If ever there was a time for me to put yoga breathing into practice...I received some very disappointing news yesterday. My husband and I have been preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime 2-week trip to India, including a sidetrip to the Taj Mahal (my most favorite structure in the whole wide world!!), that starts at the end of February 2011. We got word yesterday that due to a shortage of people, the trip must be cancelled. DEVASTATING news, to say the least. We have been reading, we have been clothes shopping, we have been watching programs, we have been talking and dreaming and ... well, consumed by India. Just the night before receiving the email, we watched a PBS program on the story of India. Whenever I thought of the trip, I was almost in tears from excitement and amazement. I mean, I never thought I would ever get to "my" building, the Taj, and then this amazing opportunity presented itself. (My husband works at a university and this trip was going to be 100% planned ... we would have been able to just "be" in this most amazing and different country!! Soak it all in, absorb it thru our pores, live it for 2 entire weeks from the Taj on to the south of India.)
And remember yesterday I said I have been under stress ... yeah, like I need this news heaped on top of my already weakened state. BLAH!
When I got home, I find that the work on the sewer pipe in the street in front of our house carried on to the easement. A rose-of-sharon had been dug up and set aside, part of the curb was destroyed and a HUGE gaping hole dug. (We are assured that black dirt and grass seed will be provided and our tree should be put right back in its place ... at no cost to us.) However, the backup problem we have been experiencing exists in the pipe that runs from our house to the easement, of course. Know what that means??? Our yard and sidewalk have to be dug up (7 feet deep b/c we have a basement). Fortunately, our city has a 50/50 cost share program, so that will help us out ALOT, but it will still be to the tune of several thousand dollars (I am estimating $4000-$5000). And 2 of the front sidewalk squares that will be destroyed are newer (another 50/50 cost share program ... the 50% we already paid and the 50% we will pay again means we will have ended up paying 100% for those 2 stinkin' squares!).
On the bright side, the part of our sidewalk to the house that we didn't replace a few years ago (thanx, honey!!) will be removed and redone for 50%! Not to mention, we will have all new sewer lines, with an outside clean-out and a backflow prevention valve ~~ GREAT selling points as we have our home up for sale by owner.
I just don't look forward to seeing the devastation it brings to our front yard that we have already landscaped. All things should be put back in the ground and since it is fall, we should have the best chance of plants and bushes surviving. But, just UGH! Right?! Anyone with me on this??? I thought so ~ Thanx!!
Well, I wasn't in the working out mood (& neither was the husband), so we decided to head out to a somewhat-local outlet mall. It is outdoors, so we could enjoy the cool, crisp fall weather and just do some shopping, taste testing, walking ... try to get out of our heads. Retail therapy is better on the body than food therapy, right?! Just maybe a bit more expensive, depending. Not to mention, food runs right thru ya!!! We stopped at a Starbucks on the drive, sampled food and coffee at our 2 favorite shoppes, I treated myself to perfume (it was on sale AND I had a coupon) and I snagged a cool shirt and jewelry organizer.
I am trying my best to see that the cancellation of the trip is for a reason (that is what my husband chooses to believe and others on Facebook have offered); that the whole sewer line replacement experience, while costly, could be more if it weren't for the 50/50 and is absolutely necessary to the successful sale of our house; and that our yard and sidewalks will be better than ever!!!
I am trying. It is just taking a whole lot of concentrated effort to find my joy and plenty of stress-relieving breathing. It is what it is at this point ... so I need to buck up and push onward!
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