The parentals were in town this week to see my new house and to celebrate Thanksgiving. Even though the house is in mostly good shape, and I'd done what I could to make it all presentable, there were definitely some cosmetic things it needed to spruce it up a bit. And seeing as the folks were coming all this way, I figured I'd take advantage of the free labor and have them help me with a "few" home improvement projects.
They arrived on Tuesday, and I showed them the list of things that needed doing. We had a quick lunch, and shortly after that, it was off to the races. And by the time we were done, a "few" projects had somehow morphed into "many" projects, and all three of us were ready to collapse.
There were three trips to Home Depot, three light fixtures replaced, three GFI outlets installed, one bathroom faucet replaced, holes spackled and painted in almost every room, one deadbolt installed, one sink sprayer fixed, one curtain rod installed, one switch cover fabricated, one closet door fixed, one tub faucet re-caulked, one set of shelves reinforced... and a partridge in a pear tree. And somehow in the midst of all this, we even managed to cook a Thanksgiving Dinner. Wheew!
I managed to get to Tithing Settlement the other night, and mentioned all this to the Bishop, and that I was afraid I was about to kill off my parents. He laughed, and commented that Dad's love doing things like this, because it's something they can work on and be together as a family, rather than a contrived activity. I hope so. I know that I enjoyed it - I mean, even though I didn't have the skills to do it myself, at least I could help, and spend time with the folks at the same time. Priceless.
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