Caloden

For the past couple of months there has been quite a bit of construction here at the Manor. The Miatch is adding space, which requires me to rearrange other spaces and pack anything remaining into clear, plastic tubs. There is simply not a surface, nook or cranny in the house that is not stacked with boxes. Or a room that doesn't contain stacked piles of furniture or cushions. It has gotten so bad that even the dogs are beginning to get bitchy about all the mayhem.

Part of the problem is that our construction crew consists mainly of a two fellows, Cody and Juan, who have a main job Monday through Thursday and then come to the Manor every Friday and Saturday. They are a mostly dedicated pair who willingly put up with the Miatch's indecisiveness but who are also feeling the tug of the golf course as the summer wears on. The past couple of weeks they have only been able to put in a total of five hours due to their tee times. One of the bright parts of all this is that Cody and Juan only do general stuff and then hire other fellows to do specific things like tile work and plumbing. Our tile fellow has been coming everyday for the past 10 days or so to patch up some Cody/Juan blunders and begin on the master bath. His name is Oscar and he is just lovely as can be to the children. Devon especially enjoys going in and peering over Oscar's shoulders as he lovingly lines up the tiles and covers them in goo. Oscar's concentration deserves some sort of award because if I had Devon chattering in my ear while I was trying to do exacting work I would banish him. Oh wait, I do that on a daily basis, even if I am not concentrating.

For the most part the whole Oscar thing has worked out nicely. He arrives every morning and greets Devon, goes in the house where my shit head dog, Mouse, usually bites him on the ankle, good thing he wears sturdy work boots, and then heads up to the bathroom. The renovation has meant that my mom, the kids and I have all moved in to the other full bathroom, but we still leave things in the master bath and tote things to and fro. Yesterday afternoon I had to grab something from the master bath and so headed in. The outer door had blown shut from the wind and so I thought nothing much when I encountered the closed bathroom door. I knocked gently to let Oscar know I was on my way in and then opened the door. The mirror is to the right and as I was walking in I looked in the mirror to get a peek at the tile progress only to find that Oscar was not stooped over the shower basin but standing upright and appearing quite busy with his hands. I paused for a moment and squinted as I tried to figure out what he was doing. Then his eyes met mine in the mirror and a look of pure horror swept over his features as he zipped up his pants and reached to flush the toilet. I was so shocked that I stood frozen before I managed a, "Oh no! I am so sorry. I didn't know!" I started to explain that I was just getting some lotion until I realized it was better left unsaid. I then ran from the bathroom while I heard Loren giggling and went to hide in the other bathroom. Fortunately I had to take Cass off to soccer practice and so did not have to see Oscar for the rest of the day.

This morning when Oscar arrived I was on my way to take Devon to preschool. I smiled, waved and then felt creepy and naked all over again. The thing is is that over the time he has been here I have gone out of my way to talk with Oscar, sometimes in my bad Spanish, sometimes in his not so good English. I so hope he doesn't think I am stalking him.