Stories from the “Great Room”

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Needless to say, I’ve been short on writing time of late.  I’m still in that place, so here’s a story to (hopefully) give you a giggle.  This story has two parts.

Part One

We got new carpet and furniture for our TV room/dining/kitchen.  You could call it a great room, it’s long and we’ve had many years of great fun in it.  We’ve been enjoying our new, plushy carpet between our toes – even going as far as sitting on it, lying on it, and rolling around on it.  Penelope (the pug) thinks it’s grass.  This we know because she’s old and blind and keeps flopping over on her back and wallering around like she does the ground outside in the spring and summer.  She’s never done that before, probably because our old carpet was burber and hard as a rock.

The furniture is great too – everybody has a lounge chair now, even if it’s attatched to a couch. We’ve been working on getting the hang of pushing the foot rest in with our legs (some are more tricky that others), enforcing the principal that it is NOT an option to leave the recliner in the “up” position.

Thanksgiving Day after dinner, we enjoyed some “down” time in the recliners.  My sister-in-law, ‘Mona, viewed ice skating on TV from the chair beside me.  Across the room, my mother-in-law, Patsy, was getting the hang of Jim’s recliner.  I was instructing her on how to return the footrest. “You have to push your legs down and bring them back quickly.”

As soon as those words were out of my mouth, ‘Mona turned and looked at me, having just watched a professional skater do some kind of twirl and kick backwards in the air.  “You’ve been ice skating?” She asked.  “Huh?” I tried to focus on why she would ask me that. “I said have you ever skated on ice?” She questioned again.  “Um, well, yes, I did go once when I was a teenager, it was pretty fun.” By this time, Patsy had succeeded in dismounting the recliner.  “You said push your legs down and back, I thought you were talking about the guy that just did that jump on TV…” ‘Mona replied, a sheepish grin forming on her face.

The realization dawned on me that she thought I was explaining how to perform the skater dude’s slick trick. She hadn’t even heard the conversation with Patsy about how to get out of the chair. “Oh no!”  I broke out into a guffaw. “I was telling Patsy how to get the recliner back down!” To which Mona and Patsy dissolved into fits laughter.

If you only knew how uncoordinated I am when it comes to being on skates of any type, this would be hilariously funny to you as well.  I can’t even roller skate. The thought of me even trying to stay up on the skates, let alone spin and jump, is just absurd!

Ok, on to Part Two. 

Jim and I were sitting on our new couch one evening last week when we heard a gurgling noise coming from the left side, where I was sitting.  I looked down in between the arm rest and the side of the couch where the noise seemed to originate.  Nothing.  We wondered, but decided to let it pass.

Two nights later, Jim was home alone and heard the same noise coming from the same place.  He told us later, and Taryn chimed in about a noise she’d heard a noise in the basement that went something like: “WEEEEEEEEEEEE”!  Hmmm.  The girls suspected a mouse or wild animal, but it was unlikely. At least we wanted to believe that it was. 

We are currently in the process of building an apartment for my folks above our garage, and an elevator is being installed in stages. The garage is down and to the left of our “great room”. The men had left the elevator suspended until they could come again, and as Jim walked out into the garage the next day, he heard the same gurgling noise coming from the elevator.  Upon closer inspection, it was evident hydrolic fluid was leaking out the bottom and onto the garage floor, causing the elevator to gradually descend  – hence, the gurgling noise.  Mystery solved!  Jim wasn’t happy, but the men came to repair it when they finished up the installation process, and all is well.  Plus, my couch doesn’t have a wild animal living in it.

I’ll let you know if we have anymore strange episodes from the “great room”.  For now, just assume we are still enjoying our sublimely ridiculous lives until I get another chance to update.  Happy Holidays!