Working Out

My body feels like it was hit by the moving truck,

but my brain has lots to accomplish, so at 4:30 a.m. I was raring to go.

I tried to sleep for another 30 minutes, but no luck.

Meanwhile Kershaw was jumping in our bed every hour like we had a toddler again, 

so by 5:00 a.m. it was time to get the party started.

The trek between the bunkhouse and main house seems farther than it actually is 

because you wade through three inches of silt to get there.

Pagosa hasn't had rain for months.

The kitchen cabinets aren't my favorite because the face fronts and boxes waste a lot of space.

But, after a couple of hours, I found a place for everything, had some ideas for modifications 

and was feeling pretty pumped about making it all work. 

I'm pretty good at that and was patting myself on the back for my talent.

Then Dan came over for breakfast and in listening to my story of my initial kitchen frustrations and then how amazing I was in pulling it together, responded "but this small kitchen is exactly what you wanted," 

(because I was adamant against an island which shocked all other parties who for the last three years with gaping mouths and shaking heads, were sure I'd regret my illogical decision: 

Dan, Barnes Vanze, Mike Moore and probably my mother).

So you can imagine how Dan's comment to me went over.

But after a few moments alone, I recovered relatively quickly and 

we both said we were sorry and hugged and made up

and mostly that's a story of how it may take 30 years to get better at fighting and apologizing,

but you do get better at it.

We had the U-Haul trailer until noon and 13 Adirondack chairs to pick up at Ace Hardware

(which also sells furniture) so we took a trip into town.

Ended up with two carts full of stuff

and fortunately Dan had overheard our checker say it was his first day.

So when we finished the order and were only charged $100, 

Dan was really, really patient and so kind when we had to take everything out and ring it all up again because the new checker didn't know how to operate the cash register correctly 

and the scanner didn't record most of the stuff on the first ring up.

Back at the ranch (literally!), we had the boys unload the chairs, then Dan and Uncle Marty

got them tee'd up to chop and split wood for old camp while they went to town 

to return the U-Haul and run a few errands.

Within a couple of hours, the woodstack was full for the summer

and the boys came back for lunch and then to build two sets of bunk beds for the barn.

The barn space has turned out really cool -- especially with all the gym equipment.

A real man cave, except surrounded by big windows and natural light.

The boys moved over there after the first night, and even after building the bunks for the little rooms,

they still chose to sleep on mattresses in the open space so they could be all together.

There's one couch -- soon to be two when we get the beached whale a home --

and they added hammocks as a final teenage touch.

They did get some fun in today with a trip to Sally's Overlook on ATV's. 

When Dan returned from town, he started working on putting beds together.

Unfortunately one is missing hardware so he's figuring out how to safely jerry-rig it.

Our outdoor griddle and BBQ were supposed to be hooked up today, 

but the plumber was a no-show. Before we came, Mike had warned us the outdoor kitchen may not be ready, so we planned meals we could cook in the steam oven. As it turns out, the steam oven also hasn't arrived, so Dan had to cook salmon in the real oven, which he has less experience with and was a little nervous about.

Well, the salmon turned out fantastic, so looks like he's a natural.

Marty joined us for dinner too because Erin has gone back home for the week.

And then it was back to work building and assembling and organizing. 

And adding to those chores, washing the new towels and sheets.

Also started hanging pictures but realized I didn't have any picture hangers. Add that to the list.

The boys worked out late then made a campfire even later and apparently ate over 2 dozen hot dogs and buns between the four of them.