Looking a Gift Horse In the Mouth

When I left for work this morning, I had one set of living room furniture, and when I got home, I had another. I am not ungrateful-my couches were falling apart, wires poking out and scraping paint off the walls, cushions coming apart. They were well used and well loved couches. But they were also very large, comfy, and nice colors. My new couches are small, ladylike, don't match anything in my room, and don't have room for friends to sleep over. Also, I spent part of the day wondering if the discarded couch's cushions held something of importance. No, really, I had no idea I was getting new furniture. I guess the suddenness is why I keep looking at them and thinking 'not right!' instead of 'finally!' Give me a few days, and I will be fine, I am sure.

Clean Naked!

This way, when you mis-read the directions on the bottle of heavy-duty mildew-killing shower cleaner with bleach and, instead of turning the nozzle tip 180 degrees, accidentally unscrew the whole nozzle component, dropping the bottle and being splashed, your clothes are safe and it is only you that needs hosing off.

I was glad I did!

The Great Toy Sort

I am housekeeping challenged. This is a nice way of saying I am a Messie. However, I have made great strides over the years. I have gone from unliveable to liveable-but-I-sure-hope-no-one-stops-by to where I am now, which is that I am no Martha Stewart (thank goodness) but if you knocked on my door without warning my first instinct is usually to smile. And I would definitely let you in!

However, we have moved three times in four years during this transition, and the results aren't pretty: Boxes and boxes of who-knows-what! Especially boxes and boxes of jumbled pieces of various toys that my kids have collected over the years. I have been, understandably, putting off dealing with these toys, but since we thought all the Pevensies were coming to visit this week, and Edmund is not yet four, we figured we had better have items on hand that he could play with when he couldn't keep up with the Nerf wars and game-playing that my Nate and the middle two Pevensie children (his fave people in the whole wide world) would be immersed in. As it happens, it seems Edmund won't be coming, but it's too late--we already began the Great Toy Sort.

What this means is that if you came to my house this weekend, you would find us in the middle of Toyland. We have bins for Lincoln Logs, bins for K'nex, bins for Legos, bins for Playmobile (the Union and Confederate armies have hopefully called a truce, 'cause they are all going in the same box!), a bag for who-knows-whatsits, ziplocs of magentic letters, a box of blocks (really cool--my grandmother bought a set of blocks when her munchkins were munchkins, and they are on their third generation. I used to have the cardboard box that said 'bon marche $2.50' but that did not last through my boys), a bin of brio trains, and various other toys.

The problem I keep having is that Nate will find a set of toys and start playing with them. Currently he and the Union army are building a fort. Last night it was Lincoln Log villages. He says we "totally scored" 'cause most of these toys are things he still likes playing with, even though he's *gasp* going to be a teenager in a week.

Anyway, if you can tell a K'nex from a Tinker Toy, and you like to watch mysteries, you are welcome to help sort. I promise I will smile when you knock.