R.I.P. Michael Jackson

I don't know where blogging will be 20 years from now, but I like to think that somehow, this electronic record of my life and thoughts will still be accessible. When I go back and read this in the next generation, I thought it would be worth mentioning something of one of the greatest pop icons of all time on the day following his unexpected passing. His death is a shock and a loss. I'm grateful for his music that lives on and plan to listen to his music all day for the remainder of the week. I appreciate Michael's music mostly for the dancibility of it which is a true measure of rock for me. You can't listen to it without grooving which is another thing the man could do was dance. He was responsible for the best music video ever made - Thriller. He also had a few songs that really meant something. One of the most moving songs ever written was "the Man in the Mirror." I watched his performance yesterday of the song live at the Grammy's from 1988 on YouTube yesterday. It's like he gave birth to the song on stage. It was that organic and that awe inspiring. Leaves you feeling both spent and reborn. Thank you Michael for sharing your talent. My life is better for it. Our world is better for it. Rest in Peace.

Paige, this picture is for you.

Things to get your mind off how hungry you are

So Don and I both had really long and busy work days. It's 9:30 and we're just now starting the BBQ to cook some steaks and corn on the cob. Really looking forward to the finished product! Very hungry! So in order to pass the time while the coals heat up and the food grills, we decided to do a co-blog. On the spur of the moment I'll be giving an impromptu interview to Don with questions even I don't know the answers to.

1. Of all the customer's you've helped so far at your new VW job, who did you find the most interesting?

Don: "It's kind of a tie between three of them. One couple was looking for a used car and she happened to be deaf. And recently had a surgery and now is starting to hear. And so filtering the world's noise is very difficult. And she hear things that we normally tune out. #2 was a young duo, our age, who are in the polic academy and when I asked what did they do for a living they said "We're actually not supposed to tell you, but since we're buying a car we have to say something, so we are training to be police officers." And then the third was today where a couple was going to buy a minivan and hopefully tomorrow they will. Two years ago they were in an airplain crash and she has permanantly damage and is in a wheelchair but he is walking."

2. If you had the opportunity to reenact any on stage play you have ever been in, which one would it be?

Probably Barry in "The Murder Room." It was the biggest part I've ever had. There was a character in a play that I did a scene of for a class that I would like to play the full play as this character and that would be Dracula. However, I think I'm still a little young.

3. What do you think is the perfect age for you to be at to play Dracula?

I think I need probably another, well, I'd say age 40.

4. If Bruce Campbell was coming to our house for dinner, what would you cook for him?

I'd probably cook him what we're having tonight (New York Steaks and spice rubbed Corn on the cob) or a Tri Tip.

5. If you had the luxury of being 18 and starting college over again, what would you study/major in?

Probably business marketing and business management. I really think that it doesn't matter what you study in undergrad. A business major has got about as successful career as a religion major and classics major. We're all doing pretty well.

6. List 5 of your favorite movies.

Boondock Saints, The Crow, hmmm, what are my favorite movies? I don't know I'm having a hard time of that one. I'll tell you what constitutes a favorite move for me is high rewatch value. A movie that I can watch over and over again. Those are the ones that usually make my list. Also, from Russia With Love I guess.

7. Your Mini gets set on fire and you have to get a new car. What do you get?

I custom order a Golf TDI.

8. What customizations?

I'd have to know what comes standard and I don't know that yet. But Blue Tooth, Nav, upgraded stereo, maybe Ipod Adapter, upgraded wheels, and maybe a custom color, I don't know it would be yet but I'm impartial to a lot of the blues I see.

9. What if money were no object at all, then what car would you get?

Probably a custom Mini. Probably a Clubman just so that I could have a little bit of utility. Or, I would buy a classic Mini Cooper and have your Dad go nuts with it.

10. What are some of your favorite memories of Cordy as a puppy?

Her snuggling up to the wall heater, right after she was fixed. That's about my only memory of her as a puppy. Oh, I know what my favorite memory of Cordy was as a puppy. The hand game. I miss the hand game. It's a little bit like the claw from Liar Liar only it's your whole hand and you just play like your hand is a little doggy mouth and you play wrestle.

11. How about Seumas?

I knid of like that one when we first visited him at the breeders and he was climbing all over me. That one where he just kind of is looking up at me and I'm looking down at him. I think we've got a picture somewher.

12. What do you miss most about the Weddington House we lived in?

Space and privacy. An actual spare bedroom, not just an office. The gaming room. I can answer the opposite of that question too. I don't miss the windows.

13. You have a $5000 budget and 4 weeks to travel (you don't have to spend it all if you don't want to). Where do you go?

Are you going with me? (Me: Yes, but you don't have to include me in your budget if you don't want to). I'd kind of like to spend several weeks back in Scotland during the warmer months. I don't know that we could do it on a $5,000 budget. It would be kind of fun to go backpacking and just travel by trains and busses, camping, and hostels.

14. Is our dinner ready?

I think so.

Just Another California Morning

I wake up once again to the sound of Diogee barking in the back yard. He's a cute little min pin, a great friend of Cordy and Seumas, but if our neighbor Steve leaves him alone in the backyard at 6 am one more time to bark, I'm gonna kick that dog to the curb. But in truth, he's just barking over the sound of my alarm clock anyway so out of bed I crawl. I let Cordy and Seumas out and stroll out into the backyard. It's 6:30 a.m. and already the sun is bright and warming the earth, a pleasant 65 degrees or so. The cool cement feels good on my bare feet. I give all three dogs a scratch while they tumble and play fight with each other with their frisky morning greetings. After a little picking up around the yard and house and a quick water conserving shower, I fix myself up a quick cup of Americano from Don's delicious coffee press and sit down at the kitchen table with the laptop. I start to go over some work that I brought home with me which I never got to over the weekend. As I'm breaking down the file and as the caffeine seeps into my blood stream my brain starts to wake up and begins chewing over the numbers and figures hungry for a challenge. Lots of questions with this file that don't add up. I continue breaking down the financials, making note of the inconsistencies. I'll have to get a second opinion from one of the veterans at work to see if I'm missing something or if the people that filled out this application are full of doo-honkey. As it nears 8:00 a.m., I face the fact that I must finish getting ready for work. If only I could stay here in my PJ's all day sipping coffee and listening to jazz and work from my kitchen table. It would be so much more productive. Don mentions it is his goal in life to come up with a business plan where we could both work from home. He has no idea what that would be yet. I mention we will need a bigger house. I finish getting dressed and drying my hair. No makeup today, just comfort and practicality. The drive to work is especially pleasant this morning. Having left the house about ten minutes earlier than normal traffic is a breeze, especially considering that it's late June now and there's no more school traffic either. It takes me only 18 minutes to get to work instead of my normal 25. Along the way, I have a moment where I realize that I'm singing rather boisterously to the radio and tapping my thumb to the music on the steering wheel. Ahhhh, so this is what it feels like to have coffee before I leave the house! Normally I don't have my coffee until I get to work. I drive with the windows cracked welcoming the fresh morning air. I have a few extra minutes so as I near work I pull into the grocery store to pick up a few things for work: some more coffee creamer, a bag of pita chips and hummus, and a couple of yogurt cups. As I'm putting my recent purchases away in the kitchen at work, I pop a few slices of turkey bacon in the toaster oven and refill my coffee cup. Definitely not as good as the Americano I had from home but with enough creamer it will do. The awesomeness of the toasted turkey bacon makes up for the unremarkableness of the coffee.

Don recently posted on Facebook that mornings do not agree with him. This morning at least, we agree, the morning and I. In fact, it's the day and evening that promise to be far more pretentious with it's growing demands and interruptions. This morning, it's just me, my coffee, and the work I have in front of me, and maybe a quick splurge for some self-indulging blogging.

Lakers

The Lakers just won a champoinship. And I cheered for them. I guess I am becoming a Californian.

The Wife of a Car Salesman

It's Sunday morning, 10:00 a.m. I've just finished a nice homemade cappuccino and now I'm sitting at the computer catching up on everyone's blogs and feeling a bit inspired by all of the insightful things my friends have to say. So maybe it's time to catch up a bit on my blog too. Since I'm not so good at the phone calls, if I don't write often enough, our family wouldn't know if we were dead or alive.

First of all, I'm so proud of Don and his new job at Volkeswagon. Last month was frustrating for sure and he definitely struggled in the beginning with whether or not it was the right decision to take this job. And too be frank, I did too. It was a long commute, long hours, a declining industry. We had our hopes set so high on the Mini Dealership. When that didn't come through, it wasn't so much that Volkeswagon was a close second, but more like the only offer on the table at the time.

So I held my breath and played the supportive wife roll , whatever you decide I'm behind you, while Don waded his way through a frustrating first few weeks of incompetent IT department taking forever to get his computer hooked up and figuring out the strange and bizzare workings of the car business. It's different than he's used to, the biggest factor being that he doesn't close his own sales, his manager does, and therefore he doesn't set his own margins, nor does he even know what they are. He may have flubbed up an opportunity or two in the beginning, and his first sale that he closed was an all day process, but his managers of course love him and kept pleading to just give them 90 days to see what the car business can do for him. Apparently it takes about that long to really develop your contact base and have consistent leads to turn over.

Well, Don seems to be on a much quicker path than 90 days. He's been able to take his professional skills and process and combine them with this crazy industry and already with less than 6 weeks under his belt is coming in 2nd in sales this month. And this couldn't be more exciting for me. I find myself really getting into his job actually. A born athlete like myself, it has been a long time since I've followed anything which resembles keeping score and my competitive nature is really coming out. I told him the other day that I don't even care how much money he makes anymore, I just wanted him to win! Haha. But it is interesting, and I always look forward to hearing about his day, what kind of customers he had, how the test drive went, what kind of car they were into and why. We are riding the tide a bit and the days when people don't buy are monotonous and frustrating but when he does make the sale it's excitement and celebration time.

I'm not surprised in the least that he is doing so well so quickly. He is a professional in a very bizarre industry. He's honest, listens to his customers, cares about their concerns, gets excited with them, and willing to take extra steps that will lead to greater satisfaction overall. One of the sales he closed last week the customer told him that he had already been into the dealership several times and met with several other people. If anyone else had helped him, he probably still would have walked away from the deal but he wanted to buy from Don because he was the only one that he felt he actually connected with and made the sales process a positive experience. Yeah babe!

But yes, there are downsides. Loooooonnnnngggg hours. And there's no such thing as a day off. You're on the customer's schedule not your own so if they want to come in on your day off, what are you gonna do? Give the sale to someone else? Maybe after we have made our first Mil. ;) So no doubt that sucks but we are making the most of it. I've adjusted my sleeping schedule a bit to stay up later so we can spend more time together and I've been cooking late night dinners so we can eat together when he gets home around 8:30p.m. For me actually it works out pretty well. I have a solid few hours when I get home from work before I even have to think about cooking. Excellent! So far I have been filling my time with chores, errands, meal planning, blogging, chilling with my sister on Skype, walking the dogs, cleaning, and a little exercise here and there, and wayyyyyyyyyyy too much time on Facebook.

Now that I'm over the initial adjustment of our new lifestyles, and have made some progress on my home organization, the next big goal coming up is a half marathon with my sister-in-law in October. So I'll be starting a running program for that and have a long way to go to get in shape.

My other big goal is to read 25 books in a year, so I just started #1. It's called "The River Wife" by Jonis Agee. Just something I grabbed quickly from browsing the shelves at the library that sounded interesting. It's a mystery of unfolding family secrets that weaves together the lives of two different women from the early 19th and 20th centuries living out their lives on a quaint river settlement married to a couple of French descendents named DuCharme. It's off to a grabbing start with a big number on a disaster that traps Miss Annie alive in her bed during the devastating New Madrid Earthquake, and abandoned by her family who could not free her from the wreckage, begins to die a slow death until a wandering scavenger comes to her rescue several days later. Although his intentions are unclear, her motivations for survival outweigh anything else and her powerful will to live sets the opening tone for the book. If anyone wants to read it with me let me know and so we can start our own online bookclub! Don figured out a way to do multiple webcam streaming yesterday for gaming with folks up in Washington so I'm sure we can use that same network for a book club. Well, I have to say that post has gotten me a little jazzed up about this book, so I think I'm off to do a little reading. Happy Sunday All!

Conquering the Coffee

I made an espresso all by myself this morning without any help from Don. Even though I had casually observed Don several times make the coffee with his Aeropress coffee contraption, I still couldn't figure it out and ruined two cups before I finally went to the computer and found a step by step demo on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31KKAWZd1N8. How did we ever survive without the internet? True there are other sources of information, but none that are awake this early on a Sunday morning!

The Right Spot

He fell asleep like this.

Sushi Night Pictorial

Needed to get out of the house a couple of weeks ago and decided on Sumo Sushi. Don and Nathan had been there before for lunch and the lunch specials are amazing. Dinner time is a little different story. Aside from a little grumbling about overspending, we had a good time.

At night time, the place has totally different atmosphere than the day. The room is dimly lit with black lighting which made my white shirt look really cool. Fun!

This was by far the best thing we ordered. Fresh Roll with Eel and LOTS of Avocado. It was beautiful and delicious!

Oysters on the half shell. I did not partake in this menu item, but it was pretty enough to take a picture of.

Back to the car and happy from Saki. Why am I the only one smiling? Is it because I just scolded Don for ordering too much food and going over our budget?

What's the best way to finish off sushi night? How about heating up a blackberry pie made with 100% marionberries. Uh, I think this is one for the FAIL Blog.

Vacation & Goals

I've been having a lovely three day weekend with my sister. Much more enjoyable than when she was here last year over Labor Day weekend and we had a heat emergency. Couldn't do anything outside! This time, I think we've found a good balance between activity and relaxation. Feels like the way a three day weekend should feel like, family outings, fun and down time. We've been enjoying catching up, creating new recipes, exploring hiking/walking opportunities, a movie at the Arclight (Terminator IV) and yesterday, a really nice afternoon at the beach just north of Malibu near Zuma Beach. We picniced, layed out in the sun, and did a nice little hike to the cliff top with a gorgeous ocean view where we spotted dolphins, seals, and even a cute friendly neighborhood squirrel that some other tourists nicknamed "Rocky."

Today, we're winding down our weekend with some productivity: Kristy working on her Resume while I do some chores and errands to get ready for the week. It's been a refreshing weekend and I'm feeling a bit inspired to change up my routine a bit when I get back to everyday life. Now that Don is getting into his job more, I have a lot more "me time" and I'm starting to think about how I want to invest that time. Of course one of my big goals coming up is a half marathon with my sister-in-law so part of that time will be spent focused on training.

Also, the simplest image of a girl reading a book on the beach yesterday sparked my appetite and interest to get more into reading. So I'm thinking about setting a goal to read 25 books in a year. That's about two a month which I think I could do. If anybody has any good suggestions on what to read I'm open to them. For the most part I like to read for entertainment so I'm drawn to fiction. I also love period pieces, books that incorporate lots of natural elements such as environment and weather, and books centered on strong female characters.

Finally, I plan to get back more into blogging. I want to continue to become better with my finances and the Cheapskate Blog has really helped me to keep on track.

Schedules & Phones & Stuff

Don has a schedule! And it's really not so bad. They have two shifts, an 8:30 to 5:00 and a noon to close which they alternate every other day. One weekday off a week plus every other Sunday. I'm sure I will miss him on the weekends but at least I am seeing him more on the weeknights than I thought I would be. And a day off in the middle of the week might be a nice change too.

He seems to be happy so far with his choice although a bit frustrated that the dealership is taking their sweet time with getting him set up with computer access, etc. Kind of prevents him from being able to start the sales process which sucks since that's what he gets paid for! But he has made use of his time by getting familiar with the cars and stock. Still a little mind numbing though with long hours not really being able to fully dig into the process yet.

He did finally get a login and password yesterday so was able to at least get limited access to websites and stuff. Discovered their security restrictions were so tight he couldn't even access gmail. Since Don lost his company paid cell phone with Revchem, we've been putting off the purchase of a new plan and phone until finances were more settled. Had been planning to wait awhile since starting this new job has been quite expensive already. It's cost us about $500 so far in new wardrobe and special licensing requirements ouch. Well, not being able to instant message my husband during the day was the last straw. We are going ahead with the cell phone purchase although Don has done his research and figured out how to get what he needs for virtually the same amount as we are paying for a landline now. He found a great phone that is Skype compatible. He'll buy a data plan only for about $37 a month and skip the phone service. Then he'll use Skype as his phone service which is only about $3 a month plus $60 annual fee for the phone number. We're cancelling the landline and I got a new battery and wall charger for my prepaid phone. So, to all of my friends who have complained for so long, I will finally be carrying my cell phone on a regular basis, although to keep my minutes down I'll also try to rely on instant messenger and skype to keep in touch with family and friends for longer conversations. Anybody who needs my cell phone number, shoot me an email.

Day 1

It is Day 1 of Don's new job at Volkswagon which means lots of changes. It will be an adjustment from working from home, to being unemployed, to working long hours with a long commute; an adjustment for him and for me. I have complete faith in him to take this job by storm and get everything he possibly can from it. And I'm happy for the people who will get to have him guide them through the car buying process. I'm also a little afraid of the unknown not knowing what kind of changes we'll have to make adjusting to our new lifestyles. I asked a friend how she copes with her partner working long hours, and she said they make it work by making the most of the time they do have together. In some ways she said it's kind of like being newlyweds and rediscovering each other all over again. I'm looking forward to that part. I hope Don is having fun test driving everything that VW has to offer.

Nutter Butter

This is my new nickname for Cordy who apparently got into our pantry and ate an entire ziploc bag full of macademia nuts. She paid for it dearly and has been looking green and miserable for the last 24 hours. Finally ate her breakfast last night around dinner time. Picking up the yard has been interesting. Any squirrel traveling through our back yard at the moment will think they have hit the jackpot.

31 Years of Don

Don said himself that he was completely unimpressed by the idea of turning 31. It seems like the most insignificant birthday he's had to date. Your twenties are pretty exciting, all of the momentum gaining up toward the big 30. Then it finally culminates, and guess what you just keep ticking away and continue to get older. Birthdays after you turn 30 I think just don't have the same significance anymore.
Additionally, I had also made a big blunder and mixed up my instant messaging conversations earlier in the week so I accidentally disclosed to Don all of the birthday presents he was getting thinking I was chatting with Jeremy, so I ruined the one surprise/excitement factor that there was to look forward to. So needless today, Don didn't have any specific feelings/excitement/inclinations toward how he wanted to spend his 31st Birthday.
His priorities were pretty much what they are every other day which may be a reflection of aging. He just wanted to spend time with friends, enjoy some good food, and appreciate being thought of. So two days before the party I came up with the brilliant idea of having an appetizer party and put out a quick evite. We knew it was last minute so weren't expecting a big crowd, but just about everyone from the main crew made it and we had a really nice time. It was a very busy morning for me as I recently undertook the task of training for a half marathon with my sister in law so in addition to grocery shopping, food prep, and cleaning, I also had to squeeze in a 6 mile run. But it all worked out and we got to enjoy a really lovely evening with some great friends and phenomenal food. Appetizer party, by the way... Huge hit! We all ate too much to be sure, but it won't stop us from doing it again.

Hope you enjoy the pictures of our lovely spread.

Top: Mango Salsa, Guacamole, Traditional Salsa

Bottom: Pizza Bites, Grapes, Cracked Black Pepper Crackers, Prosciutto

Salsa Sampler

Triple Cream Baked Brie & Cranberries in a sourdough Bread Bowl

Sliders with Shallot Dijon Relish and Smoked Grilled Jalapeno Poppers wrapped in Turkey Bacon

I don't think Don and I will every make a regular burger again. The sliders were just too delicious and great for a party atmosphere!

Food brings people together. Here is a symbol of friendship if I've ever seen one. All of our rings hang out together while we get into the food prep.

The Almost Really Expensive Vet Bill

Last night Don & Jeremy had a production meeting in Glendale. They have been collaborating with friends from Gadzook Films on various short film projects to keep active and further hone their flim making skills. So after a quick and refreshing Salmon dinner, they were off to their meeting and Katy and I got to spend the whole evening together. We had a nice time chatting over a glass of wine while I finished up the dishes and then mingled on over to the living room to relax.

As we were deep in conversation, I looked over and noticed that Cordy was playing with and trying to eat something small on the rug. Oh, great, she's gone after a bug again. I ordered her to stop and she backed away from the now mangled bug and left it alone. So the conversation went on until about 15 or 20 minutes later when we noticed Cordy standing in the middle of the room shaking with her tail between her legs, eyes glazed over, and not looking well at all. Hmmm, that's not normal. So I called to her and she didn't respond. Not normal either. I asked her if she wanted to go outside. No response. Not normal again. I asked her if she was hungry and pulled out the treat bag. No response. DEFINITELY not normal!

Now Cordy has a sensitive stomach to begin with, but concerned that she may have just tried to eat some kind of poisonous bug, we determined that this situation warranted a trip to the animal hospital. Just great. First we find out we owe $5600 on our taxes. Then today my car starts making noises so am going to have to fork over some dough for car repairs. Now an emergency animal vet bill on top of it. I don't know about you, but I've never gotten out of one of those ER pet visits for less than $700.

So, we pick up the little girl's trembling body and head out to the car with poor Seumas beside himself that we are leaving him behind all by his lonesome. Cordy is in Katy's lap on the passenger seat, tail still between her legs and head burried. There we are, driving along Ventura Blvd and headed to Studio City when, I kid you not, *buuuurrrrrrpppp*. Cordy lets out the raunchiest, stinkiest, and most audible burp I've ever heard come from a four legged animal. Did I mention raunchy? It stunk to high heaven!

A few minutes later, she sits up a little and starts taking an interest in the traffic, lights and pedestrians on the busy streets of the boulevard. That's a good sign. So we get to the animal hospital, starting to feel a little better that maybe she isn't on her deathbed. We park and get out of the car, and immediately, she perks right up, head high and tail wagging and is sniffing around really excited and ready to go for a night stroll and explore these unfamiliar surroundings. Really good sign!

So instead of taking her into the hospital we walked right past it and went a couple of blocks up and down the Boulevard where she seem to be enjoying herself just fine and no signs of discomfort. That's right, the girl had gas, and it almost cost me hundreds of dollars. I tried to tell her that this is what happens when you eat poop, but I don't think it got through.

Choco-job

My husband is interviewing with a chocolate company tomorrow. How cool is that? If he accepts the position, guess what everyone is getting for Christmas...

Dog Day Afternoon

California is a beautiful place to be in March. Warm but not too hot. Well, maybe a little too hot. Did it really get up into the eighties this weekend? Don and I laid out for a bit in the backyard with the dogs, but I quickly got too warm and went in the house.

The Lingerie Olympian

I found this fun Quiz through a fellow bloggers' website I was introduced to by a friend called Eve's Apples Lingerie Blog. The quiz measures your lingerie personality type and they got me dead on with the Lingerie Olympian:

"The Olympian is always on the go and doesn’t have time for frilly designs or needless lingerie - she wants something that looks good, practical, and that can work indoors or out on a run. She loves simplicity, with styles that flatter the body she’s been working so hard for."

New Blog

I started a new blog called LA Cheapskate and am hoping the whole world will sign in and "follow me" so that I can feel more popular.

http://lacheapskate.blogspot.com/

Credit Crisis

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

The best educational video I have seen in a long time. This is so good I stole it from Katy. It walks you through the steps with excellent visual aids that really boils down how the credit crisis came to be. Take ten minutes. It's worth it!

Accidental Fung Shui

Let me tell you how much I love my husband. He said something to me today that every wife longs to hear. As Sunday afternoon rolled around and I posed the question, what would you like to do with the remaining hours of our weekend? He actually came back with, "I think I'd like to continue with the cleaning." Yep, ladies. Sorry to say but the ring on his finger proves this one is taken and he is all mine! We'd already had a fairly productive weekend. Went hiking with friends, got in a good Saturday afternoon nap, did some grocery shopping, meal planning, laundry and light chores. As I headed out for my second walk with the dogs of the weekend, I even hinted lightly (in other words spelled out to him in plain English) how happy it would make me if he vacuumed the living room while I was gone which he obliged as well. So when he mentioned that he wanted to spend the rest of our Sunday afternoon cleaning the house it wasn't the first thing on my mind but I was quick to get behind him on the effort. He even went so far as to say that he would like to make an effort to be more organized and proactive about chores such as making sure we put our dirty clothes in the hamper and finding a place to put our shoes when we take them off. Actually it's nice, the cleaning part I love of course, but in general, since being laid off, you know we go through stages. And Don seems to be moving into productive stage. He's starting to have ideas brewing, creative juices flowing, and their finally starting to give birth to execution. It's exciting to be around.

So one of the major things on our to do list for creating a more clean and organized home life, was to get the office in shape. It continues to be our "dump" room. There is too much clutter in there to begin with and whenever we don't have a place for something we just throw it into the pile. We really need to go through everything in there, organize the space, store, shred, and donate items, and consolidate the necessities to eliminate the clutter. Recently I blogged about our trip to Matt and Camille's new place and how much we loved their office. We loved the fact that they had included a couch in their office. It gave it so much more of a comfortable, soft, relaxing, livable space, rather than a sterile cold cluttered office environment. Don and I have been thinking about that ever since and decided to jump on Craigslist this afternoon to see what we could find. We liked the idea of getting a sleeper sofa like Matt and Camille so that we would not only be able to relax on the couch in the office and watch Hulu on the Mac but we could also use it as a place for guests to sleep when we have family and friends in town. It was our lucky day as a nice couple had a listing just one block down from where we live now. We headed over and picked it up right away. Perfect! It was in good shape, clean, sturdy, just what the doctor ordered. We payed the bargain used price of $125, loaded it up in the truck, and headed the quarter mile trek back to our place.

Did I say perfect? More like too good to be true. Of course we had taken measurements of the office space to make sure the couch would fit in the office. But we hadn't measured the door frames. The doors in our hallway leading to the office, not to mention the tiny hallway itself, are (to borrow a phrase from my sister) something like straight out of the pages of Alice and Wonderland. Too dang small. No manner of tilting, angling, pushing, or prodding would make the couch fit through the hall into the office. It was mathematically impossible. Darn! So we just dropped some cash on a new couch, which would have been perfect for the setup we were trying to create, but no possible way to get it into the office. Our gears started turning, maybe our friends would want to trade our new larger couch for one of their smaller ones? We called Matt and Camille and made a proposal to them for a trade which they were willing to consider but like they mentioned, their couch had been a gift from family and was all torn up by the cats anyway, so initial thoughts were that it might not really be the best idea. So we pretty much gave up on that and decided to put the couch back up on Craigslist ourselves and hopefully we could at least make our money back. So we made some dinner and went about our evening. Nathan and Paige came over and we played a little game of Vegas Showdown which I won but man was it a close game. We all ended within two points of each other.

After the game, we were sitting around conversing, and about to call it an evening when we got back on the subject of the couch again. It occurred to me, that we do have a large enough living room to accommodate two couches. What if we were to move the chairs into the office and bring the new couch into the living room? It's not exactly how we had pictured it but it just might work. Don mentioned he would miss his recliner, but we would be watching more TV on the computer in the office now than we would in the living room anyway so he might actually prefer it in there. You know this just might work! So we finagled Nathan into helping us bring in the sofa and rearrange the furniture and actually ended up with a really nice living arrangement that actually accommodates more seating now for entertaining and accomplishes what we wanted in the office. There is still a lot of the "cleaning" part now to be done in the office, but now that we have a vision for how things are going to end up it's kind of exciting! I snapped a few photos but I think I'll wait until we have completed the whole project so that you can see the end result all clean and sparkly.

By the way, now that we have more overnight accommodations, anyone want to come for a visit?!