A Summer Monday

After this weekend's storms, which have now gone eastward, the Texas coast is once again enjoying a warm and sunny summery day. Great for us, not great for the east coast which has been getting hit with the heavy rains and wind.

Speaking of not great...... I just heard about the shootings at the Virginia college. Over 20 deaths so far. So far. And that's an estimate, the news said. An estimate? Are they not counting? Or can't they get close enough to count? I didn't understand why they used the word estimate. I also don't understand the shootings and the deaths. I will never understand why any one person on this earth thinks they have the right -- the right! -- to physically harm another person. And let's add emotionally harm to that as well. I feel very badly for the students who were shot, for their families... and even for the family of the person who did the shooting. They will have to live with this tragedy as well. So very sad.... to think that students in this country aren't safe in their schools.


We're waiting right now for the fourth (and final) landscaper to come by here to give us an estimate on the new design for the front and back flowerbeds. The first guy was way over-the-top expensive-- so much so that we didn't ask for a computerized drawing, because that would have cost us $400, if you can imagine that. He had two binders filled with photographs of the lawns and gardens he has designed. All of them beautiful, and looking through his books was like looking at one of those garden shows on HGTV. But I know his final estimate would have been thousands and thousands of dollars.

The second guy who came gave us a pen-and-paper drawing of what he would do with our front and back flowerbeds...... and he had some photographs (in his pocket) of landscaping that he had done in the area, plus we've seen his landscaping work near the Johnson Space Center. This is the landscaper who came recommended by my friend A in Pearland...... this man has done countless yards in her subdivision out there, all of them beautifully done.

The third guy came here three days after we expected him. Nice guy with a little puppy in his truck, with a cheaper estimate than the second guy. But no pictures to look at, no plans for us to see... just an idea in his head that he tried to convey to us with some stick-figure drawings. My husband wasn't impressed. I liked the little puppy in his truck. I also want to let this particular guy take over our lawn service because he knows how to maintain flowerbeds. Our current lawn guys just know how to cut grass and trim bushes.

So now we're waiting for this last landscaper. He was supposed to be here at 10:30...... I called him at 11:00 to ask if we were still on his appointment list today, but had to leave a message on his cell phone because he wasn't answering. My husband had high hopes for this man, because he was recommended by the same neighbor who recommended the air-conditioning company who recently replaced our attic duct work.

Here's the plan for today........ if this fourth guy doesn't get here by 1:30, then I will call him once again. If he doesn't show up, if I don't get any response, then I'm calling the second landscaper and telling him that the job is his........ and I'm also going to ask him if he can get here and do all of this before Friday. I would dearly love to have the front flowerbeds shaped up before Saturday night's party. Depending on what other work is on his schedule for the week, he may be able to do that because he firmly told us that he could be "in and out of here in one day's time."

Or am I being naive to believe that? Can you just picture everyone arriving for the Pajama Program "Pajama Party" on Saturday night and our front lawn is littered with the remnants of our flowerbeds as six landscapers covered in dirt are digging up and replanting boxwoods and azaleas? Give me a blessed break.