Karate, Trees, and Answering to my Mentor

GL has been all over this project in the short term, and I feel like I'm letting him down by not being more enthusiastic and prepared. There's still time to get my act together, but there's so much to do. I was at Britton's the other day asking about siding when I realized that we had already come to a decision on siding, so no reason to even go there. I did get some information on how to set up a contractor's account, so maybe that's a good start. R talked to her dad and they agreed on some process of having a set amount of funds at the ready and then replenishing as necessary.

With that in mind, we'll go ahead with what we have on the barn. The siding looks good and I'm still not sure if it's a viable choice. We need expert advice rather than questions about what we want. We don't know what we want. That's the problem with these kinds of projects, you open the door a crack and the flood comes bowling you over. It's feast or famine on this end.

The project will entail cutting down some trees, which is a bummer because of cost and hassle. We have two huge trees in the back, with four others. GL had a logger come and look at them and decided that about seven trees had to go, including the dead hemlock in the driveway. I actually got to meet the famous Snake, tree man extraordinaire, who both G's know and love. Either way, they said we had some options, which always complicates things. Either cut the trees and then cut the wood for firewood and boards, or just leave them to rot in the woods.

What I wanted was for them to just come in, deal with it, and leave me out of it, but no such luck. I'm going to not only have to be involved, but I have to make decisions. Never a good thing. Actually, scratch that. It's a good thing, just makes me uncomfortable, but for a slacker like me, forcing me out of my comfort zone is a good thing. Otherwise I'd defer to the path of least resistance, which is not always the most rewarding. Indeed, it often is not.

I also had my sensei CH come out and look at it, and he is a logger/climber as well, not to mention a trusted good friend. He said he could do it and wanted to know when to begin, but wouldn't throw out a number, which I need. Just a ballpark, but we can't go forward without some sense of cost. Also, I'd be much more involved with CH, in fact, I'd be right there in the thick of things, which is how I'd like it. I feel much more comfortable with CH, but I just need that darn price.

Karate has been good with the return of M&R. I was a bit skeptical about seeing them again, I assumed that wherever they went didn't seem to work out, and I believe that was the case, but it's good having more bodies, and they are very serious, if not a little out there. Either way, it's been good having them, and one more leader is not a bad thing. We all benefit from more learning. Working my way to my green belt, two more katas to learn. Have to practice, and am thinking more and more of bringing the kids along with me, but we shall see.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.