that stinks

this is what initiated my work order

it is a hole I cut in the ceiling 

why would I cut a hole in my ceiling you might ask?

Greg did when he, Mike and Jeremy were here at Christmas

as I explained to him,

I had a roof leak 

after several years of failed attempts by several different people,

I finally figured out it only leaked when the rain blew a certain way,

and I hoped an inside look would help identify where the water was coming in

it didn't, 

but another friend was willing to try and whatever he did stopped the leak!

I've waited a year or so and no more water so it's safe to repair the drywall

it's in the hall outside the bathroom 

and if you look close, in the second picture,

you will see an annoyance I've lived with for 31 years

a couple extra "seams" in the drywall, 

along the peak and in the ceiling

Greg offered to come for a long weekend to replace it 

I gladly accepted

they began work this morning by taping plastic over all doorways

and over the hall opening that leads downstairs

they also covered all affected floor areas with drop cloths

why? to contain the dust and dirt

before they went to work removing drywall, lathe and plaster

part of finishing for the day was rolling back the plastic,

which will need rolled back out 

folding over the drop cloths

which will need unfolded again

and bringing in all the tools for tomorrow

then we were going to make a trip to Lowe's to pick up the drywall

we were moving right along

I am confident there would be drywall up tonight

but...

Friday I smelled something that wasn't pleasant

I thought it might be the garbage 

so I emptied all of the trash cans and took the bag to the outside trash can

Saturday when I got home from my day out I noticed the odor still

Sunday after church I had a sinking feeling about the stinking

After saying hello to the guys Sunday night I asked if they smelled something 

reluctantly they said yes

after finishing demolition today 

Greg started a project he saw needed done

and Mike spent hours under my house on a project we all smell needs done

in a crawl space that isn't conducive to easy crawling

and he is willing to go back under there tomorrow

we are pretty sure something has died,

probably in the duct work

he and Jonathan (who laid out all the duct work)

have talked several times

Jonathan may or may not be a little giddy that Mike is under the house and not him

today was filled with dirty jobs for Greg and Mike-

and each one assumed an extra task at the end of the day 

ones that were not on my list,

ones that "should have been" a quick fix but weren't

one they identified and "owned" and didn't abandon when it got hard

Mike's really stinks, 

literally and loudly-

if odor had sound this would be increasing in volume daily

because of unforeseen complications the planned agenda was pushed back

but there was no frustration 

or grumbling 

or complaining

tonight the evidence of what love 

is willing to do 

what is willing to fight 

what it is willing to face 

overwhelms me and leaves me wondering about how well I love...