Trained To Be Like My Teacher

Today was day one of my duly appointed (and doctor recommended) vacation. I was looking forward to a restful day filled with filing of paperwork. I was all set to go about my day filing paperwork that is piled into a paper box right now, then I began to be distracted. For months, and maybe even a few years, I have been talking about putting up a shed in my backyard. I'm particularly interested in a shed that will hide all of the unlovely things that are now crowding my garage. Also, if those things are out of my garage, then I can park "Dotty" (my beloved SUV, and yes, she has a name) in the garage during the wintertime. I'm a little bit of a princess when it comes to scraping snow off Dotty, so I will happily park in the garage come winter time. I have gone about preparing for the purchase of my shed in my usual manner. I have researched the type of shed I want; decided what size I wanted and what kind of foundation that it needed to be placed on. Then, I went about preparing for the shed to come. This included a drawing (which I realized after I did it that the stringers were not going in the right direction); a supplies list; a pricing list and a painted outline on my lawn in the exact location where my shed is going to sit. Yes, I'm a little bit of a planner when it comes to this type of project. Definitely get that trait from my Dad, who, by the way, reviewed my design. So much for my relaxing vacation. Now, I will be spending it digging a 120 square foot space, 4 inches down in the dirt. The timing seems right, though. The ground is perfectly soft from all of the rain, and well, I have a week that actually has nothing planned. Now, I do have plans - I will be building a foundation and a shed.

As I was laying out my plans for the shed, I began to think about the process I was going through. Most of my friends, who I will label "non planners", told me that I just needed to put some crushed stone down and then throw the shed together on top of it. Being that I am my father's daughter, I knew better. Ok. Maybe I should have taken a step back and not even asked for their advice since I knew I probably wasn't going to take it. The process I went through seemed long and drawn out to my friends who knew that I was planning this project. Overkill. Yep, I believe that's the word that they used to describe my process. However, I feel quite vindicated by the scripture that I read this morning in the book of Luke (yep, skipping around the Bible again). Luke 6:40 - "A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher". I thought about that verse. I believe that this is how my Dad would go about a project. He would plan it out. Many times growing up I remember him sitting down with his graphing paper and thinking about a project. He would lay it out, methodically. Then, he would make a supply list, go buy the materials and work on the project until it was done. That's how he has worked on projects around my house. With my Dad, once a project starts, I know that we will be working on it every day until it is finished. There are never any half started projects. I have learned to appreciate that characteristic in my Dad. I would like to think that a small piece of that was passed down to me from my Dad. Most people who meet me will say that I am just like my Mom. That is true for the most part. I have my Mom's personality in some things. However, I would like to think that the somewhat methodical planner in me is a product of my Dad's teachings. Like Luke 6:40 says, everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. I see that in my plans for this project.

Isn't it funny how we try so hard growing up to not be like our parents only to realize when we are adults that we are like them? I recognize some of the traits and characteristics that I remember most when growing up and see how I have incorporated some of them into my life. Funny.

So, this is my vacation from work. I think this project will be extremely cathartic for me, albeit frustrating at times, I'm sure. I look forward to the finished project. I'm sure that I will be blogging about the process. Onto creating a shed.