The dormer is framed and wrapped and ready for siding. The walls are framed and ready to be rocked. Pretty soon we’re going to be picking paint colors and tucking the little monsters in to bed in their new rooms. All before our new little edition hits the streets – only about a week and a half from now!

Man, time flies. Pretty soon the guys will be done and the new baby will be here. No more pickup trucks at 7:30 am and Noah asking to go play with Shadow, the Jack Russell Terrier contractor mascot. Hell, before I know it, we’ll be looking for first birthday party ideas. Time (or the passage thereof) definitely does not slow down with age.

I’m sure the sleepless and bleary-eyed first few weeks with the new baby will help us get over our loss, but seriously, I’m going to miss having these guys show up everyday. There’s something kind of cool and reassuring about the pickups and tool trailer on the lawn, the reciprocating saw roaring and hammers smashing overhead, the air compressor whirring incessantly in the garage.

I think I’m going to need to come up with another project or two to keep the guys around longer. I don’t know who’s going to pay for them, but I can find work. Maybe this is the real background cause for the home loan disaster. It wasn’t irresponsible lenders and borrowers who were either clueless or arrogant. It was simple, wholesome, down-to-earth folks who just couldn’t get through the day without their morning dose of contractor love.