What We Did This Weekend: Divide and Conquer

Technically, I believe that the phrase "divide and conquer" refers to a military strategy to subjugate an enemy and take control of their lands. United we stand; divided we fall. I don't dispute the strength of solidarity, but Saturday Brookie and I divided our efforts in order to achieve our weekend's objectives.

Brookie's Saturday:
After Todd and I decided that we should divide our resources and do seperate things that day, we drove to Westlake Ace Hardware and met up with the rest of the youth who had read the Book of Mormon for the summer (and for the girls, those who had passed off their Virtue Project as well). Todd drove us up to Worlds of Fun and headed out to accomplish a whole list of tasks I had left for him. After all the youth and leaders had re-assembled and applied various coats of sunscreen, we were off to the park!

Side note: It just so happened that this was the hottest day of the year (after we have had a gorgeous summer of 70's and 80's days - Saturday was projected to be 97, and I think it was actually more like 120). Another side note: I don't ride roller coasters. But I had my book (Your Newborn Head to Toe; I would highly recommend it if you have a newborn or want a newborn), my iPod, some snacks, and my water bottle, so I was set. The kids got into groups and first rode the Patriot, then we headed to the Mamba, and a few others. Soon it was lunch time and we all headed to the meeting spot to chow down our sack lunches. I brought a Fiesta Chicken Wrap purchased from Hy-Vee that morning, a bag of 100-calorie sun chips, an apple, and carrot slices, but I was drooling at the chocolate cupcakes one of the mothers had packed for her daughter.

After lunch, we were back at it. The kids hit the Prowler, Boomerang, and flying Monkeys (or something like that). Our original plan was to be there from open to close, but about 5pm the kids (and leaders) started to look like Zombie's. After some delicious dippin' dots, we all decided to ride one more ride, then head home.

On our way home, I realized that I don't think I have ever been that sweaty in my life, and I also realized that I am getting old. Despite being at a theme park for 9 hours on Saturday and not participating in any of the rides* I realized that I was having fun watching my girls have fun....I know that makes me sound old!

*I did go on one ride, the Fury of the Nile, which is a floating raft ride that isn't very exciting, but gets you wet, which helped with the heat!

Todd's Saturday:
After cleaning the bathrooms at the stake center with Brookie, we drove to the designated meeting place for the youth's Worlds of Fun day trip. Before going to bed the night before, Brookie made a to-do list for me, outlining what I should be doing while she was at the amusement park with her girls. I had been planning on going along for the fun all summer, but then we realized that we had too much to do, and if we both went to World's of Fun, it would tie up all of our resources for the entire day. So, despite not really wanting to split up for the whole day, we decided that Brookie would go, and I would stay home and try to check off some of our errands. So, I drove Brookie and three of the youth to the park, dropped them off, and then went home to start working on my list.

First up was cleaning. Brookie knows me well enough to have broken down the to-do list to specific aspects of the cleaning: dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, laundry, kitchen, etc. I finished most of it by lunchtime, but had to run to the store for some cleaning supplies first. While I was out, I did some reconnaissance for another item on the list – find a new dining table.*

*Flash back a few months to when Brookie was working on some cute scripture bags to give her girls at Girls Camp. While she was working, trying to iron-on some pieces of fabric and the girls' names to the bags, she was using the iron at our dining table. Then, probably due to the heat and the pressure she was causing by pressing down on the iron, the corner of our glass table broke off and fell to the floor. We were really lucky that the glass didn't slice Brookie's leg. We have been making due with a broken table ever since.

I did a little research on Craigslist (I ♥ Craigslist) and found a table that looked like it might work. It had been posted by a small business in Grandview, Missouri Discount Furniture Mart. Turns out that they sell scratch and dent furniture that would otherwise be some high-end stuff. It's in a warehouse tucked off the road a little, but I found it and had a look at the table I'd seen online. It was pretty nice. And the best part was the price. We nearly purchased a table last week that was old, used, not nearly as nice, sagging in the middle, missing the table leaf, and would have required a lot of sanding and refinishing before it would have been ready to go, and was the same price as the table I found Saturday.

I tried calling Brookie from the warehouse to get her thoughts, but couldn't reach her. Then, while I was wandering around the warehouse, a large bookshelf with a distinctly contemporary feel caught my eye. When I saw what they were asking for it, I decided that we were going to be getting a table and some new shelves.

Unable to contact my beautiful wife, I left the warehouse and ran to the store for my cleaning supplies. By the time I returned home, I had made up my mind to purchase the furniture I'd found that morning. Brookie called me back a little later and she agreed. I called a few friends for help, found one that was available, and we drove his big van back to the warehouse. We loaded up, brought them both back to the house, and checked off "Find Dining Table" on my to-do list.



And that's what we did this weekend (that, and discovering another delicious impromptu frozen yogurt treat that involves rolling a ball of nonfat frozen yogurt in Fruity Pebbles and drizzling it with caramel topping. Think fried ice cream and multiply the fruitiness by about a gazillion and you'll get the picture).

Go to the board!