Owen didn't sleep much last night.
I had piles of work that were unfinished.
School took way longer than I planned.
I accidentally sent a text about whiny/sleepy Owen to Poison Control instead of Mark - oops! But it turns out they text right back to help!
And then during Owen's school time we heard a huge "noice" (Noise/Voice mixed together in Owen's language) Right away I knew it was one of our huge Bradford Pears. We trim them each fall but this year they are HUGE and we just discussed needing to get them done soon. We waited too long and the one out back, our awesome shade tree, cracked in half.
I did take a moment to be REALLY thankful. (This time last year our kitchen flooded and I wrote this post about Choosing Joy and I have really been trying to live like that) Our tree did break and fall but it fell only in our yard. It didn't go into any of the three yards near us so it missed fences, yard barns, and gardens. We may have a broken table under it but it's just our table. We are also beyond thankful that we weren't out back playing when it fell as one of us could have been seriously injured.
I called Mark and sent him some pictures. He said the whole tree would have to come down. Later in the afternoon, Mark came home a bit early from work to check it out. It quickly became apparent that we needed to hire someone to come take the tree down as the job was just too big for us right now. That meant paying money - what we've tried to avoid by trimming it ourselves all these years.
So....a tree man came and his estimate for two trees was less than we thought one would be which was awesome but in the process of going out to meet with the tree mean I locked us all out of the house.
I am married to a Sheriff's Deputy so when our house is locked it is locked down tight. No window or door can be easily popped. We tried the locksmith four houses down. He was gone. Called local locksmiths all were busy. Mark got a hold of a co-worker who came and helped Mark break into his van to get some tools. Those tools didn't work. Finally, more than two hours into it, Mark got the lock off the front door. I was happy that our house was so secure but also just completely embarrassed that I had locked us out of the house in the first place. Mark was, naturally, very unhappy that I had locked us out and that we had to buy a new lock again. Annabeth was hot, tired, and missed a whole dance class on her first night back of the season. And Owen, poor Owen, just wanted some water.
I threw together a little dinner for Annabeth and ran off to dance. Mark went to Lowe's and replaced the lock. Then, he and Owen and I sat down to a late, late dinner. It was then that Owen said:
"This was the BEST DAY ever! Our tree went crash and boom! We got to see ALL of our neighbors outside! A tree man came in his big truck to look at our tree! He will come back! With a saw! And a policeman came! A policeman came and broke into Daddy's van! I love this day!"
I. love. this. day.
I was a sweaty, stressed mess. I was so so so sorry that I had made Annabeth miss her class and that I had sent her without real sit-down dinner beforehand. I was sorry that our neighbors had to keep helping us. I was most sorry that I made a ton of work for Mark. But then, Owen, sweet Owen. It was all just a great, wonderful adventure for him. I hope I showed him a positive attitude in response to stress, I hope he noted Mark's creativity and diligence in dealing with a problem, and that he saw his sister's ability to react kindly when someone messed up her day.
I hope we ALL can find the joy in life like Owen does.
Owen, with his "broken tree" on his "best day ever"
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