June 09, 2003
two things...
after ages of knowing i didn't *really* have room for what my brother calls "the kitchen furniture" i finally moved it out of the dining room. it's a cherrywood hutch that belonged to my grandmother. pretty much mint condition. but i have a small house. my brother had the matching bookshelf (with a cabinet on the bottom). my sister in law was basically trying to get him to paint it. he took it apart, sanded it (originally it was just a beautiful cherry grain) and eventually sold it (in pieces and unpainted) for $10 at a garage sale. my mother about had a cow.
of course i snitched on him. hell, he will get away with anything, what does it matter if i cause a little ruckus, right? when talking to mom i had to confirm that yes, i still had the other cabinet. in one piece. i also still had the very heavy, 15 foot long, curved couch, the two huge wingback armchairs, the coffee table, my baby-rocking chair, and my highchair. Oh, and two dressers.
over the last few years the above list is more and more stored in the basement. and the kitchen furniture is about to be added. i can't quite bring myself to part with it. i will have to get dispensation from my mother, but some of it is going to go. 
that couch, sometimes referred to as the martini couch, really is ENORMOUS, and now the cushions are sagging, the cats have destroyed a lot of it, it's faded and stained, but the thing is, if it were re-upholstered it would be wonderful. it was originally custom made for my parents before I was born. there are pictures of my mother (in her pajamas with a marge simpson hairdo) and I (age about 8) sitting on it on christmas morning. that's why it was in such good condition for so long. we only sat on it for christmas.
they knew which kid was the packrat and which one got married to the total anti-packrat. needless to say, i got all the old furniture.
oh, and the second thing. buck's goin' to get tutored. sad in a way kinda. (gary larson cartoon; one dog leaning out of a car yells to one on the sidewalk "hey, i'm goin' to the vet to get tutored!!!")
Posted by rosebaby at June 09, 2003 06:12 PM
a fifteen foot couch?!?, damn.
i suffer from the guilt/packrat syndrome myself, though i only have the ghosts to remind me of my duty (though i think that may be worse (rebellion doesn't work against ghosts)). i have the matching bedroom set, minus headboard, god only knows where that went, my baby rocker is at my godsons house with strict rules attached, and the two tons of family photography is all safely stored (though i don't know why?)
of the things i sent away to the goodwill, i miss most of them, i can't say why, but i do, they cramped my style (or so i said at the time) but that smell of memories past, that taste of nostalgia, the glimpse of the better days lives within them all.
on the second thing, jasper so needs the tutor thing too, the little height impaired black lab has found far to many new uses for his mouth, though not my dog, i now find my self in the unique position of having the sacrificial cole-haan's.
Posted by: B on June 9, 2003 10:25 PMI know that having your dog "tutored" is the responsible thing to do and all, but jeez, having your balls removed can't be much fun. Poor guy.