I am an Official Tabbal

Over the Labor Day weekend we went to my inlaws' house to move their big screen TV from their living room to their family room. They were going to try to move it themselves, but we're not talking about the new fangled 50 lb. numbers. No, this is the kind of big screen TV that we all wanted when we were younger. You know, the first one ever invented, so it's really big and really heavy? And let's face it, the inlaws' aren't getting any younger, so we took pity on the old folk and went to move it for them.

After disassembling it into two "oh, my GOD this is heavy!" pieces rather than one "call 911, I think I just had an aneurysm" piece, and after assuring my father in law that I could lift it (my husband didn't marry some pansy princess!!), Trav and I started moving it into position to get it down the stairs.

Their house is arranged in a split level fashion, which wouldn't be so bad, except right in front of the stairs leading into the basement, there's a closet, so in order to move stuff down the stairs, the object in question has to be just the right size and just the right shape and you have to be able to do some fancy manuvering. We were in the midst of this delicate little dance with the behemouth of all TV screens when my father in law made a comment that warmed my heart and made me realize that I had arrived.

But first a word about my father in law's feelings toward his TV: it is generally assumed that Lori and Dennis Tabbal have only 5 children. This would be a completely inaccurate statement. They have two sons, three daughters, and one Big Screen TV. Guess which one is the favorite child? My mother in law's dream retirement is to buy an RV and spend a month at one of her children's homes, then move the whole production to the next kid's house and so on and so forth so she can see her whole fam without having to leave all her personal space behind. This dream will never be realized because the TV will not fit into an RV. I think the TV is actually willed all the good stuff in my father in law's estate plan. The rest of us get to split the debt and the "filing system."

So I'm trying to manuver Stevie the TV down the stairs, my father in law intently watching, a worried expression on his face. Then he tried to take my place going down the stairs. I had to reassure him that I could do it, that it was not too heavy, but rather just awkward, and that I'd be fine to carry it. And then he said it:

"Well...okay. But you be careful. I can replace the TV."

Travis nearly dropped the TV, my mother in law's jaw dropped, and I damn near cried.