Dear Reader,
I got nothing accomplished today. Well, not quite nothing, but much less than I hoped for. The person who was bringing the plumber over came a half hour early. We went over several things regarding the house, and then I went out to eat with our realtor. She took me to an amazingly beautiful and super-cool restaurant in a nearby town. Then we walked to a coffee shop and I finally got a chai latte, with soy milk after going without for almost a month. Had a delightful time.!
I was pretty tired when I got home and was about to lay down for a quick nap when the doorbell rung. It was one of the administrators of the college who came to talk to me about the decorations of the house. The only problem was that we were supposed to meet TOMORROW! I was originally asked about meeting with her today, but it said no, but I could meet with her Thursday. I guess that message didn't make it to her.
So we sat down and started talking about my olans. I sold her on my ideas after she finally realized how careful I am with money and that I have real limits on what I consider something to be worth. Let's put it this way. I want two solid-color sofas with decorative pillows on them. I showed her a picture similar to what I wanted to do and she said, oh, she really liked it. In fact, she had done something quite like it in her home and had spent $500 on each pillow! WTH???! I told her I could never pay anything like that. That I knew how much the fabric cost, I knew how much the trim cost ($14/yard) and I can sew, so I just would never pay anythg like that. Then she told me about draperies she had made for her home which were similar to one of my pictures. A quick sum in my head comes up with 14 yards of fabric, 4 yards of trim. Add in thread and lining fabric, and the cost would be around $400. She paid NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR HER WINDOW TREATMENT!!! $19,000.00! I'm sorry, but I think that is just obscene. There are children without clean water and without mosquito nets and you're spending that kind of money on drapes? I'm try got remember what it costs to drill a well for a village to have clean water in Africa ... I think it's in the $10,000 range. She also told me that she just got a,new dining room set and spent $2500.00 ON EACH CHAIR!
So ....
After a while she understood better what standards I would use in decorating the house. That I wanted something beautiful and warm and welcoming, bright, cheerful, elegant and in good taste, without it being something that anyone would find overwhelming, while still being appropriate for the community in which we lived. She understood that I am ... frugal. Not "cheap", but frugal. Or, as I said, "I can pinch a penny until it screams." Once she got that, she gave me some recommendations for stores where I can find good quality furniture at good prices. So, it was a profitable meeting, but took about two hours. I was after 5:30 when she left and I had to dash to get my husband's clothes into a dry cleaner in town. He was home by the time I got back and we went to the restaurant I told him about and, sure enough, he loved it! The food was excellent. I had a grilled watermelon salad with arugula which was really excellent and duck confit with beets and prunes in a pomegranate sauce. It was wonderful! The only proble was that it turned out that I had ordered from their lunch menu when I was there with the realtor, bpbut their dinner menu was double those prices! Whoops! Then, walking back to the car we got to enjoy how beautiful the evening was. There were all sorts of restaurants with dining on the sidewalks, and it all as just gorgeous.
So, I'm hoping to be able to go to sleep better tonight. I have to work like crazy tomorrow.
Oh, and how's this for an example of how bad our moving company was: I have not been able to find the cushions for some of my outdoor furniture. But, while showing this woman around the basement, I saw a large box that said outdoor cushions. I opened it up and found some of my missing cushions ...AND the two large air filters my husband uses in his study. These weren't noted on the box at all! So there is absolutely no telling where all of our things are. Like our SHEETS! Hopefully the ones I ordered will get here tomorrow.
Rest well, and have a great Friday!
Lisa
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