The Three Most Beautiful Words at Christmas-time...

"No assembly required"

I have a wonderful son. He knew his mom needed a new desk chair, so that's what he got me for Christmas.

He was already here, in my apartment, waiting for us when my mother and I arrived after church on Christmas Eve. I was so happy to see him you have no idea. He only lives about 45 minutes-ish away, but I don't see him anywhere near as often as I would like. He's grown into such an interesting person - I really enjoy spending time with him. But I digress.

I turned off the crockpot that had the roast cooking in it and put the cheesy-mashed potatoes I'd made that morning in the microwave to reheat. Then we sat down to exchange gifts. I couldn't help but notice the box (somewhat bigger than the size of a large window fan) on the floor near where he was sitting, covered by the blanket I usually keep on the couch. He said that it was for me, so I got up and pulled the blanket off the box. It was the new desk chair I wanted, albeit unassembled. It's actually a lot more comfortable than the one I had on my amazon wish list. Oops. I digress again.

So after I hugged him & kissed him, thanking him for his thoughtful gift, I said (only half joking), "you're going to put it together for me before you leave, right?"

He grinned his mischievous, little-boy-melts-your-heart-grin and said, "nah, you can do it!"

Getting into the spirit of things I raised my arm a-la Rosie the Riveter and said, "yeah! I can do it! I am woman, hear me roar!" (sometimes even I can't believe the things that come out of my mouth) I figured that it came with instructions, and if I got stuck somewhere I could always call my friend, Debbie, who lives upstairs, to help me get unstuck. No problem. (ha!)

Fast forward five days to yesterday. I finally got around to opening the box to put the chair together. At this point though, my bravado had pretty much vanished, and all I could think about was the lamp I tried to rewire a few months ago with what looked like a fairly simple kit I bought at Walmart that came with easy, detailed instructions (including pictures!) and I still couldn't do it. (Hi. My name is Lauren and I'm chronically instructions-challenged.) I only got about half of it done and Debbie had to come to my rescue, God bless her. (oh, and the half I did, I did wrong)

Still, I figured I had to try, so I opened the box and started pulling parts out. As I laid pieces on the floor I could feel my eyes bugging out of my head. "I'm supposed to put this together? Yeah. Right." Now to someone who knows what they're doing I'm sure putting something like that together isn't a big deal at all. But to me, it could have been the engine of a car spread out on my floor for all the sense it made to me. I know that dealing with a Fibromyalgia flare-up greatly contributed to my feeling so overwhelmed, but I'm still not proud of what I did next.

I texted Frank.

Having talked to him a couple of days ago (we got an offer on our house, which I have mixed emotions about) I had told him what Kevin got me for Christmas, so he already knew I was going to attempt to put it together. And when I expressed my dismay upon opening the box, he offered to stop by and put it together for me. I'm not going to lie and say that I accepted his offer just because I really wanted to be able to use my new chair today. (sure, I did, but we all know that's not the only reason) Yes, seeing him hurts (although I’ve been surprised to discover that it hurts a little less now than it used to), but I still want/feel the need to see him. I know I probably shouldn't have texted him at all, or I should have thanked him and said I'll ask Debbie to help me try to figure it out this weekend, but hey, I'm human. And when I'm exhausted and feeling needy and vulnerable because Fibro is kicking my butt, I have more weak moments than usual. Although I'm finally starting to get into the groove of my new life (and actually enjoy it sometimes), I still miss him terribly. He's been my best friend for almost 20 years, you know?

So anyway, Frank came over after he got out of work and had the chair put together in about 15 minutes. It is SO comfortable! It feels much better than the old, broken one I'd been using. (thank you, Kevin!) I'm very grateful that Frank's not like those guys that suddenly grow huge chips on their shoulders and treat their soon-to-be former wives like crap simply because they don't want to be married to them anymore. He's been very kind and has made it clear that he still wants to be my friend when I'm ready for that, and he's made himself available to me if I ever need him.

Still, as appreciative as I am, I don't like needing to be 'rescued' in this way. I'd like to be able to handle something like this on my own next time. So that means I am in need of 'how to read and follow instructions' lessons. Volunteers? Anyone? Anyone? (Bueller? Bueller?)