A screen door? Yup. That’s how I celebrated Day 4.

Part of the reason I’m celebrating 30 days of 30 is so that I can acknowledge the small moments and the big moments, the ordinary and the extraordinary; the celebration is designed to blur the boundaries between these distinctions and to raise the question of the necessity of separating the ordinary and the extraordinary.

Yesterday brought this to the fore.

The main crux of my celebration of 30 days of 30 yesterday was waking up at 7:30 AM to wait for the Home Depot guy to come and install a screen door to my backyard patio. A quick rewind for the background:

In October, my brother and I found the perfect house to move into and rent: it was smallish, had unlimited parking, a tiny back AND front yard, and (most importantly) bright, vivid painted walls. The only thing that would have made it beyond perfect was if it had a screen door for the back, so that I could leave the door open without worrying about bugs. We discussed it with our (potential) landlord and she said she could easily put one in for us come March or April. March passed with no action on her part, so in April, I tackled it with her. End result, after many weeks of back and forth, door ordered and set to come in over Memorial Day weekend. I scheduled it for June 4^th with the deliberate choice that it would count as my birthday celebration for the day.

Why a screen door, you may be asking? 

Most of the first floor of my home is my business office and I spend hours there, making phone calls, writing posts, sending emails, watching trainings, and completing various other tasks. Behind my sofa, a large window opens up into my backyard, allowing me to see the green, hear the birds (and lawnmowers), and watch my cat, Jade, explore and sometimes even venture outside our yard. The window is often fully open, but the airflow just isn’t sufficient. Plus, my last apartment had a balcony with a screen door, and I got used to always leaving the screen door closed and the glass door open: the fresh air feeds me.

Installing the screen door, after 8 months of waiting, was a joyous occasion. Perhaps that’s silly, but it’s the truth. Nature shows up daily in my life, as far as importance, so what better way to celebrate a 30 day of 30, then to create a space that’s a bridge between nature and my home?

Thanks for following along on this 30 day ride. I’m super stoked about the new project launching at the end of all this and sharing a bit more about it as the month passes.

One of my friends recently started signing emails, “Live more!” I love that. Today, go out there and live more!

And, as always, some pictures to document:

Kevin, the installer from Home Depot, worked quickly. The job took less than the projected hour. He had 3 other projects after mine. During July & August, he tries to get everything finished before 2 pm so it’s not too hot while he works.

It’s finished! That beauty has two sliding pieces of glass, so that the airflow can come in from the top or the bottom.

The door opens perfectly. My landlady did a top notch job selecting a good door for us.