Monthly Archives: August 2014

In Search of the Perfect Dining Table and Chairs

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Dining 1

Our new home has a formal dining room. We talked about whether or not we needed or wanted a formal dining room. In the end, we decided it was a good idea. We would like to have friends over more and a formal dining room would give us that opportunity. We decided that we wanted a table that would seat eight. We had looked at the house plans carefully and thought we knew the dimensions of the room pretty well. We had started looking at formal dining room tables while the house was being constructed. Challenge #1:  We knew it was going to be difficult finding the right size that would fit. We knew it was not going to be a large room so the big honking tables and massive chairs would not work. We had written down the max dimensions and had gone out looking. Well, once the sheetrock went on and the built-in buffet went in, we re-measured. Uh oh. It’s even smaller than we thought. Well crap.

Challenge #2:  We had different “visions” for the room. Keith’s vision, formal dining room was just that formal, ornate and a bit regal. I am not an ornate kind of gal. My vision was more of a rustic formal. You know a more casual table with upholstered and tufted chairs. We were literally on opposite ends of the spectrum. So working within our two visions, we had to find something we could both compromise on.   I am the kind of person that needs to “feel” something. I need a connection with it, even with a dining table. It was the same way while we were building the house. I had to feel the connection with the granites, floor coverings, tiles and paint color. I was convinced that I was not going to find anything I loved, but instead would have to settle for something because it worked.

Armed with our new measurements, we headed south this time to Dallas. We had already exhausted our options in OKC. We had found a few possible table options at an Ashley Home Store in Texas so we went back to look again and re-measure. We arrived at Ashley’s and found the tables we had looked at before. They were tables I could live with but did not love. We measured and uh oh, a few inches too big for the space. Well crap, what are we going to do now? I am obviously not going to be able to get a table and chairs to seat eight people in that room. My vision of big family dinners at my home are fleeting…..Beat down and disheartened, we left Ashley’s and headed for home. As we are heading back to the highway, we see a Haverty’s furniture store. I have never been to a Haverty’s. I’ve seen their commercials. I like that kooky girl who “designs” her furniture and plans everything else around it. Their slogan: Haverty’s has it. Well we’ll just see.

We decide to go in. What could it hurt? We already have no expectation of finding anything. We entered and asked the sales lady where we might find their dining rooms and she stated, “just around the corner.” As I rounded the corner, there it was. The most beautiful rustic table with upholstered and tufted chairs I have ever seen. It was exactly my vision for the room. It was as if a spotlight was shining just on this one item. I gravitated directly to it, sat down and I was in love. Then reality set it, Keith is NOT going to like this table. It is too far away from what he likes and I felt a knot forming in my stomach and a sadness wash over me. He catches up with me and I say to him, “do you like this one at all?” “It’s OK.” he responded. He whipped out the tape measure and it was the perfect size, with eight chairs even. It was like Cinderella’s slipper, it was a perfect fit. I couldn’t move. I just continued to sit at the table. Keith comes to me and says, “You know, some day you are going to have to pull the trigger.” “What?” I asked. “On a dining table. At some point you are going to have to make a decision.” he replied. I gazed up at from the table and looked directly into his eyes and said, “If I had to make the decision right this minute, THIS would be the table we go home with.” We got the sales lady over and started talking price with her. Of course it was “on sale” and at the end of the day the sale would be over. That was the wrong thing to say to my husband. Sales people should not give him the “buy today or lose out forever” pitch, because he will ALWAYS walk. Pressure tactics do not work with Mr. King. So now we have the additional question of, will you deliver this table to our home 100 miles away? Mathis Brothers in OKC will…. Haverty’s in Frisco, Texas will not. My heart is breaking. Keith says, “If we decide this is the table, I can bring the little trailer back and get it later.” Made me a little more hopeful.

So I have taken pictures of this perfect dining table and we leave Haverty’s and head for home. Once home, I turn on our computer, go to the Haverty’s website and find my table. There it is online. I noticed there was a link on their website that asked me to put in my zip code and see what my delivery options were. I didn’t quite understand since the lady in Frisco very clearly said they could not deliver. So I played the game, entered my zip code and was told that in four weeks, my dream table and chairs could be delivered to my home for the exact same price that we would have paid to the store in Texas.  WHAT!   Pretty soon Keith comes in and sees me drooling over the table on their website. “Whatcha doing?” he asks. I inform him that their website says that they will deliver and for the same price as was in the store. Difference being it is coming from their warehouse not the store. I don’t care where it comes from as long as it comes. Keith put his hand on my shoulder and looks at me with his beautiful blue eyes and says, “I have not seen you this excited about any dining tables we have looked at. If we were to lose getting this table because I waited, I would feel really bad.” Then he handed me his credit card. I could have cried. He knew that I “felt” it. He knew how important this was to me and he let me get the table of my dreams. Four weeks later as promised, it was delivered and it is spectacularly beautiful in the room. Haverty’s “does have” it, just as promised.

Next up, shopping for all new furniture for the great room. YIKES.

Weight Loss Challenge – Month 1 Report

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Winter in Regional Park 2

Ok, it’s been four weeks since I began my new weight loss get fit challenge. I began this journey publicly stating I wanted to lose 12 pounds by eating better and getting some form of exercise. I am giving myself until next June prior to my family trip to the beach in Florida [I sure hope it doesn’t take that long].  I will not do this by crash dieting or using some diet product, but by eating better and getting the proper nutrition.   I will use food as “fuel” not as entertainment.  However, if I choose to have a piece of key lime pie or a couple of margaritas, I will.  I will continue to have my Herbalife shake each day for my guaranteed nutritious breakfast, lunch or dinner and have my energizing tea with mango aloe throughout the day.    Lean meats, fish, fruits, veggies and whole grains are my friend.  I will do my best to put on my walking shoes and hit the pavement or treadmill each day, or some other form of exercise to help me reach a calorie deficit.

So here I am four weeks later and guess how it went?  Well in four weeks I have lost only one pound!  So this is where I would normally say “forget it” and give up.  Not this time.  When I reflect back on my month, I can see what I did right and certainly what I could have done better.    Life is about choices and making the healthier choice is not always the easiest. 

I love my Fitbit.  It logs my steps every day.  My goal is to get in 7500 steps a day, roughly 3 miles.  On weekdays when I’m working, I struggle to get there and MOST days I don’t make it.  Some days I don’t even come close.  For instance, this past Thursday, I took 2,695 steps for the entire day.  Yikes.  I didn’t get up from my desk hardly at all except to go to the restroom and go home.  When I got home I was mentally drained and although I knew if I would get out in the fresh air and walk I would feel better, I did not.  See, choices.  Sadly, this past month I have had more days like last Thursday.

Now there have been some days when I have done really well.  On Saturdays and Sundays I always reach my 7,500 because I usually  go for a walk and I’m all over this house doing laundry, cleaning or “piddling”.  Mostly piddling.  But hey, I’m up and moving.  On weekend days I usually even hit 10,000 or 12,000 steps.  It’s awesome and I am very proud of myself and feel better on those days.  My best day was on July 30 with 28,351 steps.  That’s just short of 12 miles!  The following day, 17,082.  Those two days we were in Washington DC touring the National Mall, the monuments, the museums and the White House.  For future reference, I do not recommend walking 28,351 steps in “flip flops.”  I am a girl from Oklahoma who doesn’t like to wear shoes in the summer.  I would wear flip flops every day if I could.  However, I realized that I probably should have brought my walking shoes.  By the time we called it quits that day, my feet hurt so bad I thought I might shed a tear.

So obviously I realize that I need to work on the getting up and moving part.  I need to not let my hectic days at work sabotage me.  I am looking forward to a little cooler weather where when I do walk, the heat doesn’t zap me. If I was superman like my husband, I would get up and walk in the mornings when it’s cool.  He runs about 5 times a week about 8 miles at a time and he leaves the house in the dark at 5:30 a.m.  See superman.  I should be using him as my inspiration.  Here’s a man who is a 5 year cancer survivor who is an active runner, losing weight without trying, eats what he wants because he gets PLENTY of exercise.  He’s a hard act to follow, but I am very proud of him.

Now my other issue is food.  Not as big an issue I don’t think as the sedentary side of my life.  I do try to make good food choices even when we travel.  Now there are days that I just blow it and I know it.  Right after I started this little adventure was when we traveled to DC.  While eating out I tried to find the healthier options on the menus.  One evening for dinner our hotel restaurant had an amazing grilled salmon.  I love a good salmon.  Then the day I walked the 28,ooo steps, we had lunch at a place across from the White House called Old Ebbett’s Grill.  They had a kale/quinoa salad with grilled chicken that was to die for.  I need that recipe. 

So here I start another month.  I’m taking a deep breath, keeping positive thoughts and am confident that my next report will be better.  

Dreams

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LonieDo you dream? Some people don’t you know. Some people dream but don’t usually remember what they dreamed. For me, I have always been a big dreamer and I can usually remember my dreams. Sometimes they are so real. Sometimes they are bad dreams and someone is after me and I yell. Keith has to wake me from these dreams. Oddly enough, I used to never have these bad dreams where someone is after me. My mother always had those types of dreams and I can remember my dad having to wake her. It wasn’t until way into adulthood that I too had bad dreams about something being after me. Are bad dreams hereditary? Thanks Mom.

Do you ever wake up in the morning and remember a very vivid dream? Do you ever have the kind of dreams where you are crying and can’t stop? This morning I woke up realizing that I had had one of those dreams. I have three kinds of these dreams every so often. One is about my dad, one is about my mom and one is about the loss of a dog. This morning’s dream was about my dad.

Last week on August 5th marked the one year anniversary of his passing. For the past couple of weeks I have been telling myself, the one year anniversary is just 10 days away, 8 days, 5 days, 3 days. It’s today.     It doesn’t seem like it’s been a year already. I’m still trying to close out their estate and I now have his house on the market, so I still have that constant reminder that he’s gone. So with him on my mind so much, I guess it’s not odd for me to dream about him.

This dream was different. I have had many dreams about him over the past year but none like this one. Most of them are just memories or events of times when I was a kid or when my kids were little. Just everyday stuff and he’s there. Comforting and normal. I wake from those and think, well ok.

In this dream my dad was very young. He appeared to be 21 or 22, about the age when he married my mom.   I was standing and watching him, but it was like I was watching a hologram. It was him, but he wasn’t there, but I could see him. He had bright eyes with a little twinkle, was smiling and laughing and appeared to be very happy. In the dream, I am standing there watching this and I am crying uncontrollably as I watch. As I look took my right, there stands my daughter and my son, who are also crying. As we look at one another, we all smile because my dad looks so happy and young and full of life and even though we are very sad, we acknowledge that he is ok.

So here’s where I need a dream interpreter. I think dreams can be many things. I think you can have something on your mind and your mind works its magic and presto, you dream about it. Maybe my mind needs to be ok with his passing. Maybe this was the way for my mind to do it. But what if….. What if it was more than just a dream? I have always thought to myself, if I were to die while I was relatively young and leave my children behind, I would do whatever I had to do in the afterlife to let them know I was ok and I want them to be ok. Now obviously I don’t know if this is possible or not, but in my very soul I would try to reach them somehow. Could this be my dad’s way of letting me know he is ok? Is he showing me that he is young again and full of life in heaven? Is he giving me the opportunity to cry it out and move on? Is he acknowledging to me that he knows how much I miss him?

So as I think about my experience this morning, I am choosing to think that this morning, my daddy did whatever he could do in the afterlife to reach me and tell me his is ok and he wants me, my daughter and my son to be ok too. Today I am opening my mind, heart and soul to the possibility.