Goin South

I am headed south to visit my parents for a few days. Mom is having sugery tomorrow. Dad has been battleing cancer for a while now. He cannot drive and needs lots of care. My sister and brothers will be there to help out too. I look forward to the time with my family. Pray for all of us.

Funny things

I have heard people say that they would probably get a divorce if they had to work with their spouses on this or that - like building a house. Even Toby and I have our moments, but for the most part we do very well together on making decisions and building the house. One of the things I love about Toby is his sense of humor. He laughs at my silly jokes and my smart-aleck answers. Setting the windows and getting them level was a particularly trying time. Toby was getting a little impatient and irritated with one window and me, and he let me know about it. I was standing inside holding the window which ever way he told me, and he was outside with the level and hammer and nails. When we finally got the window nailed in place, he said, "Are you happy now?" The smartmouth in me answered, "You mean with this window or my marriage?" Toby hooted with laughter. That is why I love him. Later when we got home, there was a message on the recorder from some unidentifiable woman (girl). She sounded very young, and she said something that sounded like, "Toby, call me back at this number." We could not figure out who it was or what they were saying exactally, and there was no number to call back. I played the message over and over trying to hear it better and giving Toby "the questioning eye" since it was a girl's voice. Finally, Jesse said, "Dad, I think you need to get a smarter mistress." We all hooted.

One little note on the lumberyard story - We went to put the doors in place on Saturday evening. The right hand door went in easily. When we got ready for the left hand door, it turns out it was not a left had door, but a right hand door. After all of the hassle, the guy brought me the wrong door! Why didn't I check it out before I left the store? What made me think he knew what he was doing? We had to make another trip to Lawton and the lumberyard where this time they they made Toby as crazy as they made me. This time though, I got breakfast at IHOP with the man I love.

Lumber Yards

Yesterday, Toby sent me to Home Depot to buy two exterior doors and one pocket door. These were the main items on my list plus several small things like nails, a washer for the bolt that fell off the nail gun, etc. I started off with lots of excitement about picking out my doors - feeling like the contractor instead of the grunt. My bravado sooned turned to confusion, dismay, and anger. A young man (really just a boy because he certainly was not old enough or wise enough to be considered a man) came over to help me. I told him exactally what I needed and pointed to the style I liked. First of all he informed me the price of $159.00 that was marked over the doors was only the installation price; the price of the doors that I liked was $179.00. This put the first dampener on my day. Then he informed me that the doors that I wanted were up on a high shelf, and he could not get them. He then said, "My deal is broke." This is where the confusion set in, and it must have showed on my face. Then he said, "You go have you some lunch or something, come back in about an hour, and I will have those doors down for you." Several thoughts ran through my mind like, "I don't want lunch; I want doors. I have a dentist appointment at 2:00. Here I am ready to spend $400.00 and your 'deal is broke'. What can you do in an hour that you cannot do right now?" The young man disappeared about this time which was probably the smartest thing he did all day. After a phone call to Toby, I headed to Sutherlands (across town).

The sad truth is that Sutherlands was not much better. The young man (boy) who helped me knew absolutely nothing about doors (not his department), but was very willing to climb all around the shelves to find what I wanted. After several trips to the front of the store to discuss doors with the man behind the counter, I got the doors of my choice at $149.00. The problem came with the pocket door. It turned out to be a kit costing $60.00 plus you had to buy a door separately for about $20.00 more. The young man found the kit for me (the last one in the store), but it had a big dent in the box and the metal was smashed. "I bet they will give you a big discount on that." said the young man. "You will only have to pay about $40.00, and you can beat the dent out with a hammer." This was not my idea of a great buy. After more phone calls to Toby, I headed back to Home Depot - this time with a feeling of dread.

As I approached the door department, the young man recognized me and hollered, "Hey, you are right on time. I got those doors down for you." I explained that I spent my hour at Sutherlands and bought doors there, but I still needed the pocket door. This seem to irritate the young man who then spent the entire time it took to get my pocket door telling me that I had not gotten a good deal at Sutherlands and that Home Depot doors were better. I took my chewing out in silence thinking it was not my fault his "deal was broke". At this point, I just wanted to get the hell out of Dodge.

One last note, the young man at Sutherlands stayed right with me even taking my doors out to the truck and helping me load them. The you man at Home Depot put my pocket door on the cart and disappeared. I loaded it myself. I was hot, hungry, angry, and I missed my dentist appointment. I took off in the truck thinking, "What the Hey! I got a the best prices on my doors." I got myself an ice tea and chicken McNuggets, and I called the dentist to reschedule. It all worked out well enough. I won't even tell you about the lady at Home Depot who treated me as if I were an idiot when I asked her for a price on asphalt siding nor the lecture she gave me on how I should ask for a quote on the whole house not just one panel.

Later while working at the house, we did some demolition on the old part of the house. It felt good to just be a grunt and swing a hammer and smash things.

Back Up and Regroup

We took Monday off from working on the house. With the roof decking on, we are fairly safe from rain now, and the mad rush to get things done is over (for the minute). We were able to get some things done around the farm like putting hay out for the cows and mowing the yard. I made the trip to town and Wal Mart, filled up gas cans for mowing, and went by the feed store. When I went in to pay for the gas, the clerk said, "That will be $30.00." I was shocked! Maybe because I was only filling up a few gas cans, I was thinking, "Small cans, small amount." Boy, was I wrong! I expressed my outrage to Wes at the feed store while he loaded my order. His reply was great - "Having your lawn mowed may be a sign of prestige this year." Isn't that the truth!

Having a day off gave my sore body time to rest which it needed. We are six weeks away from needing to be out of our present house and into the new one. Being a visual person, I drew out a calandar and made a list of all that needed to be done. I think it helped Toby to see what needed to be done and when. It helped us see where we needed outside help and when to get it. It also made us see a need to go to Home Depot again. That is my duty this morning. I feel refreshed and ready. I think we have a plan, and it just might work.

Goes with the Job

We are all beginning to have construction worker tans. You know, where your fore-arms are brown, your face is brown, and your neck is red. When we got home from working on Saturday night, I found myself going straight for the pork skins and beer. Is that because of the redneck? Jesse decided to take advantage of the sun while working. She bought herself a camisole type top (moderate by most standards) to wear while working. Toby and I have teased her saying that maybe she could be nice to some young man long enough to get the house built. She is not buying into that, but she does look pretty cute working in her overalls with her hair in a ponytail.

We also all have boo-boos, and our bodies are sore. On Saturday morning Bo managed to smash his finger with the hammer on about his third swing of the day. He did a pretty good job of busting the end of his finger open. A little while later, Jesse said she saw the ladder go by the window. When she looked out, Toby was hanging on the rafters. She says she saved his life, although it was not a far drop to the ground. An ant crawled up my pant leg and bit me several times. I did not get much sympathy for my ant bite. We all have scrapes, splinters, and bruises. I guess, it just goes with the job. We did get lots done - the roof is decked and the felt is on it. We still have far to go. Maybe we will put a sign out by the gate that says, "Do not enter unless you bring a hammer."

Little House on the Prairie

Despite the howling winds, we were able to get lots done on the house. I say "lots", but we did not get nearly as much done as we wanted. It is amazing how many things can go wrong or just interupt your plans. Toby took off Thursday and Friday to work on the house. We did fairly well on Thursday, but when it came time to actually start framing, we realized that we needed more exact plans and measurements and a trip to Home Depot. By Friday afternoon we were back at it, and got one wall framed up. Of course, the plan was to have all of the walls up by Friday afternoon. After making several mistakes and having to undo (knock out nails and boards), we used some simple math to figure out the rise of the wall and got things going. Jesse and I are becoming the demolition queens. Saturday, Bo was there to help again. We got all of the walls up. This was still much slower than we had intended due to a bent saw blade on the chop saw and another trip to town. Sunday afternoon we got a few more things done, but we were dragging.

Yesterday, I met Toby at the house after work to try and get the sheathing up. After putting up two boards, an older friend from church showed up to get an old airconditioner that we did not need. Because the air conditioner weighed a ton, we volunteered to take it to his house and help install it sometime before dark. Then we went back to work on the sheathing. Toby made one cut with the skill saw when we noticed a burning smell. With the next cut, the skill saw bit the dust. We decided to call it a day on building and just go install the airconditioner. The installation was not too much of a problem for us, but imagine working with Treebeard from Lord of the Rings. Our older friend from church is a wonderful man, but everything he does is in slow motion. Oh well, we needed a lesson in patience and the fellowhip with Treebeard was very pleasant. Tomorrow is another day.

Mrs. Gadget

Years ago while working at a ski shop in New Mexico, a friend of mine was installing a security system. He had a tool belt with all sorts of gadgets like battery operated screw drivers and such. I teased him about all his "toys". He made a very wise comment that I have never forgotten, "Work is just work without the right tools." He was very right. Since I have always enjoyed carpentry work, I have become the "tool-woman". Tim the tool-man has nothing on me. When my husband says we need a new tool of some sort, I say, "Yeah!" Going to Harbor Freight is my idea of a great date. We recently bought all sorts of new tools - everything from tape measures to a nail gun. The nail gun has been a life saver, or should I say an arm saver. Unfortunately, the air compressor bit the dust the other day. We had to use the old fashioned hammers while putting up floor joists. Toby worked on the compressor and got it going that night. The next day all was going well when the compressor died again. After hammering in fire block for a while, my arm was about to fall off. It was just work. Today I am headed to Harbor Freight to get a new air compressor - Yeha!

The Mind

Last week I went to see my mom and dad. Dad was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. He was told he did not have long to live. He is still hanging in there, and I am thankful. Due to the chemo, the radiation, and the general wear and tear on him, his mind is not always as sharp as it once was. His hearing is all but gone. Communication is often difficult. Every week he gets two fifty dollar bills and five twenties. He uses his cash to pay for groceries and such. Sometimes he accumulates too much money in his wallet, and Mom tries to get him to spend his money instead of hers. While visiting on Wednesday, Mom told me that he had mistakenly given her a fifty to buy burritos. When it came time to pay for their burritos, Mom paid with a twenty. Dad told her that was not the money he had given her. She explained to him that she did not want to break a fifty just to pay for burritos. He told her he wanted his fifty back. She would not give it to him - said it was hers now. This fight continued on good naturedly. Mom was still laughing about it while she told me the story. Dad sat there at the table quietly. You never know what he is hearing or understanding. Then she changed the subject and told me that she had given dad a pedicure. Dad looked up at me and said, "It was really nice." He was quiet a minute and then looked up at me again and said, "It cost me fifty bucks!" We all got a good laugh from his quick wit. It is funny how the mind works. It is good to know that Dad is still with us.

Speaking of the mind, my mind is willing, but sometimes the body is weak. I think I am young and capable of working on the house, but my body is so sore and out of shape. We worked to lower the house onto the block and began putting down the floor joist. It is really beginning to look like a house now, but there is lots to do. Hopefully, my body will get better as we work. The best part of working is working along side my family. My son, Bo, has been helping us along with my daughter, Jesse. They make things fun. They tease their dad and me constantly. Sometimes a sword fight with wooden stakes breaks out. There is just lots of silliness and joy, but they are also a big help. We have teased Jesse saying she should be nice to some young man long enough to get the house built, but the truth is that she does lots of work herself and enjoys it. In fact, although our bodies are sore, we are having a great time.