We Made It!

After just a brief 23-hour jaunt in the car!

Seriously, what were we thinking? I'm pretty sure we weren't thinking it was going to take us 23 hours to take an 18 hour trip. But hey, Que Sera Sera.

I'd just like to once again thank the geniuses who invented the portable DVD player, even if we do have to use packing tape to make ours work for longer than two seconds. And believe it or not, leaving at night meant the kids slept a good 14 hours, so that was a plus.

Last night after we FINALLY got in, we visited awhile with Grandpa Ron and Steven's sister Jenny (yes that's right, her name is Jenny Grundberg too...and she's my exact age...and she's blonde). Then Jenny made the kids one of their favorites--Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup.


Today we've been out and about a bit and BRRRRRRR!!!! It's cold! I love it, but realize I greatly underestimated the insulating power of my new coat. I'm definitely going to need a supplementary hat and scarf. I am totally Stevie's completely pysched about the left-over, dirty snow on the ground, and somewhat unsuccesfully attempted a snow angel (really he was just rolling around on the frozen ice).
(It's suppose to snow for realsies on Tuesday!!! WOO-HOO!!!!)

Our Christmas Holiday

On Christmas Eve, some folks in our ward had a party at the church, and it was really fun. One of the guys DEEP-FRIED A TURKEY, PEOPLE! We had a hilarious White-Elephant Gift exchange, in which the Grundbergs miraculously scored by getting a brand new Apples-to-Apples game. Sweeeeet. The kids also had a little gift exchange and all in all, it was uber fun. Afterwards, we stopped by Adam and Jessica's for a little family time, and then went home to face the seemingly unsurmountable task of getting our so-excited-they're-hyperventilating children in bed.

Santa's Little Helpers next had to put together the big Christmas present (a trampoline!! Thank you, Walmart!), and let me tell you, they DEFINITELY underestimated the time and difficulty of this project. And to add insult to injury, the little trike (Santa's gift to David) took at least 45 minutes to assemble. Come on, people! You're overestimating my intelligence.

The children slept mercifully late on Christmas morning (10am! What????) But boy, did they love it. They rode their Wiggle Car and Trike in circle around the house for about 10 minutes before we could get on with the unwrapping.

Stevie was crazy excited about each present. David was much too interested in whatever toy he just unwrapped to be bothered to unwrap ANOTHER present.
But the pièce de résistance was definitely the trampoline. The kids literally squealed in delight and climbed on the thing at break-neck speed. (and don't worry, that helmet isn't a substitute for the enclosure. Santa Elves were just too lazy to put it up the night before).

Then it was on to the kitchen for Steven and me to get started on Christmas dinner. And once again, no ingredients were accidentaly added or subtracted, nothing burned, and everything was relatively delicious. Joey (who'd driven down from Arlington), Dad, Adam and Jessica all came over and we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner.

Grandpa outdid himself this year with the most amazing gift to each family. A Wii!! We were absolutely floored, and spent a good chunk of the evening boxing crazily one with another. (though I personally preferred tennis). I tried to post a video of Stevie's all-intensive fully body boxing, but Blogger isn't complying. So go HERE to see it.

After the fun and hub-bub of family was gone, we took a page out of Sarah's book and pulled out the Christmas candy, snuggled together on the couch and watched "Joy to the World." It's definitely my new favorite way to end Christmas day.

Grundberg Christmas Letter 2008

Well, I’ve been sitting here staring at this blank page for the past 15 minutes trying to figure out how in the world to summarize our crazy year. Considering the circumstances, I thought the best way to go might be a…

GRUNDBERG FAMILY TIMELINE

JANUARY
• Jenny starts a family blog.
• Steven continues teaching HS Spanish at Sam Houston High School.

FEBRUARY
• Stevie Jr. masters potty training!!
• We decide to move into Jenny’s father’s old house in order to make repairs and prepare it for sale.

MARCH
• Jenny throws her Dad a surprise 60th birthday party, and boy, was he surprised!
• Stevie Jr. starts T-Ball and David learns the word, “No.”
• Steven coordinates the Ward Easter Egg Hunt and Jenny directs the Church Choir Easter Program.

APRIL
• Steven and Jenny perform Brahms’ “Eines Deutsches Requiem” with the Arlington Master Chorale.
• Stevie Jr. starts learning to read, and David learns how to clog the plumbing by flushing an entire roll of paper down the toilet.

MAY
• Steven receives a wonderful job offer from American National Insurance Company to be a computer programmer in Galveston, TX
• Steven turns 35!

JUNE
• The Grundbergs move to League City, TX. It’s a big transition, but a wonderful opportunity and blessing for our family.

JULY
• We spend our first 4th of July in Galveston.

AUGUST
• David turns 2! He also begins talking more intelligibly and mimics everything Stevie Jr. does.
• Steven and Jenny audition for and are accepted into the Bay Area Chorus
• Jenny turns 31, and has a wonderful, wonderful birthday thanks to her family.

SEPTEMBER
• After evacuating for Hurricane Ike, a tree falls on our house and starts a fire. The house unfortunately burns down to the ground and all our possessions were destroyed. (Luckily, we were insured)! What an experience! Thank goodness we’d evacuated and were all safe! We received amazing support from friends and family, who gave us clothing, furniture, money and most of all love. We are forever grateful to you all for your help and prayers.
• On a lighter note, Stevie Jr. turns 4, and also reads his very first line in the Primary Program at church (perfectly, I might add)!

OCTOBER
• Steven returned to work in Galveston while Jenny and the kids stayed in Arlington with Jenny’s brother. Being homeless for over a month was an interesting and humbling experience, and we are so grateful to all those who gave their time and homes and energy to help us out.

NOVEMBER
• We moved into our new house in League City, and had a wonderful time filling it with fabulous new furniture. Our home has never looked better (though we wouldn’t recommend this means of re-decorating).

DECEMBER
• We hang Christmas lights, bake Christmas cookies, and joyfully celebrate our first holiday season in League City, TX, as well as rejoice in the miracle of that Holy Night when our Savior Jesus Christ was born.

Any questions? Give us a call, email or even write us snail mail; we’d love to hear from you! We miss you all and hope that your new year is filled to the brim with peace and joy.

With Much Love,
Steven, Jenny, Stevie Jr. & David

Good Grief, Child!

Today it looks like this...

But yesterday it looked more like this...

I'm not even exaggerating. He ran right into a bench at the YMCA and got a bump so large, I rushed home thinking we were going to have to take him to the ER again. Fortunately, the Dr.'s office told us just to watch him and he should be okay...which he was.

But seriously, David, really? Are you really going to give us two ER scares within a one month period? The same thing happened last Christmas. Between Dec. 15th and Jan 8th or so of last year, David went to the ER three times. Twice for stitches, once to make sure he hadn't chopped off his finger with a cheese grater. I'm sure the hospital was on the brink of calling CPS on that last visit.

It's a good thing kids are made out of rubber and cement.

Candy Thongs, Etc.

Tonight I went to a hilarious all-ladies Christmas party, and it was amazingly fun. One of the highlights was of course the Chinese Gift Exchange (one of my all time favorites,) and it was just hysterical. It's always astonishing to me how rauchy married Mormon moms get when you put them in the same room with some nipple arousal balm and a candy thong (--actual gifts--). And yes, I tried my dangdest to steal that thong, but SOMEBODY (not naming any names) stole it back from me. Oh well. I did get some rockin' sunglasses. Ooo, and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (that candy will be the death of me. Curse it's delicious peanuty goodness).

It's so incredibly cathartic to just BE with other women to just chat and hang out. In high school and even in college, I don't think I ever valued female relationships very much. Coming from a family of all boys, Girl Rules were much too complex and subtle for me. I would offend left and right and never know why or how.

After Mom died, my need for having women friends increased ten-fold, and in turn the Girl Rules didn't seem so complicated anymore. I guess it's a kind of learn-as-you-go thing. Being able to talk and laugh with women who are sharing my same experiences is such a blessing to me.

Anyway, it was a great party.

The Grundbergs Elf Ourselves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Hmmmm.

Should I be concerned that this is his favorite toy?

Scary. (I kept the red-eye for special effect).

Christmas Activities

Well, taking the advice of Amber, the boys and I decided it was time to do some baking and make Christmas Cookies.

It was quite the endeavor.

The boys helped with making the cookie dough (boy, were they excited about the handmixer), cutting out the cookies, decorating, and generally trying to make as big a mess as humanly possible. (The flour was also a great favorite. It was mostly used to adorn my kitchen floor).

It was really fun to mix all the food coloring and make little creations together. Stevie was a MAJOR fan of the sprinkles. In fact, most of his cookies were comprised of a bit of icing with 100% sprinkels coverage. (Notice the flour crusties in his hair).
David was much more interested in eating the cookies than decorating them. In fact, he thought it was a good idea to take one bite out of each cookie and then start on a new one. Here is some of his handywork. It took me an hour and a half to clean everything up afterwards. But it was worth it. The boys were crazily excited the entire time. Afterwards, however, all three of us were so sugar-shocked that I'm pretty sure we're all diabetic now.

The boys and I have also enjoyed unwrapping the Christmas book every night and reading it before bed. I hope it will take some of the edge off of the whole presents hysteria on Christmas Day. It's really sweet to have them both in my lap, and to see them so engrossed. This is one Christmas Activity that I think we'll turn into tradition. (Seen here reading "Angel Pig and the Hidden Christmas" by Jan Waldron--a really great book)!

Get Outta Town!

It snowed last night. I was extremely suprised by this turn of events because

1. We live 23 miles south of Houston and
2. It was 73 degrees earlier the same day.

What the heck? Hey, but who am I to complain? Steven went out to get the mail around 8pm and came back in covered in snow flakes. I started to squeal but he told me "SHHHHH, Let's suprise the boys."

And Boy Howdy! did they love it. They ran around like crazy people, slipping and sliding and getting wet. We were so unprepared for the weather that we didn't even have winter coats! I put socks on the boys' hands, but they were soon soaked. David slipped and fell down about every 2 mintues or so, but always happily pick himself up and go play again. Stevie discovered the magic of the snowball. He also laid down in the snow and made a snow angel. They were so cold afterwards! Even though it was so late at night, we made them take a hot bath before bed. What a fun night.

Don't Tell the EPA...

I went out on the back porch the other day and lo, and behold, David and Stevie decided to make a little Winter Wonderland of their own. With packing styrofoam.




Oh well, 'Tis the Season. Don't worry--we shop-vaced it all up after taking pictures.

Sans Internet Catch Up

We’ve been without internet this week (curse you Comcast), so let me catch up

Let’s see…

Thursday we went to see Santa at the Library. What was I thinking? Trying to get a 4 and 2 year old to act sane while standing in a 45 minute line wasn’t my logistics at their best. They were of course insanely excited to see Santa Claus until it was our turn. Then they immediately became highly suspicious of the man in the red suit and would barely approach him, much less sit on his knee for a friendly chat about Christmas lists. This picture definitely won’t be going out with our Christmas Cards.


Afterwards we went to the League City Christmas Tree Lighting. It was okay, but again I was alone with two little guys who didn’t quite know what the heck was going on and were really just interested in destroying the bushes to the best of their abilities (which were surprisingly apt).

On Friday I PUT UP THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ALL BY MYSELF, BABY! That’s right, I climbed the roof (while musing that this would be a most unflattering way to go as I contemplated how in the world I was going to get from the ladder to the roof without dying) and attached those dang lights all by my lonesome, and I’m pretty dang proud, needless to say.

Friday night was the Ward Christmas Party/Talent Show. It was really nice dinner and everything looked so pretty. Steven and I, along with Anna S. were planning on singing a few tunes. Little did we know we would be the ONLY other adults performing something (besides a very hilarious skit put on by our Elders Quorum). I felt pretty sheepish after this realization. But it was still fun and we had a great time.
On Saturday, instead of our normal trek to Waffle House, I actually made us waffles, eggs and cinnamon rolls. It was so much fun (and so much cheaper) that I’m hoping we’ll change our tradition permanently. Of course it does make for a much messier kitchen afterwards. I really hope someone cleans it up one of these days…

That evening we decided to go to the League City Holiday-in-the-Park and Parade. It was a MUCH bigger deal than we expected. This parade was on par with the Arlington 4th of July parade…with one MAJOR difference. For some reason there was this ENORMOUS lag between floats. We thought the parade was over, and then another little float would come straggling by. After awhile we got so tired of waiting that we just went to the festival. WHICH WAS AWESOME! I mean seriously, it was County Fair awesome without the livestock. Rides, games, food, live music. Did I mention it was free? It seriously rocked my world. Next year we’ll plan on spending more than just an hour and a half there.
Today is Sunday and I am unfortunately taking care of 3 vomiting boys. Which isn't the greatest advertisement for festival food. So no church today. All three of my poor guys are sick as dogs. I’m just nervously waiting for the bug to bite me as well. Maybe it will miss me entirely. Oh well. Until then I’ll be playing nursemaid and doing lots and lots of laundry.

Yearly Check-Ups

Five Shots. That’s how many shots you get at your 4 year check-up. Five Freakin’ shots. (That's right, those are band-aids you see on his legs there). And Stevie put up a pretty big fight, too. It took three of us to hold him down. The nurse commented on how surprised she was by his strength. He screamed and cried and said, “Why do we have to do this, Mommy?” I choked up a bit. It’s hard not to when you're holding down your little guy, who's shrieking in pain and so obviously doesn’t understand why you're doing this to him. Needless to say, I bought him a whole freakin' bag of M&Ms at the store afterwards.

And David was second. Even though he only had one shot, I guess after seeing Stevie's reaction, the anticipation was too much. He was screaming and crying before the nurse even applied the alcohol.

But the good news is that they’re both as healthy as little horses and doing just fine.

STEVIE’S STATS:
Height- 41 ½ inches: 95th percentile
Weight- 42lbs: 90th percentile

DAVID’S STATS:
Height- 35 inches : 50th percentile
Weight- 31 lbs: 75th percentile
Head Circumfrence- 51 ½ inches: 95th percentile!!

Regression

My kids are seriously going through a regression state. Every word out of Stevie mouth lately is tinged with a mysterious Baby Accent. Half of his vocabulary zooms out the window until I insist he “use his big boy words.” And just forget about him being a 4 year old if there’s a baby around. He sees all that positive attention the baby’s getting and says to himself, “Hey, I’m getting’ in on that action.” Sometimes it drives me nuts to hear him talk in that baby voice, but then I just remind myself that hey, how long will he want you to cuddle and coddle him like this? Not long, so I better soak it all up while I can.

David’s regression manifests itself when our nephew Jack comes over. He immediately begins to situate himself inside the infant car seat (which he has long since outgrown). I’m not actually sure if he’s regressing or if he just really thinks Jack’s car seat toys are cool. You decide.

Christmas Ideas

Stevie’s old enough now to get excited about Christmas. Which makes me go absolutely insane with excitement, of coures. This year, I checked out a bunch of Christmas books from the library. I’m going to wrap them up like presents, and every night before bed we’ll unwrap and read one of the Christmas books.

I struggled a bit on how to teach Stevie and David about Jesus’ birth. I really want them to understand what it’s all about. I lucked out, because they have these great little videos on LDS.org. They’re basically the Illustrated Scriptures in Video form, but they’re succinct and use simple language. I’m going to try and incorporate a new one every week in Family Home Evening.

Here are some activities I’m going to TRY and have with the family this year.

1. Letters to Santa (yes, we’re going to do Santa. I’m going to follow this advice, too).
2. League City Christmas Tree Lighting on Dec. 4
3. Make homemade ornaments
4. Make Christmas cookies or gingerbread houses.
5. Secret Santa (leave cookies at people’s houses and run away)
6. Go Christmas caroling
7. Go see Christmas lights.
8. Go to Dickens on the Strand (I went last year and loved it. Plus, Steven gets discount tickets at work).

I know I’m probably being overly optimistic, but hey, it’s Christmas! A great time for optimism. Hopefully I won't end up having a Clark Griswald moment.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...

Christmas Geek. Right here. I absolutely love Christmas. And now that Thanksgiving is over, I can officially put up Christmas decoration without looking neurotic. We decorated the tree as a family tonight (translation: the kids hung all the ornaments about 2 feet off the ground as I tried in true OCD form to surreptitiously rearrange everything). We haven't found a tree topper yet...we're looking for an angel that glows, but can't find one. So now our front room looks like this:
I finally was able to find this sweet little nativity that I absolutely adore. And I got the stockings (already monogrammed) from Land's End. (I like the homey, old-fashioned look).
There’s no other time of year when I get so easily choked up. One time in 11th grade, I was watching the Ziggy Christmas Special (remember Ziggy?), and Ziggy gave his coat to a cold homeless person. I actually started crying. Over a Ziggy cartoon.

Oh yes, and commercials will get me too. And any sitcom that makes any kind of reference to Christ and the nativity will send me sniffling. And don't even get me started on Carols. I just love being able to shamelessly immerse myself in all that’s good in the world, and rejoice in Where All Good Things Comes From.

Thanksgiving

Today was a good day. I hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my house, and I actually didn’t burn anything! (Don’t roll your eyes, this is actually an amazing feat)! Dad’s brought his new friend Judy, who just happens to be a Home-Ec teacher at Pasadena High School. She cooked a mouth-watering turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and a glazed ham! And that’s not all! WE cooked a prime rib roast, rolls, pumpkin, chocolate meringue and cherry pie, corns and green beans. Why did we cook so much food? Um…not sure. But there was plenty left over. Steven says that’s why the world hates America…because people like us have 3 meats for dinner. But it was all very delicious and everyone even washed the dishes for me afterwards so I didn’t have too!

Judy brought one of her students. His name was Brian and he was a very nice kid. He’s got a tough home life, but still manages to pull off a 4.0 GPA. He was so sweet to my kids, helped with the dishes, and was totally at ease talking to a bunch of random adults about nothing in particular. I was really glad he came.

Judy is just lovely. She’s sweet and funny and is so good for my dad. He’s been so lonely since Mom’s been gone. Mom once told me that Dad would have to marry again if she died. “He’s too happily a married man to live alone,” She’d say. She always said it matter-of-factly, without sarcasm or joking around. She was right, too. This past year and a half have been hell for Dad. And Judy is so nice and he seems so happy. It’s the first time in months I haven’t worried about him.

But I feel torn too, like I’m jealous for Mom. It seems like the last little thread of her is disappearing. I look around and it’s like she was never even here. And I miss her so much today that my heart feels like its breaking. I’m not ready to take her place and be what she was to our family. I wish she was here. It’s strange…whenever my life is at its happiest and I see how much I have to be grateful for…that’s when I miss her most.

Catching Up Again

Well, our attempt at doing without cable lasted about a week and a half. We now have Direct-TV, and my life is finally at peace. (Shameful, shameful, I KNOW)! The guys came today to hook it up, and all I can say is I LOVE NOGGIN! Especially when I’m cooking dinner. Makes a great temporary babysitter. At least it’s not SpongeBob, right? Hey, DON’T YOU JUDGE ME! (I watched some lady say that on a hilarious episode of My Name Is Earl, and now I can’t stop saying it).

We went to the Houston Zoo on Friday with Adam and Jess and Baby Jack. Adam and Jess are so hilarious, and baby Jack is so cute I just want to squeeze him to pieces. He does nothing but give wide-eyed smiles and laughs (but Adam and Jess assure me this isn’t at all the case). We had a really great time. Here’s a picture of us petting some severely disinterested goats.


They had this cute little prairie dog display, where the kids can climb through holes and pop up at the top like a Prairie Dog. We didn’t see any actual prairie dogs, however. Must have been too cold for them.
The grand finale of the day was when we were looking at the Okapi, David fell head-first into a bench. He busted his lip up pretty good, and actually pushed one of his teeth back into his gums. That of course ended our trip and necessitated a trip to the ER. They told us that because it’s a baby tooth, we shouldn’t worry too much. Just gave us a prescription for anti-biotic and told us to check in with a pediatric dentist, seeing as how it’s time for David to start getting check-ups anyway.

So once again my little Day-Day resembles Mushmouth from Fat Albert. It’ll be a miracle if that kid makes it to 10. I hope he does, because we're kind of attached to him.

Seriously,

How is this comfortable?

Twilight Review

Okay, folks, I loved it. LOVED IT! I thought it was an absolute blast to watch. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was the hundreds of screaming teenage girls, but I just thought it was really a fun movie. And honestly, I liked it a bit better than the book. It was very nice not to have to listen to Bella's string of whiny inner-dialouge the whole time. You just got to look at her and not realize how whiny she is, it was GREAT! I liked her so much better.

I thought they got all the characters down pat except for:

1) Rosalee-- the most beautiful woman in the world? Please...you could tell she wasn't even a natural blonde. She mostly just looked like she'd smelled a super-stinky piece of cheese through the whole movie.

2) Jasper-- hello, WHAT'S with the bug-eyed, terrified look he gives the camera? And seriously, that hair makes him look a little too pretty.

3) James-- he was just a bit ridiculous. His incessive impassioned sniffing and "oooh, I'm so scary" mugs to the camera were a bit funny. Plus, he just wasn't beautiful enough to be a vampire (in my head...I have very high vampire standards).

However, almost all the other characters were perfect (Victoria was way cooler in this movie than I ever thought she was in the book...that look of "I'm elvish and happy being evil and killing you," was excellent. And Alice was perfect. Just perfect.

And especially: Yeah, I admit I was skeptical of the Harry Potter dude (Cedric) playing Edward. But by the end of the movie, i thought he was uber-dreamy. I was totally sold.

ANYWAY, I know there were ultra-idiot parts running rampant in this movie. But I was expecting all that, so I wasn't too disappointed. I just thought they did a great job of portraying the book, which let's face it, isn't Pulitzer material anyway. And I'm definitely going to see it again. So DON'T YOU JUDGE ME!

Oh, and i just want to add that the girls in my ward are hilarious and I spent all of last night laughing my butt off. or I wish I had laughed my butt off...there's really too much of it.

Decorating Is Fun...As Long as I Have Help

Okay, so I'm cheap. And neurotic.

I'm just not willing to spend a buck on pretty much anything, much less "Chotsky" (as Shannon christened little decorative ornaments to adorn your shelves, table, etc). But between the efforts of both my sis-in-law Jessica and Shannon, my house is looking much cuter by far. Here are some before and after pics. (PS, I just wanted to state for the record, that the pictures make the rooms look WAY smaller than they are...I just have a darn crappy camera. But hey, whaddya want? It survived a fire).

BEFORE: (No chotsky)
AFTER: (chotskified) All courtesy of Walmart. Amazing how much a rug and a few throw pillows can warm up a room. Thanks again, Jess, for helping me break down and make a decision.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
Sooooo much better, right? Thank goodness Shannon was there to hold my hand through it all. I never could have picked this stuff to go together otherwise. (Just LOOK at that adorable little red lamp. It's so cute I want to pinch it's non-existent cheeks)! And it was SUCH a good deal and I can even machine wash it!!!! Oh, and that mirror, I'm going to hang it up...just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Shannon also put together this little adroable space with some "chotsky" that she found at both TJ Max and Walmart:
Isn't it cute? And can you believe we found a sign with that oh-so-LDS saying on it?

I have ONE more space that I need help with, if there are any advice-givers out there. It's the space behind our couch by the fireplace. I obviously don't have any books to put on the bookshelves, but...well, here's a few pictures:
See? The couch isn't just pushed up against the fireplace...there's a whole extra space there.
But it's the sofa table specifically that I need help with. What does one put on a sofa table that doesn't look kitchy but DOES look put-together enough so that my husband won't pile things on the surface?:

I'm An Idiot.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I lost my cellphone...AGAIN! It had all my phone numbers, birthdays, etc. and I'm just sick about it.

Please don't be offended if i don't call you back. If you need me, just shoot me an email! I would REALLY appreciate it if you'd send me an email with your phone number in it (especially you Arlington folk, seeing as how I can't access the Arl. 1st Ward directory anymore).

(Seriously, what is wrong with me? Who loses cellphones as regularly as I do?)

Gettin' There

I hate shopping. I get tired too easily and I'm super-stingy with money. Even when I have money, (which is seldom) I'm eternally budgeting it. You'd think I'd be richer.

Shannon, however, (who was visiting this weekend with her kiddos) is a fabulous shopper. She's tireless and a bargain-hunter to boot. She found me some great bedding at Ross (a place that usually overwhelms me the second I step in the store) and helped me put my bedroom together. It looks so dang nice, even though I'm still trying to get used to 1) how lavish and romantic it looks and 2) even HAVING a somewhat put-together bedroom (which is an entirely new and foreign concept to me).

I'll post pictures when our mattress gets here on Monday. I want to record the final effect.

Weird Story

Last night in the car, Steven told me the weirdest story. While we were still in Arlington, he was out and about, looking for a cheap pair of headphones to use while he worked out at the YMCA. For some reason he decided to go into the Mobil station on W. 518. He asks the Indian guy behind the counter “hey, do you have any cheap headphones?” The guy replies with a thick accent “Okay, buddy, just a sec, just a sec,” and begins to sort of furtively clear people out of the store.

He then walks up to Steven in a confidential way and says “with intense eyes and a hushed voice”—(Steven’s exact wording)--, “So…you want the sex tablets?”

Um....What?

At first Steven thinks to himself “Did he just ask me if I wanted sextuplets?” But seeing as how that didn’t make any more sense than the first question, he somewhat awkwardly explained that no, he just wanted some headphones. The guy continues to press the “sex tablets” on him until Steven rather hurriedly excused himself from the store.

So my question is: was the guy selling Ecstasy out of the back of his store, or was he running some kind of illegal Canadian Viagra racket? The thought of some terribly embarrassed middle-aged man sneaking to the Mobil station in the middle of the night to buy illicit erectile-dysfunction medication (especially from the not-too-discreet Indian guy behind the counter) is absolutely hilarious.

You might want to stay out of that Mobil station.

Extremely Long Post About Furniture----Come Back Later If You're in a Rush

Okay, as suggested by MANDIE, I decided to put pictures of our new stuff on the blog and open the forum for suggestions. I've got some weird spaces I'm not quite sure what to do with, and plus I'm seriously challenged when it comes to making spaces look nice.

So we begin...

This is our living room. As you can see there's enough wood in here for a small cabin in the woods.
The couch/loveseat are a dark chocolate brown leather with tan stitching. We decided on leather because it seemed a bit more spill-friendly, which is important at present. I know the coffee table and end table are little old westish, but what can I say? They were sturdy and I liked them!
The coolest thing about this set is that they recline. Here's Steven luxioriously demonstrating:
Before, we were reduced to recliners because that's what we ended up inheriting in our years of used furniture. But in the process we got addicted to the whole "reclining" idea, so there you are.

Now you might be a bit confused on this choice, and not without reason.
So lemme 'xplain. Not only does the loveseat recline, they also rock (glide, whatever). But they would only rock if you got the console (which I think is a bit odd-looking, but Steven loves and that's that. We Grundbergs have always been Function over Form people, and ya gotta love that rocking feature.) Someday, when we move into a big fancy house with two living areas, we'll put this in the media room. (Won't it be cool to have a media room?)
Now this is the opposite wall. We're planning on splurging a bit and getting a big LCD TV for the wall. We also have a matching sofa table that we thought about putting underneath, but I'm not sure. It seems like a whole lotta wall to cover.

There's also this weird space behind the couch by that dratted fireplace and idiot built-in shelves that I don't know what to do with. We're considering putting a (small)computer armoire there.
This is our dining room table and chairs that I absolutely LOVE! I figure it's sort of in the middle between breakfast and dining table, which is good because we only have one dining space. The only problem is the chairs have fabric seats. Does anyone know about any kind of protectors I can put over them?

And now, master bedroom. This room is extra funky because it's 17x11 feet long. So it's super skinny one way and extra long the other way. Makes it hard to know where to put a king-sized bed (that's right, Steven and I decided long ago that while we love romance, when it's time to sleep we need our space[especially since I'm a flailer).

If you're wondering about the gorgeous quilt on the bed, that was given to me by the amazingly talented WANONIE. I was so dismayed when I realized it was queen-sized I almost cried, but it's so gorgeous I don't care, I'm using it anyway for now. (Notice the cute sconces on either side of the headboard).
Here is a view of the 8-drawer chest that we bought (and that I assembled, people. I'm so freakin' hoss). I obviously need something on the wall, right? We also bought a 6-drawer chest, but the room is so stinkin' skinny I can't get a good picture to show you.

And now, just for kicks, I thought I'd show the gorgeous bunk-bed/room set we were given by Anna Clemens. Her family just GAVE it to us. We couldn't believe our amazing luck and were so grateful. (There's also a chest that's NOT in the picture)
And here's the boy's bathroom. I got the shower curtain at IKEA and the cute little owl soap dispenser from Target.
Okay, so what do I do now?