Saved by My Nose Hair

Even with a mask on  I get pretty dusty.

05/06/14
Today has been one of those days. Not the step-through-a-vent-in-the-floor-while-on-the phone-with-the-sliding-door-manufacturer kind of day. Not the spill-a-half-a-cup-of-coffee-in-your-purse kind of day either. Those both happened simultaneously last week and are over and done. No, today was just the kind of day where I wake up feeling bedraggled and then continue to decline throughout the course of it. I was tired, and short tempered, and unfocused, and all of that resulted in me feeling annoyed with myself.

I've had these kinds of days before to be sure. But usually I am not in the middle of renovating a house, and so that adds a whole new dimension to it. But at the same time (and I have no idea how it is even possible) I have also found it very enlightening, and right now I am feeling very appreciative.

I am suddenly pretty amazed that Eduardo and Dad never seem to be in such a state, or if they are, never show it. In all the time that we have been working on the house, they have never once dragged their feet, or wandered aimlessly about, or have ever been snippy with me. I think I accomplished all three of those before noon today. And that seems pretty incredible to me at the moment that they never do. I kind of wonder if they just aren't showing it, or if it really doesn't happen to them.

I'm all tired, and sore, and my hands are so dry they look like dusty plastic wrap pulled too tightly across my palms. I was unpacking groceries in the kitchen, and found some meat in the frig I needed to cook, and so threw that on the stove while I was working. As the sun filtered through the front windows I unpacked my grocery bags, and then proceeded to almost have a heart attack because there was smoke coming off my arm, and I thought perhaps I'd accidentally lit my shirt on fire. But then I realized it was only dust from sanding drywall being aggravated as I pulled things out of my bags. I changed my shirt before continuing to cook, but I thought about how dirty I am all the time, and it bothered me a little. Not a lot, and I don't mind getting a little drywall dust in my hair...or in my eyes, but the guys are covered in much worse when they get home, and they never seem to think much of it. The certainly don't complain to me anyway.

On the drive home I got to thinking about my nose hair too. Most people are annoyed by theirs, and that is something I have never really thought one way or another about mine before.But upon further contemplation, and to be completely honest I've been pretty stoked about mine lately. I am so glad that all the stuff I have been picking out of it for days is not creating a ready-to-paint coat of drywall in my lungs. And without going into too much detail, my nose hairs appear to be incredibly efficient at their task.

So even though it wasn't a great day, I feel really lucky to have two guys on my team that can persevere where I fall short, and handle all the things that renovating entails without complaining as much as I do. And a quick shout out to evolution for the advent of nose hair as well.