The Only Constant is Change

Elder Daughter decided to replace her mattress, a couple of weeks ago. She's been on a full-size setup which was purchased several years ago.

We were all surprised when she came from a day of making furniture store rounds, and told us that no one sells full-size mattresses anymore.

Nope, no longer available.

So she gritted her teeth and invested in a new queen-size bedroom suite, memory foam mattress, the whole nine yards.  She and I spent the morning assembling the bed, with under-storage (drawers which close flush), headboard and footboard. Each box seemed to be heavier, and then there's the two flights of stairs between the staging/opening area in the garage, and her third-floor bedroom.

But we got 'er done. After lunch of freshly-grilled brats, we took a truckload of cardboard, styrofoam and other packing materials to the landfill, and headed back to the furniture store some 20 miles away.

Why? She didn't know if she'd need box springs, since the bed rails are somewhat taller than the norm. Turned out she wanted one, so off we went.

Turned out it was a good day to go: she won a mountain bike for having purchased the furniture and mattress, so they tossed it in the truck along with the springs.

Fortunately, the box springs are in a plastic bag rather than another box. It would have been irksome to return from our take-all-the-cardboard-to-the-dump run with another large box...

But all is finished, she's happy, and my wife is grilling burgers. That's a win-win-win!

The Best-Laid Plans ...

Et cetera, et cetera.

This morning's plan was to pick up a new bed for Younger Daughter. That turned into two beds, as Older Daughter wanted one, too.

And then a sofa with chaise lounge was added to the mix. So we brought the beds home first, unloaded a wife and daughter, and O.D. and I went back for the sofa.

Two trips, twice the daughter time (good) and twice the crazy drivers (bad). Traffic was quite light; I'm guessing most were holed up to watch Lady Gag-Me ruin the half-time show.

The instant ratings, if they were reported truthfully, would be quite interesting. I wonder if we'll ever know how many tuned away at half-time, and how many of those stayed away for the rest of the game.

Then of course we had to bring all that furniture in. The two mattresses went to the third floor, and the old ones back down to the garage. Then the old sofa came out of the family room, thankfully on the ground floor, and the new one in.

That required that the man-door between the family room and garage be taken down. It has the spring-loaded hinges which slam the door shut, since it's part of the fire-protection envelope.

It required a large flat-bladed screwdriver to pry the hinge open again, and I had to use both hands to hold it flat against the door frame, while a second person drove in the first couple of screws. And the third person held the door upright, balanced on a stack of shims, to achieve the height to align the hinge plates with the relieved areas on the frame.

I sure hope we're done bringing in furniture for awhile. My back hurts. :)

Weekend, Part 3: A Day and a Half

A day and a half, not counting trips out, meals, interruptions, and what-have-you. But dang, she's purty!

And with any luck, the last one I'll have to assemble for a Very. Long. Time.


And now? Dinner, then ... then maybe a little nap. :)

A Less-Hectic Day

New furniture is in place; the bedroom finally looks like it's for grownups, rather than the setting for an upcoming garage sale.

My wife is off to buy groceries, and browse to her heart's content at whatever stores she cares to visit. We've discovered various sore & achy bits this morning, after shuffling up & down the stairs multiple dozens of times over the last 48 hours, carrying various large, bulky and/or heavy things. It's our bodies' way of telling us we're not 30-somethings anymore ... not that we entertained any doubts on that score.

We went out for dinner last night, since it was clear that no one had the energy or desire to cook. We visited Appleby's again, reinforcing my opinion of how truly, um, routine their food is. It doesn't matter how many times they revise their menu, add different ingredients, or try mixing things up; the food remains mundane, at best. Maybe I'm spoiled by having two very good cooks at home - okay, there's no "maybe" about it - but I rarely enjoy eating out these days.

The horror that is Haiti continues to dominate the news. Regardless of your opinion of former Pres. G.W. Bush, I recommend you take his advice: "Lots of folks want to send blankets and water. Please just send cash." Be careful to whom you send your donations, of course, but please help if you're able.

I think I shall do little-to-nothing today, as often as I can. But first I need to hang the rest of the new artwork.