Suddenly Single Journey

Buyer’s Remorse…

Author: thenicknick

So we went to bed Saturday night, imagining this lovely relaxing day.  We couldn’t wait for the kids to come home and see the pool.  We were completely thrilled with the way everything had been going.

And then we woke up.

Sunday as I was puttering around, our only plan for the day to get more chicken wings for the fryer and pavers to create a lovely path from the patio to the pool, HE was out checking out the pool.  And when he returned he was frowning.  I walked out to the pool with him.

HIM: I don’t like it.  I’m not happy.

He had been walking around with a tape measure.  It wasn’t going to be as deep as he hoped.  It wasn’t going to be as sturdy as he hoped.  It wasn’t going to be…what he hoped.  And so…there I was…back to fixing things.

me: So, let’s return it and get the one with the frame.

HIM: I don’t know if it can be returned.

me: I’ll call.

HIM: And we’re going to waste all that water.

me: Nope.  There are ways around that.

And so we developed a plan.  We’d purchase the new pool, assemble it, set it it up where it was going to remain, and then syphon the water from one to the other.  It was a good plan.

We went to Sears.  I get a discount there.  Only my card hasn’t worked in FOREVER.  I’ve tried ordering new ones.  I’ve tried…everything.  My latest solution was to borrow one.

So, to buy the pool…and a new umbrella for the patio table…we used a borrowed discount card, my Shop rewards card, HIS credit card…and a partridge in a pear tree.  It was very nearly that complicated.  And we went home to set up the new pool.

There we are, car parked in the back yard again.  Setting up another pool.  Most people are lucky to have one, we currently have two.  Ridiculous.  Even he looked at me at one point.

HIM: Who does this?

me: Just us.  We like to keep it interesting.

As always, we worked together beautifully.  We laughed.  We joked.  We had a great time…until we decided it was time to add water.

HIM: I don’t think it’s level enough.  I think we’re going to have the same problem as before.

UGH.  Buyer’s remorse.

me: Where would you like it?

So we enlisted the help of Brian and Ed.  And we started toting the pool around the back yard.  There was a lot of…oh, let’s try it over there…and…just two feet that way…and…well, it’s definitely lower there, Nicki can see over it…

Finally…we decided to put it right where it was to start with.  Only…the ground was prepped first.

Yup.  I went in the house to get a drink and check my email.  When I came back…there was a pick ax, a tiller….wait for it…AND A TRACTOR.  Yeah.  Seriously.  There was blood, sweat, and tears.  Well, maybe no tears.

And in the middle of it all…the kids came home.

Rachel: We have two pools? What?

Keenan: TWO POOLS!

me: Yeah.  One for adults, one for kids.

HIM: We’re going to Sam’s Club to buy that big inflatable one.  We’re starting a water park.

Keenan: Really?!

me: No, not really.

And they went back inside to leave us to it.  Rachel was muttering something about how they never knew what they were going to find when they came back at the end of the weekend.  Later she decided that was one of the many things she loved about living with us.  Naturally.

So, just shy of 7pm we started pumping water from one pool to the other.  We are not wasteful.  We can’t afford to be.  And I was in the pool trying to get as many wrinkles out as possible.  And then I was skimming the pool.  And then I was vacuuming the pool.  And then I finally was back on dry land to order dinner.  That’s right.  So much for making chicken wings and potato skins.  We were ordering pizza.

It was a long day.  We finally stopped working about 10pm Sunday night.  I was feeling it.  We were both dragging.  It had been a long weekend.  Bishop found it to be particularly rough.  He was grounded most of it, stuck in the house, expected to stay out of trouble.  He looked absolutely pathetic by the end of it.

Then it was into the garage to plan the new week.  And into the garage to decompress.  And into the garage to reminisce.

I think we both agreed, the low point of the weekend was standing in line at Wal-mart.  You should definitely stop back tomorrow to read about that experience…My Version of People of Wal-mart…

Oh, and to read about my best wedding planning find…read today’s post on Wedding Journeys.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 at 6:38 am and is filed under Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.