Summer time stuff

Ok, the husband is military.

He’s gone A LOT.

This summer almost feels like a deployment, he’s been gone so much. Two weeks here, one week there, three weeks somewhere else, another weekend gone, another week…on and on. His schedule has him away to the point that I just quit trying to remember when he was going to be home. I’ll catch up with him sometime in September is my guess.

Before, I’d find all kinds of things to do when he was gone. I’d take trips by myself, go to the movies by myself, just whatever. If I wanted to sleep on the couch that night in front of the TV, I did. One weekend I decided to paint my bathrooms…so at 3am, I am painting my master bathroom. Yup...3am. And when I got stuck on top of the sink trying to take down the huge mirror, there was no way to get help. My dog was definitely no Lassie. She just looked at me stupid and walked out of the bathroom.

Now, with a Toddler in tow, it’s a little different. We get through.
But the main thing is this, the Toddler misses his Daddy…and that’s rough. He really missed him last night, and I couldn’t get my husband to answer the phone. Cell coverage is spotty where he is at anyway, and he felt bad that he didn’t get to talk to him before bedtime. I felt pretty angry because he didn’t call at bedtime, but he couldn’t leave where he was and call. You just gotta let it roll sometimes.

I’m good at home repairs, I do fine on my own. If I can’t fix it, there is a phone book full of people who can. Dealing with tree removal guys has been entertaining this past week. The estimates to pull down a large oak in my back yard have ranged from $400-$1300. Really? Are you kidding? $1300 to climb a tree and bring it down? I’m not asking for you to hand saw it down…I just need a pro to climb up and bring it down. A bunch of my husband’s buddies and a six pack of beer would result in the tree coming through my house…which is why I called the pros. Wonder which guy I went with. AND, he was the only guy that LISTENED to me when I told him what I wanted. I want the tree down, and the brush chipped. Leave the wood. Pretty simple huh?

I guess all these other guys thought they would just do what they wanted, and one guy argued on the age of the tree and species. It’s an OAK. He called it a MAPLE. Uh, not hiring you if you don’t know the danged difference between and OAK and a MAPLE. Plus, he said the tree was only about nine years old. UH, again. The tree was there, and roughly the same humongo size it is now when we bought the house nine years ago. My guess is FIFTY. OMG. And he gave the highest rate too. Not a fan of being made fun of, or taken advantage of. I’m not an idiot. Female yes, but not an idiot.

So the nice guy, with the small insured company, will be coming out in two weeks to take down that tree. He thinks it was hit by lightning at some point, since the core is dead from the top down, but not the outer branches. I’d believe it. And he answers his phone and returns calls! That’s a plus in my book!

Our water hose really needs thrown away. I think in the back of my mind, I’ve made it my goal to see how many of those little hose repair clamps I can put on it before I get frustrated and throw it in the trash. Right now I am up to three…I think one more will be my limit.

Then there has been the problem with the solicitors this summer…they are making me NUTS! How many of you do I have to say NO too before you stop. Keeping the dog (our 75lb Boxer) outside with me when we are out in the yard has helped. And I have ordered a humongous NO SOLICITING sign to put at the top of the driveway. It’ll look nice next to my new daylillies. Real nice.

Speaking of Daylillies…there is a guy in Richmond, VA that makes it his hobby to grow and create new varieties. Every spring he gets rid of the ones that aren’t ‘perfect’ and starts over a new batch. I managed to score around $500 worth of daylillies for about $60! He’s awesome, and will tell you everything you need to know, and some that you don’t, about daylillies and growing them. He’s very enthusiastic about his creations! And they are so neat!

So I spent Monday night and Tuesday night sweating myself stupid in the flower beds putting these daylillies in. Some are blooming still! I’m so excited. They are going to be gorgeous. I want to go back and buy some more…