Where have you been?!

I know, conveniently absent all this time. Trying to get my shit back together I guess.

So, not much to report. I think it's safe to say that I killed some plants, but other than that, not a whole heck of a lot.

My sister has decided that we are going to have a little getaway, just us sisters. The baby and the hubby get to stay home. Fine by me. She needs the time away from being mom and wife. We're probably gonna be spending a couple of days in the Dells - again. Yeah, I know, but it's close and she doesn't want to be too far away (just in case of what? Maybe the baby will learn how to rob banks or commit arson or defy her daddy - who knows - it could happen.) Plus, it's close enough to Madison to see good friend Joe Kramer (We actually call him Joe Kramer - not Joe, not Joseph, it's Joe Kramer - we don't know why this is funny. It just is.) I have yet to meet the boyfriend and they've been dating like a million years already. (This makes me a horrible friend, by the way.)

Mom's preparing for a trip out East - Williamsburg. I'm constantly hearing the details of the vacation. I want to say I'm enjoying it, but it's a little annoying when you hear the same thing at least fifteen times. Glad she's getting a chance to get out of town. She gets a little stir-crazy when she has to stay in the same state long. It's amazing she hasn't moved four or five times in the last eleven years (since buying the house).

I'm trying to come up with a good movie for Cinema Therapy. Stay tuned for that one.

I think I've decided on a new bedroom set. Hopefully this will change the storage situation. Plus I'm digging the white. It's a new set from IKEA (big surprise!) called Aspelund. The three-door wardrobe comes with a mirror, which is handy because I don't have one in there right now. Anyhow, I like it. But I'll probably change my mind before I get it. I hate being so indecisive.

Let me think. Any more details that are eluding me? Nope. That's about it.

Hopefully I won't take so long to return next time. And maybe I'll actually have something worthwhile to say. It's been a slow month.

The end of the world as we know it, or how Sam endured the neck injury.

So, I've been absent a few days. Can't say that I'm particularly happy with the results of my trip to IKEA. I didn't get anything. Until some things are situated in my bedroom, there will be no purchases from said store. So, I had to just browse and enjoy the little trip that included dining at the cafeteria (I heart the veggie wraps!). I've also decided that my new mattress will be the Sultan Hagavik. There's no way around it. They may mark it as being medium-firm (or medium-soft depending on your point of view - glass half-full or empty, whatever), but it is by far the most comfortable mattress they have there.

It sucks driving when checking your blind spot is like being executed (and not one of the better ways, like lethal injection - we're talking the mega-voltage through your head and starting your hair on fire executions). I really don't have anyone to blame but myself. I should've been sleeping on my back during this neck thing, but I'm stubborn. It is the most natural thing in the world to sleep on my side. I can't imagine any other way and actually being able to sleep.

Anyway, it's been a boring few days. Working, resting the neck, watching stuff on Hulu (my new best friend). Not much to blog about. Still, thought I should make an appearance. Don't want people to think I died or anything. Truthfully, I've fallen off the planet for much longer before. I'm trying to end that habit.

I heart IKEA

This is the conversation from 7:30 this morning.

[Phone rings.]

Me: Hello?

Mom: Let's go to Illinois.

Me: [Sigh] IKEA?

Mom: Yeah.

Me: Can I shower first?

Mom: As long as I don't fall asleep before we go.

Me: Fine. I'm driving.

[Note: Mom is an RN that works third-shift in a telemetry/cardiac ward. Today is her one day off before the weekend - her weekend to work.]

Why IKEA?

A few months ago, we jumped on that very large IKEA band wagon. It seems that they can inspire the design imagination in us more than any other store - ever!

We've been to the one in Schaumburg, IL and Bloomington, MN. Bolingbrook is only about another 25 miles south of Schaumburg, so we figured we'd high-tail it on over. Thinking we were slick, trying to avoid the toll-roads, we took the scenic route. A couple of misdirects, some u-turns, and three hours later we arrived. I think by then IKEA lost all of its luster. Still, we made our pilgrimage. We particularly like the "little house" set-ups they have. And of course, these are different in each store; we were curious.

After eating lunch, trekking through the store, being followed by a family with a child that had one very long tantrum through the whole thing, we left.

I guess we would always wonder what this one was like if we didn't go. But, I wasn't that impressed. I don't know if it was the kid or the fact that I was a little beat after the drive or the fact that I was practically dragging around my dead-weight mom. Whatever it was, I think that while I enjoyed myself some, it wasn't the same sort of experience I've had at the others. Go figure.

Why does the drive home always seem longer than the drive there? (I say that now, but when I'm dreading going somewhere, that drive there is the longest in history. Get it over with already!)

Speaking of long drives, when I was a kid, we lived in this town in ND for a couple years - Wahpeton. Whenever we wanted to hit the mall, it was a half-hour drive to Fergus Falls (in MN). That half-hour is the longest half-hour of your life - trust me! We still joke about that. It's funny. The land is so flat and you can see the town slowly getting closer, but it's like you'll never really reach it. In the summer, though, part of the drive was cool because of the sunflower fields. All you could see for miles around was these giant sunflowers. (That's if memory serves right. I haven't been up there in eighteen years.)

I might call it a night early. Six hours of driving and I didn't really get anywhere. It's almost a cruel joke. C'est la vie.