Good, Tough Weekend

I'm not real sure where this is going to go, but I'll start and throw caution to the wind. This past weekend I had a good crew that worked extremely hard and we were able to accomplish a boat-load of work. I had three brick layers on site, replacing the facade of brick on the eat-in kitchen area below the new French doors. I have to tell you that was a beautiful site to these weary eyes. Just about 7 weeks in the making, those gentlemen were masters at their craft for sure. Even though the existing siding wasn't installed level or the footing wasn't exactly level, they managed to lay the brick level - a marvel in itself.

John T and team lays the facade/AND Still has time to show off

Stop smiling and get to mixin'/Keeping things 'level'

Then I had a great crew tearing into the planting of perennials and trees and making flower beds i the front yard. After hours of raking, shoveling, planting and then re-planting some (sorry guys) all three beds cam out looking great! Now I just have to figure how I'm going to water everything in this yard so it stays looking nice. Installing irrigation systems is sounding more and more like a REALLY good idea. There of course looms the price tag of a couple grand I'm sure to do so, but man it really is enticing. I think I may need to wait until after I buy appliances and kitchen cabinets and furniture. If anyone knows anyone in the yard irrigation field, please give me a shout. It was kind of nice to remove the port-o-John from the front yard and replace it with some nice flowering plants. I'm sure the more 'reserved' workers appreciate it as much as the neighbors do.

Not sure who's winning - Sean vs. Machine/Brit's the real worker

The crew takes a well-deserved rest

I also had a roof repair crew that was headed up bu Uncle Tim and lasted two days to repair the roof due to more than expected rotting in the OSB board. They did a fantastic job and I'll need to find some shaker shingles to match the existing shingles on the wall under the eaves to put the finishing touches on. Which sort of brings up the eat-in area again. I'm thinking I should buy a lot of those shake siding boards and re-side the eat-in area because all of the holes are filled with windows and doors that are different than the original AND none of the siding was hung level. This eat-in area is starting to hurt me. Something more to put on the master list!

Angie T. is sticking out of the roof while Tim sleeps in the shade

I've kind of danced around it in my head as I've been writing, so I'll come out with it: this past Friday would've been Leslie and my 5th anniversary. Needless to say it was a very tough day/weekend. It really started Thursday night for me, seeing my adorable little girl quietly sleeping in the bed I'm sure dreaming of wonderful things like the swing at the park or birthday cake and everyone singing to her.For whatever reason, that moment really hit me as one that I missed Leslie and wished I could share all of this with her. I realize that most of this wouldn't have happened if she were here, but sharing with her the everyday moments that have passed would have been that much sweeter.

That Friday I got out of bed and decided to go to her grave site and spend some time with her. I went to the florist and ran into the woman that helped make our original May 18th so special. You see there were really only two things that Leslie really cared to be perfect at our wedding, one was the dress and the other were the flowers. She worked with the florist for weeks to get things just so. The florist came through with flying colors and made the day more perfect by turning what Leslie had dreamed about for years into reality. I walked into the shop and she immediately asked "is it today?" I could only mumble through a growing swell of grief "yes". She gave me a hug and we both cried. The rest of the day kind of went the same way, friends and family called, emailed and stopped by to lend their support. It was appreciated, but I just wanted her back. The weather was gorgeous, probably just as much blue in the sky, but slightly warmer than five years ago. Crisp, warm, peaceful - it was a day made by the Lord on purpose.

It has taken a few days to get out of that slump and I'm not sure I'm even completely out of it. I'm just pushing through life again. I feel as though I've taken a few steps backward in my healing. I will again move forward I'm sure, but when, that I'm not so sure about. Her birthday is in a week and I'm sure that will be a tough day as well, but I know my friends and family will again be there to carry me. Thank the Lord for them, I would be lost without you. If I seem quiet to those I run into for the next few days/weeks, just give me a hug.

I am placing a few of my more favorite photos of the wedding day for those who were there as a trip down memory lane, and as an insight to how things started so beautifully. Placing these are bittersweet for me, I remember as if it were last month and there are so many great feelings associated with the images. The Lord blessed us greatly, he continues to bless me today. I had the love of one of His angels if only for a brief moment in time. I miss my angel.

We rode off 'into the sunset'/She 'got me' with the bagpipe player

Russ walks her in - not sure who's smiling more

The kiss of a bright future/Taking the slew of photos

The toast from a dear friend

Have a great Memorial Day everyone - here's to good weather for everyone, wherever you may be.

The Header Is Fixed!!

You know what - small miracles sometimes happen on Saturdays. We were all just moving along doing the jobs on the list for the day, installing the subfloor in the eat-in area, then starting the DuraRock in the Eat-in area and the laundry room upstairs, Sean was scraping away the top 4" of soil in the yard and then it happened, just like that, John T the brick layer, showed up and saved the day!

As I had stood earlier in the day under the header that was still a conglomeration of layered wood scraps holding the brick precariously above my melon, and Matt and Sean were yapping about something not being safe (again) if we were to start taking the blocks out again, I had an epiphany - I'll call a professional to do this! I know it seems a bit odd considering the situation, but I thought I didn't have anything to lose at this point (besides another 7 weeks of time and a couple grand in finding other things that needed fixing along the way). So Angie H had a friend who is a brick layer and who I was expecting to use for the re installation of the facade brick outside the eat-in area foundation. Just so happens he was near town working on someones fireplace and was needing a challenge, so he stopped in.

Before we know it he was mumbling that, "This would fit there and that would support that and bam, that should hold there and bam it'd be good to go like no worries, just some mud and some scaffolding we're done here." What?! Huh?! Did he say bam this and wham that and we're done? Does he realize that these are words I haven't heard for over 6 weeks and didn't think I'd hear for another 6 weeks the way things had been going? I could barely stop tripping over myself to get that freaking scaffolding up so we could move on. Just like that, in two days time (b/c the first set of brick needed to set before setting the 2nd set) I had a new header over my kitchen that will last another 100 years! Man what a great weekend I tell ya. Maybe this is that proverbial 'corner' that I keep hoping we're going to turn soon and start being able to move forward toward hanging drywall and such. Time will tell.

The finished beam/Sean wrenching on lag bolts

I also wanted to give a shout out to the folks who worked nearly 10 hours on Saturday with me because we were few but we definitely accomplished a lot. thank you!

Finally, I had my church small group over last night to help. We also got quite a bit done in the few hours we were together.Strung a little wire in the basement, cleaned up after the cement work in the kitchen, cleaned and organized floors, laid down more DuraRock all kinds of good stuff.

Kevin F measuring Header support/Sandra organizing things

Measure twice, cut once!

Ryan N making sure things are connected correctly


We were short a few folks because they were busy adding to the group. On Monday May 14th, JACK ISAIAH LEE COVINGTON(might be Jack Isaac Lee, Kevin took the info and seemed unsure!) was born at 8:44pm, weighing 10 lbs, 13 ozs. SERIOUS PROPS go out to mom Laurie for working so darn hard and for dad Sean for not getting the way. Watching Leslie give birth to Ellie, I gained an enormous appreciation for the hard work, effort, strain, complete exhaustion that women go through to give birth. Never have I seen such a display of God's love and grace as that. Congratulations Covingtons (including now big brother Shannon) on the new addition to the family, we look forward to welcoming Jack into our small group family.

That seems like a great way to end this week's entry. Have a great week everyone.

The Youth Pitch In

Last Wednesday evening the youth group from Westview Church in Waukee came over to the house and gave a much needed helping hand. The past few weekends I had a smaller number on Saturday and I'm sure it's due to folks needing to tend to their own honey-do lists and gardens since the weather has turned to be beautiful. Also, the projects have gotten to be a bit more specific in nature and some aren't as comfortable with the projects as they might with just tearing out stuff. The rebuilding process has been one of longer timelines and more detailed-orientated thinking that I thought. The arrival of the youth groups was, to say at the least, a very welcomed one.

The group showed up around 6:30 and dug right in. The jobs weren't glorious but they were all needed. Some moved the HUGE mound of mulch away from a younger tree, so that it wouldn't get killed. Lola planted a small evergreen and another group took off some of the plaster on the basement wall in the basement. thankfully my aunt and uncle had purchased an air-powered chisel which made that job quick and relatively painless. Then of course there were a good number that scraped more mortar off bricks. Finally there were a small number that pulled a few more rocks up from the edge of the driveway and one even mowed the front yard! Like I said, they weren't there for all that long, but they definitely got after it! Thank you guys SO much for giving up your Wednesday evening and helping me out, Leslie would be very touched.

I also hadn't written for a while in regards to what had been accomplished over the Saturdays that have passed, so I'll quickly bring you up to speed even though I wasn't smart enough to take pics of any of them.





I had a small group the past two Saturdays and each were just as productive as the youth group. We tackled putting in the concrete in the basement floor to cover the plumbing after its successful approval by the inspector - yippee! There were all kinds of walls in the basement that were framed in so we can run electrical at the same time as the rest of the house. There was also the lowering of the eat-in kitchen onto it's final resting place - the framed support that rests on fresh concrete. A MAJOR step in the right direction for a room that has grown to be an albatross of sorts for this project. Also, we ran more video/audio cable throughout the first couple of floors. All in all, we're making progress in the house at a pretty good clip.

Outside we removed more concrete and I'm up to about 50 tons of stuff that has been removed from my house/yard to this point. So the landfill is growing at a healthy pace and on my credit card continues to build points. It'll be nice to use those points for a nice flight to some place warm when this is all done - maybe down to FL for my sister's wedding in January. Anyway, the yard looks like a mess to this point, but there has been large leaps of improvement, but like the house, it may take some time for that progress to be noticeable.

Well, I will leave you all as the next week is quickly approaching and I'll hopefully write more as it happens.

2184 Saturdays Left

No this is not how many I think it will take to complete this house, but how many I have left before I'M complete (on average). Indulge me here a bit and I'll explain. You see I was sent an email a while back that has since stuck in my head that I think will change the way I go forward with my life. While there are a million ways people have said it, this one seems to add a twist that for some reason resonated with me more than most. I'm pasting it in here and I'll follow it up with how it speaks to me - and hopefully to you.

THE EMAIL:
"3900 Saturday Mornings
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.
There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast" "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."


That's pretty powerful stuff. I could go on and on about my life and that I only have 2184 Saturdays left (using the old man's math as of May 5th) but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying that it hits me in the forehead to think that a lot of you have given 1, 2, 5 even 15 of your 3900 Saturdays and it blows me away. Most of you have given more than one and you could have been with family or playing a round of golf or sitting by the fireplace staying warm enjoying the falling snow, but you weren't, you were at my house. Sometimes freezing your hands off or getting so dirty that your own family members barely recognized you as you walked through the front door. Most definitely you were making your muscles ache like that hadn't done for quite some time.

That said, I hope for two things: one, that you may look at your own number of remaining Saturdays and realize that the 'other jar' is filling up way too fast and you can still use those marbles for good things and two, I hope you know how much I truly appreciate you sharing the marbles you have already shared with me and my family. It makes the remaining 2184 Saturdays Ellie and I have together much, much more meaningful.