I’m in a mood
April 5, 2006
Despite Old Man Winter bearing down on us two nights ago, (Hello? It’s April, so get lost already, you old fart!), despite everyone getting the flu in my house in the last two weeks, and despite Troll Baby going through a clingy stage, ( he is on my lap right now!) I am in an incredibly good mood. Why? Well for the last two years, Daren and I haven’t had a dresser. When Troll Baby was born, I gave Dylan our dresser, and Troll Baby got Dylan’s. So for two years, we’ve stuffed our clothes on the top shelf of our horribly small closet and on hangers, and had to box up off-season stuff and store it. We have more clothes than Jessica Simpson (between us, anyway), and this has made our room a frigging disaster. There are piles of clothes beside our bed, on the floor, collecting dog hair and probably considering weaving their own dresser. Blech. I know, so classy.
Well on Tuesday, there was finally a purchase made. Catching Daren in a weak flu-ey moment, I asked him if it would be alright to go pick up the dresser we saw at a furniture store. He mumbled a yes, and that was all I needed. I packed Troll Baby into the car and off we went. We get to the store and they are sold out of the dresser. Damn. I ask them to phone the location 40 minutes away and see if they have any. The 7 drawer dressers? Yes! Well I wasn’t sure that the dresser I had my eye on was 7 drawers, but we made the trek anyway. I picked up a girlfriend of mine on the way for added fun. Oh who am I kidding? She has big muscles and makes me laugh ’till I pee.
We arrive at the store and the 7 drawer dressers are there - many of them. They aren’t the one I wanted. Damn. They are taller, skinner, but have more drawers then the one I remembered, so 3 seconds later, I say, “I’ll take two.” I know I might have to pay for this with Daren, but feminine wiles are my specialty and order must be brought to the bedroom. In some ways, anyway.
I pay for these suckers and realize they might not fit in the car. The burly carry-out dudes are not impressed as they look at the size of my trunk and shake their heads.
“What if I take them out of the box?” I ask.
“Ma’am, there are just too many parts.”
“Leave the cart boys - sometimes you have to think outside the box. I’ll bring it back when I’m done.”
The Burly Backstreet Boys (okay, total oxymoron) shake their heads and go back into the store, probably laughing to each other about stupid women and their stupid ideas. Well boys, I didn’t have to waste another hour coming back for both dressers, now did I?
So my girlfriend and I, fighting wind and cold, unwrap the 40,678 parts and get every last piece into the car, being careful not to scratch anything, nor lose the directions. By the time we’re nearly done, Troll Baby throws a fit, and I don’t have any of his crack cocaine milk, so my girlfriend gives him a Wagon Wheel. Babies should COME with a case of these! He gobbled it down and was so happy from the sugar high for the trip home. I treat her to Subway for all her help and after lunch, she was kind enough to help me unload everything while Troll Baby drifted off to sleep for the afternoon.
Daren manages not to hear any of the ruckus until we have everything in the house and once I get him settled again with some juice, I get the tools I need and read the directions. Oy. I used to work for a major office supply store and I know how to build this crap, but I know it will take me some time. As in 4 days.
Through the miracle of juice, Daren becomes coherent and comes up to help. As he headed up the stairs, I prayed silently that he would actually help, and not just sit on the couch and dictate. Thank goodness he helped! Building 14 drawers and the frames for these suckers would have been no fun alone. We spent the afternoon working away and bantering back and forth, flirting as we always do, and by the end of Troll Baby’s nap, we were 90% done. Daren finished up while I started dinner and got Dylan off to his first Karate class.
My good mood continues today as I can put my house back together after the flu tornado hit it over the last 2 weeks, and I can finally make our bedroom look like grown-up’s bedrooms should. There’s something about a clean house that makes me feel better. I have a billion things to do for clients today as well (sorry, dear fantastic clients!), and we need groceries or we’ll be eating frost off the sides of the freezer, with a side dish of toaster crumbs and coffee grounds. Yum!
