HUMDINGER is the word I would use to describe this past weekend. A humdinger, for sure!
Even before thinking about getting on the road for "upnorth," we mailed customized Mother's Day cards to Lindsey and Sarah, bought potted flowers for Sally and Grandma, stopped off at our "piney" home, showered, repacked bags, switched vehicles, drove back into town, bought lumber and electrical supplies at the nearby Home Depot, did our late-night banking, bought burgers for the road, a five-shot latte (for S, of course) for the road, and finally, finally hit the road! At 10:40 p.m. (laughing) Are we crazy or what?
Saturday morning work began around 10. Like the troopers that they are, S's sister, Michelle, and her husband, Jim, showed up bright and early, coffee mugs in hand, ready to work.
S and I finished up some minor framing on the handicap ramp, while Michelle and Jim began carving out the shape of a concrete pad for the handicap ramp to land ON. Sally got on the phone and had forty (40) 80-lb bags of cement delivered to the house within about an hour of her call. Jim and I went and picked up an electric cement mixer and the cement pouring commenced around 3:30 p.m.
We broke at 9:30 for a fabulous, fashionably-late dinner prepared by Sally. We ate like the ravenous and tired workers that we were. We hung out until after 11:30, waiting for the cement to set up enough for it to be troweled. Jim used a kitchen broom to supply the finishing touches to the finish, making it safe and elder-friendly.
Sunday morning was another absolutely perfect day, clear, cloudless and sunny. We all marveled at how gorgeous the concrete pad turned out -- wow, did we do that?
Around 2 p.m., S's older sister, Becky and her daughter, Lydia arrived from down-state. We all visited and caught up on news with one another. Sally and Grandma opened up Mother's Day gifts from Becky and Lydia. The four of us returned to work.
Jim and Michelle set a few more 4x4 posts for elder-friendly transitioning down the existing steps, while S and I began work in earnest on the decking. Then, eventually, it was all four of us working on decking. We finished the 6'x 10' deck first, then the intermediate 6' ramp up to the 5'x 5' platform which then transitions to the 8' ramp up to the existing porch.
That last ramp was nothing but a headache all the way around. (In light of people's heightened awareness of language usage, post-Don Imus, I'll avoid using the five-letter female dog term I was first inclined to use describing that ramp.) There were problems too numerous to recount, but it was late in the day, we were four 40-to-50 year olds, tired, sore, achey, busting a*s trying to get it done.
We finished up around 8:30. I was so sore I was groaning with every move I made. (I'm a BIG baby that way.) S packed up her tools, Jim and Michelle and S tidied up the entire construction site, while I went in the house, deflated our new Aerobed mattress (what a nice thing!), gathered up our stuff, made a pot of coffee and WASHED MY FACE! Geez, did I feel grody!
I think we got on the road back to the piney house just a little before 10. Rather than making another leg of the trip back down here to the pied-a-terre, we dropped our bags, took hot showers, each took two EXTRA STRENGTH Bayer aspirin and fell into bed. You think I'm speaking in metaphors? NO! We fell into bed. It was 1 a.m.
Then, we were back up and at 'em by 6 a.m., switched vehicles, loaded our bags and the dog and headed here for S to get to work. Sheesh! I can feel tired just recounting it all!
Do you think we had a humdinger for a weekend?
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