Perhaps I misunderstood the nature of my enemy. Turns out the warfare is a bit more symmetric than I had thought. That picture did not represent the war won as I had hoped, but merely a successful battle. For what it’s worth, I’ve won two more battles in the past couple days. Strangely, with each victory I feel more and more like I’m losing.
Deja Vu Around Here
The faces have changed, but it’s pretty much the same story – although poor Josiah seems to have the worst case yet – it was another very long night.
Though we hate for it to drag on, I think it was considerate of the kids to take shifts being ill – this way we always have enough couches for the sick ones. Nicolas is NOT ill, just keeping his sick sibs company like the good brother that he is. Nonstop Noggin is also a big draw, I’m thinking.
And yes, in case you noticed, those ARE my Christmas wreaths still up on my French Doors. What of it??
Well, I WAS Going to Wish Him a Happy Birthday Today…
…but after his latest post, I’m not so sure.
Still, it is pretty nice to have a big, brave man around the house to take care of such things. I love you, Jay. Even if you did just drive away most of our gentle readers with your disgusting picture. Happy Birthday.
Asymetric Warfare
Here’s the thing about asymetric warfare. No matter how many battles you lose (and I’ve lost a few to this little guy), one win and the war is over.
My Sweet Chair
I stopped in a little consignment furniture store near our home this past fall “just to look”. And happened upon something I could NOT leave behind, no matter that it was near the end of the month, and after this purchase we had to eat beans for the remaining week left so that I could stay within the bounds of my budget. (haha, not really, but almost.)
This little chair and ottoman were hidden back in a corner – both pieces looked to be in wonderful shape except for a noticeable stain on the chair’s off-white slipcover, and the fact that the ottoman was missing its slipcover altogether. But they looked like “good furniture” to me, and the price was really amazing. I managed to wrestle the slipcover off the chair and was rewarded with a little tag that read “Crate and Barrel”. Not that I ever shop for furniture there, but I knew enough to recognize a good deal, as long as I could get that stain out. So, after talking the owner of the store down to $99 for the pair, and consulting a friend over the phone to make sure I wasn’t about to do something incredibly stupid, I paid for the pieces, ferried them home in my minivan and got my hunk of a man to lug them inside for me. (This was taken AFTER the ottoman got a replacement cover – don’t they look cozy??)
Like all good obsessive-compulsives would, upon arriving home I immediately got on the web to look up these pieces of furniture, since I knew I’d at least need to order a new slipcover for the ottoman part, and this is what I found: I had just purchased The Potomac Chair and The Potomac Ottoman. Which, it turns out, are really incredibly made – these are quality pieces of furniture…..with a pretty high quality price tag to go along with them. The combined cost of this chair and ottoman bought new, made my jaw drop. Wowsers. In fact, once I had done the math, I calculated that what I paid for both of them after tax, was the exact dollar amount (give or take a few cents) one would pay for JUST THE TAX on the purchase of these two pieces new. Snap!
Of course, I did have just a little more money to shell out before I was finished. But, as Providence would have it, Crate and Barrel were right in the middle of their big annual custom upholstery sale: perfect time to go choose a slipcover, and they still carried the fabric I needed. Plus a hundred other fabrics they also tried to sell me. After all, the saleslady reasoned, why not pick up a second cover for the chair and ottoman for the winter months!?! Hmmm?? Well, maybe next year. For now, I am content with my wonderful new spot for cuddling up with a book, or as is usually the case, and CHILD and a book. Nicolas and I often do his reading lessons here with the sun streaming in the window.
Oh, and in case you are wondering…Yes! that stain came out with lots of pleading on my part, and a nice long soak in Oxy-Clean. And even though off-white furniture may seem foolhardy in a house with all these kids, I for one am a pleased customer, and a proponent of the slipcover…I’ve only washed these once since originally getting them back in September, and they really look great.
So here’s to thankfulness for little surprises in the back corners of used furniture stores. Now to get some pictures up on that wall!
Very Big Deal
In April of 2007, the warzone-disguised-as-an-alley behind our house was blocked off and work gradually proceeded on replacing it.
I am happy to report that today they moved the blockade just past our house, giving us access to our garage for the first time in 9 months! Thankfully, I was optimistic (for no apparent reason) and reorganized our garage over the past month to ensure we’d be able to fit both cars in it the moment the alley was accessible. For those of you who don’t know me that well, this is a Very Big Deal.
Speaking of garage organization, one of my goals in this house was to not store anything in the attic. I’m not a big fan of the out of sight, out of mind consequences of stuff being squirrelled away in the attic, gradually accumulating over the years. But the Christmas tree and decorations presented a challenge.
You’ll see my solution above the car on the right. I put a shelf in a couple weeks ago as the Christmas decorations were coming down that fits above the garage door when it’s open. It holds the Christmas tree and several containers of ornaments and decorations.
You know, in a big picture sort of way
Nicolas, after hearing Jonathan complimented for being such a good older brother and being helpful to Josiah while I was out and about with the three boys, says, “Was I just like Jonathan on the trip except I haven’t helped anyone?”
Time to De-Lurk!!
Ok, Readers, it’s YOUR turn to talk! It has been brought to my attention that National De-lurking Day was exactly two Thursdays ago, so I am a little slow on this one, but seeing as how it’s House of Horne’s first time to celebrate, y’all won’t hold that against us, will ya?
If you visit here and never (or rarely) leave a comment, take a minute to stop and say hello today!! We would love to know who (besides Grammy Ruth and Peter) is reading!
*edited to add: Oh, and I certainly shouldn’t have implied that regular commenters should refrain from doing so. To all my little regulars: Y’all say howdy, too!! For the rest of you: you know who you are. And I know you are out there based on my stats page. C’mon now, don’t be shy!! Step on up, and just say “hi”!
Sorry for the cheese…way too much sleep deprivation going on around our house this week!
The Scene in Our Living Room
Now that both bigger boys are laid out with fever viruses, there is no couch left for Baby Jo, who isn’t sick himself, but who still wants to watch the movie with his big brothers.
So, out comes his Winnie the Pooh “Cuddly” and pillow, made by Grammy – and it makes a perfect spot to lay and watch the t.v. – still in the room, but not quite as close to the sickies.
He seems happy enough with it, even if that is a really hard floor underneath.
My New Job Title
This year I have a new job to add to my already rather long but not exhaustive list of titles including: wife, mommy, chauffer, personal chef, housekeeper, teacher, decorator, laundry woman, disciplinarian, and nurse. My new job title? One I have never had before and am not likely to have again: I am officially a Matron of Honor. M.O.H. for short.
Sadly, this new job doesn’t pay anymore than any of the ones I already had, but I don’t mind. So far, it’s been a pretty fun gig. Even downright frivolous at times. It requires lots of time on the computer, researching various topics all having to do with something called a “wedding”, and chatting on Google with the B.R.I.D.E. She’s a decent boss, good at delegation, fairly clear with her expectations, and for the most part, happy with my work so far. I’ve only gotten yelled at once or twice.
Along with this new job are some travel responsibilities, which reminds me, I should see about whether I can expense some mileage given the price of gas these days. The B.R.I.D.E. generally goes along when travel is required, and sometimes our resident J.B.M. (that’s Junior BridesMaid for those of you not in the know) accompanies us. The B.R.I.D.E. assures me that future travel will require visiting several nearby, yet exotic locations: places where they take common household ingredients like flour and sugar and turn them into works of art that look amazing yet get gobbled up all too quickly. I think she told me that visits to florists are also in our future.
But so far all our travel has taken us to chic little stores full of ballgowns, where one or more of us essentially get to play dress-up for hours on end. There is much trying-on of satin, tulle, and taffeta. Picture-taking, critiquing of various styles and colors, frowning over things we don’t like, and exclaiming about our favorites. The B.R.I.D.E. is lovely in everything she tries on so it’s sometimes hard to be a completely objective employee, and give her the feedback she needs. I’d love to prove this to you by showing you a photo of her in a frock, or maybe ten, but I do not dare or she would fire me in an instant, no questions asked. So, you’ll just have to take my word for it!
I hope to post more about my adventures as an M.O.H. in the coming weeks and months. Maybe even show you some pictures of this important new work I am involved in. But for now, I gotta run….I see a google message has popped up on my screen from the boss — duty calls!!