Honey-Doings VIII

A Time Out (For Some Facts)

Fred (named for Baretta's pet) wants to pass on his best wishes that Sonny-Bird gets wells soon and has a speedy recovery. *

Honey-Doings has evolved into a novella, contrary to its original purpose. It was intended to be a diary of sorts, or a log of one man's home improvement project while on vacation. I had been asked by some, and even scoffed at by others (none of whom were bloggers), why I had taken a week to tackle a small weekend chore. First of all, it was not a small chore, and certainly the events of this week to date, as they have been chronicled, have proven that fact. Secondly, armed with thirty-plus years of existence within this family unit, I knew full well that I would never accomplish the job in one weekend alone.

Weekends are seldom planned around here. More often than not the activities of any given weekend are relegated and regulated by spur-of-the-moment decisions, usually whims. It is not unusual for me to learn of a 6 PM dinner reservation at 4 PM. This is not to say that the other parties were or were not privy to the arrangements, but just to note that I am not always in the loop. Then again, I am not always the last to know, indeed I have been the instigator, whereupon my suggestions have been doled out with short notice.

Arriving home from work on many a Friday evening, looking forward a relaxing do-nothing weekend, I will say something like, "I hope no one has any plans they forgot to tell me about." I haven't even removed my shoes in favor of comfortable slippers when I hear, not the response I would have preferred, but the news that I would be helping someone pick up a load of field stone or a large piece of furniture.

I cannot remember the last weekend that my time was not mortgaged and foreclosed! If it hasn't been something that required use of my truck, or my back for that matter, there have been since and including Memorial Day, cookouts, Fathers Day, birthdays and an anniversary. Throw in a couple of "I don't feel like cooking" or "It's too hot to stand over a stove" situations -- and there you have it!

Thus, to my critics and those who questioned my motives, I know of what I speak. I chose a week of vacation for this chore instead of a weekend, because I wanted to start and finish without any possibility of extending over two weekends. Also, if by chance there were any setbacks, I would have plenty of time to compensate. If you have been following my exploits in Honey-Doings: Parts I through VII, then you should agree that this project would not have been done in one uninterrupted weekend.

Although certainly not as grand in scale as the Twelve Labors of Hercules, the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts, or even the tales of Cooper's Natty Bumpo, my postings are simply the accounts of a man trying to spruce up a bathroom. If I had to liken Honey-Doings to any piece of literature, I might select Gulliver's Travels. Each setback would represent some strange land. The people with whom I have interacted in turn would represent the inhabitants of those strange places.

With things that needed to be straightened out, straightened, and facts that needed it, factulated (a made up word for context), this discourse is over. Stay tuned for the next chapter in this perpetual story of a Honey-Do vacation in Honey-Doings: Part IX.

*( Schnoodlepooh has a sick bird and is concerned. You can visit her at ( http://birddogblog.blogspot.com ) and wish Sonny-Bird well too. )

No.220