Laying Sod Is Not For the Faint of Heart

We finally got our sod! I was so excited when Dan told me it was on its way because you know what that means... NO MORE DIRT IN MY HOUSE! Allelujah! The shipment came last Thursday which was my mom's birthday. The plan was we would go out to dinner with the fam, come back, put Charlie to bed and start laying sod. Apparently sod will burn if you leave it rolled up, so we needed to get it done. With full bellies we were ready to go! We started around 9:30 PM and I threw in the towel at 11:30. I did have to work the next day! And I didn't let Dan forget that... I might have said that 30 times during those 2 hours, to which my slave driver (aka Dan) responded 'I have to work early too'. He was referring to finishing up the sod in the AM... it wasn't until 11:29 PM that I was not envious of him! It was really hard!!! I thought you just unrolled them and voilá you're done! No... I was sadly mistaken. I got the unroll part right, but first you must lug a +40 lb roll (yes they are that heavy!) to the prepared place, unroll, line up all seams and smush together. The last step requires you to get down on your hands and knees. Thanks to that step I confirmed that I am STILL allergic to grass. I was wearing shorts, so my legs currently look like they were malled by a wild beast... It is rather cute if you ask me ;) Oh and in those 2 hours we got about 42 pieces down. That's 16.8% of our total order and roughly 420 square feet... just a drop in the bucket... again, I was not envious of Dan, as I looked at the miniscule dent we made in 2 hours!

Here are a few pics of the finished product..

My lovely flower bed :0

A few highlights from the above process...

• Dan over ordered... AGAIN! We had an extra 50 rolls after he and his 'crew' attempted to patch every last bare area in the lawn. My neighbor asked who was in charge of measuring and ordering. Fearing it was me because I tutor their daughter in math... I cleared the air. He sighed with relief.

• Mike came to help early in the morning. I think he was there by 8:00, maybe earlier... I was shocked to hear this because I always though Mike was like me... NOT. A . MORNING . PERSON. The slave driver forced him to work without a break in the hot sun only offering him a peanut butter sandwich and some water. I mean seriously! This is not the way to get people to help you in the future! You should hear Mike tell the story... it was pretty funny!!!

• Dan suckered recruited one of his friends, Jay, to help. I'm sure he showed him the same hospitality he showed his brother... 

• The slave driver also tried to get one of Mike's friends to help... he was smart and said he was 'running late'... Oddly enough he was on time for drinks at the Brew Pub later that evening.. I will place this one in my arsenal for future use.

• By 7:00 PM Mike and Jay were starved and parched and declared mutiny on the big, bad slave driver. Dan tried to crack his whip to make them finish the rest of the 50 rolls but they were too weak from the 100º weather and lack of nutrients. 

All joking aside, both Dan and I are so thankful for our families and friends... They have all poured their blood, sweat and tears (well it's usually my tears, but blood and sweat was def shed by many) into making our house a home. I'm pretty sure my Dad's back can be found somewhere in our retaining wall and particles from Dan's Dad's skin is peacefully residing somewhere in my flower bed. It is now safe to come to our house without the risk of being put to work... I think we are done for awhile!!!