Day one of an excellent week.

It’s only Monday but already I can tell this will be an excellent week. And here are all the reasons why.

Early morning thunderstorms. After an interminably long dry spell a system of roof-rattling thunderstorms rolled through here today around 5 a.m. and dumped about an inch of rain. I woke Sam because I didn’t think he’d want to miss our first big spring weather event. He opened one eye and thanked me.

I have swell doctors. This morning I called to make appointments with my dentist and podiatrist and (as expected) I’ll see Dr. McPhail at 10 on Wednesday and Dr. Angelier at 2. And their offices are only half a mile from home in nice buildings across the street from each other, which is pretty damn amazing and convenient. The map below indicates: A) our house; B) Dr. Angelier’s office; and C) Dr. McPhail’s office. I knew you’d want a visual for this.

Sam has a day off work tomorrow. He’s taking me to see a medical specialist. I’m married to a sweetheart, and if I play my cards right I might get a free lunch out of this, too.

We’re getting our new fence installed. By the end of the week we’ll have a totally remodeled back yard. Sam ordered a beautiful top-of-the-line board-on-board cedar fence that’s eight feet high and looks something like the photo below, which I downloaded from the gallery on our fence company’s website. However, I think the color of our stain might be a shade or two darker. Stay tuned for some exciting before and after pictures, although we don’t know for sure yet which day this week the installers from Sunnyvale Fence will be here. Sam is EXTREMELY excited about this.

Our Oklahoma Redbud tree is being replaced. Sam bought it from Covington’s nursery late last fall (see post) and had it planted in our back yard, but the poor thing didn’t survive winter and at the moment it’s just a dead stick with branches. Covington’s will replace the tree for free, so we’re switching instead to a heartier Texas Redbud and Sam will pick out the exact tree he wants later this week. It shouldn’t be too hard to get a terrific specimen this time because they’re all in full bloom. A full-grown Texas Redbud appears below for your possible interest. I personally think Texas PINKBUD is a more accurate name, but I can’t figure out where to file a complaint.

And so that’s about it for now. I have some client projects to keep me busy for the next few hours, leftover Mongolian Chicken in the refrigerator and no laundry to fold. My excellent week continues.