Men At Work!

I have no idea how I survived the mayhem of the past year, when we ripped the back off our house, gutted the interior and began the laborious job of putting it back together. Never a quiet moment; never an empty in-box on the cell phone; never a to-do list with fewer than 20 things on it. I actually loved  the process but when the bulk of it was over and we moved back into the house....I wanted it to be over. As in complete. Finished. See ya later! The End.

This week has been like old times, with a parade of dented vans and pick-up trucks lining the street in front of my house. We returned from the north woods on Saturday with tan children, nervous dogs and four duffle bags filled with dirty laundry. When C and M brought

the bags downstairs to get the laundry going, their bare feet sloshed and sunk into the play-room carpeting: a crack in the air conditioner unit caused a leak that saturated the w-to-w carpet.

The brand-new w-to-w carpet.

So Disaster Relief Services arrived on Sunday with massive fans and dehumidifiers. Along with GC and HVAC guy, they've been in and out all week seeing to things. Meanwhile, the Italian stoneworkers are back working on the front steps, which also required the services of two carpenters. And I'm bidding out the landscaping and fretting over what to plant on the side of the house in order to screen the direct view we have into our next-door neighbor's kitchen. Ah, seems like old times. 

Comments

[Kate]

Those are some hot dudes! Seriously...for guys that are well into the AARP cohort, they look mighty fine shirtless!

[adrienne]

they are amazing! i asked them what their secret to aging is and they said "we do a a litle work, keep busy." they are retired stone workers, and now as retirees they do small jobs for people who are recommended to them from previous clients. so they are their own bosses, set their own agendas, take vacations when they want to, stay home in the rain, etc. they like to keep busy, but not too busy, and they like working together; they have a third friend who comes sometimes, too. jerry smokes cigars, but val will only let him smoke two a day when they are working together.

so i guess it's the combo of work and comraderie that keeps them in the game. and brute strength! how many 68 and 71 year olds do you know who can lift slabs of stone?