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Allison Larkin

Internationally Best-Selling Author

You are here: Home / life / We don’t have any unicorns either.

We don’t have any unicorns either.

November 30, 2009 Filed Under: life

Nothing says Thanksgiving like major bathroom renovations, right?

The in-laws were ever so brave and kind and came all the way out from Michigan to help us. The Larkin men finished demolishing the bathroom and even got the new tub/shower combo in (and it’s beautiful!), and I served up a dinner made by Wegmans (because finishing book edits, coming up with new book ideas, and demo-ing a bathroom really don’t lend well to cooking a beautiful Thanksgiving feast and no one makes better mashed potatoes than Wegs does anyway). But the holiday weekend was not without its hiccups.

On Wednesday, they delivered our new kitchen island/table, and I discovered that the stools I bought were so tall that they were almost the same height as the counter.

On Friday morning, I locked us all out of the house.

And throughout my in-laws’ visit, pieces of our upstairs bathroom were continually falling into our downstairs (and only working) bathroom through the drop ceiling, making for quite a dramatic restroom experience.

But these things were minor blips in comparison to what happened on Friday night. . .

My three-year-old niece’s hair was in her face. My mother-in-law said, “Maybe Aunt Al has a pony-,” she pulled Niece’s hair into a ponytail to show me what she was talking about.

“Sure,” I said, remembering a box of old junk jewelry I’d found during my cleaning binge a few weeks ago, thinking it would be my best shot for a kid-sized hair clip. I ran downstairs, and heard little feet and kid giggles behind me. And I felt like the coolest aunt in the entire world, because my three-year old niece was so excited to look for a hair clip with me that she was literally jumping up and down.

I rifled through the box of old earrings and broken necklaces. Niece walked over, rested her hand on the chair next to me, and leaned against it, crossing one leg in front of the other like she was trying oh-so-hard to act casual. She looked up at me with her big blue-grey eyes and said, “So, where are the ponies?”

And I had to tell my favorite little girl in the whole wide world that we do not keep ponies in our basement.

8 Comments

Comments

  1. courtney says

    December 1, 2009 at 12:53 am

    Ha! That is quite a disappointment to a little girl, to expect a pony and get a rubber band instead. Your Thanksgiving was certainly eventful, but I’m glad you have a beautiful new bathroom to relax in!

    Reply
  2. Kate says

    December 1, 2009 at 12:58 am

    That’s an awesome story.

    Reply
  3. Allie says

    December 1, 2009 at 1:49 am

    Oh, no no no no no! We have a beautiful new BATHTUB. We still don’t have walls, or a sink, or a toilet. . . But last night, I took a fantastically relaxing bath amidst the studs and insulation. :) Tonight, I drywall!

    Reply
  4. Reluctant Blogger says

    December 1, 2009 at 5:49 pm

    Awww poor little mite.

    I remember when I was tiny watching an advert on TV which said that a certain sort of sweetie made you able to fly. I talked my mother into buying me a packet of these sweets (Refreshers) and ate the whole packet in one go and then launched myself from the top of the stairs. I had a big bruise! Lucky I didn’t jump out of the upstairs window really.

    Sounds like an eventful weekend.

    Reply
  5. Corinne Bowen says

    December 2, 2009 at 2:16 am

    Hope you’ll update us with some pictures of your renovations! I have this dungeon-like basement bathroom picture in my head. Is it that scary down there?

    I want more book news! Are you working on your next novel?

    xo

    Reply
  6. Ryan says

    December 5, 2009 at 11:58 pm

    I remember being so very very disappointed that the Thunderpunch He-Man toy didn’t actually knock down items several feet away, like in the commercials. I didn’t even like He-Man.

    Reply
  7. Wendy says

    December 6, 2009 at 3:48 pm

    Aww, Allie you’re so mean! You could have gotten some “pretend” ponies down there for her. Or painted some ponies on paper and hung them up on the walls together. Or made pony cookies and had a picnic in the basement (maybe you could do that for Christmas – ponies instead of reindeer). LOL!

    Reply
  8. Mickey says

    December 9, 2009 at 3:27 am

    Oh, you destroyer of dreams!

    Reply

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Internationally bestselling author of STAY, WHY CAN'T I BE YOU and SWIMMING FOR SUNLIGHT. THE PEOPLE WE KEEP coming from @gallerybooks on 8/3/2021

Allison Larkin
A few days ago, I took this photo of turkeys while A few days ago, I took this photo of turkeys while I was out on a run, marveling at how wild animals do not seem to mind when they see me. Once, I almost bumped into a deer, the way a couple might meet-cute in a rom com. We just didn’t see each other. I’ve always thought it was a fun little quirk. Not even bunnies are afraid of me. But this afternoon on my run, I came up over a hill and was suddenly within fifteen feet of a wild boar. Thankfully, a year or two ago I got curious about the big traps that show up trailside around the bay, looked them up and learned about how fast, ruthlessly aggressive, and unpredictable a wild boar can be. Otherwise, I might have (stupidly) thought I was in the middle of another one of my Snow White moments and been all “Hello there, Mr. Pig! Look at you!” believing that I could quietly observe in wonder. Instead, I knew this was a bad situation. The boar grunted and moved to the center of the trail. It felt very ‘You shall not pass!’ But I did not want to pass. I wanted to get away. I backed slowly for a few moments and then turned and ran faster than I ever have in my whole life. I’ve since learned that there’s no way that boar chased me, because there’s no chance of outrunning a boar (climb a tree if you can). But I know that boar saw me and also wasn’t happy about the surprise, and I had a moment, racing back over the hills I’d just run — not daring to look behind me more than once or twice in fear I’d lose my footing — when I truly did not know what would happen. I’ve been in scary situations, but they were a different kind of scary. I don’t think I’ve ever flat out run for my life before, but that’s truly what I thought I was doing. Right now I am still full of adrenaline and also exhausted and so so thankful to be okay.
My lemon is a happy fox. #fruitfaces My lemon is a happy fox. #fruitfaces
I think there’s something about getting older an I think there’s something about getting older and reaching back to the core of who you are. I’ve always been at my happiest when I’m up in a tree.
Portrait of the bestest girl. Stella may be slowin Portrait of the bestest girl. Stella may be slowing down, but she’s still exceptionally curious. #dailystelladog #germanshepherd
Portrait of a woman who just wants a free moment t Portrait of a woman who just wants a free moment to paint over the poop brown bathroom walls that came with this house.
Working on a thing for a thing, but I ran out of d Working on a thing for a thing, but I ran out of daylight and dog patience. Back at it tomorrow. #authorsofinstagram
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