I'm totally going to have a panic attack

Um. I should be working. But I can't work because my heart is racing and I'm all jittery. Maybe I just had too much tea at Hobee's, but I'm also really, really freaked out about the tree trimming job that's going on in my front yard. You can't even imagine how ridiculously stressed out this thing makes me. We have (or at least had) a beautiful, old oak tree to one side of our house. It had some really long limbs that reach over our roof. They looked beautiful, but on second look, a little dangerous.

We had the tree trimmed about 6 months ago. But the trimmers did a lousy job. You couldn't tell they did anything and our neighbors specifically requested that we have the tree trimmed away from their chimney. The tree was in the same place in regards to their house when the job was done. It was embarrassing...and a total waste of our money. We wouldn't even have had it trimmed if not for their request.

This time, the neighbors called the tree trimmers themselves. I'm not thrilled about that since it's our tree. But I respect the fact that it overhangs their house quite a bit too and it's a problem. And we failed to solve it. (Now, if they'd only get rid of the freakin' rat-infested ivy they're so in love with that has totally invaded our yard.)

The kids are naturally thrilled. What's cooler than big saws and a wood chipper? They've been out there watching since early this morning.

The current trimmers said they're going to take 30% of the canopy from the tree. I'm not comfortable with it, but the argument made sense. I wish I'd said 'no'. But we don't want to be on bad terms with our neighbors. I can't even look at it. That's how freaked out I am. It seems like way more than 30%. The one glimpse I've had so far turned my stomach.