My living room just shrunk.

My dad called me the other day to see if we wanted their recliners.  They got bored or something the other day and went furniture shopping and found one of those double recliner loveseat things.  My  husband is always making fun of them and furniture shopping.  We have two couches, neither one in the best of shape, but with the girls still in destruct-o mode, we don't want to spend the money to replace them.  So, of course, I jumped all over getting hand-me-down recliners.  I was getting ready to crochet a granny square couch cover for our tan couch... not joking... it just looked terrible and it's so old (probably older than me, honestly, it was my grandparents') that we couldn't find a slipcover.  I still think a granny square couch cover would be so fun, but I think we all know it would never get finished.

We arranged for my sister to come watch the girls today so we could go pick up the reclincers.  It's an hour drive to my parents' house and if we took them, we'd have to take both vehicles.  So, after my grocery run today, we removed the seats from the van.  Those puppies are heavy.  We opted for the van instead of the truck because the truck's AC is out.  And I hate driving around with stuff in the back of the truck.  It makes me really nervous.

We spent about an hour chit chatting with my parents.  Their dog, Scottie, kept looking at the door, waiting for someone else to come in.  It's rare that it's just me and my husband.  Of course, we normally have the girls, but usually my sister and her husband come at the same time.  So he was sure the door was about to open any moment with more visitors.  He loves visitors.  He whines when we leave.  =)



He's not a Scottish terrier  - he's half schipperke and part poodle and something else, actually - and he just lost half his body mass in hair at the groomers.  He's an old guy, too...  13... he used to be solid black and now he's got a gray beard. 

After we loaded up the van with the recliners, we decided to grab some dinner before we left town.  We went to Perkins, because we don't have one in our neck of the woods, and Bill loves it.  As we were walking to our table, I saw a man in a booth and thought, "He looks an awful lot like my Grandpa."  I looked again, and sure enough, it was my Grandpa! 

It's been ages since I've had a chance to just sit and talk with my Grandpa.  Usually, it's so chaotic when we're all together at my Mom's house.  He invited us to join him for dinner, since had just sat down himself, and we had a great time.  My Grandpa is just awesome.  He's an excellent wood carver and an avid bird watcher.  Most of his carvings are of birds and they're so life-like.  It's really amazing.  To hear him talk, he's just a decrepit old man, but he's almost 90 and has more life in him and is more active than men 30 years younger.

That was a pleasant surprise, for sure.

We went home, got the kids bathed and in bed and then had the unpleasant task of unloading the van, re-installing the seats, moving the couch out to the curb, and setting up the new chairs.  And my living room looks tiny now.  Those recliners take up a ton of space.  I might have to do some rearranging because I can see one of the girls rocking one straight into the wall.  But, even tinier, the room looks much better.  I'm sweaty and exhausted, though.  Maybe I should go try out one of those recliners...