Wednesday, August 19, 2009

And He Didn't Even Supervise?

Let me start from the beginning.
Italians have a gene that can be traced back generations. Those who hold this gene hold an uncontrollable ability to supervise any activity anywhere you may be. We make sure the job is being done the way we want the job to be done, we point out the disgraceful mistakes that are ensuing, we tell others how something should be done rather than doing it ourselves, we have to control situations whether it's our business or not, and have no shame to burst with over excitement when someone disagrees on how a job should be done.
What I witnessed on Monday was a once and a lifetime experience.
We went to Grandma and Grandpa's on Monday because they needed the bathroom drains fixed. Grandpa walked Tucker through the upstairs bathrooms, carefully examining each move Tucker made. Brendan, Tucker's apprentice, showed up to assist in the projects. After the bathrooms were successfully fixed, Tuck asked if the Doc needed anything else. He led the plumber and his apprentice to the kitchen where he expressed his dislike for the faucet (it is quiet old and quiet ugly, you see, along with the Italian/Sicilian gene is the gene that makes you save everything and never buy unnecessary items). So, the obedient plumbers went to Osh and after several phone calls to the waiting few came back with a faucet that they found on clearance (big props to them on the sale item). They installed a beautiful goose neck faucet but something peculiar happened, a once in a lifetime experience.
The shocker of the day...
Grandpa wasn't hanging over the boys watching their handywork, nor telling how to do it, he wasn't even in the kitchen! Instead he was on his chair with the O'Rielly Factor blaring. Either his old age has brought peace and compromise to this gene (which I doubt) or Grandpa trusts Tucker and B to do small kitchen cosmetics free of supervision.

















































The girls sat outside and relaxed on the patio.
Grandma, Aunt Paula, and I enjoyed the afternoon talking, reading and admiring the garden. Every year when Aunt Paula comes from Holland she replants
several
flowers on the brick patio. It always looks beautiful. I love how she fixed the old fountain by planing some colorful leafy plants to
spruce it up again. Who am I kidding, I did some work too. I used WD-40 to make the screen and glass door slide more easily.

















The best part of the day...
He likes it!






2 comments:

Steph said...

you guys are sooo good to your grandparents. Will you take care of us when we get old??

Sitting in a Tree said...

Don't be silly, I can't wait! Momma, You took great care of us & since we have to we'll take care of Dad too :)
-tuck