A Spoon Full Of Sugar

The sinking pool and deck saga continues but yesterday was a major turning point that reminded me "A spoon full of sugar really does help the medicine go down" or in this case, makes it easier to hear the bad news.

For those of you who don't know, you can read here for the details of our back yard sliding down our hill.

Thomas, our trusted project manager-- kind of like a Top Gun who will oversea all the workers, engineers, geologists and contractors to put the yard back together again--paid us a visit and was so calm and so relaxed and so perfectly English that I felt like I was talking to a male Mary Poppins minus the flying umbrella, and well, it just made the whole scary mess seem so much easier to cope with.

Maybe it was his soothing voice. (I love a British accent.) Maybe it was his kind smile. Maybe it was the way he described the project in "bits and pieces" rather than bulldozers and wrecking balls. Maybe it was because he never once mentioned the dreaded six figure cost. Or maybe it's because he was so nice and reassuring and confident that things will be "wrapped up in no time" that left me feeling like I'd just had a lovely hot fudge sundae with a cherry on top as my "spoon full of sugar".

Ahhhhhh.

No, I have not stepped into the Twilight Zone, landed in major denial or had the wool pulled over my eyes. And yes, we have to consider our options, ranging from doing nothing, to several months of massive amounts of soil and pylons and cement being moved around or, simply putting a sign in the front yard that says "Lot For Sale, House Free". Unfortunately there is no easy answer but Thomas had the same soothing effect on me that Mary Poppins did on the children she cared for in the movie.

Again I say, ahhhhhhh.

In short, I feel like we're in good hands with Thomas and a weight has been lifted. After all, the detailed, 40 page, geology report made little sense to me except to leave no doubt we had a major problem on our hands and I didn't know what to do or who to call next. There is not a listing in the yellow pages for "Sinking Pools or Sliding Decks", trust me, I checked.

So Thomas is the man-- the male Mary Poppins who's going to guide us and hold my hand for months, and months, and months as we decide to give our yard a facelift of sorts-- or not. It's not exactly the kind of facelift I had in mind for my 50-something years, but at least I'll have it with cherry on top.

How do you like your "spoon full of sugar"?

Welcome to The Fifty Factor - Joanna

Photo Credit: Danny Hooks