86'n It

That almost rhymes right? (Wow, I got the spelling of "rhymes" correct on the second try. Must be my lucky day!)

I ordered the lamp shades Wednesday from lampsplus.com and they shipped yesterday for delivery Tuesday. I'm pretty excited! I ended up going with the smaller shades which I think will accent the slender neck of the lamp.  They are even sending me a free shade harp, whatever that is.

This weekend we are going to try to wrap up some things. I really need to clean out the junk room. You can't even walk in there because I threw all the clothing swap leftovers and other things in there when I was cleaning for the Halloween party. Marc wants to finish the two new door thresholds and we both want to get some of that window film up on the downstairs windows.

Also on the list is of course, a target diaper run and a jaunt to Best Buy? Walmart? Target? to look at new flatscreen tvs that my parents *might* get us for Christmas to go along with the Apple TV that Marc's parents are getting us! We might have a real, functioning tv system soon!

Good for us, bad for the already slow renovating process.

It seems cliche, but karma is a b*tch. Not sure if I ever mentioned it here, but we've been told that our stairs are slippery. Marc and I never felt like they were, so we just shrugged it off. Well....

We've had a minor setback here at the crack house: Saturday I was coming down the stairs in my running socks and fell. Probably on the last 4 steps or so. (Don't worry, I was not holding Franca.) I fell pretty hard though. It knocked the wind out of me and hurt incredibly bad, which is a lot to say for someone who has broken 5 bones and for whom childbirth is a recent memory.

I have a pretty huge scrap up my spine and the right side of my lower back is very sore. Marc, ever the supportive husband, said: Well, you know, even if you did crack your ribs, it's not like they do anything for that anyway....

We still managed to go hiking that day (more like a 20 minute walk near a stream), but I pretty much hobbled along. That night, medicated on champagne and ibuprofen, I even danced at a prom. I was even feeling ok until I showered the next day and re-injured it while toweling off.

The worst part is when Marc was inspecting the stairs and found this:

Yes. My elbow made that horrible dent in hard,100-year-old wood. We have no idea how my elbow is not broken, (because that, you know, they actually do something for).

My lamps arrived and while I haven't tried a bulb in them yet, they are really beautiful!
Now, on to the business of shades. I found straight cylinder shades at lampsplus.com. They are 8" diameter, and 11" long. Here is my paper mock-up:

Marc and I can't decide if we like it or if it is too small. The only other option I can find is a tapered drum that is 14-15" in diameter and 14" wide. We both think that that will be too big and boring. The thing I like about the smaller shade is that it really makes the neck look long and lean. Thoughts?

In other news, Franca is growing like a weed and has mastered crawling forward. The other morning, she crawled right over to this plant I had just brought inside for the winter and proceeded to rip the leaves off! I'd really like to know if this is a toxic plant, but the only description that ever came with it was "Green Plant". This has actually been its nickname for years.

This has got to have fiber right?

Marc also had what I have nicknamed: "The best day of his life" this week. He and Franca watched Star Wars together. (Franca gets zero screen time normally. We don't really want her to, plus our tv setup is beyond annoying and unwatchable. No cable. No tv volume. No antenna reception.) Franca was totally into Star Wars. She sat patiently on his lap completely enthralled. (BTW, Marc keeps correcting me and saying: "It wasn't Star Wars, it was Empire Strikes Back." Whatevs.)

Obi-wah???

Oh, about the title "There are Still Good People Out There", I got an email notification from the lamp seller via ebay yesterday that I had been refunded $29. The seller's note stated that the shipping cost was $29 less. Now that is honesty! I'm going to go give him a great rating on ebay right now!