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Thursday, March 01, 2012

Splat!


This is our no-longer-sunken living room, now with the old carpet reinstalled and the furniture moved back into place. It looks inviting and innocent, doesn't it? Well, let me tell you...looks can be deceiving.

After filling in the sunken living room with seven inches of cement, we had to wait three weeks for the cement to be sufficiently dried to permit the carpet and furniture to be put back. We spent two of those weeks on a trip to Florida, to get away from the disorderly house.

The second day after our return home, the carpet layers came to reinstall the carpet. Within an hour of their departure after finishing the job, I went sprawling onto the newly laid carpet, having forgotten that the seven-inch step down into the living room was no longer there.

Later that evening, I was in the computer room when I heard the sound of rapid and heavy footsteps on the wooden floor of the entryway, accompanied by an astonished catching of breath, as Doug struggled to keep his feet under him, having forgotten that he didn't have to step up the seven inches to exit the living room.

As the days went by, we became practiced at talking ourselves through each entering and leaving of the room; and, although there were some close calls, there were no more falls.

Then, tonight, Doug was in the computer room with me when the hour rolled around for one of his favorite television programs. He dashed for the living room, to turn on the set before he missed something important on the program. From the computer room, I heard it...splat...the sound of a body skidding across the carpet in a belly flop.

From the computer room, I called out, "Did you fall?"

From the floor of the living room came the answer, "I'm not telling."

We're getting too old for this.

Update October 16, 2015...My niece, Beckie, found this Minions cartoon, and I couldn't resist adding it to this post:

See the source image


Thanks to Hilary at The Smitten Image for including this post as a Post of the Week.




23 comments:

  1. oh my goodness! i'm laughing, but at the same time, i'm not!!! i can only imagine how hard retraining your brain and body would be to that!!

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  2. That's funny as long as no one gets hurt.

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  3. I've heard that it takes thirty days to break a habit. I hope you guys last that long.

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  4. Theresa - I'm glad I could give you a chuckle We were surprised at how hard it's been to retrain ourselves. Plus, who would have thought that it would be just as dangerous trying to take a step that isn't there as it is to forget to take a step that IS there?

    Ruth - Fortunately, we're both overweight, so we bounce pretty well. :)

    Stephen - Ha! I hope we last that long, too. And I hope we learn that fast!

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  5. I'm sorry, but it's just so funny! You paint a perfect picture of the falls!
    Yes, the room does look great. Why did you decide to level the floor?
    And...I have to ask...did Doug miss the show?

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  6. Hopefully you will not have many more accidents.

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  7. Ethelmae - I'm still laughing over Doug's belly skid last night, so don't feel badly about laughing with us.

    He might have missed the opening of his TV program, but it wasn't enough to spoil it for him.

    As for why we decided to level the room...the main reason was that we were getting water in the living room during heavy rains. We'd had enough of that. But we had also both suffered falls when we failed to lift our feet high enough as we left the room. So, we figured, if we level the floor and eliminate the step, we'll also eliminate the falls. Ironic, isn't it?

    Steve - "Hopefully" is the key word here. :)

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  8. You do a great job of drawing mental pictures of your falls. This is almost as good as hearing your story in person last night. It really IS funny that it is such a big issue. One of those things that you wouldn't think about until you've experienced it!

    Glad you haven't been hurt so that you're still able to meet us for dinner. :)

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  9. Sandra - Actually, I was kind of glad you hadn't read this before I told you about it because it was fun to see your face and hear your laughter as I told it. It really is ironic that we've fallen more since removing the step than we ever did when it was there.

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  10. Those were some great mental imagaes I just had. I hate to tell you this but 17 years ago I moved a light switch to the other side of the wall. Late at night I still reach for that light switch that is no longer there. I suggest a thicker pad and quick before someone gets hurt. Good luck! :-)

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  11. GQ - Ha! You made me laugh with your story of the light switch. Ah, those old habits are near impossible to break, aren't they?

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  12. LOL ... I can just imagine it, it must really mess with your footing! :o)

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  13. Deborah - It messes with our footing AND with our minds. :)

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  14. Oh my Linda, you do have a special way of telling a story! Terry and I are not laughing at you...but with you :) :) And, by they way your NEW room looks lovely!

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  15. Isn't it "funny" what are ??mind chooses to remember ????

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  16. Oh no! Old habits die hard. I can identify that feeling, when you think there's one more stair. :) Hope there are no more falls...you might just have to put that step back!

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  17. Cheryl - Good point about the odd things our minds choose to remember. Sometimes, it's not only funny, it's painful. :)

    Elizabeth - In order to put the step back, we'd have to raise the floor in the rest of the house; and, while we're not exactly tall, those ceiling fans could become hazardous. :)

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  18. Oh my.. I'm sorry but that's hilarious. It puts me in mind of someone walking into a glass door which they thought was open.

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  19. Hilary - Ha! I've done the glass door thing, too. Maybe I'll tell that story some day. :)

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  20. Congrats on your POTW. Pratfalls when not one's own are always funny.

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  21. I so get that....too old for falling. I'm still suffering from a fall last summer....this poor old body.
    So now I am wondering, WHY did you unsink your living room??

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  22. Just stopped by again for a quick laugh and to say congrats on POTW!

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