Hard Work

Hello.

This summer, my husband and I made a "honey do" list. We made it together and we work off each numbered item on the list. There are a total of 17 items that we would like to accomplish before school begins in September. We have 6 left. Not bad considering we are about mid-way through the summer.

Some of the things we've been doing are building a small deck off of our back doorway, removing a brick wall and re-landscaping the area, and steaming all our carpets. Currently we are working on putting a driveway extension on our existing driveway. We have four drivers at our home and each of us has a car. I'm getting tired of bumping one of them when I back out of the garage.

Our plan is simple (HA). We dig an outline of the extension, scoop out the remaining dirt, lay down a border and then fill it in with stone. Ah, if only it was that simple.

I never realized how stuck in the ground grass and weeds were. Those little guys were very hard to dig up. Hauling dirt was back breaking. I was the "digger" and my husband was the "cart it away guy" with the wheelbarrows. It was hot and sunny this week in Upstate NY too. I don't think I've ever sweat as much as I have in the last two days.

Thankfully, the tough part is over (I hope). Tomorrow we lay down the border and then Monday we call for the stone delivery.

I think it will look nice when we're done. I hope it will also keep the car jams down to a minimum.

As I think about this project, I reflect on the satisfying feeling one gets after they've done something that is physically really hard. My muscles are tired. Holding my arms to blow-dry my hair after my shower, was exhausting. While sitting on my couch and reading, a few minutes ago, my arms and legs felt like cement sinking into the furniture. Funnily, it felt good. I'm not looking forward to feeling my arms and legs tomorrow but for right now, I feel like I did a hard day's work.

And I did.

Hope you get to complete a long awaited project soon too.

Have hope,
Donna