retail therapy (he really does want me to be happy)

I can't believe I just spent a half hour (probably more) blogging about cat poop.

Sometimes I feel like the most materialistic, shallow person in the world.
I wonder if I am a complete hypocrite. How can my favorite quote be, "After all, it's not having things that makes us happy, it's being a part of things," when shopping -- acquiring new things -- can make me feel so happy sometimes?

For my own sanity, I have to give myself permission to not only enjoy the things I have (nothing wrong with that), but to also determine the places in my life where new things could be helpful and are therefore targets for acquisition.

This week's mission: new, nice patio furniture. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous in the evenings, and in the mornings, too. The kids are always wanting to eat outside, but I hate, hate, hate the rickety plastic furniture we have. Did I mention I hate it? The kids are as psyched to get new furniture for outside as I am.

Yesterday, we did drive up to Scottsdale; we dropped off the candles at my friends house first thing, because all the different scents were giving me a headache, and I had to get them out of the car. Then we went to the clock and music box store, which was very cool. Alas, the music box repair idea is a no-go. I'm keeping my eye on eBay for a replacement. Then we went to Oregano's Pizzeria for a dessert pizza snack. That was OK except they put Macadamia nuts in it, and I kind of freaked out thinking that DS1 may have an allergic reaction if he ate any. I gave him a Claritin redi-tab prophylacticly, but he probably didn't need it. I doubt he ate any of the nuts, and showed no signs of a reaction. Still, it was bad, I was careless, and the consequences could've been severe. I only had one Claritin left, and I don't travel with his Epi-Pen. It's not like I can leave it in the car, it gets way too hot. It is very complicated.

So, then, it was getting late and I ended up driving through Phoenix and we took 51 S down to I-10, instead of going the much quicker 101S, because I am an idiot and got my directions mixed up... the drive down 51 is very scenic, though. The kids like being in the foothills.

We made good time even though it was rush hour because we used the HOV lanes. We really cruised down to Gilbert Rd, where we stopped at U-Haul for bubble wrap, and then at Sam's to fill the tank. Remarkably, everyone was in pretty good spirits still, so we decided to stop at Lowe's to check out the furniture. I saw some pretty nice stuff on sale for a decent price, but the nearest store that had any was in Tucson... nope, not going to do that, let's check other places.

(You can read all about the rest of yesterday in the entry preceding this one.)

This morning, we went on a tour of Basha's Supermarket, arranged by one of the mom's in DS2's preschool class. It was really fun for all the kids, and they sent us off with 2 pizzas and a white cake, plus juice boxes, water, paper plates, plasticware, napkins, the works. We went off to a park and ate; it was a very early lunch for us, barely 11. But the kids had fun playing at the park before it started to get hot. The gathering broke up about noon.

We resumed our quest for new furniture. First we went to the new Target, I was not impressed. Then we went to the Lowe's on Chandler Blvd, still not impressed, and I'm realizing that even though we would be spending at least $600-700 dollars, most of these sets had lousy warranties and were generally pretty flimsy. So finally we went to the embarrassingly named Paddy O'Furniture store, which was shockingly awesome. (Unfortunately, they don't seem to have a website. I may have to do something about that.) They are having a fall sale, of course, everyone is. Anyway, I put together a cast aluminum oval 84 inch table with 6 sling swivel chairs and the grand total is a whopping $2600, but this stuff is of the lasts-forever variety. I put down a deposit, fully refundable if DH nixies the idea.

I'm happy, the kids like it (swivel/rocking chairs are so cool). I come home and measure and it will indeed fit. Yay!

DH calls and I tell him about it and he's all down on the idea, doesn't want to be spending that kind of money before we've reached our savings goal. Ya, ya, I agree, the goal is good, meanwhile, life is going by here, and I have to stop living my life indoors! It's ridiculous. The weather is gorgeous here, we should be out in more! DH insists we can buy furniture without having to spend close to $3K. Of course he's right, and if it were the spring, we could probably very easily find some, but it's not. It's the fall, and I don't want to sit inside for another beautiful fall and winter. Besides, I really like this pricey stuff.

Anyway, I just get grumpy on the phone and ring off, DH goes off to another movie. He is bored out of his skull out there, I think. The only news channel they get in the hotel is CNN. Poor guy.

I spent the afternoon online, looking for patio furniture price/quality points. Nobody has anything left, really. I want swivel chairs! I don't want cushions, either. Ew. I don't want a glass table top, either, those get nasty quickly and I'm a lousy housekeeper as it is. I need easy maintenance. Finally, on eBay, I found a nice looking set for a terrific price from a company that is in the Phoenix area! They are moving and so selling everything for very cheap. I sent them an email asking if I could come and see what they have left.

Then I took the kids out to the only non-chain restaurant around here that serves decent burgers. They are a little expensive, but they give you so much food it's ridiculous, and I really love their fries. It's very dangerous for me to go there, I never remember how huge (and delicious) the sandwich rolls are, either. Carb overload. Over dinner I told the kids that DH had scotched the furniture. They were bummed. I told them I hadn't made up my mind whether or not to argue about it with him, though. They were all for that! Hee. After dinner we noted the showtimes for "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", there's a 1:50PM show we may try to make tomorrow.

Came home, there was a message from DH, "Call when you get in."

I didn't really want to call him, I was still kind of ticked about the whole fiscal responsibilities, savings goals, setting priorities talk we had had. But the very first thing he said to me was,

"If you want to get that furniture, you should."

Oh. Well, OK. Why did you change your mind?

"Because I think we'll use it -- as opposed to the dining room furniture [which we never use, and spent a fortune on, it's Thomasville.]. It would be good to use it, to be outside more."

So, you see? He really does want me to be happy.

I probably will end up getting the pricey stuff. But tomorrow, our mission is to visit the store, which is in Tempe, and see if they have anything I like. The table in the set is smaller, 72 vs 84 inches, and I'm wondering about the widths of the chairs, because 72 inches seems kind of short for those big wide chairs, 2 on each side... we'll have to see. Plus I have to decide if I can really live without the swivel. I don't know. I'll have to see what they have. It would be cool if I could find something I really like that is a lot less expensive, but I'm prepared to pay for the other stuff if I don't. Honestly? We can afford it.

I'm pretty sure we'll eat Thanksgiving dinner outside this year, though, on pricey or not-as-pricey new furniture. How cool is that? I'm psyched.