The Treehouse (and other happenings)

Everything decided to happen at once.

Throughout the last few weeks I have had several freelance writing projects, for which I am extremely grateful. I interviewed some fascinating people, including a former prostitute, and wrote some very interesting stories. I love that work, as it is so satisfying and rewarding! I wish I could do more of it. :-)

But at the same time, my company’s lease expired, and when renewal negotiations fell through, we were left without a place to go. Every day for two weeks we went in to the office prepared to move should a new lease agreement just happen to fall into place that day. We finally moved yesterday, and I am so glad it’s over. I look forward to organizing and arranging everything on Monday. This is the third time I have helped my company move in the seven years I have worked for them. The ironic thing? We are ending up back in the same building where we began! ;-)

Then, there’s Ryan’s car issues. We have had his car at three different mechanics in the last three weeks, and nobody can figure out what’s wrong with it. If it’s sitting, say, in front of our house, or maybe in the parking lot of his work, it will not start, leaving him stranded on multiple occasions. It doesn’t respond to jumping, and we’ve actually had to call tow-trucks twice. But if it’s sitting at the mechanic or dealership, the car starts just fine, and when they hook it up to their machines for testing, everything checks out normally. This is extremely frustrating on many levels. Ryan actually suggested today that maybe we should drive it around and then park it back at the mechanic, all the while making comments like, “It’s good to be home!”, thereby tricking the car into thinking it’s in front of our house! And yes, after all the back-and-forth we’ve been through, this logic actually makes sense to me!  :-) The sharing a car thing has been complicated, especially since we work 16 miles from each other, and every day our schedules are different. We’re praying that after sitting at the shop untouched for a full weekend, the car won’t start on Monday. Maybe then we can at least get a diagnosis!

On top of all of this, our house’s swamp cooler motor went out during a week of 90+ degree days. But Ryan was able to replace it. Yay!

Also, in an effort to save some money, we canceled our satellite dish service at the end of our contract period. Ryan purchased an antenna for indoors, which we thought would hook us up with local channels. But alas, we can only pick up Fox and some Spanish networks, and we will need to invest in a roof antenna if we want more than that. So we’ve been without TV for three weeks. It’s actually not as bad as I thought it would be, although when fall comes, I will be antsy to get something in place!

In summary, it’s been a strange few weeks for us!

But here are some pics from earlier in the summer, when Ryan, inspired by “Pete” from Treehouse Masters (“I’m the treehouse man!”, decided to build a doozy of a treeless treehouse in our backyard while Ryley was visiting family in Oklahoma and Texas:

(Please don’t judge our grass situation. Yes, it’s embarrassing. Yes, we’ve given up.) :-)

Ryan had so much fun with power tools!

We didn’t really have any specific plans, other than a hodgepodge of ideas Ryan pulled from the internet. And with no previous building experience, it was quite a project. We took multiple trips to Home Depot and hauled a lot of wood in the back of our van, then ended the nights with trips to Dairy Queen to cool down. :-
) But it was so much fun working on it together.

Getting the roof installed was particularly dramatic, as Ryan teetered on a 16 ft ladder wedged between a fence and me after the sun had set. I prayed the entire time he was up there.

Ryley got home and was super pleased!!!

Ryan built an amazingly sturdy ladder that I trust even for myself!

And he included a pulley system!

And a secret compartment…

Even Juliet wanted to be part of the finishing touches:

After we moved some of her stuff inside, Ryley invited me up for a tea party.

Then, we decorated the outside a little, and she invited my aunt and uncle up for a tea party as well…

Then, Ryley and my aunt busted out the sewing machine and some scrap material, and they made curtains and a table cloth!

When it was all complete, Ryley and her best friend had a sleepover…There was some drama about bugs, but overall, it was a fun time!

This has been quite a project! I am so proud of Ryan for all the research and effort he put into it. It is highly rewarding for him to look at it and realize he built it with his own two hands, all from ideas in his mind! It’s that whole “build something from nothing” thing. Kind of crazy, actually. We both learned a lot.

We know that Ryley will enjoy this labor of love for years to come. :-)