Countdown to D-Day

The D, in this case, is for "Deck" or "deck and fence building project".

Today is Jim's last day before holidays start, and I'm off starting on Saturday. We're excited about building a new fence and deck in the backyard, and we're relatively ready. Jim even splurged on a cordless drill for me, so I don't have to pretend I'm tough by battling with the heavy half-inch drill.

The only problem is THE RAIN. It's been raining every day for about a week. It rained so hard the night before last that the contractor-sized wheelbarrow that we have was empty before bedtime and full to the brim when I got up (it may have had some help from a leaking eavestrough, but still). Let me just say, IT'S WET OUT THERE.

Jim is worried that I will get bored mid-project and start a side project while we're working on the deck (I do have a history of doing this - he calls it annoying; I call it multitasking...). To get me totally behind the project, therefore, he has been putting me through deck-building-school at the kitchen table once a week. He has taken me through the whole process - upper deck, lower deck, concrete footings, sonotubes, stringers, steps, fence posts, rails, pickets, hardware, rebar, you name it. I have long had this idea that I couldn't possibly design a deck on my own (and I'm still not doing it - he's got it all thought out), but by the end of 'school', it all makes logical sense. On paper, anyway. I'm still one of those people who couldn't add 5 3/8" to 7 7/16" to save my life... And let's just wait and see if I can run a chop saw without a trip to Emergency.

In related news, we just got a little bit of backpay from our contract settlement at work, which will help to pay for this giant architectural erection. It's all good.