Monday, November 22, 2010

Pumpkin Pie and the Cousins

Good Monday morning everyone. I hope all is going well this fine day. This will not be a post related in any way, shape, or form to writing. Just so you know.

I'm recuperating. From what you may ask -- well, I'll tell you.

My cousins are coming in this afternoon for the holiday week. I was supposed to make the pumpkin pies over the weekend. (From real pumpkins -- how much fun...)

Buuuuttttt.....my mother got it in her head to rip up the hallway rug Thursday night. 3 feet wide, 20 feet long. She's not supposed to be doing heavy physical labor. My father is a mess. Guess who had to help.

Fast track to Friday afternoon, where we spent almost 2 hours finding a rug to lay down in the hallway so the cousins wouldn't have to look at the subfloor. I told my mother we could paint the subfloor brown, so you wouldn't really notice it under the new rug. That was the plan. Simple Easy Quick. Right?

Saturday morning my father said he would go get the paint. (He felt a little better.) He came back with cheap laminate to lay down on the subfloor. Huh? Okay, I'll go with it. How hard can it be? Problem is, they have door frames. So we had to cut grooves in the laminate. Which, for most normal people, wouldn't have been that much of a problem. My father (who is a master caprenter and can't do anything without a ruler, level and square) took almost 3 hours to cut grooves in the laminate. Guess who had to do the rest?

I have been on my hands and knees for two days (because even though most normal people can lay a laminate floor in 4 hours, my father was looking over my shoulder.) I had to pull up the staples from the carpet, fill in holes with wood filler, sand those, vaccuum twice with the shop vac (that I had to drag upstairs from the basement) and then I had to cut the bottom of the door frames off so the laminate would fit UNDER the door frames. How much fun was that? Sawdust, grit, my mother bitching about the shop vac making more dust, how was she supposed to cook.) Then my father sat and dictated how I should lay the laminate, carefully, perfectly, because we couldn't afford any mistakes. (He'd made so many mistakes cutting the door frames he didn't think there would be enough to finish the floor and was damned if he'd go back and buy more. He forgot I could get down on my hands and knees to cut the door frames, so he was thinking maybe they should put in a real floor now. Argh!)

Needless to say, I didn't make the pies.

Do you do stuff like this? Have you ever taken on a DIY project that was supposed to be simple and it turns into Godzilla meets This Old House?

*** I did get to make the pumpkin pies this morning -- although, I dropped the mixing bowl into the other already poured pie, and it erupted like Mt. Vesuvius. All OVER the kitchen counter, the cabinet on the other side, the canisters and ALL the utensils in the pitcher. Down the counter cabinets and onto the floor. Luckily the dogs were in the house and they ate that. My cousins are arriving at ten.

20 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Yes, which is why I try to avoid home projects like that! It never goes as planned and leads to a big mess. Sorry it messed up your pie-making. Maybe your cousins won't notice if they're store-bought?

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

That is why I live 1300 miles from the family.

Liza said...

Every DIY project we do ends up having a little hiccup (although yours sounds more like a belch!) We usually finagle our way through them. But this weekend, before Thanksgiving, I'd run the other way screaming if a DIY came my way. I'm SO impressed at your skills. All that, and you can make pumpkin pies too? Happy Thanksgiving Anne.

Matthew MacNish said...

Wow that sounds terrible! I'm not much of a DIYer, though I did build a workbench in our garage when we first moved in.

Stina said...

And this is why I don't attempt ANY DIY projects around the house. ;)

Linda G. said...

You can always count on a DIY project taking at least three times as long as you originally think it will. This is why they make frozen food. ;)

Unknown said...

Every DIY project I end up taking on turns into a Godzilla mess, at least you know that when you make the pies you'll be thankful the DIY project is complete and it was worth celebrating over!

Anne Gallagher said...

To all -- I did get a chance to make the pies, albeit another giant disaster. I added a postscript to my post. I really am laughing on the inside.

Anonymous said...

Happens often. Case in point: we bought about ten young trees to plant around the yard. Then wifey wanted me to dig one up and replant it. Had to put my foot down and say no as this would only lead to digging up and moving more trees. Gotta nips these expanding projects before they can run amok.

Bossy Betty said...

I know exactly how this happens! One thing leads to another and another and another....You had extra stress with company coming!

Sarah Ahiers said...

i'm pretty good about figuring out which projects i can do on my own and which ones i just need to hire someone for.
So we made our fence, but hired someone for our patio and wood floors

Talli Roland said...

Oh, Anne! That sounds like my idea of HELL. I'm absolutely rubbish with things like that and even worse taking instructions from people!

Glad you got through it!

Meghan Ward said...

OMG! What a weekend! And the pies, too! ARGH! I hope you have a better Thanksgiving!

DL Hammons said...

If somebody says DIY...I run the other way - FAST!!!!

Hold my hand: a social worker's blog said...

Oh my Lord!! Hope you have gotten some rest by now, and that you have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my story. I appreciate :-))

Doris

Len Lambert said...

Hello, Anne, yes! My husband and I have done the flooring of the whole house. And we still have one more bedroom to do *sigh* which we have been putting off for quite awhile now. It was exhausting, I felt ill after hours and hours being on my hands and knees doing the living room alone. I can totally relate to you.

Oh, sorry about the pumpkin pie. Hope all went well even without it.

Terry Towery said...

Yikes. Unfortunately, I've been the victim of many DIY projects gone awry. I am NOT handy, no matter how much I think I am. Remind me someday to tell you about my roofing project. :)

Shannon said...

My worst DIY is painting. It took three trips to the paint store, and a few weekends, to get it right. =)

Don't worry about the pie. One year my sister made pumpkin pie and forgot to add the sugar - she still hasn't lived that one down!

Amy DeTrempe said...

Oh, dear. Every time I take on a house or yard project it just becomes a monster of his own. How come it seems so simple when we think about it, but it never turns out to be that way.

Unknown said...

DIY here always turns into DIwhy. Why did I ever think this would be a good idea. The end never justified the mean words everyone says when the pressure is on. ;)
Good luck with your belated holiday preparations :)