Mom’s New Floor

This weekend my neighbor Kathy and I laid laminate flooring down at my mom’s place. As with most projects of mine, this would have made for a great comedy show. Thank goodness Kathy knows what she’s doing, and thank goodness that she’s known me since I was a wee thing. Kathy has been the family neighbor since I was 3 years old. This means I am free to be myself, ask stupid questions, and make minor (very minor) errors in judgement. Kathy is also very logical, and thinks 9 steps ahead to properly assess the consequences of whatever action may be taken. And she is a teacher, and helps you learn to assess in that same way.

We started at 8a with breakfast and hot beverages. Then we took a short break so I could hear about her recent trip to Tea Cup Nationals (dog agility). Her pooch, Sassy, came home with medals in the double digits and just kicked butt overall. WOOT! Then we got to work and hit a stride, knocking out row after row of planks. Kathy had to take a quick break for a meeting, so I continued on, salivating each time I was able to use the power saw to make a cut (love the power tools… argh, argh). Then came time to measure and make a precision cut, which meant that it was my turn to take a break until Kathy got back. I can be overconfident most of the time, but I tend to draw the line at the point where the overconfidence can have monetary repercussions.

This is where the story gets interesting. However, you will never know that details of what happened because Kathy and I are sworn to secrecy. The job is done and looks GREAT – that’s all you need to know. I can tell you this, my ever-so-helpful mother put out all of the tools that she thought we’d need during the day. Kathy would ask for a tool and I would run to grab it and would not – could not – find it anywhere! Not in the tool box, not in the tool drawers, not in the junk drawer! I grew up in the house and couldn’t find a darn thing. Kathy did “find” the box cutter (in semi-plain sight on the kitchen counter) and also the dustpan (under the sink – not its usual home), and when mom came home she let us know that the rubber mallot was on top of the kennel. Great. Only 10 hours too late – yay!

I must tell you that my hamstrings are sooo sore today. I’m walking funny. I was on my knees a lot – thank you Wendy & Eric for the kneepads – but I also did a lot of bending and side-shuffling trying to get those planks to click into place. My quads are fine, but the hamstrings are screaming right now. It was all worth it, though! my mom loves it, and Kathy & I made a great team and are proud of our finished product. There are a couple more steps to complete the room, but the floor is just…wow.

Before

After