday.  One of his group home staff brought over a BMX bike for him to play with and when we called to invite him over he informed us that he was busy getting calluses.  We dropped by to watch him do his tricks which are actually quite impressive.  It's good to see him happy.

We set up the duck fountain in the front yard, then I started to work planting my beautiful new flowers.  Our next door neighbor, Brother Beck, came over.  "Hey!  I came to help you with the siding and you weren't here!" I love Brother Beck.  He's one of a kind.  Big, tough, gruff, extremely caring, very compassionate.  He adopted his granddaughter this year.  He brought her with him.  He talked with Doug about the project in the backyard while his little two year old granddaughter/daughter helped me plant flowers in the front yard.

She is the cutest little tyke you've ever met.  I lifted her over the 1 foot tall wire flower fence that was too tall for her to climb and showed her where to drop the begonias.  She was pretty good at planting the flower, but she also had a knack for burying the entire plant in dirt and stomping on it when she went to the next one.  When all my little flowers were planted, I sent a very dirty footed little girl back to her dad.  It was so nice, after the heat and hand cramps of the siding project, to sit in the cool front yard planting flowers with an adorable two year old.

Doug organized the sprinklers in the front yard to go off at a time in the morning when my repaired fountain will be try.  I loved how seriously he took the sprinkler project

We threw together some easy dinner and watched Scooby Do at the kitchen table.

I just love Doug.  I was sitting at the kitchen table with him this morning.  His hair was all ruffled and he was wearing his bathrobe and glasses and talking about sprinkler placement.  He looked like a mad scientist from Honey I Shrunk the Kids, only hotter.  I don't know how I got so lucky to be married to the world's most charming man.  But I did!