Yesterday was Brannon's birthday. We had the BEST DAY!!!! It really was just...amazing. We are so funny. Tuesdays are his day off, so it worked out beautifully for him to have his birthday off. For the past week we have been furniture shopping. That is my Christmas present, new furniture. Sunday afternoon after church we spent the entire afternoon shopping for furniture. We went to every furniture in town except two. We were sure we had it narrowed down. We were sure on the style and the color. So Monday, I take the swatches back to the store we thought we were going to order from. I get there, and decide that I better sit on the couch one more time. HUMMMPPFFF. That's not how I remember it feeling YESTERDAY. I call Brannon. I say, you know, I don't think so, and they want THIS MUCH DOWN. Insane. No one else wants anything down, because we are taking advantage of the 12 months same as cash. So I go back to choice number 2, at a different store. It's not on sale anymore, but he thinks he can still swing a deal, and now instead of being 4 weeks to deliver, it's going to be closer to 8 weeks before they get it in, with Christmas and all. While I am standing there, still on the phone with Brannon, he goes, well, what do you think about doing THIS to the room (as in possibly changing a few things) and I thought about that, and then it all became wide open again. We were going for blue couches, but there is very little out there in the way of blue, so it really limited our choices, which, actually, for me is a good thing. Give me too many options and I am completely overwhelmed. So, now we are onto a whole new style idea, and new colors. Back to Brannon's birthday.
The kids took Brannon to breakfast before school yesterday. He dropped them off while I got some things done around the house. When he got back I had some presents for him. I found the best children's book at Barnes and Noble the other day, it was called "The Gift of Nothing". It's about Earl and Mooch, Earl being a dog and Mooch being a cat, and it's Earl's birthday. Mooch wants to give him a gift, but he has everything a dog could ever want. So he gets him nothing. You would have to read the book to appreciate it in all it's glory, but it is such a simple concept, but so deep at the same time. When I read it the first time it almost brought tears to my eyes. Brannon and I were in the living room all snuggled up with each other, and he was reading the book. I was reading it over his shoulder, and just watching him read the book and take it in made me tear up. There is something about that man. I don't know what it is. I am in awe of him much of the time. He then opened a journal I gave him, a memory book I called it. I told the first story, the story of our first date. It's for the kids and their kids to read as they get older. I'm sure the couch story will get in there soon. So we opened presents and read a book together yesterday morning. After that I told him we had one more gift, but we had to leave to get it.
Last week my girlfriend Heather took some BEAUTIFUL pictures of me at her studio. We had the best time taking all the pictures. They are very sexy and something I have never done before. She told me the proofs would take 2 weeks to finish, but as a favor, she had two ready for me yesterday. We picked them up. Brannon LOVED them, and I was amazed at how beautiful they turned out. I can't wait to see the rest. Brannon REALLY can't wait. Then we went to lunch at one of Brannon's favorite resturants, Bamboo. It really is wonderful. Then we decided to try our hand again at this furniture thing. We went to the last place we wanted to look that we hadn't yet, and ended up finding exactly what we wanted. One problem. It was sage green, and neither one of us like sage green. Not in this house. We got it home last night, got it all moved in, and decided it was too small. The color was not a big deal at all, it actually looked quite nice with the rugs we have down in the living room. But they were small. But they didn't seem that small in the store. Even when we sat in them, they seemed larger. Well, we had seen something last night that we had liked a little bit better, but we thought it was way too huge to go in the living room. The big test last night was, we both laid down on the couch and didn't fit. On the old couch we did. On the new couch, we didn't. And the love seat was MUCH smaller than the one we had before. I told Brannon, I said, look, we still have plenty of room for the couches as far as width goes. So this morning before 7 am we had the new couches loaded back in the truck and here in an hour when the store opens, I am going to trade these for the ones we liked better. We liked the color of the other ones much better. And this is it folks. We already signed the papers for the couches, so we can exchange, but we can't get refunded. The other couches are going to be a little more expensive, but only by between 100-150 dollars. But I think in the long run, they are going to suit our needs much better. I hope I don't get them in here and think they are TOO big. But, in the end, too big is better than too small, especially since Jacob and Lauren are getting bigger themselves. And the rate I am gaining weight, by next year I might not be able to get my fat butt on the couch at all. And these were the only two that we really liked. We were actually going back and forth last night about the set we brought home and the ones we thought were too big. I like the color of the other ones better, the ones we didn't buy. We didn't like the fact that it had detached pillows for the back, but, on the plus side, because the couch is considerably wider in the seat area, we could take the pillows off and it could be used as a very comfortable bed. So that is actually a plus. We just worry about the kids thinking those HUGE ASS pillows would be great for pillow fights (which they would, of course). So, I go back here in a few and trade. We didn't like sage green anyway, did we babe?
So, yesterday was great. We had so many moments yesterday, a look here, a smile there, hugs and kisses all day long. It was wonderful. My life is so different now than it was a year ago. Brannon said it was his best birthday EVER!! I'm so glad I could provide that for him. I love you babe. Have a great 39th year this next year, it all goes to shit after this.