I’m Dancing As Fast As I Can

It’s been another crazy week. Daughter having final exams and presentations, husband working hard, me juggling things and trying to get stuff done before an upcoming trip. Things went off the tracks with the guy I hired to do drywall repair and painting in a bedroom. His work was excellent but the communication and sticking to the schedule I thought we’d made were not great. After I sent an email asking for specific times he could finish the work he showed up even after I told him I had to leave to pick up daughter and sat at the gate honking. Then climbed the closed gate and came to the door, walked around the house looking up at the windows. It was totally creepy and my dogs went absolutely nuts. I went out and asked what he was doing inside the closed gate and he said he couldn’t get me on the phone. When I suggested maybe it wasn’t going to work out, he wanted to come in and get his stuff (a ladder, some joint compound, two small tools, and a roll of tape) and I told him he’d need to come back when my husband was home. The dogs were uncharacteristically growling and snarling at him and I just didn’t feel okay about letting him inside. He reluctantly left. That was that for me, but later in the day his wife (the friend of a friend, and why I even hired this guy) wrote a bizarre “rant” on Facebook about me, and it was so far from reality I felt even more creeped out. She suggested “something was not right here” and that he might not get his tools back and not be paid for the work he’d already done. I didn’t respond. Of course we were going to return his materials and pay him, and we did that. She announced on FB that I was bipolar and I thanked my lucky stars we got out of this before we went any further. 

It was hard not to respond on FB but I know from 25+ years as a psychotherapist that this was not someone who could be reasoned with. Ugh. 

Friday was a nice day with a massage and snow! Yesterday I determined to finally get the lights on the front porch tree. I made a bourbon sour and took music out there and decorated while more snow fell! Very pretty and by nightfall I had made it almost to the top with the lights. I ran out, and husband went to buy more but before I could add them the beautifully-lit tree went dark. I had connected too many strands and blew the fuse. Sigh. He fixed it but we’re going to have to run an extension cord up and make two separate strings. This photo captures perfectly how I feel about my plans for the week. Halfway there, dancing as fast as I can. 

I did manage to hang a wreath and finish up the post box decor!

It was sweet seeing Pixie getting interested in the tree while it was still working!

Today I’m packing for a long-awaited trip to California with my daughter. We’re both attending a conference and day-long workshop with one of her favorite scientists, Robert Sapolsky. And yes, we’re flying right into the wildfires to do so. Our original plan was to drive up the coastal highway after the conference but we changed that due to the Ventura fire and are flying up to San Jose, then driving down the coast to Monterey Bay for a couple days. Then back up to Stanford to visit the campus and maybe tour the Neurobiology Department. I’m so happy to get some time with her on this adventure. 

Meanwhile husband will be here working from home and keeping all the animals fed and watered. And overseeing the completion of the bedroom by a new person (someone we know and trust) and maybe the beginning of the fencing if I’m lucky. He’s likely going to need a week off after single-handedly managing all of this while we’re away.

I’m sure I’ll post some travel updates along the way! And hoping we carry some rain/snow energy to Southern California.