...a snip it from my mind...

My husband has his grandfather's kitchen table and buffet. He's has it in storage for years. He finally decided to get rid of it, so he packed it all up and hauled it to a furniture consignment shop. The owner of the shop cleaned the hell out of this furniture. It didn't even look the like the same stuff. It was amazing. So the furniture sat in the shop for 3 plus months and didn't sell, so we brought it home and stashed it in the garage until we could figure out what to do with it.

This furniture is really pretty. The buffet is in good shape, but the table is fragile. I mean, it's a hundred years old and it wasn't the sturdiest table to begin with. So anyway, we completely fell in love with the polished up pieces and shortly after getting the Christmas decorations down, we decided to re-arrange the front room so we could accommodate it. The plan was that we would get rid of the book case and move the couch to where the book case was. We'd set the table under the front window and keep a picture puzzle on it all the time. The buffet would replace the hutch.

I emptied the dang-blasted six-foot book case (that was packed to full capacity) and hutch (where I kept everything that I didn't know where to keep), hauled the "old" stuff to the garage, swept, moped and dusted, then we hauled the "new" stuff in. It didn't fit. Not even close. I mean, we measured everything before we moved it, and it fit, but it didn't "fit"...know what I mean? The wood was too dark, the table stuck out into the room too far, the balance was all wrong...it just didn't work. It looked like crap.

We hemmed and hawed and bickered, then hauled the "new" stuff BACK into the garage and the "old" stuff BACK inside. I busted my butt all afternoon, cleaning and moving and I have nothing to show for it. We did end up moving the couch and the chairs around a little bit, so it does look different, but it isn't what I expected. And those dust monsters that resided under the couch have been evicted. And my floors are moped. And my hutch and bookcase are clean. Aside from that...

But let me tell you something, people. I scored BIG brownie points. How many women would re-arrange her main room (which is 1/3 of my entire house) to accommodate her husband's grandfather's cheap, old furniture? Unfortunately, these days, my brownie points are worth about as much as a Zimbabwe dollar. (For those of you who may not know, earlier this week Zimbabwe released a new 50 BILLION dollar note--it's worth $1.25USD.)

Meanwhile, I have a substantial pile of "stuff" next to my bed that needs a home.

Where does all this "stuff" come from? And why do I have so much of it? I just don't know what to do with it! Do I keep it, do I throw it out? What if I throw it away, but then find out that I need it?

Side A: NO! No. I don't need it. "When in doubt, throw it out!" That's what I always say! Why do I need a 10-year-old map of Washington DC? If I go to Washington DC, I'll get a new map. Dang-blasted things are free for crying out loud.

Side B: But it's a souvenir from our two-week, cross country road trip. I could put it in a scrap book along with the 8 rolls of 36-exposure film that we got double prints of. And those pictures are stored in those boxes along with every other picture I ever took over the last 14 years.

Side A: Okay, then fine...keep the map. But what the hell are you going to DO with it?!?!

Side B: You're right. I'll throw it away.

Side A: NO! WAIT--you could decoupage the back of that bookcase with it!

Scared Stiff

I work in a suite (office) with only one other woman. The suite (office) across the hall from us is also very small (4 people at maximum capacity, but throughout the day to share food, borrow coffee creamer, or just to chat--whatever. So, late Friday afternoon, my friend Sharon comes into the suite. I can't see the door to my suite from my office, but I know it's her because no one ever comes into our office except the girls across the hall. When I sit at my desk, there is a very large window into the suite on my left and a window to the outside on my right. So I don't get up from my seat, but I turn to look out my window into the suite. Sharon is standing RIGHT at the window wearing a stupid paper old-lady mask.

Now folks, let me tell you, I was all arms, legs, and lungs. You'd have thought someone plugged my ass in. She scared me so badly that I screamed so loud, that I scared her so badly, that she screamed. Then I started laughing. We laughed until we cried. When it was all over and our heart rates returned to normal, I congratulated her with a, "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!"

That incident is definitely rated in the top 5 of my all time greatest scares. My only regret is that we didn't catch it on video.

Happy New Year!

Psst...is it over yet? Whew--that was a close one! There for a while, I wasn't sure I was going to make it out live. On one hand, it seems like October was just yesterday. On the other hand, it feels like two years has past (at warp speed) since October.I'm just glad it's over. Don't get me wrong--it was fun. Crazy, but fun.


And now it's January 2009. I'm ready for 2009. I only have one new year's resolution: "Be happy."

That's the short answer. The long version includes:
I am going to be a better wife and mother.
I'm going to get in shape (I only gained 3 pounds over the holidays!) and I'm taking my daughter with me (she needs to get in shape, too). And we're going to have fun doing it.
I'm going to give more (time and talent as well as money) to charity.
I'm going to go to church regularly.

And I'm going to learn Fair Isle.

I have a pair of socks I need to finish (the ones I started in October). I stepped on the bag and broke the needles. I ordered more needles and got word that they shipped today. Aside from that, the only project I have going right now is a dress-up shawl for my daughter and a victory scarf for my sister (she deployed today with Air Force).

So...wish me luck and I'll keep you posted.

OMG--speaking of keeping you posted...I need to update you on the child whose mother was in jail. Mom got out of jail. I met her just after Thanksgiving. She gave me a HUGE hug, looked me in the eye and said, "I can't thank you enough for taking care of my baby while I was gone. She talked about you every time she came to visit and I just can't tell you how much you meant to her." I told her it was no problem, that her daughter, "...is a delightful child and we enjoy having her." This child has been to our house several times over the last month and I've chatted with her mother on as many occasions. I still have not gotten up the courage to ask about her rap sheet. Until I do, that child will have to play at my house.