The workers don't really bother me so much as all the logistics that comes with living in a construction zone. The workers are actually quite nice. It's just that there is hardly any parking available for our own due to all the crews comings and goings and we're not supposed to park on our driveways due to the constract debris. You can imagine the fun of trying to get a space when the extra crews come in for the specialty jobs such as demo or delivery of supplies.
And speaking of debris, don't get me started on that. At first, the crews seemed to be really on top of the cleanup at the end of each day. However, I think some of the workers are getting a little lackadaisical about it. My neighbors and I that have little children and/or pets are particularly concerned when we find lots of nails and splinters of wood laying on the ground everywhere. They remind us that the neighborhood is their construction zone during working hours and be cognizant of that fact, but their powers that be need to remember that this zone is also where we call home.
Need I even mention the toll this has all taken on our lawns? I should mention that while many of the townhomes have their own private lawns, we share our yard with two other homeowners. This sounds like a drawback, but it actually gives us all a lot more play space for the kids than the other townhomes since none of us are greedy about our property lines. We've been lucky to have awesome neighbors who share in the caretaking duties. One is a single woman who has two indoor cats and is gone quite a bit. The other is a professional couple, whose young son attends the same childcare that my kids do. Their little boy LOVES LOVES LOVES to play with our daughter. They often play in the sprinkler of little pool together.
In early June, we still had our lovely greenspace for the kids. Even though we had to wait until after 5pm or the weekends in order for the children to play outside, we could still manage. Now we can't even do that since our greenspace has become one of their work hubs. They store lots of supplies, wood piles, large disposable bins, and even workspaces for window frame assembly on our lawn. The grass has turned into a yellowspace and been trampled to death. Our landscapers assure us they can bring it back to life when all the construction is done. Thankfully, we have a park across the street to give the kids an outlet.
While all of those elements can drive anyone batty, what has really kept me on edge has been this feeling of living in limbo. I spent over a month getting the house organized and cleaned in preparation of the construction. It's certainly not perfect, but I'm proud of what I was able to do without losing my mind. As anyone with a family of little ones can attest, it can be a challenge to keep your house clutter-free all the time. Our exterior is stripped bear and we finally got the notice on our door telling us that it's our turn for the windows! So DH and I had to take down all the blinds and make sure there was a workspace area of four feet around the windows. The workers will come inside (that stresses me out!) and replace our windows over the course of 2 days. So by week's end we'll be on the downhill side of this journey... *knock on wood*
I've been trying to get the kids out of the house as much as possible, but mostly just going to other parks and whatever free activities I can find. As many others are, we are living on a tight budget this summer so we save what we can for weekend outings. The kids had swimming lessons for 5 weeks, K had a tumbling/trampoline class, and N is in the wrapping of up a clay sculpture class.
It probably doesn't sound like it, but I've been actually handling my anxiety surprisingly well. My neighbors are in this with us, so we're certainly not alone in our misery. I'm not one for chaos or lots of change all at once, so I've tried to take it all in in baby steps. The end result will be for the better and so I try to focus on that. Here are a few photo updates...
And the fun begins...
Our porch railing
Our porch now
Demolition day
View of my neighbor's home from my upstairs window.
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