IRON
THE FLOOR
I honestly couldn't believe it. I think I went into a state of shock for a moment and then went into "WHAT AM I GOING TO TELL MY HUSBAND" mode. I just knew I was going to get a lecture and I seriously thought about not telling him and putting a rug over the burn spot, but I figured it would become obvious to him the first time his foot sunk into the rug where this iron shape hole now was and I probably wouldn't be able to get away with pretending I didn't know how it happened. Of course it was in the area that you see the minute you walk in the front door and there was no option of covering it with furniture. I knew that it would eat at me until I told him, so with a plan in place....plan meaning bust out in tears the minute the conversation went south, I made the dreaded call. Me: "Honey, I think I'm going to have a nervous breakdown! " I am so upset!" Him: "Why?" Me: (With a shaky voice) Kinley burned a hole in our carpet in the shape of an iron clear down to the padding."
Him: Silence....... Me: "Are you there?" Him: "How did she do that?" Me: "Well, I was in the kitchen making her lunch and I guess she got my iron and plugged it in and sat it face down on the carpet." (wimper, wimper) Him: "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now." "At least she didn't burn herself or burn the house down." Me: Silence.....thinking REALLY, THAT'S IT!!! I HAD A PLAN IN PLACE TO CRY!!!! Him: Too bad we don't have money set aside for new floors. (Small dig on my spending habits as he sees them.) Normally I would challenge that comment, but I felt like I had already dodged a bullet so why reload the gun. Feeling a weight lift off of my shoulders, I end the conversation as sweetly as possible and hang up the phone.....of course with the thought of new floors now on my mind. I jump on my laptop and start trying to find out how much hardwood floors would cost. I decide to make a call to a flooring company, but first I wanted to make sure that little miss, "I'm in the mood to destruct" was being supervised so I walk into the garage/man cave/playroom and ask my two older kids who have just come home from School to please keep her occupied while I was on the phone. Well, I might as well have been talking to the wall because as I'm hanging up the phone with the flooring company who had just talked me into scheduling a free in home estimate, I see Kinley coming from the hallway covered in paint.
Complete panic comes over me as I run towards her to keep her from touching any walls and I reluctantly walk into the hallway hoping that this paint had originated in the garage and that the paint that covered her body was just left over from something she had painted in there. That thought quickly left me as I see several empty craft paint bottles and a multi colored floor. I can't take it!!! I run into the garage dragging my painted three year old behind and give Colton and Bailey the big speech on "Is it too much to ask that you watch her for a few minutes so I can make a phone call." I drag her kicking and screaming to the shower and scrub and scrub and scrub until the paint comes off. I then get out my magic sponges and peroxide and start scrubbing the carpet which only managed to make the paint smear and cover a larger area than it already was.
KICKING AND SCREAMING KID!
I WOULDN'T NORMALLY STOP TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THIS, BUT I NEEDED SOMETHING TO SHOW MY HUSBAND SO HE WOULD UNDERSTAND THE EXTENT OF MY FRUSTRATION WHEN I HAD TO CALL HIM AND EXPLAIN THE FACT THAT WHILE I WASN'T WATCHING, SHE ONCE AGAIN MANAGED TO FIND ANOTHER WAY TO RUIN MORE CARPET ON THE SAME DAY. NOTE: I DO WATCH MY KID...SHE'S JUST REALLY QUICK AND SNEAKY!
HER WORK OF ART IN THE HALLWAY.
(This picture does not do justice to my new multi colored carpet)
Did I mention this happened two weeks before Thanksgiving and I had my Parents, My In-laws, Greg's Brother, my Sister in law and their kids all coming over for Thanksgiving Dinner.
So, here I go again....making that dreaded phone call. I knew at this certain time of the day, he would be in the Deer Stand, but I needed to get this conversation over with and at least I knew he wouldn't raise his voice and risk scaring off any wildlife.
HIM: Answering the phone in a whisper, "Hey"
ME: "Hi" (In my most pitiful possible voice and without any hesitation) "Kinley just painted the hallway carpet and I have someone coming out to give us an estimate on hardwood floors." (Totally expecting the "We're not going to spend that kind of money right here at Christmas time" speech.) I'm pretty sure I was holding my breath waiting for his response. HIM: "What color floors are you thinking about getting?" ME: (Dazed and Confused and wondering what kind of game he was trying to play with my emotions and quickly deciding to go along with it and hope for the best) "I don't know, but they are going to bring samples when they come." HIM: Are you wanting to do the bedrooms too or just the living room and hallway? ME: (Am I awake????? Has he been drinking????) Well, of course I would love to do the bedrooms too, but I guess I will decide that after I hear how much this is going to cost.) HIM: "O.K. I'll call you later when I get back to camp" ME: O.K. (hanging up the phone and wondering if he is about to call me back and tell me he was kidding and that there was NO WAY we were going to spend that kind of money right now) You would have to know my husband pretty well to know that he has a tendency to say things just to get your hopes up and then thoroughly enjoys watching you as he makes it clear that he was not being serious) I have learned through the years to take most of what he says with a grain of salt knowing that he may or may not be serious.....Don't get me wrong, he doesn't do this in a vicious way, it's just his personality to watch you sit in wonder what he's going to say or do next. I think he gets a lot of joy out of having that much power for a second or two. I have also learned over the years that when he says no, it really means do what you want and I will just deal with it. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Why are you even asking me? You're going to do what you want to anyway! Through the years, I've always been pretty laid back and let him make the big decisions...for instance, the night before we got married without me knowing he arranged for one of his friends who was also a groomsman who just happened to also work at a dealership to drive a Tahoe into the driveway right before we were about to leave for our rehearsal. I saw his friend pull up and Greg looked over and said, "Go check out your new car!" WHAT!! My Parents and I looked at each other trying to figure out if we had heard him right. I stalled because I didn't know if he was playing a joke on me and when he finally convinced me that it was true, I walked out, stuck my head in the truck and pretended to check it out still not sure what was happening and fought back tears of excitement. A few years and two kids later, he calls me out of the blue one day to tell me to drive my Tahoe up to the Dealership that his friend worked at and check out an Expedition that had just come in and if I liked it to leave my Tahoe there and drive the Expedition home....(and I did) A few years later, when we decided to move to San Antonio, he moved first and I stayed behind until the house sold and to finish out my job responsibility and he found the house he wanted to buy and called me and told me about it and put a contract on it the same day without me even seeing it first. So, I got that far off track to try to explain how I have always just went with it and never felt the need to get that involved in the decision making because I completely trust him to make good decisions and now for the first time in our 11 year marriage, I am making a big decision ALL BY MYSELF!!!! I was on a mission. There was no way I would be able to handle looking at a nasty burn in our living room and a multi colored hallway and there was certainly no way I was going to be able to lay a rug over it knowing that it was there. I HAD to make this happen!!!! I had to take control of this situation and make sure I got what I wanted. OK....with ALL that being said, he went right along with my plans for new floors and we had them in before Thanksgiving. The only thing he got involved with was dealing with the price of the floor. He was still at the deer lease and with me on the phone with him and the floor lady on the phone with her boss, a price was agreed upon and the deal was done. Well, Greg basically had me say, "This is what we're willing to pay, take it or leave it! I am not a good negotiator....I would have probably just gone with what they first quoted me, but thankfully Greg was telling me everything to say and in the end everyone was satisfied. Who knew getting new floors was like buying a car??? I would have never even thought to negotiate the price. I know, I know I'm getting off track again. I don't even know where to go with this story from here. What started out as a disaster ended up being pretty great. I guess the only thing left to say is I got new floors just in time for the Holidays and I LOVE THEM !!! I also kind of enjoyed watching my kids forget that we no longer have carpet and come barreling into the living room just to slip and slide and trying not to eat it. It was like watching Tom running after Jerry where his legs were moving but he wasn't going anywhere.
I think the floor matches perfectly with my Christmas décor :)
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