Another Saturday...

This was my Saturday...

Wake up at 7. Sleeping in. But not good waking up. I heard Buddy hacking up a lung. Not good, I think. I rush in. Just bile. Dogs do that - though I've still not found a good reason why. Almost like cats have hairballs, dogs spew this yellow bile liquid. Fun. I let them out of their crates. They eat. They go outside. They come inside. And by this time, Joseph's awake.

Joseph calls Empire Today to ensure that they will be here by 8 a.m. Remember the story about Cleo destroying and Buddy eating the carpet? Well, we made the decision to start anew with a different kind of carpet. Instead of looped carpet - into which pets can insert their claws - we purchased twisted carpet.

When did we want it done? ASAP. That meant before Thanksgiving for me. That meant the next day for Joseph.

We tried a number of vendors. Carpet Liquidators told us their product was one thing (nylon) and it was something else entirely (polyester). Lenny the carpet guy had a good presentation, but was too sarcastic and didn't offer financing. Empire Today had good selection, a good salesperson, and the promise that it would be done Saturday morning starting at 8 and ending at noon. I warned Joseph that, based on the get together we were having Saturday night, we might want to consider getting the carpet laid during the following week. Umm, no.

So there we are Saturday morning. I'm moving the last of the stuff from the rooms - Empire Today moves furniture but nothing on top of the furniture. Joseph calls Empire Today. I hear a rather significant exclamation. 'Anytime between 8 and 6? Oh, no ma'am.' The fun begins. Joseph calls everyone connected with Empire Today and their mothers, fathers, and guardians telling them that they better get someone over in the morning to lay our carpet. Squeaky wheels get oil. Empire Today commits to having a team over by 9:30.

They arrive. A young Indian guy - from India - and a young Slavic-sounding guy. They begin. The Indian guy leaves. We don't see him again until close to finish. That leaves the Slav. But he knows what he's doing and seems to be working rather quickly. The dogs go into the guest bathroom; the cats go into one of the dogs' crates. Joseph and I go into the garage. I decide I'm not going to sit in the garage doing nothing, so we undertake the cleaning and organization of the garage. By noon, we accomplish a good deal. A garbage pile. A give-away pile. And all the rest of the 'keep' piles.

When, of a sudden, a Lexus SUV pulls into the driveway. 'Do you know who that is?' I ask Joseph. 'Nope'. So, off Joseph goes to talk to the person in the SUV. It's the Slav's wife come to talk to him. They don't talk for long before he comes back inside. But she doesn't leave. Instead, she comes inside too. And we just watch as this Slavic sitcom plays out. A kid pokes his head out the car - no more than 5 - and yells 'Hi'. Twilight zone carpet installation.

We go inside to see what's going on. She's just standing there talking to him as he lays carpet. Nothing wrong with that, we suppose. But he's not done yet and it's 1:30. Joseph asks for an estimated time of completion. The Slav says about 2:30. Great, people are coming over at 6.

The Slav's wife - equally Slavic I might add - tells me that her husband and she had read the biblical verse on the icon I have in my office. From John, they tell me. It's in Romanian. I nod knowingly. Jared had sent me the icon when he was doing work in Romania.

The Slavic wife finally leaves. But then returns again a short time later. Meanwhile, we put the finishing touches on the garage and come back inside to get a head start on putting the house back together. We start in the living room. Vacuum. Then move all the furniture into place. Then reconnect the TV, DVD, Cable box, Speakers. The limit of what we could do since the Slav's still working on the hallway and bedrooms. We wait.

The Indian guy returns at 2:30. The Slav then leaves with his wife. The Indian finishes up. By the time he leaves, it's 3. Time for the mad rush to make the house presentable to company.

First, the office. Vacuum. Throw all my books into the bookshelves. Arrange the furniture. Connect the computer. Second, the bedroom. Vacuum. Move the bed, side tables. Do some closet reorg. Then, the dog's room. Vacuum. Move the crates, TV, futon. By this time, almost everything is out of the hardwood kitchen dining room area. We're at 4:15.

I start on the bathroom. Joseph's cleaning the kitchen. 'Don't you have to go to the store,' I ask Joseph. He needs to get 'Pink' drinks - the get together is a fundraiser / rejoicing in the survival of the team for the 60-mile 3-day breast cancer walk. Joseph rushes off to the store. I continue cleaning.

Joseph returns, does his cleaning. I complete my cleaning. It's 5:30. We still need to shower and change. We're ready by 6. And good thing, since everyone begins arriving.

Originally meant to be a fundraiser, but not. Because only one person other than those on the team shows up. We figure because the economy's so bad. So we treat it as a dinner to celebrate the team. We talk, carry on, play a bit of Cranium and watch the Salt N Pepa Show. Meanwhile, I'm about to fall over. Because, although Saturday in its entirety was crazy, it still can't compare to the week.

That's still to come.