My co-worker

I have this co-worker who's house was damaged in the recent hailstorm. You know the one that happened a year ago. The one with the really big hail, the baseball size one. You probably don't remember it because it was a LONG time ago. He's just getting to the replacing the roof on his house. Insurance took care of that, and the reason he delayed it so long was because his brother-in-law (from Wisconsin) is a roofer and he was waiting for him to come down and do it for a MUCH cheaper price than if a local roofer did it. I give him some major Kudos for that money saving patience.

Since I love learning new valuable skills and have done a bit of amateur roofing myself, I stopped by his house yesterday to ask some questions about things that confused me when I did it after reading a book on how to roof. Turns out the only thing the brother-in-law would have done different than myself is putting he uses staples for the felt paper without the little tin disks. So I guess reading a book about roofing prepared me well.

However, while I was standing on the roof in the lower 40's without a jacket I turned to my co-worker and said, "Sometimes I wonder how bad it really can be working outside all the time." I remember my dad's endless complaints in the summer about the heat and the winter about the cold. My co-worker acknowledged he thought the same but said something that resonates(I hate using this word) in me.

"Sometimes I leave work on Friday and think, 'What did I really accomplish this week?'"

I was struck. I have these same thoughts, only I word them a little different but they have the same meaning. I like to do things with my hands, I love being outside especially when it is hot although not really when it is cold. I can't tell what I'm being held back by, lots of things whirl through my head, that make me feel superficial, but really none of them are worth it more than, being with my family.

That's what I want the most of, time with them. The second thing I want the most of is to make a difference in people's lives. The comes the nice house, neighborhood, private school and other things of little importance. I just don't know how to get there.

PS Sorry about all the run-on sentences and poor grammar or any confusing sections. I don't proof-read the "things on my mind" category.