But today was a different story. Here's a timeline:
7am: Katie and Andrew wake up
7:30: Put Morty and Elmo in their carriers
8:00 Arrive at the vet clinic to board Morty and Elmo
8:30: Are told that Morty and Elmo aren't up to date with shots (they are, we just don't opt for ones like Rabies since they're indoors), so they'll each need a Rabies vac which is only $17 per cat. And that fecal sample we brought in? For them to check that, it's $31. And since they need shots, they'll be getting a visit from the vet. That's $43 each. So, adding in the fee to board the cats, $13.50 per cat, per day (as we were told over the phone - the only cost that was mentioned), the total will be $240. To board the cats. For three days.
8:45: Arrive at Lowes to rent sander. Girl in paint department says "Uh, I dunno about that sander; it hasn't been working." The manager of the dept had told us three days before that it was. When we called to reserve it last night, we were told that it works. We wait while she makes halfhearted attempts to call around. We're assured by customer service that it indeed works.
9am: My grandparents are due to arrive - they're always early, so we're nervous that they're already at our house.
9:20: Andrew tests the machine. It works. He goes to attach the sand paper. The attachment for the sandpaper is missing.
9:30: The friendly (=dipshit) people at Lowes can't find any attachments - they'll call us back.
9:40: My grandparents arrive. My grandpa takes a look around for about 30 seconds and starts sanding with a hand sander. Keep in mind, he's 85 (and totally badass).
9:45: The folks at Lowes call back. No sander attachment.
9:50: I call K&K Harware (a local place). They have a sander. Andrew and I leave to pick it up.
10:45: We arrive back with the new sander. Did I mention they're godawful heavy?
11:15: Andrew and Grandpa start sanding, and the grit isn't heavy enough. Grandma and I leave to go get better sandpaper.
11:30: I start calculating how much we've spent on this project. I realize it's getting really, really expensive after I spend $40 on Sandpaper
Noon: Grandma and I put up new curtains in the kitchen. Looks cute
1pm: Men are still sanding. Getting nowhere. We decide to break for lunch.
1:15: My diet is put on hold - Grandma brought potato salad, cake, zucchini bread, creamed corn, tomatoes from the garden, bean salad, and cucumber salad (keep in mind - when she asked if she could bring anything, I said "I can get some deli meat and we can do sandwiches, if you'd like to bring a salad that would be great." This was the best part of the day by far.
2pm: Andrew realizes that the sander is getting nowhere. Calls Menards.
2:30: We usher everyone out the door, Grandma and Grandpa leave (letting us know they can come back tomorrow, which is super sweet), and we go to Menards to get a new sander. This will be #3 for the day, and keep in mind, they're heavy.
3pm: We're back at home, we attach the sanding pads, everything is great for about 30 seconds and then a disc of sand paper flies off.
3:30: I break out the superglue.
3:35: We call Menards and ask for another sander. I start crying. We've been up since 8am, spent roughly $500, and have achieved nothing.
3:50: Menards is FANTASTIC. They have a new sander ready to go, with new attachments, waiting with someone to load it into the car.
4:10: We lug the sander back into the house. This is #4. It's still heavy.
5pm: The air conditioning has to be off to sand, and the house reaches 80 degrees. The stain on the floors, instead of turning into powder, is turning into a dark brown liquid. We decide it's gotten too humid, quit sanding, and turn back on the AC.
5:15: Katie meltdown.
5:30: Andrew decides it's time to take a nap while we wait for the house to cool down.
6pm: Sleepytime.
6:30: We wake up and go back to sanding. The floor is still liquifying, and we're going through these sanding discs (at $5 a pack) like they're water.
7pm: We need more discs. We decide to return sander #1 to Lowes and get more pads.
7:30: The people at Lowes have no idea what they're doing. The nice lady at customer service is wonderful, but the other 3 (yes, three) people trying to figure out our return are a disaster. We forget to get the sanding discs.
7:45: We stop at Menards to get the discs.
7:50: Andrew tells me that we're just going to have to sand all day tomorrow (which means no geo caching at the Putnam museum with my ESA group, which I'm really bummed about) and we have no idea how long this project will last. But, dammit, we're not sanding all night, so he's going to take me to a movie this evening (since I didn't get to see the movie last night).
8pm: Andrew resumes sanding. Makes good progress in the guest room and does a great job on the hallway.
9pm: Andrew quits sanding, I start blogging.
9:15: I post this, move to the shower, and hopefully have a fantastic time seeing Julie and Julia.
Ugh, what an icky day. One disaster after another for 12 stinking (hot) hours, and so little to show for it.
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