New Furniture?, Dead Fish, Shopping, and Books

This post is mostly me thinking out loud. And maybe someday after we get new furniture, I can read this again and see what I said here that I wanted and what we actually got.

 

 

About a week ago, I told Charlie that I've been thinking about getting new living room furniture. I also want to completely change the look of the living room - not just furniture, but also paint, curtains (we need new curtains anyway), and possibly the art on the walls. Though I do love the pictures in the living room, so I don't know if I'll actually be able to do that. lol

I told Charlie that I don't want to be one of those people who have the same furniture, paint color, and decor for decades. Like when you walk into a grandparent's or aunt's house and it looks just like it did in the '70s or '80s. If it's financially possible (and I understand when it isn't), I want to be able to replace furniture that's dated or stained/wore out/falling apart and freshen things up with new paint color and so on every 10-15 years. Twenty at most if the furniture stays in good shape for that long.

 

I bought our furniture back in February 2009 and it's starting to get wore down and stained in places. Plus, Charlie wants to be able to recline in front of the TV and our couch doesn't recline. He actually said he just wants two recliners in the place of the couch and I told him that this isn't a bachelor pad. lol I want an actual couch. So I said we could get a couch that reclines. (The couch we had before reclined - the two end seats.) But he says he doesn't want a reclining couch. *sigh*

Anyway, our current couch is dark brown and the two chairs (which are recliners, but aren't that comfortable) are an ivory/light beige/cream color. Since our floors are a medium to dark brown, I'd like to get either a gray or navy/dark blue couch. (Or maybe even a forest or dark green.) I don't think it works really having brown floors and a brown couch. lol Maybe whatever chairs I choose could be patterned? I don't know. I'm still thinking about it. Though I don't know when we'll be able to get new furniture. I'm hoping next year, but we'll see.

 

This was when the furniture was brand new. I've had a couple blankets (a blue and white afghan and a couple Indian/Mexican blankets) on the back of the couch for years to help the cats not sink down between the cushions and the back of the couch and to have blankets nearby to cover up with.

 

 

There's a second chair like this one on the other side of the living room. Both chairs have a brown throw covering the upper/upright/back part of the chair. The chairs and tables are in different positions/places now, but on the same side as they were when I took these pictures.

 

 

This table is quite beaten up now - between Charlie's hot bowls/plates when eating (I put a place mat there a few years ago after some damage had already been done) and scratches and nicks from cats and years of use, it's not as beautiful as it was. We won't be getting a new TV table.

 

Our current wall color is a beige color. (Bermuda sand - it almost looks pink in certain light, but you can't tell if you're not really looking for it.) I don't know what color I want to change it to. Actually, I thought about a shade of blue, but our kitchen is green and that would be too much color in one area. And I don't want to change the kitchen color because I still love it. Our dining room (more like aquarium room because Charlie's aquarium and all the stuff that goes with it has pretty much taken over :-/ ) is light yellow. If we go with an actual color (rather than a neutral like beige or gray, which I don't care for), it would have to work with the kitchen color and I would probably carry it over into the dining room so that we don't have three different colors in that area. I know we technically have three different colors now, but the living room is a neutral, so I think it works fine.

 

If you enlarge the first picture above, you can see the wall colors of the kitchen and dining room a bit better.

 

The hallway is the same color as the living room. I'd want to carry any new color down that way also. So probably nothing too dark in such a narrow space.

The curtains are a light to medium blue. I got them to go with the blue of the throw pillows. They were cheap, have a few stains now, and are a bit too shiny. lol I'm not going to think about what color curtains I want until we get new furniture and I can decide what will look good with it.

 

So, yeah, I'm thinking about making a change in the living room and hoping I can get Charlie to go along with it by some time next year. We still owe on the floors, so it isn't likely to happen this year. I want the change not just because I'd like something new, but mostly because of the condition of the furniture. As I mentioned earlier, worn out spots, stains, and the cushions on the back of the couch are starting to tear away from the back part.

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Tuesday, April 26th, our fish Gandalf died. We found him on the bottom of the tank and a few of the hermit crabs were around him. I guess trying to eat him. He was Charlie's favorite fish. :-/ Poor Gandalf.

Our blue tang fish, Dolores, isn't coming out as much and it didn't look like he/she was interested in eating during the last feeding, so I'm afraid he/she might die soon as well.

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Since my last entry (the one before the beach meme), I've made a few new purchases.

Each of the following pairs of heels are by Dream Pairs and were bought from Amazon. I first bought them in yellow to go with the dress I got for Easter last year. And then I got them in blush patent later that same year, I think.

I paid around $33 for these after tax.

These were about $39.

These were less than $31.

I ordered this London Times dress from someone on eBay. (This is their picture. I take no credit for it.) I paid less than $27 after tax. Shipping was free.

I ordered this Connected Apparel dress from someone on Poshmark. (This is their picture. I take no credit for it.) I paid $59 and change after shipping and tax. More than I would normally pay, but I think it's beautiful and I really wanted it. I think the original price was around $100.

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I started reading the 9th Outlander book, Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone, in late November of last year, but I'm nearly halfway through the book and not a lot has happened. (I've never been bored with an Outlander book before and it's never taken me this long to read an Outlander book, even though they're big books.) So, a few days ago I started reading the 5th book in the Surviving the Evacuation series - Reunion. A nice change of pace. I'm really liking it so far. I'll either go back to Bees after I finish Reunion or possibly read book 6 in the Surviving series and then go back to Bees.

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Well, I reckon that's it for this update. My internet keeps going out, so I hope I can get this published and not lose it if my internet goes out again. :-/

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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Library/Office, New Furniture, Car for Sean, Corona Update

I've been meaning to post a new entry for a few weeks, but haven't been in the mood. It's late and I need to go to bed soon, so I'm going to try to make this quick.

I'm still working on getting the library/office set up. Internet has been moved back here, the rug and storage baskets I ordered came on the 3rd, and the chair mat (because the wheels of my computer chair can mess up the carpet) and new keyboard came on the 5th (keyboard is Corsair K55; it lights up). We finally got the old desk out of the dining room and to the road on May 31st. One of our across-the-street neighbors saw it and wanted it shortly after we got it out there. Charlie helped her husband get it into their house.

I'm still waiting for the armillary sphere I ordered. It should be here today. The new monitor I ordered came yesterday. Actually, it came last week, but was damaged so I had to order a new one. My old monitor was 19", this one is 24". Most monitors I saw were over $200 (I saw some for $3000-6000; couldn't believe it!), but I only paid about $130. It's a Samsung like my old one.

I got a couple sets of string lights in the room. The one set is actually more like little, colorful lanterns/globes. The other set is just white lights. Charlie says I should get all of the colorful ones and give Kelly the white ones for her room. He really likes the colorful ones. :-)

I ordered a painting for the room yesterday. It was only $42.21 before tax and shipping. The painting is called Poppies Melody I. That should come next week.

It's funny because my original idea was dark blue with gold decor/accents, but when I was trying to choose a rug I kept being drawn to orange and rust colored rugs. That really surprised me because I've never been a fan of orange. lol I ended up choosing the first rug I liked and ordered it from Lowe's. It's small (2x4) and I only paid about $24 for it. Pretty much everything I've gotten for this room was either cheap or on sale or I found a coupon for it.

So, other than the painting and the sphere, all I really have left to do is get a few things put away that I still have sitting out. Some photos, notebooks, a file box, etc.

I plan on taking pictures once I'm done with the room.

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For a few years now, I've been wanting to get Kelly a new dresser or chest of drawers. (Her old one has seen better days.) Nothing big because she doesn't have the room for it. I brought it up to her again Saturday evening and she said she'd like that. Her old one is white and she wanted to stay with white. (Her old one was built in 1969, if I remember correctly, and was bought for me by my mom in 1986, along with a big dresser with mirror and a nightstand.) So I looked at different furniture stores' websites that night and bookmarked about 7 chests of drawers and large nightstands.

Then while she and I were looking at them on Sunday, Charlie came into the room and I told him we were looking at dressers/chests for Kelly. Nothing too expensive. The one she liked best was at Bassett for $599 (originally a little over $1400). Charlie immediately grabbed his phone and got on Craigslist. lol

The three of us looked for a little bit until Kelly saw one she really liked. It's cherry, not white, but was only $200 and she said she really wanted it. The older couple selling it live outside of Statesville, but we would spend far less on gas than we would on the $600 large nightstand at Bassett.

So Charlie, Sean, and Kelly went to Statesville on Sunday evening and got Kelly a new chest of drawers/dresser. It's an older piece of furniture by Bassett, but in like new condition.

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On June 11th, after a few weeks or more of searching, Sean bought a car. He and Ashley had saved up enough to be able to buy a used car and not have payments. It's a blue 2007 Honda Civic. It's a cute car. Seems to be in pretty good shape. Sean just needs to do a couple things to it (not sure what) and get plates for it and insurance. I know he can't wait till he can drive it.

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My mom texted me tonight and said that someone who goes to our church has tested positive for the corona virus. We don't know who. I pray they don't have any of the risk factors that will make it harder for them.

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Things have gotten worse here in North Carolina with the corona virus. Positive cases and hospitalizations have increased.

The number of positive cases as of 12:30 PM yesterday was 46,855.

There have been 667,422 completed tests.

1,168 deaths.

846 are in the hospital.

I don't know how many have recovered. I think I saw somewhere that it's around 26,000 or more.

My county has had 2,167 cases and 98 deaths. There have been 210 cases in my zip code and 22 deaths.

Kelly had been going with me to get groceries for the past two or three weeks, but I told her I want her staying home again until things get better.

I still wipe everything down that comes into our house, along with light switches, doorknobs, etc. And Kelly and I always wear masks when we go grocery shopping and I bring hand sanitizer with us.

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Milo has a vet appointment today at 4:00. Like when I brought Pippin, they'll come out to the car to get Milo and then bring him back to the car when they're done.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

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Library/Office, Aquarium Critters, Pippin, Etc.

This Tuesday will be a month since I went grocery shopping. (Good thing I had been buying a couple weeks' worth of meals at a time. Plus, Charlie has been picking up things here and there when we need them.) I plan on going grocery shopping today though. And, thanks to Charlie, I don't have to try to find toilet paper or paper towels. He came home Wednesday with three packs of toilet paper (Charmin, no less!), one 12 roll and two 6 rolls, and a big pack of Sparkle paper towels. I was so surprised and happy. "You found Charmin?!" I normally buy Angel Soft, but after about a month of using generic single-ply, I was thrilled to see Charmin. lol

I still wipe down everything that comes into our house - groceries, packages, mail, etc. And we've been getting packages 2-3 days a week for the past couple weeks. We finally got our stimulus check a few weeks ago and it's helped us to get some things we want or need. Charlie's been working all this time, so we didn't need the extra money for bills. Well, except for vet bills. I've taken Pippin to the vet (more on that later) and still need to take Milo and Loki. (Though I used our Care Credit card for Pippin's vet bill.) But other than that, we've mostly spent the money on stuff for the aquarium and for the room we're turning into the library/office. We've spent less than half of it.

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On the subject of the library/office (Sean's old bedroom), the new desk came about a week ago. It took a few hours for Charlie to put it together, but it looks nice. I still need to call Spectrum and have internet hooked up back there. When Sean lived here he said the WiFi wasn't good in his room, so I'll need it installed in that room.

I have moved most things out of my old/current desk. It's much bigger than the new one, so the new one doesn't have as much storage. I've thrown out a lot of things that were in this desk and will bring some things to Goodwill, but I still need more storage. I have my eye on a few options that I hope will look good in the room.

I finally decided on a ceiling fan for the room and ordered it on Tuesday (I think) from a local Home Depot. (It was only about $70 before taxes.) Charlie picked it up that same day and put it up the next day. I think it looks pretty good. I ordered pretty pull chains/charms for it yesterday. (Also from Home Depot. Amber alabaster, by Westinghouse.) They should be here this Tuesday.

 Sinclair tarnished bronze, by Hampton Bay.

I ordered a new mouse pad from Office Depot on Tuesday and it came the next day. My old one was firm and scratched up my desk badly from being slid in and out of the mouse cubby. I don't want my new desk scratched up, so I ordered a soft one. The picture on it is a close up of a green leaf with rain drops on it. Green is my favorite color, so it really caught my eye and should be pretty on my new desk.

Yesterday, I ordered a new desk chair. (Staples Sorina Bonded Leather, Black.) My old/current chair has been broken for awhile and the outer layer has peeled off all over it. I thought maybe I was going to have to spend more than $200 for a chair (this one was over $200), but I didn't want to. I found one at Staple's website that has over 1000 reviews with an average rating of 4½ stars out of 5, so it better be a good one. lol It was $174.99 before a $25-off coupon and then added tax - the total came out to be $159.05. It's supposed to be delivered today.

A couple weeks ago, I ordered a galaxy light (by Hyodream on Amazon) for the room for about $25 (before tax and shipping). It has 16 different colors you can change it to. It looks kind of cheap when it's not turned on, but is really pretty when it is turned on.

And I ordered a decorative lantern for the room. You can put a regular candle in it or a battery operated candle. It should be here next week. It's being sent to Home Depot (so I don't have to pay shipping lol) and either me or Charlie will go pick it up. It's by kieragrace and was about $40.

There are a few other decorative items I want for the room (armillary sphere, area rug, wall art), but I'm going to hold off on those for a bit. And I'll probably need one of those clear mats for the desk chair since it has wheels and will be on carpet. I don't want to get one (not sure it'll look good in the room), but if I can't move the chair I'll have to get one.

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Charlie bought four fish a  couple weeks ago. (Our first fish in this tank.) All four are Chromis fish, which are a type of Beta fish. I named two of them - Beren and Luthien - and Kelly named the other two - Mushu and Kili. Unfortunately, Luthien died a couple days ago. (They aren't adults yet and are different sizes. Luthien and Mushu are/were the same size, but Mushu has a couple extra markings. Kili is the smallest and Beren is the biggest. So it's easy to tell them apart for now.) She had stopped eating a few days ago and we were concerned. I really wanted her to make it, so I was kind of sad when she died. Well, I say "she", but we don't actually know their genders.

Anyway, we want to get a few more fish eventually. I told Charlie I want a clown fish and there's some kind of yellow angel fish (not sure of its actual name) that he showed me a picture of that I think is pretty. And the gold dot maroon clown fish.

Oh, we also have two peppermint shrimp. We had dozens of tiny jelly fish that came from who knows where. They're called hydroid jelly fish and they can sting (though I don't think damage) fish. I read somewhere that peppermint shrimp will eat hydroid jelly fish. We don't have many jelly fish now. Mostly because Charlie was able to scoop out a bunch of them.

Anyway, Sean named the shrimp Rhaegar and Daenerys. (Ray-gar and duh-nair-us. Game of Thrones characters.) The guy at the fish store told Charlie that one of the shrimp is pregnant, so we might have some baby shrimp eventually.

And we have some snails. Charlie actually bought several of them, but most of them have died. That left us with four. A couple of those snails must have mated because we had a baby snail born one week and then another one the next week. I told Kelly after we noticed the first baby snail that if we could tell the sex we'd know what to name it. We could call it Shelly, short for Michelle if it's a girl or Sheldon if it's a boy. So Kelly named it Misheldon. lol I named the second one Lavender. The snails are lavender with purple spots/stripes. I can tell the two babies apart for now. Lavender is younger/smaller and has more lavender/less purple than Misheldon.

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I brought Pippin to the vet on Friday for a regular check up and a couple shots. The vet called on Tuesday with his lab results. She said he's teetering on kidney failure. She asked how his eating is and I told her he loves eating. He's still playful and runs around. She said if he stops eating and starts acting like he doesn't feel good to give them a call.

Other than having heart issues, being on three medications (heart, lasix, blood pressure), and being close to kidney failure, he's doing pretty good. Don't know how much longer he'll be around, but for now he seems to be enjoying life.

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Back in 1986, when I was 13 years old and we were living in Virginia, my dad bought my mom a white 1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. She had it for years. I don't remember when she got rid of it, but I think it went to an acquaintance somewhere in or near Greensboro. And I don't remember how or when or where, but somehow Charlie ended up with it. It was in rough shape, but he and Sean were going to fix it up for Sean to drive.

Well, a few years later and not much had been done with it. So Sean decided to sell it. He listed it online somewhere and in less than an hour, he had multiple inquiries. A guy who lives in SC, near Charlotte, came up a couple days ago, with his girlfriend and a friend of hers, and bought it for $1000. I wasn't there for it, but my mom said the guy was thrilled to be getting this car. He called it his baby. lol He and Sean are supposed to keep in touch through Facebook so Sean can see what the car looks like as the guy fixes it up.

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I ordered two books from Amazon - Days of Terror by Jack Hunt and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (a Hunger Games prequel) by Suzanne Collins. They both came in the mail yesterday - one of them a week earlier than expected and the other a couple days earlier than expected.

I'm still reading Still Me by Jojo Moyes. I'm liking it and should've finished it weeks ago, but I've been too tired to read lately. :-/

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Corona Update:

These are the numbers in North Carolina (population over 10,000,000), as of 9:14 last night.

21,108 have tested positive out of over 291,000 tested.
11,600 have recovered.
743 have died.
580 are in the hospital.

In Guilford County, as of yesterday morning:

944 have tested positive.
50 have died.


I think our county is fourth in NC for highest number of positive cases, but it's a big county in terms of population and Greensboro is the third largest city in the state. So, while I don't like the numbers at all, I'm not surprised considering our size.


What else? As I mentioned earlier in this entry, I still wipe down everything that comes into our house. And I wipe down door knobs, toilet flushers and lids/seats, faucets, light switches, etc. regularly. I used to do that every day, but now I usually do it every other day.

Also as I said earlier, I haven't been grocery shopping in almost a month. Other than bringing Sean to work twice and picking him up, and bringing Pippin to the vet (they come out to the car to get him and then bring him back when they're done), I haven't been anywhere. I would put off getting groceries until Monday or Tuesday because I know the stores will be busy, but we're running out of stuff. I would've gone yesterday, but a tropical depression (Arthur) has been over us since Monday or Tuesday and it's been raining almost non-stop.


Well, this is way too long, so I need to end this entry.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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Corona Update, Quarantine Life, New Desk, and Other Things

This quarantine/corona virus is going on much longer than I thought it would. I thought maybe a month and then they would gradually lift restrictions. It feels like it's been forever since they shut things down and told us to stay home as much as possible. If a homebody like me is sick of it, then it's bad. lol

The last numbers I saw (updated after 9:00 last night) said that nearly 12,000 people in NC have tested positive, about 500 are in the hospital, and 430 have died. I wish they would tell how many have recovered.

In my county, 443 have tested positive and 31 have died. About 5 of those deaths were people who lived in my zip code.

I think I read somewhere that of the 430 deaths, over 200 are people who were in nursing homes, other long-term care facilities, and prisons.


It's crazy to me that toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies are still difficult or nearly impossible to find. Rice is also almost impossible to find. Pasta (including macaroni and cheese), pasta sauce, ramen, some Mexican foods, some seasonings, flour, chicken, eggs, butter, milk, bacon, and a few other things are in low supply. Ground beef hasn't been difficult to find, but they're saying there's going to be a meat shortage soon because the places that process the meat have had corona outbreaks among their employees and have had to shut down.



They say to get two weeks worth of groceries and supplies in case you or someone in your home tests positive and you can't leave your house for two weeks. But few can afford two weeks worth of groceries and supplies (especially with so many out of work). And milk and bread don't last two weeks, so you have to go to the store every week for those two items at least. Plus, if you can't find some things one week, you have to try again the next week. So you end up going grocery shopping every week anyway. :-/


Anyway, enough of that. I'm sick of hearing about corona and thinking about corona. And sick of having to wipe down things in the house every day and wipe down everything that comes into our house (including grocery items). Ugh.

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On Monday, April 13th, in the wee hours of the morning, a bad storm system that had devastated other Southern states swept across North Carolina. There were several tornado warnings. Including one just a few miles from my house. Shortly before that tornado, a crazy strong wind started blowing at my house right after the meteorologists said that they were seeing winds of over 100 mph in the area near where I live. Thankfully it didn't touch ground here.

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This past Friday, May 1st, Charlie broke his right pinky finger. He and Kelly had gone to get Zaxby's (I was going to eat a leftover taco and enchilada) and while they were out, he somehow broke his finger by wiping his hand on his pants. When he called to tell me (I missed the call, but called him back a few minutes later), I wasn't sure I could believe him. He likes to joke around and exaggerate.

When they got home and he showed me his finger, I busted out laughing. I wouldn't have laughed if he was acting like it hurt or if he had hurt it in some traumatic way. It was a few minutes later that he told me how he broke it, and I lost it! I laughed so hard I thought I was going to die! Kelly was laughing hard too and Charlie was also laughing. I said to him, "What a lame way to break your finger."

I helped him splint it later that night.

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We've been working on turning Sean's old room into the library/office. Kelly and I moved my two bookcases and all of my books out of my bedroom and into that room, as well as the glider rocker, and a small table that had been in the attic for years. I needed the table to put the books on it that had been on my nightstand and on the floor between my nightstand and bed.

We ordered a desk yesterday from Office Depot. (My current desk is very large and would probably be difficult if not impossible to get through the door. And the desk top itself is a bit worn out.) Estimated delivery is May 15th. I hope it looks as nice in person as it does in the picture. It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but Charlie found a coupon online and that saved us $70.

The desk is by Sauder. Harbor View Collection. Finish is called Antiqued Paint. Originally $349.99, we paid about $299.00 after coupon and taxes. Delivery is free.

 My current desk has been in the dining room for many years. It'll be nice to get it out of here. Especially since Charlie bought an aquarium back in February that is also in the dining room. And, yes, there's also a dining table and chairs in here. Oh, and also a large kennel for the dogs and a tall box that has some kind of car part in it. It's quite crowded and it's driving me nuts.

As far as what I want the library/office to look like, I had been thinking of a world theme with little things representing various countries, but couldn't decide on a paint color. Then I remembered a picture of a room (library, I think) I saw that had a celestial theme - dark blue walls, shiny gold stars, etc. So now that's what I'm going to try to do. I probably won't do the little gold stars on the walls, as beautiful as it was in the picture, but I'm thinking of maybe star-shaped string lights in the room.

I've also been looking online for art work that might look good, but I haven't found anything I like. Neither have I found a ceiling fan or chandelier that I like much. I mean, nothing that really grabs me anyway. I usually only buy things if I'm like, "Yes! That's the one." I haven't had that trying to choose a ceiling fan or chandelier.

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Since the last time I talked about books (late February), I've read Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin and The Wicked King (second book in a trilogy) by Holly Black. I liked Wolf by Wolf and will eventually order the sequel. The Wicked King was very good. Better than the first (The Cruel Prince), in my opinion.

I'm currently reading Still Me by Jojo Moyes. It's the third book in a trilogy. I liked the first one a lot (Me Before You). The second one (After You) was okay. I'm liking this third one so far.

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 I've bought a few songs for my iPod in the past few weeks.

Here Again and Never Lost are new songs. I've had the CD that Mercy Tree is on for a few years and decided I wanted that song on my iPod.


Well, I reckon that's it for now. I could actually probably talk about more and probably go on more about quarantine life, but this is already kind of long.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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Our New Bed

Our new bed was delivered Wednesday morning. It's been so nice not having Charlie's elbow or hand on my pillow (or in my face) and not having Charlie's dog Milo (a Jack Russell terrier/terror) squeezed between us. He can sleep next to Charlie all he wants without also sleeping against me or on my side of the bed, which often left me with little room to sleep comfortably. Very annoying.

Did I want to have a $2,003 bill to pay off? (We used our Bassett card. We will pay if off in less than a year - no interest.) No, not at all. But I cannot tell you how glad I am that we got a king sized bed. I can sleep comfortably without being crowded and without having a dog in my back or hip or neck. Ahhhh.

We gave our queen bed to our son Sean, who is very much enjoying his big, wonderfully comfortable bed.

This picture came out dark, but maybe you can see the details better (it's paneled) if you enlarge it. As you can see, our king-sized quilts are too short on the sides for our king-sized bed. I had bought king-sized quilts for our queen bed because queen quilts were too short on the sides. And now our king-sized quilts are too short on the sides for our king bed. They still have this quilt (and another that we have) at Target and I was able to check the measurements. I'll have to look for quilts that are wider than these.

Books and New Bookshelves

Charlie made me a couple bookcases, with a little help from Sean, (I can't remember if they were for my birthday or Mother's Day) and I think they look pretty great. He just needs to cut, stain and attach some decorative trim pieces to them.

Please excuse the mess on the right. I'm in the middle of rearranging things. And that thing to the left of the bookcases is a scratching pad for the cats.

And in case anyone's interested, here are some pictures of my books:

The black one is my husband's Bible. It's in a leather case.

Two books aren't pictured - The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer Through Frost, by Harold Bloom and Les Miserables, which I'm currently reading. These two books are on my nightstand.

I haven't read many of the books on my shelves yet (I buy them faster than I can read them), but I look forward to it. :-)

This and That

Sunday, September 30th: Charlie's sister Sheila and her 12-year-old daughter Samantha came to stay with us temporarily. Financial circumstances and an unpleasant situation with her ex-husband (who they were living with) forced them to leave where they were. Naturally, we took them in. Sheila left Wednesday morning and then when we went to Raleigh for Sean's football game, we brought Samantha with us. She then went with her mom to Sheila's daughter Jessica's (from her first marriage) house. Sheila has applied for an apartment where the rent is based on income. Hopefully that works out for them.

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Monday, October 1st: Sean had an orthodontist appointment (to adjust braces and chain) that became three visits to their office. After leaving the first time, we (me, Sean, Kelly, Sheila, Samantha) went to Olive Garden for lunch. Just as we sat down, Sean said that one of the "doors" on his braces was open. So we had to immediately get up and go back to the orthodontist. They closed the door, checked the others and we returned to Olive Garden where we enjoyed a delicious lunch/supper.

After we were done eating, Sean said it felt like another door had opened or moved a little when he was eating. So we went back to the orthodontist again and there was a door in the back that was opened just enough to cause the wire to move a little. They closed that one and rechecked the others.

Finally, we came home, but then I remembered that I had to pick up a few things from the store. So Kelly and I went to Wal-mart and got some grocery items as well as hoodies for her and for Samantha.

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Wednesday, October 3rd: The carpet installers arrived around 9:00 AM. Since I knew they would be coming in and out a lot, meaning the door would be open a lot, I had the kids put Sam and Evie (2 of our cats) in Milo's (Charlie's Jack Russell) large crate (they didn't like that much; especially Evie), we hooked Pippin (our toy poodle) up with a leash to one of the dining room chair legs, I put Sadie (our other cat) in the master bathroom (she doesn't get along with the other cats in such close quarters as the crate) and Milo was hooked up to a long leash outside for a while before hooking him up in the dining room. I didn't want them getting in the way or the cats getting outside.

The carpet installers were done around 3:30. The carpet looks really nice and is so plush under our feet. Our old carpet needed replacing badly. It was 14 years old and past time to be replaced. We moved out everything in the carpeted rooms and have gotten the vast majority of it back into our house. There are a couple bookcases and a few boxes that still need to be moved back into our house.

We're still working on getting our house back in order. The kids are going through their stuff and getting rid of a lot of it. Especially Kelly. She's doing a great job. I told her (and Sean) I would paint her room any color she wants (within reason) if she gets rid of most of her toys (since she doesn't play with them) and other stuff she can't or doesn't use. She's gotten rid of most of her stuff now. Her room, which is kind of small (about 10x10), looks much better now - less crowded. When we went to Lowe's a couple days ago, she picked out a few paint sample cards (all in the light blue/aqua range) and has narrowed her choice down to three colors for her room - Beach Sparkle, a pretty aqua color, Surf Spray, a light blue, and Cincinnatian Hotel Abbey, a light blue with a hint of aqua; all by Valspar. We'll get little sample cans so she can see the colors on her wall and make her final decision.

Sean wants Carolina blue.

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Saturday, October 6th: After returning to Greensboro from Raleigh, where Sean's football game was played (his team lost), we ate dinner at my mom's and then Charlie, Kelly and I went to Bassett to choose a new bed and mattress set. Mine and Charlie's current bed is a queen and while I love the bed, it's just not working for us anymore. Well, mostly me, I guess.

Not only do I have to deal with Charlie's dog sleeping with us (many times between us), which I hate, but many times when I come to bed, Charlie's hand or elbow is on my pillow and I have to move it so I can get in the bed. There have been times when I've been asleep and suddenly there's a hand on my pillow or an elbow in my face (once it was in my eye) or I get smacked in the head. So yeah, time for a king bed.

I don't so much want  to get a new bed as I need  to get a new bed. Sean, whose room is about 10x12 or 10x13, will be getting our queen bed. The frame and box spring are already in there (with the twin mattress on top) and Charlie and I are sleeping on the mattress on the floor.  Kelly will be getting Sean's twin mattress, which is in better shape than her twin mattress. The thing I'll miss most are my white sheets. They are so wonderfully comfortable and I never have been able to find them again when I tried to get them in another color. Neither have I been able to find any other sheets (a different, affordable brand) as comfortable. *sigh*

Anyway, we looked at several beds before making our decision. I had really wanted a storage bed, but they cost a lot more (around $1000 more) than a regular panel bed. So we got a panel bed - Redkin Park. Both the bed and the mattress set were on sale. The bed was $839 (original price $1209) and the mattress set was $899 (original price $1299). They should be here between the end of the month and the beginning of next month.

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Sunday: Went to church, cooked my usual after-Church meal - made-from-scratch pancakes (so good!) and bacon. Then Kelly and I did a little shopping. I got a SpotBot to clean the carpets, some spray carpet cleaner one of the carpet installers recommended (Folex), and a couple other things at Lowe's. Then got Kelly a jean skirt at Dillard's (Ralph Lauren, marked down from $80 to $30), a couple belts at Belk and some low ankle socks at Target.

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Yesterday: My new phone, which I got in early September, refused to charge and finally died completely. :-/ A new one should come tomorrow. Hopefully this one won't give me any problems.

Today: I really need to get these boxes of toys and movies to Goodwill, but it's not looking like I'm going to make it. :-/

Ding Dong...

...the couch is gone! Two men with a truck and Karen with her car just left with our old couch. I'm so glad to see it gone. It served us well, but wasn't doing anything for us sitting on our porch in redneck glory.

Care Level - Near Zero

I don't care anymore. Unless there has been violence, they need to learn to settle it themselves. Any other mothers feel that way? My kids are 9 years old and almost 12. I used to have something to say to the offending party when the other came tattling (usually Kelly), but now I say nothing beyond "I don't want to hear it". If violence is involved (again, usually Kelly; but not often), then I get involved. It's not that I don't care at all, it's just that they argue over the most ridiculous things. And, as I said, they need to learn to settle things themselves.

I really hate the tattling and arguing. After a few tattling trips, I send them to their rooms for awhile. It's not a cure, but it does buy me a few minutes peace.

This is a nearly everyday occurrence. It could be worse, I realize that. I've seen siblings who argue a lot more and just really have at it. Thank God mine aren't that bad. I'd have to find the nearest bridge and commit Hara-kiri.

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In other news (*wink* @ Joni), someone who works with my mom knows someone who wants our old couch. They're supposed to come get it soon. I'll be glad when it's off my porch.

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A little tidbit I forgot to mention:

I ordered our new furniture on my birthday and it was delivered on my husband's birthday. :-)

It's here!

Late Friday night, my mom came by to get my old end tables. She put one in the trunk of her car (which couldn't close with the table in it), with Sean's help, and put the other in the back of my car. We drove to her place and while she and Sean carried one table up the stairs and into her house, I took the other out of the back of my car and carried it to the steps. I managed to get it up a couple steps by myself before Sean came out to help. We got it up a couple more steps and then I had to stop. It was really hurting my back and ovaries. I just couldn't lift it anymore. Mom came out and helped Sean get it up the rest of the way and into her house.

When Kelly and I got back home shortly after getting the tables to Mom's, I made chocolate chip cookies and we watched Penelope. Kelly and I both really enjoy that movie.

I was expecting my mom's co-worker Karen to come early yesterday morning to get the wing chairs and coffee table, so I got up at 7:10 AM and waited and waited. After a few hours, I could barely keep my eyes open anymore, so I laid back down and slept for a couple more hours.

Mom, Karen and a friend of Karen's finally got to my house at 2:30. They loaded one of the chairs into the trunk of Karen's car and the coffee table into the back of my car. Mom drove my car and followed Karen and her friend to Karen's house. Bassett had arrived while Mom and Co. were moving furniture out. They moved our old couch onto the porch for me and moved the new furniture in.

After they left, I adjusted the furniture positions a little, dusted the tables and took pictures.

The couch is darker than it appears. Pardon the mess. Been cleaning things out and moving things around.

New chair, throw pillow, & end table. I want new sticks for the vase. Something wavy & thicker.

New chair, throw pillow & end table. Pardon the glare.

New coffee table. The top opens & rises. Ignore the neck on TV. Didn't feel like cropping.

Close-up of one of the throw pillows on the couch. That's Sam's ear in the lower right.

Mom, Karen and Karen's friend came back awhile later and put the other old wing chair into the trunk of Karen's car.

Now I just need to get rid of the couch. (Rick's across-the-street neighbor said he didn't have room for it.) I don't like having it on the front porch (so redneck), but at least the bushes in front of the porch are tall enough to camouflage it. My brother said that a co-worker of his wants it, but has no way to come get it. I said to my mom, "This is the South. Surely he knows someone [or knows someone who knows someone] with a pick-up truck." If he doesn't come get it, I'll have to see if someone can move it to the edge of the yard so that someone will hopefully take it. I don't like it, but I don't have much choice.

Anyway, I'm loving the new furniture. It turned out as nice in reality as it was in my mind. I fell asleep on the couch for an hour or two last night while watching TV. I was still very tired.

The new coffee table is good for storage, like our old coffee table was, but doesn't hold quite as much as the old coffee table. I need to find a place to put Charlie's three big work binders.

Speaking of Charlie, he's still in Texas. *sigh* He doesn't know when he'll get to come home. It's been almost two months now since I last saw him. :-(

That was fast!

I was getting ready to leave the house yesterday to get groceries when my phone rang/David Cook started singing. I didn't recognize the number, so I didn't answer. I wondered if it was Bassett Furniture calling about delivery, though it would be quite early. They left a voicemail and sure enough, it was someone named Lisa who works for Bassett. I called her back and she said that our furniture is ready and will be delivered on Saturday. Wow! That's 2-3 weeks earlier than expected.

So now I have a bit of a dilemma. What am I going to do with our current living room furniture? I had put off figuring that out since I thought I had time. And I had assumed that Charlie would be home before delivery and would take care of that.

I had heard that Goodwill will come pick up furniture and other large items. So I called them, but they wouldn't take it because it's not in great condition. (Sadie's had her way with the backs of the chairs and the sides of the couch. Though you can only see it if you're looking for it.) Next I tried to call my brother Del and his wife Jennifer to see if they wanted it or knew anyone who did, but they didn't answer their phones. Then I called my mom at work and she said she'd ask around.

The kids and I then got ourselves together and got in the car. Del called me back before I got my seatbelt on and when I told him my problem, he said he'd ask around.

So then the kids and I were off. After dropping off my medicine for refill at CVS, we went to Olive Garden for an early supper. We then went to Petsmart for sticky strips to put on the new furniture to keep Sadie from scratching it up. (Our other two cats don't scratch the furniture.) And as we always do when we go to Petsmart, we visited the kitties that are up for adoption. They're so sweet! One or two of them have adoptions pending.

Next we went to Target and Food Lion for groceries, CVS for my medicine and then home to drop off the groceries. The kids wanted new books, and since I love going to the bookstore and getting new books myself, we went to Borders. Sean got Race to Witch Mountain, Kelly got a Junie B. Jones book (something about being a flower girl) and I got O Pioneers! by Willa Cather and Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates.

Once home, I helped Kelly with her homework and quizzed Sean on his spelling words. (Kelly got a 105 on her pre-test and doesn't have to take the spelling test today.) They went to bed soon after that and I watched a little TV before falling asleep a little after midnight. Woke up at nearly 1:30 and got online.

Mom called after we got home and said that she knows someone who might want our old furniture. He lives across the street from her sort-of boyfriend (who lives across the street from her) and I guess he doesn't have any furniture. I told her to tell him it's not in great condition, but it's not bad. She said the guy is a drunk, so... lol Well. So I reckon this guy and Rick (Mom's sort-of boyfriend) will come by, hopefully tomorrow, and take a look at it.

Charlie suggested I put it at the edge of our yard if no one wants it and have the city or whoever sees it and wants it come get it. Ugh. No. I can't bring myself to do that. It just seems so tacky.

So (I say that a lot) I'm nervous about getting the old furniture out of here before the new arrives. There's no room in this house for two couches, four chairs and six tables.

Living Room Furniture

This is the furniture I ordered. (You should be able to see bigger versions of the pictures if you click on them.) The couch will be chocolate brown. The two wing chairs (the ones I ordered recline) will be a similar color as pictured above. I already have two of the throw pillow pictured above. They will go with the wing chairs. I couldn't find a picture of the throw pillows I ordered. The legs on the couch and chairs will match the tables.

Everything should be delivered in a few weeks.

Birthdays, Big purchase

The older I get, the more I wish I could slow down time. I turned 36 yesterday. Will there ever be a day when I'm at peace with getting older? Aging was never really a concern of mine until I turned 35. Suddenly I realized I was almost 40! Next would come 50, then 60 and so on. Eek! I feel like I'm running out of time to do the things I want to do and to see my dreams fulfilled.

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Kelly turns nine today. How can that be? Seems like just yesterday she was toddling around with her bouncy curls. Now she's fast approaching double-digits. Before we know it she'll be a teenager with squealing friends and boys chasing after her, if they can get past Daddy, that is. Ugh. I don't want to think about it.

So I did the birthday shopping for Kelly yesterday. Lots of Barbie stuff, naturally. We'll do the cake and gift-opening today. Too bad Charlie can't be here for it. He's still in Texas.

I also bought new living room furniture yesterday. Charlie has been saying for awhile now that he hates the couch we have because it's not comfortable to him. I'm not too crazy about it either, but that's just because it's not my style anymore (it's too country; as are the tables - light wood) and is starting to fall apart. Thanks in part to our cat Sadie. :-\ My husband and kids have taken their toll on it as well.

I went to Bassett hoping to find new living room furniture, but not 100% sure that I'd actually choose something. I did finally decide on a couch (from four that I liked), two recliner wing chairs, a coffee table, two end tables and four throw pillows (two for the couch and two for the chairs). I was able to choose the color and cloth of the couch, chairs and pillows, as well as the wood for the couch and chairs. The couch will be chocolate brown, the chairs linen (a light beige) and the wood will be cherry/medium brown. The throw pillows for the couch are a dusty blue (sea mist, I think it's called) with cream/beige and chocolate brown on them. The pillows for the chairs are dusty blue with some cream/beige. The furniture is due to be delivered in about a month. I'll take pictures and post them in my blog when the furniture gets here.

I prefer having Charlie's input when shopping for big purchases, but 1), it's hard to do that when he's hardly home and 2), he always tells me that whatever I like is fine with him.

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I bought two more books on Friday: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell. Kelly got The Princess Bride and Sean got a coloring book.