Monumental Summer

It is certainly a monumental summer. For starters, this summer will mark the FIRST summer in the last 12 years that my parents have not helped my sister Ashley or myself move. Ash and I always commenced our moving exercises in the dead heat of summer. Ash and I ususally lived in places with no fewer than two flights of stairs. We've moved from dorms to home, from home to apartments, from apartments to apartments, from apartments to houses, and from apartments to San Diego. I would assume that our parents are tired of moving their daughters from place to place. I would also assume that this monumental summer, with its lack of movement, has not gone unnoticed by our parental units. So by assumption, you would generally think after all these moves and all this time that they would be tired. Monumentally tired would be my guess.

But that, in fact, is not the case. Our parents have an energy and a drive that escapes me. If you met our mother you would find that she really is the energizer bunny trapped in a human body wearing tennis shoes. If you met our father you would find that he really is a trooper despite his love of Sunday afternoon naps. They work all week long, have date night every Wednesday night with our second set of parents, travel on the weekends, stay up later than we do, and get up earlier than we do. Energy, my friends, energy.

Most SC visits by my parents over the last 12 years have involved some sort of heavy lifting, lots of stairs, lots of sweltering summer heat, and lots of hard work. Did they help us move because they had to? No, they did it because they wanted to. They came to join our experience, to spend some time with us, and to help ease our burden. I think Ashley would say "ditto" to my thoughts.

So, it is also monumental that this summer, my mom journeyed down to SC, for the first time ever, without the accompaniment of my father. She came to use mandated vacation and my dad stayed home to work and watch after the cats. And for the first time that I can recall, Kade and I were able to get my mom to not work on her visit. That task in itself is monumental.

Instead we chose to climb mountains with her. Massive mountains. With lots of stairs. In the middle of summer. I guess the only difference between this visit and the last 12 years is that there was nothing to move. No furniture. No boxes. The only thing that required moving were her legs as she climbed to the top and then to the bottom of the mountain and the waterfalls. Dad better rest up. Next time we're taking him climbing!

Elevation of Chimney Rock

At the top with Mom

At the top with Kade

Hickory Nut Falls at Chimney Rock

At the bottom of Issaqueena Falls

Mom at the bottom of Hickory Nut Falls, sans tennis shoes

View of Chimney Rock

View of Lake Lure from Chimney Rock

Dancing

3 Items most people forget make their lives comfortable:

1. A front door that has the ability to be locked without hammering a piece of wood and two nails to it.
2. Kitchen Cabinet pulls
3. Kitchen Drawer pulls

To all of you who have these items, and have had them, you are blessed. Believe me, you are. Although the infamous piece of wood with two nails we used as a deadbolt was quite secure, I feel 164 times better knowing our front door can be now be locked, thanks to the wizardry of Kade and Galloway. The front door also has a repaired screen door so summer breezes can dance through the house.

As for the cabinet drawers, it broke my heart to watch Kade get so frustrated trying to open them. I could open them, but I had to position my fingers between the cabinets just right and apply enough force to actually OPEN the drawer without pinching my fingers to pieces. The precision it took to open them was like watching a ballet. Without the slippers, the tutu, or my hair in a bun, of course. Kade's hands were designed to wield a hammer, to throw a frisbee, to reach items on the top shelf that I can't. They were not designed to handle a delicate choreographed dance required to open cabinet drawers without handles. Thankfully, with the addition of our installed hardware, Kade no longer has to dance. In the kitchen. On the dance floor, well, that's another story.

A stripped and LOCKED front door with its new blind.

Our cabinet pulls

Our drawer pulls

4.3

For the most part I trust Kade. Sometimes he lies to me on purpose just to see if he can get a reaction. But I can normally spot those harmless lies after a few questions. Plus, these kinds of jokes provide him with great humor. And I'm okay with a little fun at my expense. So on most things, he's generally above board. The one thing, however, that I don't trust Kade about is his estimate of time. I know that evening events like $1 beer night at the ballpark and spur of the moment weekend events like 3 hour trips to Home Depot sometimes throw time estimates out the window. Normally, when he gives me a time estimate, I multiply by 4.3, to give me a more approximate number. This serves two purposes. One, it helps me get a more accurate time frame of completion. Second, it helps me not be frustrated when things aren't completed in his original time frame.
For instance, Kade told me earlier last week that he was going to sand and paint the master bathroom this past weekend. Using my 4.3 mulitiplier in days, I was pleased to know that I would have a painted bathroom by this coming Thursday (like in 3 days). Boy was I shocked when he proved me wrong and sanded and painted the bathroom this weekend!! Between me and you, I am POSITIVE he decided to go ahead and paint it just to throw a curve in my 4.3 calculation data.

On a more boring note than the 4.3 multiplier, I originally wanted a light cream for the bathroom walls. Kade wasn't so sure. He said he wanted a little darker hue than my boring selection. In the spirit of compromise, we actually made Robert (our Home Depot paint man) proud when we got the paint this last time. We chose one, agreed, matched it to the tile, and asked him to mix it. In some ways, Robert probably has his own 4.3 muliplier for us. We told him back in February we were coming back soon for bathroom paint. But haha!! Our last paint visit certainly threw a curve into Robert's 4.3 calculation data.

Bathroom walls in "Macchiato"

Harley, holding the ladder steady for Kade

A wall & tile close-up

Harley's window perch

p.s. In case you were curious, I did not sit around all weekend with my feet up with an umbrella drink in my hand. I was outside stripping. The.Front.Door.folks! Warning: getting stripper on your bare skin burns. A Lot! Let this be a lesson to you.