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It’s almost overwhelming in it’s hideosity, isn’t it? This bargain-basement, $5 garage sale chair represents my life today. Let me explain.

Last night I actually managed to get to bed at the time I had appointed as “bedtime” back when I set the goal of getting to bed on time in March. Things were lookin’ good! Of course I woke up at 10:00 and 1:45 but I got back to sleep quickly at 10:00. It was a different story at 1:45. Toss, turn, toss. At 2:45 I decided to get up and do something, even if it was just having a piece of toast and watching a little bad TV. The thought occurred to me that I had been meaning to make and freeze some chicken nuggets for Tater Tot’s meals lately but just hadn’t gotten around to it. What better time? So I set about making my toddler food, eating my toast, and watching bad TV until the nuggets were baked. At 4:00 I thought I might actually be able to get back to sleep. Miracle of all miracles, I fell back to sleep and didn’t wake up until 5:50 when I heard my little Tater Tot talking to herself. I thought to myself “I’ll just close my eyes for a second” since get-up time is 6:00 and when I opened them again it was 6:10! I really could have gone back to sleep even then but I wanted to keep to Tater Tot’s schedule so I got my groggy Mommy Butt up and started our day with a little Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies for the Film Curious George (Jack Johnson) (the first song is a great wake up song!).

Breakfast as usual except that I decided, due to my wack-a-doo night of semi-sleep, I would have a cup of coffee. Hmmmm. Here’s The Mommy’s brain. HERE’STHEMOMMY’SBRAINONCOFFEE!! We set out on our 2 mile walk/jog/pant as usual. During the Spring, Summer and Fall in our area there always seems to be a lot of garage sales (ya’ see where I’m goin’ with this?) and this Spring is no exception. We were jogging along on our merry way, stopping to touch some leaves and flowers when we saw our first garage sale sign. Nothing too interesting or cheaply enough priced to get excited about but it was on our regular route so no harm done. As we’re turning up the last leg of our journey, one block from home I see two more garage sale signs. Oooooh! Let’s go check them out. Tater Tot has been going down for her nap later lately so I figured it couldn’t hurt to take a little extra time.

So I head down the hill with Tater Tot fervently hoping that the sale wasn’t so far down the street that we’d have to hike up the hideous hill toward the end of the street. Guess what? It was. Right up at the top of the hill. I saw the gold velvet chair out of the corner of my eye and was oddly drawn to it. I looked around at other stuff, trying to ignore it. But it was calling my name. I liked how low to the ground it was and it looked comfy. I thought it would make a great little reading chair for The Tot’s room when she gets a bit older. “I could slipcover it” I thought to myself. I still tried to ignore it but just couldn’t so I asked the price. Five dollars. Five dollars? Five dollars. I sat in it. Very comfy. Hm. Seeing as all I had was a stroller, I couldn’t have bought it then anyway. So we head off back toward home and the second garage sale.

Again, not a lot that I was interested in but I saw a good-looking, nice-sized table that looked perfect for a sewing table. Too rickety. But there was a sale around the corner so off we went again. Nothing. Back to the other sale for the sewing table. Looked underneath and it looked like it just needed to be tightened where the legs attached. Asked the price. Ten dollars. TEN DOLLARS? Ten dollars. But there was a man that had asked about it while I was at the other sale and he was off asking the wife. Of course she said “yes”. Aw crap. I was beaten out by a couple of minutes. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

Meanwhile, my tummy was growling since we had been running, walking and shopping for over an hour and The Tot looked sleepy so we headed off home.

Mommy Tip: Make exercise more fun by trying a new route or following the garage sale signs! I jogged/walked twice the distance today because we were following the signs.

The Daddy got home from surfing just as we did so I asked if he would be bummed if I brought home a hideous orphaned piece of furniture that I saw potential in. Nope. Do whatever you want. Wooohoooo! Put The Tot down for a nap and off I go to rescue my poor little chair. Of course it’s still there (because who else but me would want that monstrosity?) so I forked over the $5 and left with my treasure!

When I got it home, as expected, The Daddy thought it was hideous but we agreed that $5 is not too high a price for my happiness. And this chair makes me happy. I don’t know why. It’s not that I need another project because I definitely DON’T. But here it is. And I WILL finish it (she said with a look of determination on her face). It may not be finished today or tomorrow (or next week or next month) but it will be finished! I’ll post a before and after when I do. (Don’t hold your breath)