30 Pieces of Silver

The Ava Bright family has lived in their current home for over ten years.  Which is a record. Ava has made it habit to drag Ed from state to state, sometimes on a whim. Other than their childhood homes, they have never lived in one house for so long.

Unfortunately, Ava’s been stuck in the desert for so long because being the “world’s okay-est mom” means she won’t move her teenagers from their school and friends. The problem with living in one house for so long is things start to fall apart and need updating (just like humans).

Ava and Ed have been arguing about the tile in their house for several years now. Per Ava, the color is from the aughts and the size is too small. Per Ed, ripping it up will make a hell of a mess that they won’t soon recover from and Ava needs to accept it.

So, they are removing the ugly tile and putting in new.  Woohoo! Just so you know, Ava shops for tile the way she shops for handbags. She knows exactly what she wants and will search until she finds it.  When Amy heard the hunt for tile was on, she broke the air-conditioning in Dave (I know that’s what happened, Amy.) so she wouldn’t have to become involved. She texted Ed, “Godspeed”.

Poor Ed spent two solid days going to every tile store in town. Exactly thirty samples were found and brought home for viewing. Only one tile was deemed acceptable – ONE.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be the most expensive of the lot (this was truly an accident), and Ed doesn’t like to buy the most expensive of anything. Ava agreed it was more than they wanted to spend and they could keep looking. After all, the largest city in the state is only two hours away and surely there’ll be great tile there. Miraculously, Ed found it in his heart and wallet to make Ava happy and buy the tile.

Note to self – 1. Wear Ed down by going to as many stores as possible in the summer heat in the desert. 2. Never tell Amy again if she’s part of a hunt for something, let her figure it out after a few stops because then she can’t really refuse to help because she already is and that’s what sisters do.