The garage/shed project we started back in February has been delivered. This perfectly constructed, vermin-free, low-maintenance structure is a thing of beauty. It now rests exactly where the junk pile once lay.

Anyone who remembers the 80’s TV series The A-Team will be familiar with the many kitschy quotes that have survived the test of time. I will pay homage to a couple of these catchphrases in relation to the garage project.

1. “Of course I have a plan. But it’s a secret.”

Hannibal

Dave and I had almost given up on the garage project and highly doubted any structure would materialize. Due to many factors, we struggled to effectively communicate with the owner of the business, and reaching him was problematic. But when we did, he would have me laughing in 30 seconds flat. The guy is a character, and a charismatic one at that. I am hesitant to repeat many of his catchphrases, but suffice to say his family could write a best-selling book.

He unfailingly reassured us that the building would be built to the highest standards, but all other details were vague and trying to connect the dots made my head hurt. The garage was being constructed in a mysterious build-site stateside, and would need to be hauled over the international bridge known to be fraught with construction and border delays.

“This thing is going to be stuck in Amish Land forever,” Dave would moan in weaker moments.

Around the beginning of August, my optimism started to run dry. There were building delays, material shortages and skyrocketing prices here, same in the U.S. Would this guy be our soldier of fortune and successfully complete the mission?

Yes and yes. Without high-octane combat scenes.

When he called last week to tell us that our 12X24 garage was safely on his local site, almost 6 months to the date, it was easy to imagine him smoking a big stogie, satisfied grin on his face.

Give me a minute, I’m good. Give me an hour, I’m great. Give me six months, I’m unbeatable.

Col. John “hannibal” smith

When we did our inspection, Dave was speechless – a rarity.

“My God, it is actually well-built, exactly what I wanted.”

Apparently, our guy really did have a plan. We didn’t understand it, but it existed. If my sister is reading this, I know she is thinking of a childhood phrase oft-used by dad:

“Don’t worry,” he would knowingly nod while tapping his noggin. “Our plan is in my head.”

Parental assurance A-Team style.

2. “I pity the fool…”

Mr. T: B.A Baracus

…who falls in the trench that Dave and Francis dug to lay electrical from the cabin to the garage.

You know who fell in the trench? Dave. It was more of a trip but in he went. Rumi and I steered clear for a couple of days. We decided it was safer not to have a 5-month old, goat-leaping pup around a 4-foot deep trench. Not that he would have had any trouble leaping into it. The trouble would have been chasing him back and forth to get his furry poodle butt out of the trench.

Rumi has recently discovered a new superpower: bouncing his front legs off our unsuspecting chests so that he can happily spring backwards. We think he is working up to a backwards somersault.

When this is executed, I can see why standard poodles were guard dogs in France. What wily criminal would be safe against the above jaunty move? I imagine Rumi’s ancestors taking down jewel and art thieves through a series of acrobatic twirls and aerobatic jumps to the grand takedown: balancing gracefully on hindlegs while bitch-slapping the scoundrel with white-gloved paws. “Honte à vous monsieur.”

3.“There’s a plan in everything, kid, and I love it when a plan comes together.”

Hannibal

Yes, colonel, there is a plan in everything. Even when it is as inconsequential as a mysterious garage project, or as omnipotent as that which is slowly revealed to us as we journey, putting one foot in front of the other. Faith and a good dose of humor go a long way. Having a gymnastic-loving, crime-fighting poodle by your side doesn’t hurt either.

A poodle. Now that was the missing element from The A-Team.