While you were out...

Because Lisa asked so nicely here you go. Episode one of S'mee's version. A few years ago we bought our little house on the prairie, uh, desert. At that time it was a rental and it was (and in many cases still is) a mess. We had rented it for a very long time but the owner refused to allow any deep maintenance ( like painting or even shampooing the carpet) because he was afraid of being sued. Go figure. So after much abuse, the house needed HELP!

S'mee was shopping around and found high-middle of the road wood laminate flooring for about $1.00. Trust me, that is rare. So I convinced Thor this was worth it and we bought tons of it. That in itself is a great story, perhaps tomorrow...

If anyone knows S'mee and Thor they know us as the gal with patience and The Procrastinator! (you really need to say it like Ahnold, "I'll be back!"...just way later.) Anyway, it took for. ev. er. for Thor to get around to actually laying it down. When it finally happened, it took one entire day for the guys to figure it out. The packaging says "snap and click!" but the directions say otherwise. Forget the instructions. After #4 came home from work they got the first room laid in mere moments. But by then it was dark and everyone was pooped.

(Crickets chirping) Several months later there was still a large stack of packages on my concrete front room floor. Like I said before, S'mee is fairly patient. So there it sat, waiting for another free Saturday and Thor's gumption to kick start the project again.

It was now the fall and time to pick up #3 from her Temple Square Mission. 18 months had flown by and she was ready to be picked up. So Thor and I hopped in the minivan and spent three days making the trip. There was some miscommunication and the trip should have been about 5 -7 days, but it ended up at 3 and we were home again.

As we drove up to the house (about 9:00 p.m.) I noticed the white front door was now painted a deep rich blue. As I walked into the house there were all of our other kids and their spouses, standing on my newly planted wood floor and newly painted room! It seems that #2 had planned for some time to gather up the siblings and any other help he could find and get the job done. The exterior trim had been painted from brown to blue as well. You could have knocked me over.

This was probably one of the best surprises I have ever had and Thor, well, he isn't a guy to surprise, but they got him too.

Fast forward a couple of months. S'mee is looking at ads and finds, once again, wood flooring to match the already laid stuff on sale again for $1.00 a foot. Thor consents and we now have a grand stack of packaging sitting in the hallway for what has now been about 8 months.

Hint hint: We will be gone for about 10 days in November.....