A couple weeks ago I was sitting outside, drinking my coffee, in what has become my most sacred hour of the day, and I looked up to realize that our patio cover was looking a bit...tenuous. I love this patio cover even though it is old and rotted and when we bought the house, the only thing the owners actually offered to do was tear it down. It's rustic and it reminds me of an old southwest house where everything that comes out of the kitchen tastes like love. But also, a couple years ago a not unsubstantial portion of it fell in the exact same spot that my mom liked to spend her time. So I knew that it was coming.
That afternoon, I mentioned to C that maybe it was time to pull it down. We've been spending so much time in the backyard, and it's pretty hillbilly to start with (see: the decrepit picnic table being used as a diving board that makes me involuntarily suck air anytime one of the boys steps on to it.) C then explained, in detail, what it would entail to take it down and as is our routine, I then got overwhelmed and decided that it would be in everyone's best interests to hire a professional. So I posted on our neighborhood page "Who can help me tear down this death trap?" and within minutes had multiple referrals.
But of course! It wasn't just referrals to tear it down. Everyone wanted to bid to rebuild and then I started to feel sad that I wouldn't have any shade in the back yard for the foreseeable future. AND THEN. My pool guy texted to say he knew a guy. I love when people know a guy.
Two weeks later, we're scheduled to have all the materials for a 280 sq foot, solid roof, faux wood patio cover with incorporated lights, fan, and outlets installed. We committed to a price that we ABSOLUTELY weren't planning on, but luckily I'm leaving my job (surprise for another post!) and my PTO cashout is almost exactly the same amount. So I guess Yay! for not being able to take time off for the last 18 months? And we're (mostly C and Eli) demo-ing the existing one ourselves because we wanted to save money. And I pulled apart the picnic table yesterday so our risk of tetanus is greatly reduced.
I cannot wait to be able to sit outside in the rain and drink my coffee under a set of twinkle lights. My next task is to figure out what kind of furniture to put under this patio, since I took a saw and a sledge hammer to the majority of what we had.
