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My Profile
Because I can't bear to eulogize Doug - 2008-08-19
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11:12 a.m. - 2003-08-01
I did NOTHING yesterday. A darn shame too as it was a lovely day. I had meant to do and go, but I had zero energy. I had wanted to get to the flooring stores around here to see if any of them had an actual sample of the Pergo floor we are hoping to put down in the front hall and kitchen. I could call around first and save some time and gas, to say nothing of my ever limited energy, but I'm inspired by visits to home products showrooms. There's always so much more out there than I imagined and it's fun to get fresh ideas. Even if I don't buy, a trip to the appliance store or the carpet place is never a total waste of time. I had been planning on laying a real slate floor in the front hall and keeping the boring, but non-offensive lino in the kitchen, but Mike came home from a job and said the client had a "slate" floor in his foyer which was stunning. Knowing I'm all about slate flooring, Mike asked the guy where he'd gotten the stone. The client laughed and said it wasn't stone, it was Pergo. Mike was wowed. The colors and texture were wonderful. Not fake-y looking at all. Armstrong makes a similar product, but it LOOKS like vinyl flooring. Mike swears the Pergo version is indistinguishable from the real deal. I went to Pergo’s website and the flooring sure looks good on screen, but I want to see an actual sample before I order it. Lowes and Home Depot just have the wood Pergo samples. And I’m not about to spend a bazillion dollars on flooring I’ve never seen in person. If we can do the Pergo I’ll go ahead and have Mike lay it in the kitchen too. A few more bucks and an extra day to do the installation and I’m rid of the ho hum lino. Eventually I want a brick floor in the kitchen, but that’s years down the road after we build the addition and expand the kitchen. For right now a “slate” floor will be wonderful. Always wanted a kitchen with a brick floor, stucco walls, hand painted tile backsplash, and lots of copper. A big French country kitchen with a miles long parson’s table, a faux (or working, if I’m really lucky) bread oven with an arched iron door set in the wall, and a 6 burner range with a double oven. It’s not like I’m a gourmet chef or anything, I just like kitchens. A good kitchen truly is the heart of a house. I’m a kitchen entertainer too. People come over and despite the comfy couches in the parlor and the nicely laid out goodies in the dining room, we always end up hanging out in the kitchen. Most of my friends are kitchen types too. Maybe it’s just the proximity to the coffee pot. There’s a nice intimacy to kitchen visiting. You know you’re really friends with someone when they flap at hand at you and let you rummage around in the fridge for the coffee milk and you feel comfortable doing it. Besides, anyone who’s seen “The Big Chill” knows the kitchen is where all the fun stuff happens. Alas, slate floor or not, my new kitchen isn’t going to be the social spot of the house. This tiny 7’x 6’ cubicle is overcrowded when occupied by two people and there’s no place to sit down. I have the sneaky feeling that during the warm months the front porch will be the place to hang out. The old beat up furniture is going out there, the windows will be full of plants, inside and out, and even now while it’s still bare except for the shelves, it feels inviting. Speaking of sneaky feelings, I’ve suddenly been swamped with deja vu. Wolf’s class is going on a field trip to the mall and I’m all full of a half-dreamt/half-remembered dread. A bus accident. Wolf getting lost. SOME-thing unhappy and scary. I’d chalk it up to PMS megrims and worry wart mom syndrome, but as I dialed Mike to tell him about it, he was trying to call me! I left a voice mail and the second I put the phone down it rang under my hand. It was Mike calling because he had a sudden feeling he needed to. These vague psychic alarms usually mean something is up, especially if we both feel it at the same time. For certain it’s not always accurate and sometimes things are hunky-dory despite our hunchy dread, but often enough we’ve “known” when there’s been an accident or a death in the family. We know it far sooner than can be explained away by coincidence or unlucky guesswork. The day is drippy and gloomy. This is why the class is going to the mall. If the weather had been fine they would have gone to the mini-golf place attached to the Delicious Homemade Ice Cream Store. A treat and a small lesson in how to place an order and pay for things. The object lesson is the same at the mall, the kids will order their Wendy’s lunch and pay for it themselves, with back-up from the teacher and OT specialist, of course. I guess the kids will use their change in the coin operated kiddie rides in the food court and then back to school they go. I’m all nervy and jacked up. I don’t know whether it’s better to sit here by the phone or get dressed and actually GO to the mall. I’m not sure of the exact schedule and can imagine myself staking out the Wendy’s and getting more and more wound up if somehow I missed them and I’d get all freaked out that they never made it and are a big smear on the highway. Yeah, a lunatic who’s ripped out most of her hair and has bloody gnawed fingers pacing the food court is SUCH a positive picture of parenting mental health. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I’ll let you guys know if anything happens. Sitting the neurotic mom’s vigil, ~LA Wolf's okay! The bus had a flat, but near enough the school they could turn around and go back safely. They subbed in a new bus and a grand time was had by all. So, not too, too scary or bad. A less omnious warning from the astral plane would have been nice though. ~LA
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