Back online - update time

Okay, so I'm back at work and have Web access. Time for an update!

Ken and I both are quite tired and sore - though, proud of emptying our moving van entirely ourselves on Saturday. Chagrined, exhausted, sweaty, sunburned, but proud. I think we only wanted to kill each other maybe two, three times total. Ken nearly tossed his end of our new loveseat in a fit of pique last night. That was the very, very end of our long ardor. I'm glad he resisted the urge - we had to travel to TWO Ikeas to get that damn ektorp.

My car battery's dead. Yesterday, we left the apartment at 8:30 a.m. (I KNOW, for us that's unbelievable, isn't it?) and didn't return until almost 10:00 p.m. First, we drove the moving van over to Larchmont to find some eats and coffee. Turns out there's a lovely farmer's market there on Sundays. Bought a so-tasty-I-could-smack-myself-in-disbelief cheddar cheese/bacon/jalapeno scone there. MMMmmm, yummy.

Anyway, grabbed some grub and coffee and we were off North to Burbank to Costco, Sears, and IKEA.

Note to self - don't go to Costco on a Sunday morning, much less on Mother's Day. And, turns out, the Burbank Sears didn't carry car batteries. How is that possible? So, we made our way to IKEA and sat upon many sofas.

Oh, can't remember if I mentioned this - but, we had to leave our sofa back in Austin. Wasn't room enough for it in the moving van.

After MUCH discussion, and a few little snits of miscommunication and disagreement, we settled upon a particular loveseat design - the EKTORP. And, after reviewing the fabric possibilities - we agreed upon the exciting color of Beige for our slipcover(s). We also cogitated quite a lot upon a particular area rug design, but ultimately rejected it.

IKEA is laid out like a maze. I think they must pump stupid, unable-to-find-one's-way-out gas through the ventilation system, too. I can't believe a store that seems to make so much money makes it so difficult to find one's way to the checkout stands.

Anyway, we found our way, and lo and behold, the ektorp we wanted was out of stock at that location.

Sigh.

We had our moving truck for one more day and really wanted to put it to use.

So, after a side trip to Macy's, where we bought an area rug we both liked very much, we hauled our asses and the truck out east to Covina, to the IKEA there.

Along the way, we dropped in at another Sears location and bought a car battery. Oh, and there was a trip to Home Depot in there somewhere, too. Ken bought a big storage cabinet thingie for the rest of his tools, sawhorses, etc.

Got lost in the second IKEA, too. See? It's a conspiracy. "Keep them lost, and they'll be lulled by pretty displays into buying more stuff." If they can ever find the exit.

Next, grabbed something to eat at Islands Restaurant, which tacked up Tiki decorations all over and screened surfing footage in monitors in every corner -- by which, Ken and I were completely zombiefied during our meal. The zombie state continued while I drove us back west to LA.

By the time we got to the apartment, it was almost 10 p.m. Unloading our purchases from the truck proved to be the last straw. First, I nearly skimmed off the roof of an adjacent parking garage, not to mention running over Ken while backing down the alley. In short, I thought Ken's gestures in the rear-view windows meant "reverse;" turns out, they meant "go forward." He kept gesturing, and I kept going, wondering why the hell he wanted me to back up MORE? Crisis was averted, but the incident contributed greatly to the (shortly thereafter) fit of pique which nearly resulted in the aforementioned "angry toss" of the ektorp.

If freight elevators could talk...

It's good to be home.