Here we go, again ...

I've just received an email from our local county advising us that all schools will be closed due to a severe weather warning. Interestingly, the childcare centres don't always close unless it's really dire, but if I'm not taking one child out, I probably won't take the other one. Might be a playdough day, in front of Thomas and Madeline!!

Honing our bear discriminating skills

We organised our rental furniture yesterday, which was a 3 hour plus exercise*! Our furntiture lady, Lois, is based in Florida and organizes all her clients' furniture selection the same way:

1) take delivery via FedEx of a laptop computer which has been updated to include her "latest" furniture catalogues

2) peruse hundreds of items listed in a multitude of alphabetically and numerically ordered folders ranging from bar stools to wall units, within yet more folders with names like "Lexington" and "Vaughn Bassett".

3) make selections for all rooms requiring furniture

4) arrange phone call with Lois (see above*) to go through painstakingly selected items, only to find out that, 

a) Lois doesn't have them in stock, or 

b) she only has them in brass/brown/lavender, etc.

5) try to maintain composure throughout the course of the phone meeting with Lois while she tries to suggest less than tasteful (to us!!) alternatives, takes occasional breaks to make coffee/visit the "restroom" (after aforementioned coffee)/attend to other clients who are outside her office, etc.

I actually had to excuse myself to collect the kids from school, and when I got back, Dave had just got off the phone after a further 40 minutes with Lois, discussing lamp options for every room - if you can picture a cartoon character with the crazy-spinning-spirals in his eyes, you can imagine how Dave looked. Poor thing admitted that he didn't know what he'd selected, only that he was sure I wouldn't like them. Great!! Ugger lamps!! When his eyes stopped spinning and he stopped laughing hysterically, he showed me the lamps he'd remembered, and to be fair,  not all of them were unbearable - but most were. 

No matter.  A quick email to Lois and she happily scheduled a new time for me to go through the lamps and make a couple of changes. This conversation only took 30 minutes this afternoon - see steps 4 a) and b) above. Clearly, I don't have a lot going on at the moment, but apparently, everyone goes through it, and I suppose it is ultimately less painful and quicker than physically shopping for a whole house worth of furniture.

For all her peccadillos, Lois is unfailingly patient and good humoured, and has a reputation for "looking after" everyone who rents furniture from her. We're hoping the "severe weather" doesn't hold up our furniture from being delivered next week - we can't wait to see it all I place. The kids are getting excited - especially Isabella, who knows she's getting the bunk bed she's been dreaming of, ever since we said we were moving to the US. 

Happy Valentines Day for Friday!!

I've just discovered that here, everyone gives each other cards.   Both Daniel and Isabella's teachers have sent notes home about the event, with Isabella's notice including all the students' names.

Hallmark Cards et al. have a secure future ahead of them ... at least over here!!