loving albany: And We Didn't Even Get A Divorce!

Because that's what assembling furniture will do to us.

My husband and I cannot put together anything from Ikea without coming incredibly close to a divorce. It's not about the product, it's the process.

When I open the box, I take it all out and make sure all the parts are there. Down to the last screw. Because everybody knows sometimes Ikea leaves you a screw short and then you are screwed. When he opens the box, he flips through the instructions and gets annoyed. How can anyone possibly understand this? Words are said. Blood boils. Divorce...almost.

I'm the methodical step by step organizer. He's the results oriented, conceptual big thinker.

He just wants to get there. I like to enjoy the ride.

You get it.

So when it came to assembling the Craigslist bunk bed, I pre-empted the whole thing. "We will not get a divorce over this bunk bed." "If it gets to a point where we're both really pissed, we'll stop and walk away." "The kids can always sleep on the floor for another night." Hug.

That really happened.

And so did a successful assembly.

Before

I was so anxious about the impending divorce, I didn't get a shot of the bedroom with two twin mattresses on the floor before the husband brought the hardware up from the livingroom.

More Before

Just close your eyes and picture those two mattresses side by side on the floor, feet to the window. There, that's the real before.

Helpers!

And these are the helpers who witnessed our no divorce promise. See, still smiling.

Yes.

Then this happened. Notice no more kids...they got bored about 2 seconds into the assembly. Notice darkness outside the window...it took patience and time to follow each step accordingly. Notice no husband...it was at this point he looked at me and said, "So, you got this from here, right?"

It was definitely pushing into dinnertime and definitely only-piddly-screws-left-that-one-man-can-finish-this-thing-up time. So, no, that wasn't an avoiding divorce comment.

Finished

He helped me move it into place, snugly between the back wall and the door.

Too snug

And then I realized the dresser had to move, too. A small room doesn't need a squeezed entry.

Done! For Now.

Ta da! Ok, wait, yes, those are suitcases on the floor. And no, that's not the final dresser. The laundry basket is not an appropriate hamper. And we really should get a rug in there.

But at least the bunk bed is up and the boys love it. #2 on the top, #1 on the bottom. It was a compromise. And it works!

So, no divorce. I even pushed my luck and did this on the weekend, too.

More Assembly

Complete!

We got a call that our coffee table came in, so Steve drove over to pick it up. I had him measure our trunk -in the rain- before he took off. No surprises.

He called when he got to the loading dock and laughed at me. It came in a box (see the first pic) and we had to assemble it. What!? The loading guy wished him luck...after commenting how difficult it was to put together. But it turned out fine. I really took advantage of that no divorce talk.

So here's the table now.