Playing the Waiting Game

Have you ever noticed how much of our lives we spend waiting for things to happen? We wait for buses, trains and airplanes to arrive and depart, (usually late!) only to be herded like cattle (MOO!) to our destinations. We spend time waiting for big occasions to happen and then lament how fast they passed us by. We wait with eager anticipation for our children to meet certain milestones in their lives and then wish we could have just one day back when they didn't mind cuddling with us on the couch. (Don't worry boys, I'm not asking--MUCH!) We wait to be seated and we wait for things to start. We often can't wait for things to be over and we wait for whatever comes next. It seems absurd that we have probably spent time that amounts to years of our lives, literally waiting. Time passes so slowly when we are waiting and so quickly when we are in the moment. There is great truth in the watching of the proverbial pot. Samuel Beckett truly understood this absurdity in his classic play "Waiting for Godot". Two men sitting and waiting. Not certain what they are waiting for or if it will ever come, but still waiting. (There are entire university english courses devoted to Beckett and Godot involving spirituality and the meaning of God and life, so if that is what turns your crank, sign up today!) Children can't wait to be adults and some adults wish they had waited a bit longer. I have become a professional waiter over the course of this renovation. I wait for people to show up and for things to be delivered. I wait on promises that are still short on execution and I wait for the weather to change. I wait for phone calls that never come and I wait for e-mails that are days delayed. I wait for teenage son's daily dinner inquiries and I wait for the husband's voice telling me to relax and calm down. On this day, we wait again and this time I have dragged the husband into the game. Today, we wait for the appliances! It is a large delivery as you can well imagine, I just didn't have the Koiach (strength-for all of you who are Yiddish challenged!) to deal with it alone. It has been amusing to watch him pace and struggle with waiting. He knows that the sooner the truck comes, the sooner he can get on with the "important" part of his day. He hates waiting. He carries the phone around with him in the hopes that by cradling it and caressing it, it might be implored to ring. It is easy to charge somebody else to wait for you, but when you have to do it yourself, it can be harsh. When the waiting is finally over and the project is finally complete, I am absolutely certain that we will look back on all of this and ask "Why did we wait so long to do it?"

Nothing new to report. We will take some pictures if (big IF) the appliances show up. The weekend is upon us and I am being promised action on both days. I promise to update the album with progress pictures. It is the end of week 4 and I am still in one piece!

Shabbat Shalom to all who need and observe it!