RASKOG is the new EXPEDIT

Figuratively, anyway. In 2012 every blogger had an Expedit. In 2015 it's the Raskog. And it must be in turquoise. Literally speaking, everyone knows KALAX is the new EXPEDIT.

I accidentally spent five hours in the new Ikea on Monday. Not in an, "Ooo we had so much fun and so many meatballs, the time just flew by!" sort of way. In a, "This store is brand new and we don't know much about Ikea and DEAR GOD THIS SHOULDN'T TAKE SO LONG!" sort of way.  This was not my first trip to Ikea (that was in Germany) or even my second ('cause it was 2012 and I needed an Expedit). The trip started out as a feat of efficiency.  Many, MANY parking lot attendants ushered us exactly where we needed to park, and we got inside and found my sister. Then my children needed to try out every single bed. Every one. Sorry to the employees who had to fix all the bedding; I REALLY tried to stop them. The kids were up and down, in and out of the Ergo, the cart, and my arms. I think Lil Bit ended up on my left hip for at least three hours. My arm! Then we got in the queue for lunch....45 minutes later, we realized there was a second place to line up, with no actual line. We decided to hold our spot, which was a mistake. We should have moved. Live and learn, and eat some meatballs.  Or, in my case, veggieballs.  The kiosks weren't working to get set up as a family member (another 20 minutes wasted), the friend we were with didn't actually need the delivery service (another 30 minutes...), and once we checked out I promised the kids some chocolate from the Swedish market (in line another 20 minutes).  In the end, we came home with two Raskogs, a lazy susan ("UNCLE RYAN HAS THIS AND WE NEED IT!"), and four curry-colored kitchen towels (because turmeric stains eeeeeverything). 

Step five: Line up the bins and then throw it on the goddamn floor because it's just time to give up.

I'll admit that assembling the first one took some time. I didn't catch that some of the tubes weren't symmetrical and it DOES matter which direction you have them going.  The middle shelf is supposed to be height-adjustable, and I think if I had just pressed on it would have been OK, just fixed on one side. I can't tell if the grates were directional or not. I googled a bit and found a LOT of blogs explaining how to assemble them...some claimed it took several days. It did not. Even with two toddlers hiding the bolts, it did not take two days. The second one took 20 minutes, tops. The first one immediately went to work holding blacksmithing tools. Did I mention the family took up another hobby? Someone decided someone needs a suit of armor in honor of birthday number 4. Many Amazon purchases later, we had ourselves a nice pile of thingamabobs and dodads piled in the foyer.

But not anylonger! They're contained and can easily be moved out to the porch. Done and done. The other cart is supposed to be mine (since I'm the one who wanted it), but it has held everything from blocks to cars to electrical tools and twist-on wire connectors. Once the newness wears off, it'll be mine. Or, I'll just have to go back and get a third. In turquoise, of course.