A Weekend SAVED

Weekends are made for....
napping,
dancing,
laughter,
relaxing,
festivities,
eating good food,
blissful spontaneity,
light hearted jesting,
enjoying great company, &
sleeping till noon.
And this past weekend was saved for....
planning,
slaving,
banter,
stiffening,
swarming bees,
eating good food,
meaningful productivity,
wholehearted sacrificing
enjoying great company &
sleeping till 7am!

I will be gleaning from this past weekend for weeks and months to come.  I have been longing for some time to get the four trees cut down that had grown up against my house as well as my son's room painted, a project that was started weeks ago.

I don't own a chainsaw and had made plans to call a landscaping company or lawn service to get a quote for cutting down the trees.  It's not that I am against the benefits of nature, especially trees and the wealth of qualities they add to our environment, but these trees were literally growing up next to the base of my house in three different corners of the structure.  They were not only an eyesore but were destroying the guttering on my house every time the wind blew. So when my good friend Brooks offered during a recent visit to bring his chainsaw on his next visit, I took him up on it!  Cutting all four trees wasn't easy.  And cutting into the second one, it fell and released a swarm of yellow jackets that flew up  from an underground nest near the tree.  Brooks didn't see the bees and asked me to grab the top of the tree to drag it out and away from the house for cutting.  I just stood there, pointing, not able to say a word for a moment, dumbfounded by the swarming bees disturbed from their resting place.  Finally I got the word out: BEES!  Brooks immediately saw them with that remark, and jolted in the opposite direction.

No one was stung and we were able to finish the job once they settled down.  Cutting the trees to a permissible length for the city to pick up and dragging them out to the curb was quite time consuming and very tiring work, especially for the guy with the chainsaw. But we finished and now the yard and the house both look more spruced up.  Plus I am glad we found the bees (instead of my kids coming back home in later weeks finding them).  A quick side note: I have already had a rep from my pest control company to come and treat both nests he found, just Monday. 

The other project completed in our two-day marathon was my son's room.  I have been in the process of "repainting" and updating furniture for weeks now.  I had recently bought him a new bed that he picked out and it suited his age.  But the painting had come to a standstill.  It required moving heavy furniture and tedious effort because he wanted it in three different colors to make it cool, of course.  I thought I would just have my thirteen year old help me, to take some ownership and pride in what we had accomplished, because he would be the one reaping the reward.  But every weekend home became quickly filled up with my thirteen year-old's activities or my nine year-old's activities; and with summer underway there were movies to see and sleep-overs in full swing that kept us from getting the project completed.  Again in conversation about my dilemma, Brooks offered to let me borrow his "power roller" to finish the job "in no time."  I was thrilled at the thought of knocking out the much dreaded paint project, and the quicker the better.  So he brought it down the same weekend as the chainsaw and we both went at the project with enthusiasm.  Only, we finished the job, and did it all without the aid of the power roller.  He meant well, but when he arrived and started unpacking tools it was quickly realized he had left some necessary parts of the power roller at home.  No big deal, however, because even with regular rollers and brushes, we knocked out the black chalkboard wall and the gray walls and ceiling in no time. And it was an amazing makeover.  I wish I had taken before and after photos. 

So the weekend proved to be quite productive and I am grateful to my good friend, Brooks.  Oh, but don't think I am going to allow him to be so helpful without my returning the favor.  He already has plans for us "save another weekend" to redo his bathroom.  More painting, oh joy, how did he know I "love" painting! 

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