That’s what it’s been like around here this week. Lots of things going on. People coming. People going. Everyone is going somewhere except for me.

You see, Rick has been traveling since last Sunday. First to Cannes, France and now Bucharest, Romania. We’re separated by bad internet service and seven hours. By the time I get up his day is half over with. He’s eating out at nice restaurants and I am eating hot dogs.

We are in the midst of yet another remodel job: the upstairs guest bathroom. Every morning promptly at 7:30 Tim arrives, so I need to be up and showered, dogs and cats fed and scooped by the time he comes. This is not my normal routine. Sure, I get up because the dogs wake me up between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m., but I usually sit around in my robe and check email before I shower for at least an hour.

I can’t really go anywhere while people are working in the house. I’ve had plumbers and electricians here this week plus the landscape person to look at some shrubs they planted last year that didn’t do well over the winter and need to be replaced. There are always questions to be answered and decisions to be made because things don’t always go exactly as planned. So I’ve been kind of stuck. Once they leave I scoot out to the grocery store and pick up whatever I need. Not exactly exciting or satisfying. I’m not really complaining. I know the end result of all this will be wonderful. It’s the getting to the wonderful part that is a bit painful.

Then there is the Johnny story. Before we left for vacation Rick mowed for the first time. He got too close to the edge of the flower bed and hit a rock that got sucked up into the shoot. We thought it was okay, but when I started to mow last week I didn’t get very far before I noticed an odd, hot smell and all of a sudden the deck was not cutting the grass anymore. When I looked underneath the mowing deck I could see a belt hanging down. Great. Rick pulled the deck off to see if he could fix it himself but the belt needed to be replaced. We called John Deere and made an appointment for them to come out and fix the belt and check Johnny out to make sure the rock had not done more damage that we couldn’t see.

In the meantime we really needed the grass to be cut since it had really grown in our absence. So, we called a local lawn service that we’ve used in the past and he was able to come right over that same day. Only problem was, while maneuvering in a a tight space in the back yard he bumped our brand new fence gate and broke the hinge! He promised to get us a new one.

The earliest that John Deere could come out was Friday. Johnny’s string of bad luck events continued since they had sent Justin (the repair person) out with the wrong belt. And Johnny’s blades had gotten nicked pretty good from the rock and needed sharpening. So he ended up taking the whole mowing deck with him. My grass continues to grow daily. sigh.

While he was here working on Johnny, the lawn service guy showed up with the hinges. So, I had Tim cutting tile right outside the front door, the John Deere guy in my driveway and the lawn service guy all at the same time. See? Three-ring circus!

This week will be even more hectic since the painter will be here too. And the pool is getting opened. And Johnny is due back. And they will be replacing the shrubs out front. And they start the remodel on the downstairs powder room. And Rick is due back mid-week (yeah!)

All these things are good things but they all require me to be here at the house. (Well, except for Rick, but how would he feel if I wasn’t here to welcome him home?)

So there you have it. Tomorrow I will be by myself for Memorial Day and I plan to BBQ myself a juicy hamburger, make a small portion of potato salad, and have an ear of white sweet corn. Hope you all have great things planned for the holiday!