In with (almost all of) the new......

Our new bedroom furniture was delivered yesterday..... looks wonderful, and it's making us think that we were a little nuts to have waited so long. This new bed is so grand that we feel like we're sleeping in a Victorian Bed & Breakfast.

The bed (headboard/footboard) came in perfect condition, as did the night-stands and my husband's dresser. But before they unwrapped my dresser, we noticed that one of the legs was missing. The dresser has a "serpentine" shape along the front, and the center has two sets of legs, as well as the other ones on each of the corners. Well, two sets should have been there, but only the one was on the dresser. Must have happened at the factory, because there were no pieces in the delivery truck... and even if there were, I wouldn't have accepted the dresser that way.

So back on the truck it went, before the wrappings were removed. We were able to notice it so quickly because the dresser was upside-down on the dolly, with its feet sticking up towards the ceiling. The delivery guys couldn't have been nicer, and they were apologetic as could be. We called the store before they left, and they will get a new one out to us on Friday. Since our first phone call to the furniture store, we've had five calls from different offices of the store-- everyone apologizing and going out of their way so our feathers wouldn't get ruffled. (If that is the worst thing to happen to us all year long, then we're very lucky indeed. -- My new mantra.) I told them not to worry, but to please get the new dresser to us before the end of the week so I can get this room put back together.

Before the new bedroom furniture came, I had taken everything down from the walls..... and when the new bed was brought in, I knew that I wouldn't be putting up all the pictures that had been hanging there before. I've already taken two of the larger pictures to the antique shop.... I'll be "trading" with L, for things I can use, like pretty glassware that I just can't seem to resist.

I saved just two things to hang on the wall with my dresser....... I don't know if I will use both of them or just one....... I'll have to see how they look once the dresser gets here on Friday. I was hoping to have all of this done yesterday, so I could concentrate on getting ready for the Valentine's party on Saturday, but I'll just have to work around that.

I'm trying to work around this stupid weather as well. We've gone from near to 80 degrees during the day, down to 50 degrees at night. (Again.) It's supposed to warm up near the end of the week, so I'm hoping for that so I can keep the cats out on the screen-porch starting on Friday. (I wish to all the heavens that this screen-porch was a sun-porch, complete with heating and air-conditioning.)

Just about everything is ready for the Valentine's party..... I will finish cleaning tomorrow... start some of the cooking on Friday. But the games and prizes are all set..... guessing the number of red M&Ms for one-- can't have a party without that kind of guessing game. I've got all the red M&Ms in a pretty cellophane bag decorated with red and pink hearts. Then I have Valentine-y ornaments for the ladies to choose......... I've got them all set up on a serving tray. Just one has a red heart sticker on the back, so whoever chooses that will get a special gift. For the men to pick--- I've got a bunch of single chopsticks for them to choose... the one who picks the chopstick with the red heart sticker on the bottom of it will get a Chinese restaurant to-go container filled with chocolate goodies and smoked oysters-- plus a real set of chopsticks. I've been carefully counting the RSVPs in order to set out the exact number of ornaments for the ladies and the exact number of chopsticks for the men.

These parties are always so much fun...... and the number of friends/neighbors who come to the parties just keeps going up. Sure does take a long time to set up...... plus wrapping up the goodie bags, coming up with different ideas for the games, and the prizes, and the cooking, and the cleaning, and keeping the cats out on the porch. A lot of work. But without all this attention to the details, it would be just another day. Everyone seems to be looking forward to the Charades game....... we all had such a blast with that for the Halloween party that everyone seems to be more than ready to go at it again.