New Year, New Headliner

I have been getting a lot of flack for not updating the blog lately - but with two kids out of school for two weeks, being back at work with all the "refreshed and ready to start the new year!" crooning co-workers and a bad bout of tonsillitis - things like blogging, running, reading or anything else that requires a few moments spent solo have not been in the cards. I have not even read US magazine in weeks! I don't know if Tiger has surfaced, why everyone keeps talking about Conan, or if Brittany's fat, creepy hair-plugged husband actually off'ed her. It has been a bit dire. Excuses, excuses....blah, blah blah - I am back. The delay is not for lack of progress on the Red Bird though. When CJ and I first started dating, he was a Reserve Firefighter (which means he worked the same hours as he does now, without getting any dough - a little bit of a lifestyle cramper) so he worked as a mechanic on his days off. He had sore, oil stained fingers and told me funny stories of disgusting cars that he'd have to work on. Think of the show "Hoarders." This is California - every one's got a ride, not everyone cleans up. The Red Bird restoration has given him the same oil stained fingers, and after the last two projects of putting in the headliner and both windshields he's been popping the advil like crazy for his sore hands. I shall never take for granted the headliner of a car again. Look at your own car - that is some serious skill! Pulling that material taut, cutting the edges perfectly. Attempting it your own is kind of like making a bed with that infuriating fitted sheet where neither end looks like the right end. You put it on each corner of the bed and pull tight, tight....tighter - willing it to be the right side up. When the corner of your mattress starts to curl upward - you know you are toast, you must start over. Breaking a sweat, getting pissed, you begin again. Flip the thing around and try not to swear too much. Hannah charges me a quarter each time I am caught, and I'm not proud, but I owe her about $8 bucks. When the headliner costs you $200 bucks (not including shipping) - there is no starting over. No re-configuring. No trial run. You just kinda go for it. I decided I'd wait for Colin to tell me it was done, popping in to "see how it is going" on projects like this is not received well. I could just tell when he came in the house, or I called him from work that the project was not tons of fun. Finally, he said it was done, and to come take a look. He stared at me hopefully. My mom was over and wanted to see too...ouch, this could get ugly. Before I could open my mouth he said calmly, almost with warning "it is as good as it is going to get." I was catching the "keep your mouth shut woman" vibe he was throwing down, but why I never learn to just be silent in situations like this is astounding to me -even as it is happening. "But - what about this end?" I ask, hating myself. He explained he didn't know how much material he'd have to reach the other side - so it ended up a little....um, baggy, on one end. Now, no one would ever notice this. But for anyone that knows me - and this man knows me - I notice. Fixate. Things have to be "just so." I have learned/tried/pretended to be flexible. I have kids, and they destroy everything. It still takes some doing for me. When things are new and pretty and fresh out of the box - I want it to fly to the car like in a Disney movie carried on either end by two little birdies and magically place itself perfectly in it's rightful place - no puckering, no crookedness. The reality is - no birdies, 2 days, lots of coffee, lots of beer, lots of advil later - the headliner is in. And "as good as it is gonna get" is just fine. Hey, both windshields are in without being broken - so we celebrate the small the victories. Almost all of the exterior trim is on, including the front bumper complete with O'Neill Santa Cruz license plate frames...the Red Bird looks real, drive able, RED....ours.