Early Life Crisis
Just when I think to myself… “Ahhh finally I’m done with all the time sensitive projects”, another one comes along. But if I am really honest the urgency is just something I created and imposed on myself. Some of it is due to a simple yearning for what i don’t have/ what I could have. But I think most of the sense of urgency is derived from the fact that I am not getting any younger, and my kids will very quickly mature to the point where some projects I want to complete are no longer of interest to them.
Earlier this week I started to wonder, “Is this concern about time moving too fast similar to a mid life crisis?” I wouldn’t say that I am troubled with a mid life crisis, however I would say that I want to take advantage of this phase in my kids life before it is gone.
Over the past couple of weeks I starting to plan and take the initial steps to make our back yard a better space for the kids to fully enjoy. When it is all said and done we want to have the entire back yard fenced in, with an area for the kids play set, well as a 2 story shop building. Although this may seem pretty straight forward, there are a few obstacles to overcome. And if I want to be as efficient as possible and avoid wasting money by having to undo any prior work everything has to happen in a certain order.
Schedule of Events:
- Cut Down 9 trees (50 ft +) Remove under brush / grind stumps, etc.
- Grade back yard / Add fill dirt to level (At least a couple of dump truck loads)
- Get professional survey completed to mark all property lines
- Meet with neighbors to inform them the current fence is not on the property line.
- Build temporary fence for dog
- Remove & breakdown old fence
- Build new fence
- Map out location of future shop building
- Build area for play set
- Refinish & assemble playlet
- Plant trees and shrubs around perimeter of yard
- Install sod and possibly sprinkler system.
- Build Shop
- Build Deck
- Build Outdoor Grilling area on Patio
The immediate goal I want to achieve is to simply get the playlet available for the kids to enjoy. The playlet was generously given to us from a neighbor who’s children used it for years and eventually grew out of it. Needless to say it’s in need of quite a bit of TLC but after some time sanding, refinishing and replacing some pieces is will be good as new. Currently it is just a stack of parts under a tarp in my yard.
This internal drive to beat the impending truth that my kids will quickly grow up, is strong. Knowing myself I think it is safe to say, that regardless of how much I plan and want to complete every thing in a specific order to avoid having to undo any prior work, I will at some point end up jumping the gun just to get the playlet ready for my kids to use. The real question is how much time and money will I waste in the process.