Paper Work or the Longest Day

January 18 - Next, we received a message from Mark that said we would need to come into the office to begin the initial paperwork.  He informed us that he would be out of town, but we would meet with his co-worker, Lauren, to discuss everything.  The meeting was scheduled for early in the morning as Bryan had a meeting at his work in the afternoon.  The meeting with Lauren was at 10 and Bryan's meeting was at 1.  There should be plenty of time for the meeting and lunch before returning for the afternoon meeting, right?  Wrong again.  Why do you keep assuming anyway?  You know the old saying, when you assume you make an....  Hey, this is a family blog.

We all go a little mad sometimes.

Well, Lauren walked through all of the paperwork.  Sign this, initial that.  Print your name.  Now sign your name. Do we have a blood sample on file?  Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?  We were a little overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork, but Lauren was very detailed.  Rather than the old method of "just sign and disregard the fine print", Lauren went over every word of the contract.  Nothing was left to mystery.  Whew, were we tired.  Our poor four year old son was quite the trooper while he patiently sat watching a movie and eating animal crackers while his parents were getting told the elongated version of War and Peace, the Home Edition.

Then, we noticed that time was running thin.  We had gotten through all of our paperwork, but we had yet to "pick out our colors".  Bryan said that should take no time at all.  Picking out the siding, trim, and counter top colors should be a breeze, but time was up.  We had to get back on the road for the meeting.  The colors would have to wait for another day.  That day would not come soon enough.  We were getting excited.

We returned home to find out that Lauren had been correct.  Regardless of how detailed we were she said there would more than likely be one area of signing that we would overlook in our rush.  Sure enough, Bryan forgot to initial on one page.  So, Lauren had to make the drive to our rental townhome for a quick signature.