holy balls
Today was hard! In keeping with my own personal preference, I will share the bad first, and then finish up with the good.
Today, we poured the concrete for our driveway. Our driveway is VERY artistic – one of the side effects of marrying an architect. The bonus? It’s gonna look super awesome when it’s done. The concrete truck showed up a little before 10, and poured several wheelbarrow-fulls of concrete into our forms. The architect & I levelled and smoothed the concrete as fast as we could – we only got the concrete truck for 15 minutes, after that, we were charged $1/minute. It was hard, hard work.
After we got enough concrete, the truck left, but our work had just begun. We used the screed board to level out the slabs – adding concrete where necessary. All was going well, until I turned to get a little concrete from one form to move to another.
You’ll never guess what happened next.
Go on – guess.
If you guessed “Amy fell down” you win the captain predictable sweepstakes! Unfortunately, unlike my earlier contest (won by Christine – email me!), there is no fun prize – although feel free to pour yourself a martini right about now. And then, come over and pour me one, too.
The problem with falling down in the middle of a construction site? I face-planted into one of the forms filled with rapidly hardening concrete. I am scratched & bruised. My pirate tattoo lost an eye (fortunately, it was the eye-patch eye, so he should be okay eventually). And my forehead? Well, the architect said it looked “pretty.” And then he stopped talking. Probably because he was laughing too hard to go on.
The architect was kind enough to not laugh until a couple of hours later. He even asked for permission to laugh AND share the story. I granted it, since I knew I was going to tell the internets. Unfortunately, he did smooth out my faceprint, so you can’t come see my image immortalized in concrete. Other than a few bruises and a relatively sore hip, I’m okay though – and honestly – I wish I could have seen the fall – I bet it was spectacular(ly funny).
BUT – the concrete looks fantastic – and the forms will be off in a couple of days. Next step – paver bricks next weekend, then we’ll level the dirt & plan the grass, and by the weekend after next, I can park my car on my driveway! (We are so fancy.)
So – the good:
I finished my garden digout. Next weekend, we will add the compost & extra dirt, till it & put the garden wall up. I will plant the garlic this fall, and cover the whole thing with grass. Next year I will have 200 square feet of garden-y goodness. I will also have separate spaces for: asparagus, cucumbers, rhubarb, squash (acorn & summer), strawberries, pumpkins & zucchini. I also have blueberries, walnut trees, and an herb garden. I’m thinking of planting a couple fruit trees – right now I’m leaning towards apple & plums (eventually, I’d like pears, peaches, cherries & figs, too – but I’m willing to grow gradually).
Next year, I will be the queen of produce. And maybe someday, the architect will let me have a chicken and a goat.
OTHER, EVEN BETTER news.
Today, my physcial therapist gave me the go ahead to run 3x more this week, but instead of run 3, walk 1, I get to walk 2/run 2. I was supposed to run today, but my concrete faceplant, and the 900 degree weather, kinda negated that option. I’ll run tomorrow after work (likely in the gym).
AND she gave me permission to head back to my workout class in October.
AND she asked me to sign up for a 5K in October so we could start training for that! So, I will be running the “Run Like Hell” 5K on October 19. It’s been a long time since I’ve been nervous about running a 5K. I thought my next 5K would be trying to set a personal best, instead of, once again, just trying to finish, but at this point, I don’t care.
I get to RUN! WOO-HOO!
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