Nothing says Christmas like 2x4s under the tree, or at least that’s how it was at my house as of Tuesday afternoon.

No, Santa didn’t bring me lumber this year. My mom did – well, actually now that I think of it, maybe Santa did bring me lumber this year.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I’ve been ever conscious of the approaching New Year. Rushing, I know, but I am a planner. And for a while now, refreshing our second bath has been on my to-do list. It had some weird fixtures going on at the tub, and it’d been driving me crazy since we moved in. We didn’t use the bathroom much, so it was one of those projects that I always said, “Well, I’ll get to that later.”

“Later” turned out to be last weekend when I mentioned to my mom that I really needed to do something with that space. She, being the carpentry guru she is, drove up Sunday proceeded to tell me how easy it would be to move the faucet from the side of the tub (I know. Who puts the faucet on the side of the tub?) to where it should be. She ever so eloquently demonstrated the ease of the project it by ripping down the surrounding tile board enclosure – down to the bare studs. Believe it or not, she was right. The spot was plumbed correctly, but the previous owners had used flex tube to relocate the faucet.

I was like, “Heck, yeah!” and she agreed; however, four hours and two trips to Marvin’s later, I said, “I don’t know why that is leaking. Put a shut off value on it, and let’s call it a day.” I thought it was a minor setback – until she arrived the following weekend with green board, tile board, six 2x4s, probably $15 in 25-cent couplings and her Mr. Man. I realized then the folly of my thinking. This was no simple project if she had to bring re-enforcements.

For hours, they slaved in the small space. I stood patiently, handing off tools – a tape measurer here, a pencil there. A drill? Here you go. By the time they left Saturday afternoon, we stood and smiled over the work done inside the still unfinished bathroom. Only this time, there was working plumbing. Progress!

As they pulled away, I smiled to myself as I nearly killed myself tripping over the stack of 2x4s that we never used, my chest filled with happiness as I recognized just how much my family loves me and how lucky my family is to be able to celebrate the true meaning of the season this Christmas (sans a second bathroom – but hey, what does it matter in the grand scheme, right?).

So from my family to yours, Merry Christmas! And here’s to hoping you don’t have 2x4s under the tree, unless that’s what you really wanted.