Sur la Table - Part Deux

 I completed two years of high school French and yeah, I still had to look up that simple phrase.

This is a Continuation of What Did Surely Take Apart Now - Table Edition.

This morning had me messaging my BFF to talk me out of lighting the dining table on fire.  So, yeah, this is going well.

Yesterday I did, what I thought was, the final step for the table: clear coat.  I'm beyond ready for this project to be done. But like for real though.  The plan was to finish it on Saturday morning while Kevin was at work. Then I woke up and was all "That's a no from me, dawg."  So I took a break.

Sunday morning I woke up and was ready to be done.  Kevin took Lucy to get coffee and work outside and I got to it.  Applying clear coat is almost as soothing as sanding.  I was so vigilant in making sure I didn't miss a spot or apply more than necessary.  When I stopped, it looked good.  

My plan was to apply another coat then be all done.  One more night of eating at the island in the kitchen; which is uncomfortable, we've discovered.  We never eat dinner there, in sixteen years. We need different stools, I think.

Anyway.

I went into my office to work on the photo project.  I figured if I went into a complete different room, I would leave the table alone and not fuss with it.  And that plan worked.  An hour later I walked out to check it. 

 I am not a crier.  It has to be something big - either anger or laughter because my emotional responses are mixed up - to get me there.  I was so there. 

After some grown-up words, I took the photo and walked away.  Kevin walked in a few minutes later, perhaps sensing a shift in the force, to see how things were going.  He was more disappointed For me than by the table.  He just shrugged and said "Go buy a new one. And I mean a NEW one."  

I told him that I would fix it, I just needed to figure it how.  I saw as he considered talking me out of it, but spotted impending doom and went back outside.

Okay, that was yesterday. Now we're back in real time.  

My friend said to just sand it and try again, completely unphased and positive.  I felt relief that it would maybe be an easy solution and also frustration for not trying that Yesterday.  I said that I would try again and agreed not to light it on fire. YET.

Sanding is soothing but not on a table that you've worked hard to make look nice.  I had to get out of my head a little bit to start again sanding on the table.  Then I remembered how frustrated I was yesterday and suddenly my hesitation was gone.  

I sanded and sanded and wiped everything down like my life depended on it.  Then I waited about thirty minutes and worked in my office to let everything settle down.  I'm trying really, really hard not to rush or be impulsive. THIS IS AGAINST EVERYTHING I AM.

Finally, I decided it was now or never.  I applied the clear coat again and tried to appease the universe while doing so.  Thinking positive thoughts, listening to happy songs on the radio, having faith that my BFF is right and this will fix it.  Putting the positive out there in any way that I can.

Then I cleaned up the mess while not cleaning up all the way in case I need to do it again.  Plan for the worse, hope for the best.  Because let's be real here: it's me.  But this is the second coat so I *should* be finished.

Meanwhile, I was supposed to be doing errands already and Lucy is 100% over this project.  I can't imagine her super nose is appreciating these fumes and she hates that I've moved one of her FOUR beds.  And she has Kevin's resistance to things being in disarray. Clearly there's a ride in the truck waiting for her.  Just not today.

And now it's been a few hours since I began this post.  The table looked good.  It turned out.  And THEN, spots showed up AGAIN.  Less than before but STILL.  FML.What had happened was Kevin asked how it was going and I reluctantly told him it looked good. He was surprised but happy. Then I got brave and sent him a photograph.  Then...the universe laughed at me.

I sanded again, wiped it clean again, and applied the clear coat again.  Now I've walked away because I just can't even.  

Overall, it's still a win.  Overall, it's probably fixable if this coat doesn't do the trick.  It's just Classic Surely of underestimating a project and losing interest about three-quarters toward completion.

But look, it looked good here:

The white shadows are from the windows

Shiny side: it still looks better than when I started.  

Shiny side: visualizing setting it on fire is soothing

Shiny side: Even if the weirdness returns, no lives were lost in the process. YET.

And finally, I wrote those three sentences before realizing they were unintentional puns. I'm blaming it on the fumes.