Knowing your limits

Do you know your limits? I don’t know mine.

I ignore the signs that I am reaching them and power on.

For example, I asked the youngest to come to IKEA with me because I’d had an IDEA.

I wanted to give DD a gift. A gift that was bulky and heavy. So I needed her help.

Why the gift?

It’s his birthday in a few months and it coincides with a work trip, so I am going with him to celebrate and it’s easier to give the gift in advance.

Plus he came back from his epic month-long business trip on Monday morning, so I decided a double surprise was in order: an early birthday present combined with a welcome-home present.

My idea: a whisky cabinet!

I wanted one that felt a bit beachy to match the palm tree and frangipani vibe at his place. Beachy whisky cabinets are not easy things to procure. I also didn’t want to spend the kids’ whole inheritance on it.

Hence the trip to IKEA.

I convinced myself that since the navy cabinet I had spotted online was metal it would come in one piece.

Yeah, right. Virtually no item of furniture at IKEA comes in one piece.

It came in a gazillion pieces, including seven very heavy sheets of glass.

And I was already tired by the time I’d done the loop of the IKEA showroom. My tendonitis was killing me.

The youngest wrangled the boxes into the back of the car but didn’t have time to go all the way to DD’s to help me get it out of the car, so I grabbed a moving trolley from the garage and headed up on my own.

Nothing I have mentioned up to this point was a good idea for someone who is supposed to be avoiding putting a strain on her tendons, but anyhoo, that’s how I ill-advisedly roll.

When I got to DD’s place I hefted the two extremely heavy IKEA boxes up the stairs and into his living room and got to work assembling the cabinet.

I am bull at a gate when it comes to these things and didn’t wear glasses to ensure I was reading the instructions correctly … so I made and had to unmake the base of the cabinet twice.

But after that it was pretty easy compared to some IKEA furniture I’ve assembled in the past.

Here’s what the finished product looks like – I am very pleased with it … and check out the book on top!

DD was too tired to properly take it in when he tottered through the front door yesterday morning, but he was very pleased with it and I think he will really enjoy it once the jetlag wears off.

I can barely walk after making the bloody thing, as I appear to have somehow torn all my muscles in the glute region to add to my tendonitis.

Ooops.

After making the cabinet, I tidied up his kitchen and living area, went to the supermarket for fresh milk etc, then made him a pot of bolognaise sauce.

I was so knackered by the time it was all done that I didn’t have the energy to blog. And I was also so delirious with tiredness that I couldn’t think where to find a doona – (in the next bedroom) and almost froze to death in his bed on Sunday night.

I felt terrible yesterday morning, like I was coming down with something. But I think I just had a bad case of not knowing my limits.

Fortunately our destination for his birthday is really warm and I cannot wait because I am worn out by 2024.

And it’s only June!

I also got the fantastic news yesterday that I don’t have to work while I am away on DD’s birthday business trip. I had offered to work due to being part of a small team and another staffer being away at the same time, but the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to be stuck at a keyboard. I just want to swim in the ocean, laze around and unwind.

It’s still a way off though, so I’d better get myself out of bed, into the chilly morning air and off to the office.

Oh, and somehow I need to find time to finish off my next book … which was due at the publisher over the weekend … but I still have a few hours of tippetty-tapping to go due to all the time I lost making the cabinet.

Argh!

Song of the day: Crowded House “Better be home soon”