CHAOS!

Last week I was a little frazzled. Many things were going on in my real life and outside influences controlled it all. I'm a bit of a control freak over myself, so when other things take that away from me, I'm not a real happy camper.

We decided to have a new floor put in upstairs. Not the entire upstairs, but the hallway and the bedroom Live In Handyman uses for an office. We purchased the flooring but had to wait for the installer. A couple of weeks. No biggie ... gave Live-In Handyman time to sort, throw away, rearrange, and move things out of his office.

The installers came on Thursday. Much noise. Much commotion. That same day, the people came for our free termite inspection. Guess what? They found termites eating one of our exterior walls.

Friday the termite pros came back to treat. With a jackhammer to drill holes in our patio. The floor installers returned, too. Hammers upstairs. Jackhammers on the patio. Compressor upstairs. Compressor outside. The noise was INCREDIBLE.

Also on Friday, during all this, a family member who's moving to San Antonio drove in to leave her plants here while they're packing up their soon-to-be-sold home and until they move into their soon-to-be-purchased home. She arrived at the height of the uproar. Her poor plants probably thought they'd arrived at a noise factory.

During everything, the doggies, bless their hearts, were absolute jewels. I was so proud of them. This time last year, they would've gone berserk. But afterward they were as zonked as we were.

We all used the weekend to recuperate. It's amazing what a little quiet time will do. I wanted to make this a funny post, but I guess it's too soon to see all the humor. It will come.

How do you handle disruptions to your life?

Comments

VR Barkowski said…
Not well. I, too, like to hang on to the reins in my life. Unfortunately, Fate keeps traipsing by with scissors, keeping me on my toes.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and relaxation!
Brenda Drake said…
Awww, in the midst of chaos... When things go out of control like that, it's best to roll with it. Glad to see you can rest now! :D
Joanne said…
I try to find the humor in it too. Because if the alternatives are to laugh, or cry, I choose laugh :)
Linda Kage said…
Ugh, sounds frustrating. I usually can't handle chaos and get sucked into it all until things calm down.
Terry Odell said…
We moved into our house and decided to tackle the entire upstairs at once rather than have numerous disruptions. I know what trying to work in that kind of noise is like. Then, when we finished that, we started a full remodel of the downstairs. A quiet day made me wonder what was wrong.

Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery
Carol Kilgore said…
VR - I hate those darned scissors! This week is awesome so far.

Brenda - I agree. Fighting fate never works. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Joanne - Yes! Laughter always wins.

Linda - Last week I learned what a zombie feels like. This week I'm all better :)
Janet, said…
Have you ever had old windows took out and new windows put in...talk about noise! I feel for you, but at least a lot was accomplished.
Carol Kilgore said…
Terry - When I went back and read the few pages I wrote during the noise, I junked them all. Not sure how you coped for an extended time. I would have needed good noise cancelling headphones.

Janet - No, I've never had windows replaced. But I can imagine....
LR said…
Oh no, how awful. Hope it's quiet for you from now on.

I'm having some floor frustration myself. New floor in bathroom in the new apt - put the door back on and guess what? Door now doesn't close... So now will have to saw off some of the door I guess, or go to the bathroom with the door open. :)
Maryannwrites said…
Sometimes the chaos is just too much, and that's what it sounds like you were experiencing. I don't handle noise well, so I think I would have run screaming from the house. LOL
Shallee said…
Wow, that sounds crazy. I might've been committed to an institution! I hope everything got finished up nicely.

I handle disruptions with the help of my ever-calm husband. :) When I get all wound up, he reminds me that it's usually not as big a disruption as I think!
Elspeth Futcher said…
Great heavens! Chaos indeed. Glad to learn you're back in relative quiet again. Perhaps it might be a bit early to tap dance on the new floors...but you might enjoy it.
N. R. Williams said…
Disruptions are everywhere when there is a 4 year old running around, pretending to be a tiger or a dinosaur. LOL

We don't have termites in Colorado. I'm so glad.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium.
Lydia Kang said…
I wouldn't have been as gracious. It's hard having your life turned upside down like that.
Carol Kilgore said…
LR - Oh no! Good luck.

Maryann - I did sort of trip into overload :)

Shallee - Everything is fine this week. Live In Handyman is usually calm when I'm frantic and vice versa. This time both of us were noised out.

Elspeth - Quiet is SO nice :)

N.R. - Lucky you with no termites. Four year olds bring a whole new kind of energy.

Lydia - I'm thankful it was only for a couple of days. The recuperation time turned out to be just as long as the disruption.
Laura Eno said…
Ack! At least it was short. Things like that drive me bonkers. My dogs would have added to the noise, so you're lucky.
Carol - Sounds painful. Glad it's over. Sorry they found termites. Hope this week is going better.
Carol Kilgore said…
Laura - I'm so thankful the dogs behaved.

RaShelle - Cool new photo! The termites has just invaded what became their wall of death. They are no more. Neither is our cash - LOL.
Anonymous said…
I'll go to the library and work. Their chairs are kinda hard but I like going there. Nice and quiet!
Dang!!! It would have been nice to be able to stay at a hotel or something. But then, who'd watch the guys working....

My kitties would FREAK!

I hope it's all finished now and things can get back to normal. We've passed the halfway mark of this incredibly long week. Yay!
Carol Kilgore said…
Stephen - Libraries don't allow dogs.

Words Crafter - It's nice and quiet now. All's well that ends well. Who said that?
That's a lot to have going on, Carol!

I don't handle disruptions well at all. :) I wish I were more of a go-with-the-flow type, but I'm not--I suffer! :)
Hi Carol, I heard about your blog from Becky Povich, so here I am to check it out! Pleased to meet you. Disruptions--Outside strong and calm, inside a freaking wreck!
Carol Kilgore said…
Elizabeth - It was the noise that did me in.

Clara - "Disruptions--Outside strong and calm, inside a freaking wreck!"

EXACTLY! I sort of go inside myself a little bit because it's the only way I can cope when things get way out of whack.

Nice to meet you. Becky's great!
Rula Sinara said…
I don't envy you the noise. I hate noise! It can really set my nerves on end in an auditory overload kind of way. BUT, I love home upgrades and renovations. At least I love the results, just not the process. I can't concentrate with stuff like that going on around me. I'm learning to roll with it rather than stress over what I can't get done. Of course, then I become OCD and hawk/stress over whether the work on the house is being done right ;).
Helen Ginger said…
There are no disruptions in my life. I ...do not ...allow disruptions. Okay, I admit, if my day gets thrown off, it totally messes up the entire day.
Unknown said…
Why is it that things always seem to happen all at once?
Carol Kilgore said…
Rula - You've been inside my head! That's exactly how I am.

Helen - You're so funny :)

Elle - I don't know why, but it's so true. At least around here.
Anonymous said…
I live rurally and life is usually very peaceful. Then grandchildren arrive. I love them to bits, but give up on trying to accomplish anything until after everyone's gone to bed each night. I hate to see them leave, but love the return to silence and productivity. :)

Carol Garvin
Southpaw said…
Noisy disruptions are the worst because ya can't think to get anything done.
Oh my stars! What a weekend. We're thinking of replacing the carpeting in our entire house, but after reading your post, I don't know. I have two book deadlines and don't handle surprise very well either. My hats off to you getting through it.
Carol Kilgore said…
Careann - I can relate to that quiet time. Thanks for commenting.

Holly - So true.

Kathi - Try to replace your carpet when you're not on deadline.

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