Grass Drama

Lately I'm experiencing disappointment across the board. Oh, not with my friends and family, thankfully. It's more in the services category. For example, I ordered contacts last week. I specifically said, "Not the ones I usually order. I need the ones the doctor gave me a sample of last time." She said she had that in the file, and assured me they would arrive in a week. Of course when I got them they were the old ones. So now I have to take them in and correct the problem. And then a few weeks ago I had a new handyman come out to fix our cabinet doors (which Tucker had yanked off the hinges). He fixed them. I paid him. He left. Within a week they were broken again. I get it, this is life, life is messy, people are going to disappoint, these are not even remotely big things, I need to be patient, have grace, it's not a big deal. I get it. I'm just feel a bit stretched right now with, oh, 8-10 games per weekend, 9-10 hours of practice between three kids every week, end of the year everything that happens in April- May, and a 20-month-old who is bent on destruction (but happens to be the adorablest thing). And I really, truly have a great life. But these little things keep eating away at me.

Let me tell you about our yard. One month ago, our yard was one big green weed. So we decided to put in sod. Then we decided an irrigation system was necessary. So three weeks ago we had them start that project.

I'm pretty sure they had no idea what they were doing. Which doesn't make a lot of sense, considering they put in our sod successfully three years ago, and they have big trucks that say "Irrigation and lighting" on the side. You'd think if they were going to invest in a truck, they might have at least tried the activity they were advertising.

Anyway, they ripped up our yard for two days. Then they disappeared for a week. Then they began the digging of the trenches for the pipes for two days. Then they disappeared for another week. Do you see the pattern?

Let me tell you about our neighborhood. It's really beautiful. Everyone takes a lot of pride in their yards. There are approximately 4 weeds in the entire neighborhood (now that our yard was removed of the 82,000 weeds). The flowers are blooming, the grass is always cut, the trees are pruned. The sidewalks are filled with those homeowners with the pristine lawns taking walks admiring everyone else's beautiful landscaping. And then they get to our house and gasp. A big dirt pit, now with trenches.

Yes, this is a pride issue. It's completely embarrassing to be "that house."

So we, politely, tell him, "Hey, can you at least put in some grass--we're a little tired of the dirt."

So they put in the sod, which looks a little brown anyway, and disappear for FOUR DAYS. At this point the hoses have been disconnected from the house and a giant trench is in front of the spigot. We asked him, don't we need to water? And he said, no we'll be out there to hook up the irrigation. So we waited. Then it rained. Then we waited. Then we climbed over the trench and gathered the hose and the sprinkler and watered our brown sod.

I think it's too late-- seriously, this grass is pathetic. It looks beyond saving. Although yesterday they appeared out of nowhere to "hook up the irrigation system." It's still inoperable, and the grass is browner.

A lesson in patience. It's not a big deal in the whole scheme of things. They will have to replace the sod. Not a major issue. Just a frustrating experience that I wish had gone differently.

Meanwhile, my camera is a little feisty, but this is a shot I took at soccer practice yesterday (look how green THAT grass is) of Tucker hugging Bo. I love how they have a blast anywhere. Especially if they have sticks and bugs and trees and grass to play in.