TheMommyBlog

I wonder what we could do for fun.  I know, let�s do the Inuit Blanket Toss.  You know when we all hang onto a corner of the blanket and toss them into the air higher and higher.  It�ll be a hoot! Lee in his Cliff Claven voice while cracking his first beer, �You know Genuine its a little known fact that the Inuit people began this ritual while hunting for animals on the barren wasteland.  They would throw one another up in the air to search for the herds.� 

Gil you take that corner and Lee you take that corner. And I will grab this corner.  Oops…....we have an empty corner.  We definitely need to fix that.  This will take some power tools and some ingenuity.  I know, Gil you go to the lumber yard and get a 4x4 post.  We will sink it in the ground, with an eye bolt and some rope, we�ll tie off the blanket to the post on that corner.  Great plan.  We will need a way to attach the blanket to the rope.  Lee whips out his collection of duct tape in assorted colors, knocking over two already empty bottles of beer.  Gil in the meantime is on the phone coordinating the materials.  Wanting this to be done right, I also had him order concrete to set the post.  Lee in his normal fashion runs to the fridge for backups and I begin drawing out the plans for the tarp to be attached to the post.  I better find those power tools.

� hour later, Gil is back with a post.  The cement company is on its way, but he had to order a minimum of 10 cubic yards to get the discount.  This is okay, because he told Mindy he wanted to extend the patio anyway.  A truck full of sand was also on its way.  Seems Gil wanted to add a pile of sand in the yard for the kids to land on in case of an accidental fall.  Lee has finished the first six pack of beer and is calculating the height of the post by slide rule and calculator (engineers….sheesh).  I have taken every extension cord I could find in the garage.  I have three power saws, an auger for the post hole, a wheel barrow, and plenty of duct tape.  This should be easy.

Three hours later we have the hole dug, post in and cement drying around the post.  I have made sure the post is plumb and that the eye bolt is properly installed.  Lee has finished another 12 beers bringing his total to a six pack short of a case.  Gill is on the phone getting more piles of landscape materials in case we run short.  Trucks have arrived on four separate occasions, dropping off rock, bark chips and rolled sod.  All of this is piled in the street.  He got a deal on the sod, but the sand and rock cost a fortune.  There was also a problem when they delivered the sand when they backed the truck up on the front yard, they broke the sprinkler system and cracked the driveway.  Gill ordered all new PVC pipe to replace the broken sprinkler pipe, rented a ditch digging machine and its parked in the driveway.  A cement truck is on the way for replacing the corner of the driveway, and we needed more to finish the patio.

The best rope to use in Inuit Blanket Tossing is Nylon.  Is has some stretch to it causing the child on the blanket to be propelled higher in the air.  � inch Nylon rope in yellow will be fashioned with a blue tarp.  This is San Diego after all.

2 hours later, Lee is drooling on his shoes, Gil has made a trip to the liquor store and now has bought a Keg for the Inuit Blanket tossing party. As it is getting close to sundown, Gil has ordered some lights from the highway department for seeing the operations.  A crane is parked on the street and intends to hold the lights in place to allow for the best angle of lighting.  17 different contractors each with crews of approximately 3 men have all crowded around to see the action.  Gil being the host he is, ordered a BBQ catering company to feed dinner to all of the masses that have been compiled for this activity.

The tarp is finally fastened to the post, and most of the repairs have been made to the various portions of the home that were destroyed due to Inuit Blanket area construction.  There are 106 people here to witness the event, all of them having been fed, and now plenty liquored up.  Gil has requisitioned 3 portable toilets to accommodate the crowd, and one for Lee to use as he has completely drained the keg and is passing the hat, looking for money to order another keg. A roll off dumpster has been stationed on the newly poured driveway to assist with the cleanup.  The local police and fire departments are helping with traffic and crowd control.  It has finally come time to test the Inuit Blanket Toss as it was meant to be played with a large crowd this should be a grand time. 

�Dylan do you want to go first?� Lee slurs through squinted eyes.  �Dylan?�  �DYLAAAAAAN!�  Um has anyone seen the children? 

Just then a teenage girl stands in front of the crowd and announces that the children are staying with a friend down the street.  The Mommy of the house there has fed them lunch, read them two stories and played a game of hide and seek, let them finger paint pictures for the fridge, and they have been bathed and they are tucked away in bed sleeping like angels. 

Well that didn�t sound like as much fun as the Inuit Blanket Tossing Game.

Maybe a wading pool over there…...