Walk the walk

I put a lot of value in being polite, kind, forgiving.
One can't always be Emily Post or Mother Teresa...
Sometimes, when the situation arises, you have to channel your inner Vivian Leigh (circa Gone With the Wind)... "As God is my witness, I'll never go hungry again!" she says to the heavens after eating raw vegetables in the burned out garden behind Ashley Wilkes' home and throwing them up.
Now, my challenge has not been one of life and death, but it is certainly one that has challenged my desire to maintain a calm and even life.
Back in September, the Ump and I decided to proceed with a project at the house that ended up being a little larger in scope than I realized.
When I looked at the drawing, it seemed very doable. What I didn't foresee was that in order to dig up the area against the house to repair the foundation, our entire yard would essentially be stripped of grass and the landscaping that we have been working on the past two years would essentially be wiped out.
We saved the plants. Actually put them in the vegetable garden out back for safe-keeping. But the mulch beds were massacred.
This job also required the removal of at least six feet of our sidewalk and the front stoop.
It was my bright idea to try something different instead of just your standard concrete sidewalk with the broomstick brushing.
For the past couple of years I have wanted to make the sidewalk brick or stone or something. Something to add to the character of the house.
Four years ago, I watched as a crew put in the sidewalk down at the Main Street Park in Woodstock. It was a cool thing to see because they used concrete, but when it was finished it looked like slate.
I asked our contractor about that and he said that he could not do it, but he could find someone who would.
I met with the subcontractor in October and hoped that perhaps he would be able to have the sidewalk finished by the first weekend in November because we were having a church-related event at the house on that Saturday.
Well, the foundation was late being finished, so the sidewalk would be late as well.
Fine. I was OK. I didn't like having to bring everyone in the back door, but it was a nice morning - fallish without being cold. They just had to dodge the green bombs from the walnut tree and try not to trip on the gravel.
A second contract was drawn up just for the sidewalk. The terminology was "reasonable date of completion is Friday, Nov. 18."
I signed the contract despite the fact that seemed like an awful long time to wait. I was concerned also that the weather would get too cold to do this. He had mentioned that the best weather is when it is above 50 degrees.
The days passed. I raced home each day at lunchtime hoping to see something in the trench from my front door to the street and each day I was greeted by dirt and rubble.
Finally, on the 16th, I received a call. Telling me they would not be there Friday. He said he would have to get with the subcontractor and call me back.
A week later, I get another call and heard him say that the guys would be here on Dec. 1 and 2.
My blood pressure shot past Vivian Leigh and straight to Sigourney Weaver in "Aliens" the second in the trilogy where she straps on this hydraulic outfit to fight the alien monster.
Of course, I also was dealing with a broken bone in my foot. Having my front door unusable meant that if I wanted to get the mail or the paper when the Ump wasn't home, I had to stump my way on crutches and in a boot all the way down the driveway and to the street.
And, honestly, that was just one tiny facet of the big picture.
I believed when I signed that contract in good faith that my sidewalk would be finished. It would not be put on hold because the workers were off hunting.
I am married to a hunter. I understand men want to go shoot stuff in the woods. Answer the call of the wild. Stomp around in freezing temperatures and fall asleep in some tree stand because they got up before dawn cracked.
But my hunter understands how to get a deer and a paycheck. The two do not cancel each other out.
I told the guy who called me to say they would not be here until December that if that sidewalk was not put in soon "I will lose my mind." And I did use quite a bit of emphasis.
I don't know if you remember that the first snowfall of the year came then, but it did. Of course. So there was another delay.
This time I told the middle man that our holiday open house was scheduled for Friday, Dec. 16. "There are 100 people coming to my home and I need a sidewalk!"
Another storm system came through and they called us and said the subcontractor should be here "the first of the week."
I called the Ump and told him to call the people back and make sure their "first of the week" is the same as my "first of the week."
He did not want to make this call, but I made him because I think sometimes contractors and such will blow off a "hysterical or unreasonable" woman.
What's the point of having a huge, hairy husband if you can't haul him out to be a sniper every now and then?
He told me he called him and said, "Dwight, you're married, right? Well, you understand when I say my wife forced me to call you about the damn sidewalk, right? I mean, don't take it personally..."
If I thought he really said that, I would hide all his guns.
In a creek.
I am happy to report that the concrete as poured last week and they came today (Monday) and finished the job. Well, it's almost finished. There are still some restrictive posts up to keep us off the walk until it dries I guess.
Now I have to get the landscaping guy in to put the mulch back the way it is supposed to be and hopefully I will find the time to get out there and decorate the outside of the house - something I haven't been able to do because of the lack of walkway and stoop.
I imagine we'll be getting a bill here pretty soon.
As God is my witness, I will pay them just as quickly as they serviced us - and not a minute later.