I woke up Saturday morning with a pit in my stomach. I had a feeling of dread – similar to the feeling I get when I know I have to do a bunch of laundry or take a trip to the grocery store.
But underlying this dreadful feeling was a big layer of anxiety and stress.
After more than a month off, our family was heading out to build again on the tree house. And we had no idea what we might encounter in our back yard.
The tree house started out as an exciting, happy family project last March, but has since taken more crazy twists and turns than I can even remember. We still don’t know how the story will end. If you are wondering how it started click here. Hopefully it’s nearly over.
My husband and I took deep breaths and tucked our cell phones in our back pockets – in case we needed to call the authorities – and headed to the back yard.
Our kids were in and out of the house helping here and there while we put the railing on the tree house deck and placed the windows in to their framed holes.
We worked for a couple of hours in peace.
It was amazing.
There were no new sexy signs placed along the fence line. No billowing smoke. No blasting music.
There really was actual peace.
There were a couple of moments when we could tell our neighbor was working in her back yard while we worked in ours and yet there was no confrontation.
The truce has been upheld.
We made sure to get our tall evergreen trees planted before we started building again. That was an ordeal all in itself. But I think they look great. They cost a lot more than we ever wanted to spend but peace in my back yard has become a priceless commodity.
We got the rail done and the windows in. Next we’ll build steps to get up to the tree house, the roof and then cover it in wooden siding and hang the door.
I can’t wait to play in there.
Hopefully the next time I post about the tree house it will be when it is completely finished and not because there has been another incident. Cross your fingers!
Boogers on the Wall 