We’ve got a lot going on around the house – still. Our kitchen remodel continues and we’ve added extra whirling parts and pieces by deciding to refinish floors at the same time. As a concept…it made sense. Today I’m doing my work from the hubster’s home office space and I feel like a fish out of water. Make that a crabby patty out of water. I like MY workspace, but as I’ve lamented recently, I’m learning to pivot to the quietest spot in the house – especially when I’m doing consulting work – engaged in client calls and in video meetings.
What I should be doing right now is tending to regular business, but my mind rewound this morning to a gratitude moment that I almost missed yesterday, and I thought I should share, but this is a bit of daring-do on my part. At the moment we have two carpenters, three floor guys and our construction manager/friend doing various things around the house and the hubster thought this was a good day to repaint a bathroom. The only accessible bathroom in the house. 😉 So I’m intentionally dehydrating myself. If you hear a rattling dry cough, that’s me. LOL. And if what follows – which was intended to be a feel-good moment – falls flat, that’s on me AND my dried-out neurons. I should’ve planned an escape to a coffee shop or library this morning before my car became landlocked. Oh well…
Here’s the feel good. Yesterday was a doozy of a day because of a death in our extended family. Not unexpected but painful, still, and there was so much activity in the house that I just put my head down and tried to push through. I did, but I know I wasn’t my normal, easy going, “Hey, can I get you a beverage?” homeowner to the nice people working on our house…nor was I a superstar spouse. I retreated and while I doubt anyone noticed or cared, when I came out of my bunker late in the day, I checked in with the hubs and the flooring contractor about the agenda (aka which rooms will be inaccessible) for the rest of the week.
Our floor guy’s name is Arthur and he was laughing at the hubs when I found them. Why? He needed a consult about something and was in search mode looking for hubs earlier in the afternoon and finally scooted down to the basement to see if that’s where he was. Our house is not large, but we have lots of nooks and crannies and Arthur found the hubster in his lair – his workshop in the basement. They discussed whatever was necessary in that moment, but later when I found the two standing in our kitchen (or what was once our kitchen — see photo evidence below) I heard Arthur pay the hubs the most amazing compliment:
“Hey, by the way, when I found you in the basement, I was amazed by all of your tools. I don’t know what you do for a living but you’re a smart guy, I can see that.”
The hubs is a tall man but I swear his shoulders popped back and his posture improved, gaining inches, as he smiled at Arthur. “Yeah”, he said, “I like to build things and invent stuff, thanks man.” It was just a moment, but a lot was conveyed in that brief exchange – admiration and respect between two men who know the ‘tools of the trade’ AND how to use them.
If Arthur had never ventured downstairs, he might’ve still been respectful and congenial but the moment I saw between he and the hubs conveyed connection and admiration in a genuine glimmer of goodness, so much so that I thought about it hours afterward, and again this morning. Despite my crabby patty exterior sometimes, I love it when I catch what matters most – even when it’s just eavesdropping on a heartfelt exchange. Tool time respect.
Vicki 😊
First Photo by Ksenia Chernaya on Pexels.com; Second photo: My own
Victoria Ponders 
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