Dear Darling Part 2

Dear Darling,

Well, after ten exhausting, back breaking, mind numbing days of work, the rooms are done.

Yes, I know I qualify as a thoughtful and considerate wife in that I managed to pull most of this off while you spent the week eating out at fancy Italian restaurants, snoozing on airplanes, hanging out with your work buddies, working hard on a business trip.

I spared you the headache of assembling a desk, dresser and three IKEA night stands.  I mean seriously, IKEA does not write out directions.  They use PICTURES and only PICTURES for CRYING. OUT. LOUD. You can only imagine how long it took me to get the legs on that desk!

Then there was the fact that I found a discounted Pottery Barn hutch to go on top of that darn cute desk.  

The problem?  It was navy blue and I needed it to be a lovely cream color.  

So I sanded, painted, sanded, painted, sanded, painted.  But look Sweetheart:  It turned out great!

Then there was the never ending paint jobs.  Three rooms in three days.  The taping, spackling, corners, baseboards, closet doors, CEILINGS.   Oh, I saved you a bundle with my free labor.

Please note the beautiful canopy bed in Samantha's room.  I had one picked out from Pottery Barn Kids.  But since 800.00 for a canopy and frame was not exactly in my budget I hit the classifieds.  I could not believe my good fortune when I found one for sale by a nice woman in Springville.  Rachel and I drove an hour each way in a snow storm but for  147.00 it was money well spent!

I hope you won't mind if I mention how difficult it is getting new carpet installed.  All the furniture out, closets emptied, stuff everywhere.  Nothing in its home could send a mildly OCD girl like me over the edge.  But I maintained my composure until the very last hours before you were scheduled to come home from Boston.  

In those final hours, discouragement started to overtake me.  You see, I really did not want you to have to come home to a mess, boxes of furniture to assemble, stuff to move, curtains to hang, beds to put together.  I'm just nice like that.    

I was pondering the sad predicament I had gotten myself into when the doorbell rang....

In walked some of my favorite people ever.  Grandma and Grandpa tackled the dresser and night stands  while Amy and Danny started putting the rooms back together.  It was awesome!  Like an episode of Trading Spaces.  In three hours, we had the rooms done!

You got to come home to a reasonably clean house and a very happy and relieved wife!

So  Darling, the fact that I went $603.36  slightly over budget should really be a non-factor here.  If you had to pay a designer, painter, mover, cleaner, professional shopper, vinyl lettering installer and furniture assembler, you would be nearly broke.

I know how grateful you are.  You've thanked me.  You've hugged me.  You've told me the rooms look great.  But if you wanted to take me out for a steak dinner, sinful dessert and then rub my feet and back for an hour or two, I'll let you.

Sincerely yours,

Kimberly

Dear Darling

Dear Darling,

It's me.  Your loving wife of eighteen years.
 
Have I told you lately how much I love being married to you?

Have I thanked you for your easy going nature and virtual inability to get mad at me?

Remember that time I drove your car into a pole?  I was so upset, I rushed in the house, ran right past you and called my dad.  After a deep breath, you  were so kind and understanding and completely agreed with me that it was the pole's fault.  You weren't even offended that I told my dad first.

You are amazing that way.

How about the time we were traveling to Las Vegas.  You were asleep while I took a turn driving.  I thought about stopping in St. George for gas but I really thought we could make it.  Oh the discomfort I felt at having to wake you up at 2:00 am in the middle of the desert to tell you that we had run out of gas.

Your response?  A very deep breath, that's all.

At this point in our lives, you are trying very diligently to get our house paid off.  You're doing great!!  I appreciate your "saver" mentality.  I do, really.  That is why I came to you with a strict budget of what I would spend when re-doing the kids' bedrooms.

One thousand dollars per kid, that's what I said.
You happily and willingly agreed and that was that until...

I ordered new carpet,
New paint for all three rooms,
Three new memory foam mattresses,
A new bed for Samantha, dresser for Rach, desks and nightstands for all three,
shelving, curtains, accessories and some very amazing Pottery Barn bedding.

I know.
Never look at Pottery Barn first.
Never. Never. Never.

Yes.  I did go a bit over budget.
But Darling, Love of my Life, Amazingly handsome, Brilliant, Sexy Husband---
their rooms are going to look spectacular!

I am telling  you this now so that you can breathe deeply all the way back from Boston.
With all those deep breaths, you are going to feel great!
You won't have to go running for at least two weeks!

Now, aren't you glad you married me?
You could never get this kind of cardiovascular workout with a Suzie Orman type woman.
See what a great team we make?

Sincerely--
Your loving and devoted wife,
Kimberly

See Sam Chapter 6

See Sam.

Sam just turned two.

That means Sam is getting big.  

Sam can put on her own shoes now.

Sometimes Sam likes to wear other people's shoes too.

One time Mom found Daddy's Sunday shoes outside in the garden with Sam's toys.

"Oh Sam," said Mom.

Mom washed Dad's shoes off and put them back in his closet.

Sam has two new sets of shoes for fall.

One pair is pink, one pair is brown.

Shoes are fun, shoes are neat!

Sam loves her new shoes.

Today Mom and Sam have a lot of leaves to rake.

"Hurry and get your shoes on Sam," says Mom.

Sam runs to her room.  

She searches for a matching set but she can only find one pink shoe and one brown shoe.

"Oh dear," sighs Mom.

"Let's go find your lost shoes."

Mom and Sam look for the lost shoes.

They look upstairs, they look downstairs.

They look outside and in the car and at Grandma's house.

Mom and Sam can't find the lost shoes anywhere.

Suddenly Sam has an idea!

"Wook Mommy!"  Sam cheers.

"Wook at my's feet!"

"Oh Sam, you're a smart kid!"  smiles Mom.

Happy Mom.

Happy Sam.