Construction and Fever

I have a routine of sorts.  It's not a rigid one, by any means, and it's still in flux from adding another person to the mix, but it is a routine.  I'm a routine kinda gal; I don't really do the spontaneous thing very well.  The fact that children do better when they know what to expect is a lovely side benefit.  I'll tell you that this loose routine means that most days have the same feeling, the same quality to them.  Well, this weekend was atypical and threw me all off course.  Part of it was expected, but part of it was straight out of left field.

We had a bit of construction planned for this weekend-a deck expansion.  Actually, the deck work all began a week ago but the actual construction part began Friday.  You see, our deck was built like crap so we have wanted to rip off the old deck and rebuild it as well as expand it.  Chase contacted a contractor about how much he thought it would cost for them to build it together.  Obviously we could save on labor if Chase and Chad pitched in (neither of whom are strangers to a set of tools).  My guys ripped off all the old deck so that when said contractor and his helper got there they could get to work on building.  They showed up at 7 Saturday morning (did I mention that my routine usually doesn't start until at least 9?) and got busy with very loud power tools.  So you see, my weekend was off to a different start right from the get go.

After I got up and going, the kids and I went to a birthday party, leaving the guys to work in the sweltering heat.  On a normal day I don't leave the house before 11:30.  Saturday I was out the door at 10:30.  By that time I'd walked the dog, fed both kids (one of whom has to be breast fed), dressed them, wrapped a birthday gift, and showered.  That's far more than I've typically accomplished by then.  Jordan had fun at the birthday party but wasn't quite herself.  I figured out why she was so subdued when she threw up her cupcake and juice just as we turned into the neighborhood.  My poor baby.  She's never really been sick before so we were completely out of our element.  After a little more vomiting and a visit to the doctor we discovered that she's got an ear infection.   She started acting a little more like herself after we got some medicine in her.

Between the deck and the party and the sick kid, I kept having these moments where everything seemed surreal.  It was a bit like I was watching someone else's life.  I would be washing dishes or folding clothes and things would snap back into place for a few minutes, until I looked out the deck door or over at the sofa where Jordan was sleeping.  It was quite strange, actually.

Yesterday was much more normal, though the work did begin again at 7.  Blegh.  By evening I had a brand new beautiful deck (sans stairs which they did today) and two relatively healthy children.  I have much to be thankful for.  They are now completely done with the deck so my life can get back to what passes for normal.  Hooray!

Here's Jordan at the birthday party.  They were in the paint room.  Apparently when they are done someone comes in and hoses down the room.  How fantastic is that?  Notice she's not quite her grinning self...

My brand new beautiful deck.  The original deck was about 10 x 14 with no stairs while it now measures about 10 x 35 and does have stairs.  The gate you see in this picture is going to lead to an attached playground (which they will be starting soon).  

This was taken from the other end of the deck.  The gate to what will be the playground is on the left.  The gate that Chad is working on is to the stairs.  This way the deck is safe for kids and dog.  Hopefully it won't be too long before we can get an outdoor dining set and start eating outside!

I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend!