Thursday, December 10, 2009

F*L*E*X*I*B*I*L*I*T*Y

Yep, I'm back to that old mantra - "flexibility... flexibility... flexibility." If I say it enough, maybe it will be easier to just go with the flow and keep the panic down.

With just two weeks to go, I'm definitely getting overwhelmed. I'm a day or two behind on completing orders, something I'm hoping to get back on track with tomorrow. I'm definitely not ready for the company that's arriving on Monday (but I will be). My candy making committee (family) has backed out of Saturday's work session and I'll be on my own for a good part of the production. (Okay, they did come up with some really good excuses.) I do not have the gifts that need to be shipped ready, yet. (Again, hopefully, remedied this weekend.)

Then, today, I had a great plan for going to get the Christmas tree (Yes, we still get a real tree and, no, we haven't gotten it yet.) and the bottom fell out of that when, instead of being several hours early getting home from work, The Big Guy ended up running several hours late! I needed his vehicle for this task. (His muscles and arm strength usually come in handy there, too.) This was a two-fold obstacle, I had also figured we'd grab a bite for dinner while running that errand. With him running so late, I had to fix a meal, too. (Now, I'm all out of those "pre-fixed" meals that I stocked in the freezer for the last minute rush. So much for all that advanced planning.)

The crowning stroke was when he called to tell me he was running so late and asked if I'd looked at the front step at all during the day. (He figured I hadn't since he hadn't gotten a call from me during the day.) I had not. I had not even been out the door all day, moving from one indoor project to the next. It seems our wrought iron railing on our front steps had simply fallen off during the night. It broke off right where it's posts were sunken into the concrete steps ! As it had not seemed loose or cracked, it's quite a mystery. It had simply fallen back on top of our plastic garbage cans stored in that corner and would not have made much noise as it fell.
Ultimately, it creates the same problem no matter how it happened. We have no rail on our steps and quite a drop off on the top step which serves as our "porch." I'm guessing this will be more of a problem to me than anyone else. I'm the klutz in the clan and I'm the one who cautiously holds the rail as I go in and out.

While it does need to be replaced, it is not the highest thing on The Big Guy's list this week (or next). First, he needs to figure out just how to replace it. It's unlikely he'll be able to simply drill into the concrete block of the step to sink a new rail. The almost 40-year-old block is unlikely to survive such drastic impact and we're not ready to replace the entire front step area at this point in time. It doesn't help that the temps this week are the lowest of the year and not conducive to outdoor work. This is a problem that will need some brainstorming these next few days.

The upside of this latest problem : I can now cross putting garland and lights on the outside rail off my list.

All right!!

1 comment:

Holly said...

Haha, poor thing. You sound stressed. Don't worry though, you'll get done with everything on your list of errands. And then you'll be able to just kick back, relax, and enjoy the holidays. :-)