New Bedspread

There is a story told of General Patton that happened during the invasion of Sicily in WWII. The story goes that he was told not to attack a certain city but he decided to do so in spite of the disobedience to a direct order. When he was accosted by his commanding officers, his reply was, "That's not an attack. It's a reconnaisance in force." That was always his way: do what you want to do. Start small and give yourself a reason to really get involved, until the battle is over and you accomplish what you wanted to do in the first place. He always figured it was easier to ask forgiveness than to obtain permission in every endeavor of his choosing. Have you ever felt that way, or thought that way?

I said all of that to say this, "I think I've been had by my own personal "Patton". You see, my dear wife, Pat (uncanny about the names huh), recently bought a new bedspread for our bed. Of course it was a different color, which meant that other things had to change too. Along with the bedspread came pillow shams and curtains. But that was only the recon. Next she reinforced her recon with adding more to the job, then finally it was a full commitment.

After the spread and curtains came the thought that we have to repaint the bedroom, but of course the ceiling had to be repaired first. Then, horror of horrors, the "blue" in the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom clashed terribly with the new burgundy and gold of the bedroom so, "Voila", the bathroom needs to be changed too. Now, after several weeks and hundreds of dollars later, and a few hundred hours of labor, shopping and working, the battle has been won and Pat is the winner.

The bedspread will soon match the walls, the curtains, the pillow shams, the new ceramic floors and countertops, the walls of the bath and the newly refinished shower and tub, along with new trash cans, repainted trim work and cabinets, a new toilet and new crome and white ivory fixtures. Oh, and let's not forget the "coup-de-grass" (spelling may be wrong since I've lost all sense of spelling in recent days due to all the fumes of the epoxy spray paint and dust of the grouting), the custom designed and special ordered bamboo woven window treatment for the bath. I had to go online to get that since no one in our area carried such a thing unless you were willing to donate your left eye and your right foot to get it. (besides, the shipping was free and no sales tax saved enough to pay for the new "slow close" toilet seat).

In fairness, it was long overdue for an updating, and I really didn't mind the work or the cost. The hardest part is just getting started on the project and that part was surely "Pattonized".