MMM - Day Three and Return

We woke up from our late night with one more goal before heading out - getting the living room into living condition!

(Right: Pine nut cone - what we'll be looking forward to from a couple of those trees)

After having some tea and the last of the muffins we take away the blue foam, scrub the floors and move some furniture back in place.


I took a much needed shower. And finally changed out of my "Princess in Training" hoodie. Hm... or more correctly, bunny hug... (I liked how we all had little potbellies from storing things in the pocket while wearing them).

(Above: Lindsey supervises)

(Right: Lindsey's innovation - scrubbing socks, worn outside and under shoes)

(Left: Rhianne's closet / sleeping space)

Rhianne takes the wheel again once we fill up the tank with gas... Chris meanwhile tried to fill my backpack with garbage candy wrappers.

We listened to Lindsey's playlist which included Five For Fighting, the Amelie soundtrack, and some crazy "Zen music" (it came with the player). On occassion a bit of an audio book would play too.

(Right: Bye-bye postcards - the same mailboxes and probably the same dog too!)

We made a brief stop at Lloydminster for a dinner of champions (yes, McDonald's) and we were off again. This time with Chris at the wheel. We all talked about weddings: the best ones, the ones we'd want to crash... what we'd do or not do... with Rem and Steph's as the benchmark.

I was completely lost when we made it to the city, but Chris knew what was going on and got us to my house. We then parted with a group headed south, and another headed... west(?).

Now that I think about it, I didn't get a lot of sleep. Mom had waited for me to return from St. Albert. When she went to bed I did a bit of unpacking. I rewound and reset the clock.

Time felt so different away from here. I can't quite tell if I was away for a long or short time. The problems are still here. My simultaneous wish for things to have moved on, and for things to be "on-hold" didn't quite work out either way. I'm glad nevertheless to get away and do some thing fun and worthwhile with friends.

Back at work: Lots of emails though no crisises... and a lot more pressure for me to be finished with my old department and working on new department tasks. Which is right, but doesn't feel quite right. Oh, stubborn Lana.

MMM - Day Two

For Breakfast: Muffins, tea, and death. We respectively ate, sipped, and talked - and came up with perhaps the most truthful, expressive greeting card: Never liked him, but I'm sorry you're sad... And then we tackled: The Fireplace (Right: before).

Again, another sign of good workmanship - lots of barriers for us to take it apart. First the tiles, then the stones, which when removed revealed concrete and chickenwire. We chiseled and hammered, and finally when we reached the wooden frame, pulled it all to pieces.

Meanwhile, Chris worked on his "Sistine Chapel" project (above).

We cleaned up, went for lunch and came back with new energy and tasks. Gardening is complicated. All that rototilled soil (newly fluffed) now had to be "raked"(patted back down?). Steph and Rhianne go on the quad and do just that. And we plant some bulbs (into the ground two heights of the bulb).

(Above and Right: The Fireplace, after)

Lindsey and I then get assigned to take Scout for a walk up to Margaret's parents' and to pick up the staple gun. Lindsey held the reins. We talked and walked in the middle of the gravel road. Scout would alert us a long ways away if a vehicle was approaching (crouching down as if ready to pounce), and then we'd go and hide in the ditch. On the return I tried leading Scout. I don't remember having walked a dog before. In some ways it was Scout walking me. So much energy! We'd run a bit and then walk, and then run a bit more.

"What?! And we pulled it off with a crowbar?!" ~ Steph, on the high insurance value placed on mouldings

When we got back, the staple gun was put to use to put a plastic barrier on the ceiling and walls. We also continued our other project: mixing and applying plaster to wall cracks. This was also an art: Adding water to the powder, mixing well, then applying and filling cracks before the batch had to be dumped out. There was a really small window of perfect consistency. Oh, and I guess some skill too with a putty knife.

We had dinner (Margaret had made lasagne), came back and was not ready call it night. We raised the roof! And held up the walls! And applied more plaster!

"I married a geek!" ~ Morgan

When we finally stopped, we sat down and saw how much we had done. Time to really break out the celebrations and mellow out. Between Rhianne's know how, Margaret's computer, and Lindsey's Blackberry, Chris had the recipes to mix drinks (amaretto and coke, Hawaii Blue). I was happily scribbling away, when Margaret pulled out a Shakespeare's anthology to prove once and for all that Romeo was a child molester. And now, postcards later, it is just Morgan, Chris and I listening to Margaret's music picks. I think we would talk more if only our brains would cooperate. It is time for bed.

MMM - Day One

Steph: I get my thrills vicariously.
Chris, laughing barely concealed.
Steph: Whatever you're thinking about, stop.


Hammer (and Chisel) Time

We split into two teams. Steph, Morgan and I are inside. We took up the hammer, chisel, electric sander, and bare hands (in the case of Morgan), and work on taking down the rest of the plaster wall, and smoothing out cracks in the living room. It felt really good to swing the hammer at the wall and not worry too much where it landed. Sunglasses protected my eyes, and a dust mask helped a little with the sneezing but made it harder to breathe.

Just outside were Rhianne, Lindsey, Margaret and Chris digging holes for trees.

When we did break for lunch, I'd already lost track of time. We went over to Kathy and Clyde's, Margaret's parents', for homemade soup and freshly baked bread. Delicious!

(Right: For dessert, Rhianne shows the right way to eat a Reese's Peanut butter cup)

Princess in Training

We get back to it. Inside Steph, Rhianne, and Lindsey with hammer and chisel/screwdriver, take away the spiked stripping that held the carpet to the floor. Why exactly did they need nails every 2 inches?

Outside I gave driving the tractor a try and rototill the future garden area. I almost break it... Chris, Morgan, and Margaret go about drilling large holes into the ground and moving more trees to their intended spots. They then went about planting.



There's quite a process: The hole has to be enlarged to fit the base (i.e. lots and lots of shovelling). Then a mixture of good soil put in the bottom. The tree is then lowered and straighted out. The metal net holding base is bent, and the netting is spread out. More dirt is added until the base is completely covered. But there should also be a trench / dip near the trunk of the tree so that a pool of water would collect rather than run off (this part was hard to gauge, and we had to bring in more dirt to build a ring). Then add the hose for a good watering.




The last part, the best part, was the easiest: Cutting the cord that coiled the body of the tree. When this was done, the tree opened up like a flower and you could smell its greeness. I don't think Margaret planned it on purpose, but the large, shiny silver scissors used for this last part seemed most perfect: A grand opening, cutting of the ribbon. Now, you also could see then all the ladybugs hiding inside (another sign of good luck).



Further Plotting

We go back to Margret's parents' for dinner. After cleaning our plates, and cleaning up, we head back. It's dark, but we stay out with flashlights to finish off the last of the trees.

We finally sit down for Steph's baked cookies and other treats. The living room floor now was only a blue foam, the creamy carpet removed to the dumping truck.

Wow, Day One is finally over. What are we going to do for Day Two? What would it take to get to the "Dream House"? Turns out we all had some interesting ideas (childhood remanants) for Margaret and Morgan: How about a fire pole? Or walls of velcro and trampline floors?
I scribble away, writing postcards, making my notes. Chris implies I could be doing anything, perhaps insane ramblings for all they know. Indeed... Now, to sleep!

The Great Escape

And we're off! It seemed we all had such great work days (note sarcasm). And so we were all glad, it seemed, to leave the city behind.

Rhianne drove. Lindsey had made her lovely sandwiches and shared. We talked, caught up on what's what, and listened to some music. Chris, in shotgun (designated "slave" to the driver), tried to find songs for a sing-a-long. The gibbous moon was big and orange, I tried to photograph it, but on camera it only looked like a bouncing tracker ball for lines in karoke.

It was dark when we reached Lloydminister. We took a stretch and bathroom break, and looked for supplies. Booze! (Oh no, there's a lemon shortage!) And Tim Horton's!

We return to the car and reorganise - I'm now in the front seat! I play with the music buttons. And soon we're belting out songs from our high school years and tunes from the 80s. We all seem to know the words to the cheese, and we're inspired to tangents about hilarious music video storylines, and high school dances. ("November Rain", anyone?) "Thank God I'm a Cowboy" shows up on the random and we get an additional boost of energy.

In Saskatoon we search for a gas station that's open. The place we find, thankfully has coffee (gourmet types in fact) and a washroom! Chris takes this next leg of driving. I continue to play with the music buttons.

We arrived just before 2 a.m. Grabbing the minimum required bags, we head inside and give Margaret big hugs. Steph, Lindsey, and Rhianne head to bed, but I stay behind to check out what's been going on. There is Dirks (above left) and there is the partially removed wall and ceiling. Chris stays with Margaret to talk. I take a pill from Lindsey's "pharmacopia" and go to sleep.

Margaret's already awake and ready to work when I finally wake up. I warm up to the day slowly. First tea and then muffin.

Now, time to work!