Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Musing on Expectations and Environment

I am sitting here on the third tier of the black no-slip rubber-stepped stepstool, laptop perched on my knees, writing in the garage. To my right is a white-painted 1x4 piece of wood, one end leaning on a waist high stack of (to-be-laid) patio tiles and the other on a trash can. This is an experiment. First it was a necessity. Then it BECAME an experiment.

I have a cleaning crew over to clean my house today. I usually do it (or don’t do it) myself. Actually, that’s why I ended up with a crew today…I needed a little catch-up…a little extra help. It became clear that, with the number of hours I actually had available to work on the house, I needed a miracle (and it wasn’t going to be by my own hand.)

So, why am I in the garage? Because the dogs had to go into the garage. They are not used to having people they don’t know in our house, and I wasn’t exactly sure what they were going to do. Also, the crew had to go in and out the front and sliding doors. Our dogs have been known, on occasion, to go exploring when no one was looking. We put a stop to that. I have no intention of starting it up again. Now I am in the garage.

It’s a little like a large enclosed junk yard where beloved furniture, nick-nacks, holiday decorations, gift wrap and things we might need one day on the moon, go to rest. We haven’t had a car in there since the eighties.

So, why am I ambling? I’m thinking I’m just fine in here. I’m engaged in this silly little blog and I really don’t mind the mess. If this were my living room, I’d be having a cow.
But, knowing that in a couple of hours, the crew will be gone and I will be let out (along with the dogs), makes it all alright. I would have said environment is everything. But having a particular set of expectations (I expect to be let out in two hours) changes my perception of the environment. I’m not really sure what to make of this insight, but I’ll tell you this, I’m asking this crew to come back next week!

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