I headed upstairs to start writing and did so until 2 p.m., when the blue skies and sun called me outside for a run. When I finished, I returned to find Chitunga out back looking around. "What are you into?" I asked, knowing the look he had on his face. "Oh, I was thinking about redoing the fire pit."
I was like, "Ugh," because I needed to be indoors." I gave him the credit card and said, "You're braver than me if you want to be at Home Depot today."
He was gone for a long while, and returned with sheers and a picket axe. That isn't fire pit material. "It was packed." He also had four blocks of cinder...not sure why. I helped him carry things out back, but it was so warm, I knew I couldn't talk myself into returning indoors. The next thing I know we're leveling the fire pit, cutting down branches, and laboring like beavers. Of course, he got frustrated that leveling is not easy, and gave up, moving to tackle the garage (which is a disaster, because we need to do a dump run. We have too much shit). I was working on the fire pit, when he gave up on the garage and said, "I'm going to go get a new ceiling fan."
His chain broke last night. We have cathedral ceilings. Long story short, our ladder didn't reach, so we had to borrow from neighbors. Then, the ceiling fan he bought isn't the kind that can hand from cathedral ceilings, so as sunset arrived, I said, "We need to clean up, because it will be dark soon and all the electricity upstairs is turned off. Neither one of us will enjoy that."
Edem, the house electrician, worked on securing the wires and then Chitunga did research for the parts he would need for the ceiling fan could be hung properly. At 8 pm he drove to go find an oscillating fan so he could return mine. We both sleep better with the hum.
I went next door to have a beer by a fire pit (he joined us later - six feet distancing).
Truth be told, I told him, "Thank you for hitting so many items on my to-do list for me in one day, because I need to get my ass in gear. I wasn't ready to do anything for a couple more weeks, but thank you for reminding me how awesome it feels to work on getting shit done.....home shit. Not work shit."
Of course, nothing was finished, but we're in the ebb and flow.
I can tell he's pretty much done with classes, and his busy-body nature is looking for next things to do. It might be a very long summer, however, if he doesn't finish the tasks he sets out to do.
This was all summoned, of course, because I had the audacity to begin looking at paints. Truth is, I also ordered Frog tape online so we can begin lining floorboards and cabinets to begin. Mt. Pleasant is getting a makeover. Considering we haven't painted a single room, this is okay.
We do, however, need to clear out the garage and get the ceiling fan up. This won't happen until at least May 1st when the fan part comes in. The dad/teacher in me just let's what happens happen, so the real learning can occur. But I am thinking: fire pit, garage, ceiling fan without completing any project all in one afternoon, might be a little more "Squirrel! Squirrel!" than even I am.
We are going to paint, though. I know it. And today it will rain all day, so not much outdoor play for any of us.
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