The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

...often go awry.

OK, so much for bragging about my leisurely Spring Break plans, or lack there of. As I was complacently contemplating a week of bliss and relaxation, I didn't realize what actually lay in store for us this week. ...a new deck.

G and I have been talking about, drawing plans, making lists, etc for a while now for a deck for our back yard. Ever since Ike came through, our once serene shady backyard has become a barren desert of grass and weeds, desperately missing the shade and personality of the 80 yr old pecan tree that became a casualty of the storm. So, some time after we got home from church on Sunday, G and I were talking about the week ahead of us, and somehow we decided that it would be a good idea to begin our deck. It was Sunday, after all, and we had the whole week ahead of us. So, we started by ripping out the old brick patio under our lone oak tree, whose roots have buckled the bricks worse that poorly laid carpet in southern humidity. That chore took all of day 1. On the bright side, G got to enact some of the boys' favorite folk legends....he was John Henry as he swung the sledge hammer to break up the concrete under parts of the patio, and Paul Bunyan as he carried countless 1x6s into the backyard.

After this first day of hard, but productive work, we thought the rest would be downhill. Then, reality set it. The delivery on day 2 came at 5:30pm...almost too late to do much good. Day 3 was interrupted by dr's appts - - total of 6 shots, and most took it like a man :) - - and then day 4 was my day out with friends. Throw in a dentist appointment, two baseball practices, and G's track practice everyday, and time soon became a precious commodity.

So, here we are on Thursday, the deck is about 85% completed, and the week is 90% over. What happened to my rest and leisure?..maybe my sore muscles, broken fingernails, and scrapped shins give away the answer.

I guess I'll just have to spend some time relaxing on the new deck ( when it reaches 100% ) and find that leisure and bliss that I missed this past week. In the meantime, though, I think I have some shopping to do, to make this deck a new source of serentity for our backyard.