The Saga of the Table

This past weekend, most of my immediate family stayed with Lewis and me. To be a gracious hostess, I decided to make breakfast for everyone on Sunday morning. We were up rather late the night before, but we were going to church at nine, so I dragged myself out of bed super early to cook up some waffles and delicious buttermilk syrup.

Our apartment isn't very big, and the kitchen is the second smallest room in the place (second only to the bathroom). Due to this fact, we have rather small kitchen table. Luckily for us, the table came with two leaves, so we could expand it for company. So, while everyone was getting ready for church around us, Lewis and I began to do just that. We successfully pulled the table apart, laid the two leaves in place, and while we were in the process of pushing the whole thing back together... it died. Right there as we were holding it. Instead of sliding shut nicely, the metal runners buckled and the whole thing caved in. Lewis and I just stood there, holding our respective halves, staring at mess the catastrophe created. Table leaves and runners in a mangled heap on the floor. Small bits of the linoleum top strewn about. Lewis, chewing his lip, trying not to swear in front of my parents. And we just stood there. And stared. I don't think I spoke for about ten minutes.

Of all the furniture, the dining table is one of the most essential. And ours just broke.

My dad came and helped us piece the metal runners back together. Was the operation salvageable? We took the leaves out of the equation for a tiny table is better than no table at all. However, as we attempted to recreate the original, the whole thing caved in on itself again. #@$%.

Still not speaking, I finished making breakfast, a process which was complicated greatly by the loss of the table. Not only is the table used for eating, but with a grand total of two very small counters in our Wymount kitchen, the table is also a useful tool for food preparation. But I did it and everyone ate off their laps, except for Evie, who ate off of Cassie's lap.

There was a chance that the table could be fixed, but probably not for very cheap, and not with any of the tools we had then. But we still needed a table. We were going to have a big family dinner later that day, and as much as I adore all of my family members, they are my family members and hence, like me, so we all spill occasionally. And I really like our couch, so... we needed a table to eat from!

Luckily, Lewis' parents came to the rescue and lent us a couple of folding tables. A square one to prepare food on and a longer one to eat off of. Fantastic!

So, the short-term problem was solved, but the long-term one was wide open. We can't keep the folding tables forever. At about 8:30 that night, Lewis and I begin our ksl.com and craigslist search. We needed something cheap and not ugly, although that criterion was somewhat negotiable.

About twenty minutes into our search, the table was found. 54 inches long, a few scratches, but in otherwise good condition. Came with four, high-backed chairs and a more reliable-looking leaf. Sold.

The only issue was, the table was in Midvale, which is a good forty minute drive, and the selling family is going on vacation today (Monday) and wouldn't be back til Saturday. And it was 9 o'clock at night. But we really needed a table!

The seller was really nice, though, and said, no problem come on up tonight! So we did. And we managed to get not only the table into the car, but also all four of the chairs (we thought we would have to come back for those another time). And now, even though I am exhausted from getting up at 6:30 am yesterday morning and going to bed at 12:30 am last night, we have a table! And it looks nice!

In the end, the whole thing is pretty funny. Our table broke! I was pretty darn furious at the time, though...