If We Build Something He Will Come

Some days we wonder who is more excited about the new/old house.....us or Grandma and Grandpa. You may recall from earlier posts that Grandma and Grandpa braved snowstorms and wild animals (well...deer) to come for a visit in January and help with numerous projects. One large project that was on the horizon was the renovations of the storage shed. Theresa and Grandma saw little to be salvaged in the 1960s mint green shed, but Joe & Grandpa saw the potential. With plans in place, Grandpa loaded up the car and headed for Northern Virginia with tools in tow.

Actually, Grandpa had several things in tow. In addition to tools to work on the shed, he brought a new bathroom sink and a trap. The sink was for the guest bathroom (normally our house guests do not need to bring their own sinks; however, Grandpa's business made a new granite one to replace our cracked one). The trap was for the wildlife that has infested the yard and seemed to have directed their attention to eliminating all of Theresa's flowers in the front yard.

For those who know Theresa's father, especially his neighbors, he has suffered through a long, protracted battle with wildlife attempting to take over his lawn - particularly groundhogs. He has a deep empathy for the groundkeeper in Caddyshack who battles the local groundhogs on the golf course. When Joe saw various holes around the yard, he immediately alerted Grandpa, who brought his trusty vermint trap. The trap immediately proved to be successful with catching the yard menace: a chipmunk. The weekend yielded three chipmunks. For those of you concerned about the fate of the chipmunks, fear not! The chipmunks were relocated to a lovely wooded Fairfax County park away from Theresa's flowers. We are sure they have located someone else's flowers to eat. The fourth chipmunk apparently has learned a few tricks and successfully managed to eat the bait without setting off the trap.

The real purpose of Grandpa's visit was to help Joe renovate the shed. After roughly 23 trips to Home Depot and the use of several tools, the shed is complete and looks great (Theresa & Grandma are believers). Joe was on Grandpa's boot camp program, which involves working from dawn until dusk until a project is complete (Joe needs a vacation). Theresa and her brother know all to well how intense this program can be, which is why Uncle Rod called Sunday night do check on Joe. He knew Grandpa would still be working.

As for Anna, she had a great time with her Grandma. Grandma had several surprises for her, which she proceeded to unveil throughout the weekend (clothes, a Dora umbrella, a pinwheel, new sandals, a book, etc...). Of course Grandma unveiled the first surprise at 8 PM the night they arrived. This turned out to be new sandals, of which Anna did not want to take off. Mom finally confiscated them so she would go to sleep. Grandma, Theresa, and Anna visited Aunt Gayle in Old Town Alexandria, enjoyed a bluegrass concert and greek food in Vienna, and did some shopping.

Upon completion of the shed, Grandpa packed up the car (but did leave the sink) and headed back to Ohio. Mission accomplished. Habitat for Humanity should really recruit him.