In Like a Lion; Out Like a Lamb

I was thinking today about this proverbial saying, which (best I can tell) compares the cold, snowy weather that often blows in March 1st, to the sunnier days and warmer temps that tease us of spring on March 31st. This year, the lion/lamb deal was more of a cycle, one that repeated itself throughout the month. One day I'd venture outside for my first walk of the day and be hit by biting wind that seemed to freeze to the skin on my face, the only exposed part of my body. The next day I'd find warm, gentle breezes with the temperature so high I didn't even need a coat. Lion/lamb/lion/lamb. 

The similes in this saying extend to other areas of life in March, 2021.

In Like a Lion

1. Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced his decision to lift the statewide mask mandate. Ridiculous! Way, way too soon. Only this week has the general population had access to vaccine appointments. Seth is signed up for his first dose April 6th. Three weeks later, he'll receive his second, and even then he'll need to wait a couple weeks to reach his highest immunity level. By then it will be mid-May, but the reversal of the state's mask mandate happens April 10th. President Biden called the rush to reverse mask mandates "Neanderthal thinking," and he's right.

2. I feel like life is opening again, like the pace is picking up. Suddenly, there are all these places I need to be. Is it bad that I feel just a bit of melancholy, remembering those days of full quarantine, when I wore pajamas and no makeup all day, as I read book after book, interrupted only by an occasional Netflix binge? I've enjoyed spending more time at home, not having a calendar full of obligations. I love teaching from home. Now that I am post-COVID infection and double vaccinated, I go more places. But is it too soon? I saw a meme this week with a picture of the movie Jurassic Park, and the text, "Here's another place that opened too soon."

 

Out Like a Lamb

1. Sitting in juxtaposition with #2 above, I'm so excited and hopeful for when it's once again safe to interact with people. I'm an extrovert, after all! I miss hugs and face-to-face visits with friends, concerts and plays, Jazz games and church activities, road trips and airline travel, parties and girls' nights out. All these things are just ahead.

2. All of us except Seth, Isaiah, and Matt are now fully vaccinated, and the three of them have appointments for the first shots. I'm beyond grateful my whole family will soon be protected.

3. Our basement finishing project will be completed tomorrow! Can you even believe that? I barely believe it. Once we switched contractors (read that story here, if you like), the project increased to warp speed. Workers were in our basement nearly every morning at 7:00 a.m. and worked all day. It turned out just as I hoped, so nice! Many things will improve with this additional space. Seth will have a place to hang out with friends, watch TV, and play video games. Gerald will have an office that is not in the garage. Waffles will have a home that is not the garage. I will maintain the main floor of our house as a showroom that looks like no one ever goes in there. Because no one will. Yay!

4. My Jazz boys continue to rock the NBA, winning game after game, securing their position as #1 in the league. Take note, everyone. This is so our year.

5. Seth and I drove to Orem for his first college visitation at Utah Valley University. He liked it! Perhaps my last baby will go to college just 20 minutes from home. I would love that.

6. Donald Trump is not the president. Enough said.

March. In like a lion; out like a lamb. Yep!

The Cutest Tarantula Ever

In 2020, I told each of my children's birth story in the month of his or her birth. Here they are, in case you missed any: Luke, Shulamith, Isaiah, Eli, Seth.

This year, instead of birth stories, I think I'll share a favorite childhood memory for each of them. Saturday was Eli's birthday, so he's up first.

At age 6, Eli made his theatre debut, as a tarantula in the Missoula Children's Theatre (MCT) production of The Wizard of Oz. I realize there are no tarantulas in Oz, but in this spinoff production, there definitely were. Little Mountain Elementary School sponsored MCT each year, a fabulous weeklong program, where two actors show up in a van with costumes, sets, and props, and produce a full-length musical in one week, using children from the school. 

Sound wild? It was!

Isaiah had participated for a couple years, but this was Eli's first time. It was the year 2000, and he was in 1st grade. I was pregnant with Seth, and very tired, so my friend Joanne took both Eli and Isaiah to the auditions, along with her daughter, Amy. I remember waking up from a much-needed nap to Eli running into my room with news that he would be a tarantula! Joanne and Amy followed, with big smiles all around.

Eli attended the rehearsals every day after school, and soon it was Saturday, the day of the performance. He was beyond excited. There were probably a dozen little tarantulas in a row up there on the stage, drowning in black fuzzy spider costumes, but it was Eli, right in the middle, with his round face and giant smile that melted the audience's hearts. 

And mine.

Trust

Admittedly, I have trust issues. That truth is the product of both my natural personality and my life experiences.

Today I had to break ties with the company I hired back in November to finish our basement. The reason? I don't trust them anymore. It makes me sad because I want to believe that people are honest, that they take responsibility for their promises, and that they try to be fair and transparent. It's disappointing to discover this is not always true.

This company, called Probasements, advertises on social media to be "fast, organized, and transparent." I found it to be none of these things. I hired Probasements in mid-November to begin work the day after we closed on our home. Part of the reason I chose them over the other bids I received is that they promised they would have the project completed by Christmas. It is now mid-March, and it's still not done.

They are woefully disorganized; they show up with no warning, do a bit of work, then disappear for days and sometimes weeks. When we hadn't seen or heard from them in 4.5 weeks, Shulamith found one of them on social media and threatened to take him to court. That motivated them to install flooring the very next day, but we've heard nothing from them since.

Feeling less and less confident in these people, I called the City of Bluffdale to make sure they had actually secured a permit for this work. They had. And their early work passed a legitimate inspection by the City. Thank goodness! However....

My conversation with the guy from the City revealed that Probasements no longer has a license. Before I hired them, Gerald checked to make sure they were licensed and insured, and without a license, they would never have been issued a permit. Apparently, that license was revoked sometime in December, because they have a history of starting projects and then just peacing out, leaving the projects only partly done.

Say what??????????

Well this is awesome. Not only do we have a partially-finished basement that was supposed to be done by Christmas, but now our contractor is unlicensed. And no, they never shared this information with me.

We will be hiring a new contractor to finish this project ASAP.

Oh, and my trust issues? Yeah, this isn't helping.