Almost More Excitement Than I Can Bear All In One Day

I was comfortably stationed in my Recuperation Recliner by 7:00 in the AM today, ready for another day of relaxing and healing.  I had all my magazines, books, and other toys within reach.

Wow, did things get busy then.  Translation:  I had way more to keep me amused than I've had in the last 10 days since my surgery.

Shortly after 7:00 a team of  painters arrived to begin the several day process of staining our fence.  Last week it was the roofers hammering away putting on a new roof.  Now it is the sprayers I am hearing.  It seems there's always a project or repair to be made.

It wasn't long before they had their equipment moved into the yard and protective tarps laid out along a section of the fence.

Oh, and the requisite painters' boom box, too.  Now that I think of it, I'm wondering if I've ever seen a paint job in progress without a nearby boom box.  Nope, don't think so.

I kind of enjoyed watching the process.  The painters were watching the skies though.  Somewhere during the mid-morning the weather people issued a flood warning for parts of our town, as there was a 90% chance of torrential rains later in the day.  (They came, of course.  This is central Pennsylvania.)

First the guys hand stained the top and middle horizontal parts, along with the post caps.  Next one of the painters used a sprayer applying the stain vertically up and down, doing one section of fencing at a time. He was immediately followed by another painter using a brush to brush in the stain better.

Once dry, the process was repeated on that same section, giving two coats.

As you can see, we are restoring the faded wood to a nice cedar color.

By the end of the shift and before the rains came, the painters had finished the entire one side of the yard.  Three more sides to go, whenever the rain stops and the wood becomes dry again.

The next excitement of my day happened when my temporary cleaning help arrived and got to work.  It has been difficult seeing things needing to be cleaned, washed, picked up, watered, wiped.... and not to be able to do anything about them.  Ellen is my hero.  I love Ellen.  My house is clean again, and I am happy.  Ellen, you rock.

Then this afternoon my two fun, adorable grandtwins stopped in for a visit.  Apparently they had made a visit to the local playground, sans moi, and knew I'd need cheering up.  Tori nursed me a little, fluffing my pillows and handing me my lunch and magazines, while game coordinator Brianna went to fetch the checkers game.  They are always fun to have around, and I appreciated the visit.

In the middle of my visit with the girls, son Caleb charged down the 13 stairs from his room, and triumphantly announced that HE HAD RECEIVED THE NOTIFICATION, and HE HAD QUALIFIED.  

Back in mid-May, he took the first step towards (hopefully) a career with the Pennsylvania State Police.  It was a written test, and a rank at the top of the pile was required to move on to the next level of testing, the oral test.  So he is one happy guy, right about now.

Here's the notification he received:

In the meantime, he will continue waiting tables at the steak house where he currently works, and coaching people in fitness through the Beach Body/Body Beast fitness program.

Friends Carole and Bob, called yesterday and offered to come and share a luscious pan of lasagna with us tonight.  We had a great time of visiting, with lots of good food and laughter.  Don't they say laughter is good for what ails ya?

Oh yeah.  Quite an exciting day.  

Off to the surgeon tomorrow for the first post-surgery checkup and removal of stitches .  My first outing in 11 days.

Now THAT is more than exciting.