Schlemiel! Schlemazl!

Today we drove to Milwaukee to buy a dining room table. Yes. we drove 2.5 hours, to the fictive home of Laverne and Shirley, to buy a table. But it is the most perfect and beautiful table sold by a nice man who we will call Mr. J. as we violated the rules of ebay by operating off-site. The table is huge, solid wood, and a really clean, simple design.

After we picked up the table, we spent the day roaming the corridor from Sheboygan to Green Bay. We had a blissful hour in the TJ MAXX housewares aisle, where we almost bought pink silicon muffin tins, le crueset ramakins, and a set of lime green DKNY sheets. But, we didn't. No, we were modest splurgers and we came home at the end of the day with a bathroom mirror, a new Ryobi sander, and kitchen scissors. We are such practical girls!

Friends just dropped by to see the new table. we opened a bottle of wine & christened the new piece of furniture. I think it qualifies as our second piece of real, grownup furniture. it even has a built-in leaf that glides effortlessly into place to create a big, beautiful beast that seats ten.

Consumed

It goes without saying that we have had to buy a lot of things over the last weeks. Most of this was expected -- we knew there was not going to be a fridge in the house, for instance. We also knew enough to expect the unexpected. This includes paying for bat professionals (we are still a week out on the waiting list, still sleeping in the living room...) and buying a brand new washing machine as the one here went kaput.

If you are like Rhonda -- the fiscally wise and responsible member of this household -- these are things that are worrying. And yet, they are also things that the fiscally responsible person plans for. So the worry is not that there is no money, but rather a worry about how it might effect the overall budget for the fiscal year as articulated by aforementioned wise planner.

If you are like Amy -- the all-American spender of the household-- then occasions like this can be expressed as follows: "wheee! we get to spend money on nifty big appliances. What fun! Let's celebrate by adding to my vintage pyrex collection."

The following two items were purchased within 30 minutes of one another. Can you distinguish necessity from frivolity? Aren't they pretty?