Glimpses of Progress

I got the chance to chat with a friend from Arlington, TX.  It is amazing that we have lived apart for seven years now, yet when we talk, we are right back to where we were before, with merely a lack of specifics in our daily lives to fill in...But the basics of the friendship are still there. 

Do you have friends like that?  I think they are truly the best kind to have. 

Anyway, I learned that she moved into a new house TWO MONTHS AGO!!  And she had failed to notify me she was even considering moving!  Gasp!

Then, yesterday afternoon in the middle of my furniture crisis I had a thought, "Didn't Roni close on her new house yesterday?  Does that mean she's moving in today?  I wonder if I can pawn any of my furniture off on her, since she's adding 2000 square feet of living space..."

So, I called her.  And then I sent her a picture of the roll top desk that Brent and I actually bought for ourselves with our very own money the first year of our marriage.

It is beautiful.  But it isn't as practical as it once was, as we NEVER use our desk top computer.  Consequently, the desk has become a place for throwing, piling, or shoving anything we don't want to deal with...

And it was taking up precious living space.

Before I knew what quite happened, we were delivering the desk to her, and Brent was helping Roni's husband unload and carry furniture.

We got home about 7pm last night to discover that sure enough!  The Christmas boxes were open and strewn all over the house.  The tree was semi erected, and I had decided to move the dining room table that had belonged to my great great grandmother needed to go.

Don't worry.  Not AWAY away.  Just to the attic...

So, Brent disassembled it...

And the top would NOT fit in the attic.  Nor would it fit under the bed...

But, the good news of cleaning out from under the bed, is we found this zither that my mother in law dumped on me at some point.  I've officially become her "I hate to get rid of this, but I don't really want it, so I'll give it to Andi" person.  In other words:  I'm her land fill...

The girls quickly pounced on the zither, and quickly endeavored to learn Silent Night.

After much shoving of furniture around boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations, I ended up with this arrangement:

The recliner is now where all recliners belong:  By the fireplace.

 The TV is where I would have put it the day we moved in, if not for the lack of cable cords there.  However, now that we only have antenna, that problem is solved!  And, the tree is now where the desk was, so my Grandmama Dolly chair still has a home under the window dividing our dining and living room!

 Please refrain from letting your eye wander to the room beyond the living room.  I still have stacks of junk decorations on my hutch in the dining room to sort through and eliminate or pack away.

Any ideas as to why blogger decided to flip this picture???  it won't even let me rotate it sideways in the hopes that it loads correctly.  Weird.

As you can see, the table is back.  We had sort of toyed with storing it disassembled in the garage.  But then I realized I missed it.  And it had only been gone a few hours...

So, Brent got out his screw driver and reassembled it, and I'm proud to say he did not utter one word of complaint...

So, today my folks are coming down to watch the girls in their church Christmas program.  And as of 1:30 pm, I had boxes hither thither and yon...

And I am missing a box of decorations.  It is the box with half of my Christmas dishes in it.  We looked through every single box in the attic.  Twice.  We have no idea where it's gone.  It has Santa's milk glass in it!  What will Santa drink out of with no specially designated mug!  It has our stockings in it!  And my favorite red table cloth with white snow flakes all over it! 

*Sigh*

Well, the good news was, as I dug through too many boxes that are filled with junk treasure to admit, I realized I simply HAD to drag down two more boxes than planned...

 Does anyone remember these red Avon dishes?  I always loved them.  One of my friends from childhood's mother gave them to my mother for me to have...Is that statement confusing, or what?  You see, Peggy's kids did not WANT the dishes, and I think she bought them from my mom when she sold Avon.  Hence, she decided that I would enjoy them.  Apparently, even as a child I accepted all gifts offered to me.  At least, that's the only reason I can imagine for her suddenly giving me all these lovely dishes...Oh, and there are several more than I have pictured!  Isn't that just crazy?

Oh, and what do you think of the red balls suspended from the antlers in the light fixture?  Studmuffin felt they detracted from the overall manliness of the antlers.  I said quit being a baby...

I had such fun arranging the table.  I have extra place settings, and plan to use these dishes as this is the table we eat at every day, and we truly endeavor to eat dinner together as a family every night.  I will load them in the dishwasher, and pull the extra out of the cabinet!

Look at me and my Better Homes and Gardens self!!!

Or, is it Better Trailers and Gardens?



How about you?  Are you dragging out decorations and treating it as a rare treat to dig through and rediscover ornaments that were home made or given to commemorate your love for your husband?

I would love to hear your Christmas traditions!

Stay tuned for glimpses of my pitiful attempts to add Christmas cheer to other nooks and crannies in the house!

Aren't you just on pins and needles??