SO MUCH FOR THE POOL

So this pool we have is sorta a lot of work. Unfortunately, it is not one of those fancy shmancy in ground pools that automatically cleans, and filters, the water all by itself. As a result, we have to do this all by hand, on a daily basis.

Somewhere along the way there was some miscommunication between the Mr. and I, as I thought he was taking care of this, and he thought I was. It was strange to hear that he thought I was responsible for cleaning, and checking the chemicals, as I have no idea how to do it, and have asked him numerous times to show me and he has not. He also thought I was responisble for getting the filter to run 4 hours a day. Again, interesting, as there is no way that I would be able to lift the 200 lb (alright, it is not that heavy, but close enough) generator from the garage all the way into the back yard to get it plugged in so that the filter is able to run.

So we had been using the pool on a daily basis ever since we had purchased it. I had Mr. Shelton going out there to check it and get the filter going pretty much every day. Then we hit a colder, rainy spell here in Minnesota, so the pool went unused for 4 days. Over those four days I asked the Mr. to get out there and check the PH levels, and to get the generator out there so that we could run the filter. I kept getting, "yep, I will get to it" or sometimes I would just get a quick glance in my direction as he ran out the door to work. So, you get it, the pool was not being taken care of.

On the fourth day the kids ran out to the back yard to play and minutes later came running in the house with looks of horror on their faces. "Mommy, the pool is all green!"

Wonderful.

I went out to see if what they were saying was true, and sure enough it was. The pool was pea green. You could not see the bottom if you even tried it was so grossly green. All that work to get the pool set up and filled, only to have it ruined 3 weeks later. Not Happy. At all.

I have spent the last 2 days emptying the nasty water out of the pool, and will now spend the next 2 days cleaning it and putting it away for the summer. No more pool. Mr. Shelton informed me that it was way too expensive to refill the pool, and that he clearly does not have the time to take care of it.

Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. For that whole 3 weeks.

THE STORY BEHIND THE POOL [CONCLUDED]

So I had the pool in my possession. Now what next? Well of course, set it up. Getting a 9 foot wide four foot deep pool set up, filter in place, and filled with water could not be that hard, right?

WRONG.

I woke up this lovely morning to major humidity and temps that were going to reach upwards of 90 degrees. Not the best weather to be assembling a large pool, but what the heck, I was going to give it a go.

I corraled all the kids into the car and headed to Wal-Mart to find an air pump. We were successful in finding the air pump, and some kick boards, and some diving rings, and some water balls. [One can never seem to leave a store like Wal - Mart when kids are along without anything extra that was not on the list.]

We arrived home, where I loaded the what seemed to be 100 lb. pool all wrapped up into the kids wagon, and dragged it into the back yard. Already I was sweating. I layed out the protective bottom mat strategically trying to place it in the most level spot I could find [which took about an hour.] I then gave it the old heave ho and carried the pool to the middle of said mat, unwrapped it, and began rolling it out.

After I accomplished this, I went to find an extension cord to reach from the house, all the way down to the yard where I needed to hook up the electric pump in order to fill the top ring of the pool. After searching in our garage for a good 20 minutes, I was only able to come up with 1 cord which was not going to be long enough. SO, I went to the neighbors and borrowed another one. Went to the back yard, attached it to mine, still not long enough. Went back to the neighbors, borrowed another one, went to the backyard, and attached it to the others, still not long enough. Went back to the neighbors AGAIN, borrowed ANOTHER extension cord, attached it to the others, and FINALLY it was long enough. Whew. Thank God for the neighbors and their huge supply of extension cords.

I then was able to fill the top ring of the pool with air, which in turn made it possible for me to fill the pool with water. Or so I thought. After reading the manual a bit further I found that the filter needed to be hooked up before filling the pool with water commenced. Darn.

So, I pulled out the box with the filter, opened it, took one look at the parts involved in putting it together and decided it was not going to happen without some assistance. Some assistance from my wonderful Father - in - Law. He came through yet again and came over and got the filter assembled and hooked up to the pool.

Now for the easy part, putting the hose in the pool, sitting back and letting it fill up, right?

Wrong. Again.

We put the hose in, let it fill for about an hour, and found that the water was all pooling to one side. Guess the area I chose was not as level as I thought. Darn. We emptied some of the water, and moved the pool this way, and that way, discussing, thinking, trying to come up with the most level spot we could find. And by golly, we thought we had it.

Until later in the evening, when I looked outside to find that the pool was obviously not filling equally.

A few swear words, a couple stomps of the foot later, I decided that there was nothing I could do, it was too full now to move, so it would just have to do for this summer. Next summer per Mr. Shelton's request, we are going to pour a concrete slab in the backyard, stick the pool on top of said slab so as not to have to spend a day attempting to find a non-exsistent level spot in our yard. Good thinking on his part, very good thinking.

Later the next day, the kids were begging to go in the pool even though it was not filled quite yet. I thought, what the heck, and let them swim. Turns out the frigid water temperature and the fact that the pool was only half full did not really seem to phase them.

By the end of the day, the hose had done it's job and the pool was completely full. Well, as full as it was going to get with the unlevel ground. I was thrilled to find that I was finally done getting this pool set up. I even managed to get the ladder put together [another long story, that I will refrain from going into]. So it was less than level? So the filter was not operating quite yet [need to fix the outdoor outlet], so the chemicals had not been purchased much less put into the pool? It was filled with water, and the kids were able to get into it, which made them happy. That was all that mattered at this point.

48 hours later, sans a husband, but with the help of my wonderful Father-in-Law, I managed to get this God forsaken pool ready enough for the kids to swim.

It was certainly not done perfectly, and there were a few things that still needed to be taken care of, but they didn't care, they loved it. And this is what made all the work over the past three days worth it. For sure.

THE STORY BEHIND THE POOL [CONTINUED]

So I had finally gotten the Mr. to agree to a pool, but the agreement was the only thing that had happened thus far. I needed to have the pool in my posession before I knew it was for real. But there was a problem with this. Mr. Shelton was leaving town in the morning for a whole week. A whole week spent in a car driving to Florida to deliver a boat. A whole week to sit and think about his decision to finally cave and say yes to a pool. A whole week to possibly change his mind. I decided I needed that pool before he got home from this trip of his so that the changing of the mind I talk of would not be able to happen.

So I began to think of how I could make this happen. Could I pick it up myself? No, I could not manage to get a box filled with a pool, filter, and other things that weighed 130 lbs into the SUV with 4 kids in tow. Nope, not going to happen.

Hmmm, what's a girl to do? Talk to the Father-in-Law. Yes, that was it. He would surely help me in obtaining this much sought after pool o' mine. I sat and typed an ever so friendly email to his lovely, wife, the Mother-in-Law, and asked ever so nicely if her husband would pick it up and deliver it to my door step. To which I received a prompt response, stating that he would indeed do this for me. What a guy.

That morning was spent in doors, kids bouncing off of walls, couches and everything else as it was raining out and they were unable to take their spirited little selves outdoors to burn off that energy. I had not thought much about the pool, assuming he would get to picking it up sometime in the next day or two. But, the rain finally stopped, and the kids happily got their shoes on, opened the garage door to run outside and found.... Our pool. Yes, this wonderful man that I mentioned above had come through, and delivered our pool to our doorstep, and very quickly at that.

You would like to see this pool I talk so highly of, wouldn't you? Well, here it is. No, this is not me, my family and friends - although I am hoping for us to look this happy and have this much fun while splashing around in it.

Nice, right?

So all was well in the world. Mr. Shelton had agreed to a pool, and I had said pool in my possession.

To be continued....

THE STORY BEHIND THE POOL

After asking, and begging, and pleading, and begging some more (for the past two years), Mr. Shelton finally caved and agreed to purchase a pool for the kids. And what a surprise that was.

How did this come about, you ask?

On Saturday, when I got around to asking him (for probably the millionth time) "Don't you think it would be nice to get a pool for the kids? Something bigger than the usual pool we pick up at Targer each summer? The kiddie pool is just not cutting it anymore with Ava being six and Lucas being 5. We could get one of those nice Intex pools our neighbors to the right have, their kids love it, and more importantly our kids love swimming in it too. They would love to have our own in our backyard."

His answer?

"I'll think about it." Which was an oh-my-gosh-someone-pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming answer.

Later that day Ava asked, "Daddy, can we pleeeeaaaase get a pool?"

His answer?

"Sure, alright."

Holy smokes. He agreed. He finally agreed to a pool. This may not seem to be that big a deal to most people, but for the kids and I it was huge. We have spent two years trying to get him on board for this purchase, we have used every angle possible to get a "yes" out of him. All to no avail, the answer was always the same:

"I hardly have enough time with my work schedule now to get home before 8pm each night. Taking care of a pool like that is a pain, having to check the PH levels, get all the chemicals in it when needed, clean it, etc, etc." I just don't have the time."

What changed his answer to a simple "Sure, alright", is beyond me. All I know is I did not question it. Not even for a second.

To be continued.....