Tuesday, January 31, 2012

When the walls...


...come tumblin' down
When the walls come crumblin' crumblin'
When the walls come tumblin' tumblin' down.
-John (Cougar) Mellencamp, Crumblin' Down

It's not often that I take vacation on a random Tuesday morning.  But it's not too often that this happens next door:


And it's not too often that you get to see your tool-wielding, construction-loving 3 year old completely utterly transfixed.

 (Whoa!)

 Our neighbors are rebuilding, putting 2 houses on the lot where this sweet little 1950's ranch stood this morning.  And I took half a day off just so the little man and I could watch the demolition.  And boy did we watch!  We parked ourselves in the sunshine of our front yard and watched it come crashing down.

 (He would have sat in that spot for HOURS!)


(We even recruited LaLa to come over - set her up in a comfy chair 
in the yard so that she could join in on the fun, too!)


 (The supervisor at work.)

(When will you stop with the plants and start working on the HOUSE?!)

I know that normal people use their vacation days to go to the beach or DisneyWorld.  But after seeing how excited that little boy was about this house demolition, I am 100% certain that Disney has NOTHING on a construction site, particularly one right next door.  He was absolutely enthralled.  When it got boring (which eventually it did, even for him!), he started using sticks to "tear down" weeds in the yard.  I feel sure the kid will eventually go into construction management or civil engineering, though I'm pretty sure he'd be far more excited to be the guy driving the backhoe.  The look on his face was priceless - he was completely in his element.  It was one of the most fun days I've had in a very, very long time.

Things are crazy in my life right now - worrying about my mom, worrying about the future, worrying about what's not getting done, trying to coordinate too much.  I've tried mentally blogging about it, but I just can't quite get the words out.  Maybe that's because I just don't want the world to know my vulnerabilities. The figurative walls are crumblin' down in my life, and I'm really struggling to keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

So, today was a much needed break - to literally watch some walls tumblin' down.  More importantly, I spent the morning doing something just because I wanted to ...completely forgetting about the things I ought to do. 

Good stuff.  

So, I promise to keep you updated on the progress of the new house that gets built next door.  Because the pint-size supervisor will demand that we go by to check out the progress every evening from now until they lock the doors and hand it back over to the neighbors.

10 comments:

Annie said...

What a wonderful day for you three.
Love you,
Annie

Kat Moncol said...

I am so glad to know we have supervision over there. I want to come check out the progress with you guys too. Me, David , Alex, and George took a gander tonight but you all the thrill off the action. Yay!

Sush said...

What a lovely day for everyone...
Hugs~

Anonymous said...

The acorn doesn't fall far from the Papa tree.

Anonymous said...

I do think your priorities are in order, taking time with Jay the tool guy and Lala to watch something as ordinary as deconstruction become an extraordinary event!! You all will remember this for a long time!! lytb - AJ

Anonymous said...

That's the Phil Perry in him! Phil sat and watched my contractor tear my house down and then came everyday during the re-build to check their work. You have many, many hours of entertainment ahead of you.
Smith

Erin Bakal said...

I applaud your awareness that you *could* stop to watch something this exciting happen next door. Do you realize what an awesome Mom you are for having made the time to do that? You are my Mom hero Jen, and if there's anything that I can do to help with the putting one foot in front of the other during this insanity, will you please let me know?

joye said...

Not sure how I missed this post! I loved all of it, and all of you - crumbling walls and all.

Anonymous said...

But, but, tear it down! that's the house we bought and had moved to our property and rebuilt! love it!
Donna

Anonymous said...

no, meant tear it down?!