So, we have some very familiar morning routines around here. Get up, get coffee, make the cats a snack. There’s also scooping boxes and letting our two oldest cats go on “walkabout” outside. Except… well, the deck is gone. G.O.N.E., finally-tore-it-down, GONE. Even the former posts which were cemented into the ground have been removed. After 11 years, the deck is on its way to being replaced.
And boy, did that upset the morning routine. In its place is one step which makes for a huge step down. Humans and furry beings alike are completely discombobulated. For the humans, the step at least allows us to use our back door which turns out to be a must-have with the side door currently out of commission while acting as a pet door to the catio. For the two oldest furries? Ahem, that’s a mighty big step there, momma. Plus, the decision to remove the deck and put the floating deck there had not been fully vetted and approved by them.
That’s how our Monday began. At 6:15 a.m. this morning, I was met with high skepticism and disdain from the furry ones. Even the other boys aren’t sure what to think. It all seems scary. So, I found myself telling them what I often tell myself about many things in life: “Don’t worry. What comes next will be better.”
Now more than ever, I need to remind myself and them that we are all in a phase and worry won’t help. Instead, hope and hustle will make the difference.
For me, it’s time for me to do business development again – something I’m never very excited about doing. As my six-month contract winds down – it will be done in late August – I need to pivot to my next scope of work. I like to have a window of “BD time” that opens before I need the work so that I can keep a steady pace. In the meantime, I need to finish out this contract strong and help my hubby build a deck on weekends. It’s the next phase of the deck – that of placing piers 42 inches into the ground – that I’ve been most dreading. When those go in just as when I get my next contract, I’ll breathe a sigh of relief.
This is where I focus on hope and hustle. Hope is that intrinsic feeling of positivity. Hustle is the work ethic that makes hope possible. Genuinely, I find the two intrinsically linked. Hope without hustle may make someone appear out-of-touch with reality and even unserious. You have to be willing to do the work to make the hope happen. The same goes for hustle without hope. A lack of positivity may only hurt your chances. Instead, hope fuels the desire for others to work with you.
Now, when it comes to work work, I’m ready to get back out there and start to promote the services I offer. It will be that fun mix of fear and adventure and of hope and hustle. As for the deck? Not gonna lie here: those piers are intimidating to get into the ground (and thank God we have a yuppie mini front-loader/backhoe combination). But once they are in? Well, I know we can handle framing, as tedious as it may be. And after framing there is only decking and, ultimately, a set of stairs. (The deck itself will sit at 28 inches off the ground, so no railings necessary, which would ruin the view.)
Mostly, though, I see the hope and hustle attitude as the way to get back to the comfortable morning routines for all of us. On the professional front, I want to keep working for myself in a way that allows me to set the pace, earn the income I need to fund our lives (and retirement) and spend the majority of my time focused on home. On the homefront, I look forward to some early fall days when I let my furries out on the back deck again in the sunshine and they have more room to roam and can enjoy the fruits of our labor just as much as us.
It’s going to be a busy end of summer, but I’m ready for it. Let’s make it happen, cap’n.
The Yuppie Homesteader 