3/7/15. The post where I pull two switcheroos.

3/7/15: yes, I stayed up and read the whole script.  It didn't take all night...just half the night.  And I slept in a little this morning to make up for it.  I am bound not to disclose anything about the script, so I'll just say it has a very compelling plot and my role is small but satisfying.  I think it will be a lot of fun.

My patient, long-suffering husband and I had a huge accomplishment today.  When we bought our home five years ago, we bought a nice patio table and chairs for our deck.  A large square table. For our small triangular deck. The deck is on the second floor of the house and has a railing around it, so there is no expanding the deck or cheating the table out a little.  It was obvious as soon as we put it together that the fit wasn't right, but we liked the table, so we tried to make it work.  In order for four people to eat at the table, we had to move the chairs into the corners of the deck, take all the food and tableware outside and set the table, have all the guests come outside and close the door, then pick up the table and move it so all the chairs could fit around it. After dinner (or if we forgot something and needed to go inside), we had to go through the same steps in reverse. It doesn't make for a very elegant dinner party. Or a very safe emergency exit.

My patient, long-suffering husband happened across a patio table that would work much better earlier this week, and this morning we decided enough was enough.  We cleaned off the old table and chairs, took photos, and put an ad on Craig's list.  Sure enough, within a few hours, a very nice couple loaded them up and took them to their new home.  All that remained was to purchase the new set, which entailed a trip to IKEA.

If you have never been to an IKEA store on a Saturday night, this should give you a good idea of what it is like.  http://youtu.be/z-qd198SFwo.  We made it home in one piece with our two boxes full of parts and got to work.  Within an hour, we had a new table and chairs on the deck.  A set that fits this time.  Now I am even more anxious for spring to arrive.  

We were pretty impressed with ourselves.  My foot, not to be outdone, decided to pull its own switcheroo.  For the last few weeks, I've had the cold, stinging, numb pain.  But tonight after an hour of standing in line at the store and an hour of putting together patio furniture, it decided to move back without warning to the red hot, swollen, burning pain.  And this time, it had a special surprise - several veins on the top of my foot looked (and felt) like they were about to burst through my skin Alien-style. (I'll spare you the video clip on that one.)  After about 30 minutes with my foot elevated, the color is returning to normal and the veins are disappearing, but it doesn't feel any better.  On the bright side, at least I have new patio furniture.