How to Waste 5 Hours

Let me just begin this post by telling a little story.

When I was in school my mom thought that enrolling me in an all day class to "Learn to Study" was needed. Clearly she was right.

But it was on a Saturday so I was less than thrilled to be going.

The class begins with the instructor explaining the importance of reading directions in full before proceeding. So he hands us a worksheet and tells us to begin. I start answering these questions one after another. I remember thinking, "Wow, these are so easy." I was plowing through. At a certain point, when I was almost finished, I heard some giggling and I looked up from my paper to see a few classmates sitting with their hands folded while the rest of us idiots were scribbling away. That's when I realized that something was going on and decided to read the rest of the questions.

When I got to the very last question it said something like this....

Do not answer questions 2-25.

Doh!

You would think that I would have learned my lesson but I didn't.

I have wasted a good portion of my life doing things over because I didn't read directions. I have destroyed many good ingredients because I have added them in the wrong order or have simply left them out.

This is how I most recently wasted 5 hours of my life.

When we first bought this house we purchased this completely utilitarian shelf to make up for the lack of cabinet space and pantry. It has served it's purpose but I've always hated how sloppy it looked and I wasn't thrilled at everyone being able to see our junk.

Now the ultimate plan is to redo the kitchen and have a custom piece made for this space but that's not in the budget any time soon.

So I purchased this cute little hutch from JC Penney.
With all of the furniture I've put together over the years I should be a pro, right?

#1 The foam was broken up into 3 kazillion piece with enough static electricity to power a small mansion. I had to vacuum each piece before assembling it.

#2 I put it together and took it apart again at least three times because I didn't read the directions far enough to see that I was missing a part. All the while time is ticking, ticking away.
Oh my gosh, Rachael Ray is on. Is it 10:00 already?
Wow, the 12:00 news is on.
You get the picture.
So four hours later this is what I had.




Sad right?



#3 Then it took me another hour to clean up the 3 kazillion pieces of foam.
It was everywhere. My hair, the carpet....the bathroom???
By the time I finished I didn't even care anymore.
I just threw our junk in the cabinets and I haven't touched it since.
It needs some decorating but I think the hutch and I need a little time apart.

I think the moral of this story is quite obvious:
Read your instructions IN FULL before proceeding.