Even the best plans...

Even though we could have slept in today, we decided last night that we would get up at a decent hour and be very productive.

First, for breakfast we were going to make pancakes and bacon or something because we were out of milk. Then we were going to do laundry because Andrew was plum out of socks. We probably would have thrown in a shower. And then we were going to try to get my tape player to work so I could transcribe some tapes. We were planning on working on our Jordan book and trying to get some tricky CSS stuff to work on a website Andrew is making for work.

Well, I woke up before the alarm...which I think was set for 8:30 or something (still a little sleep-in, but not terrible). Apparently it was so nice and sunny out that even Andrew woke up before the alarm. I kind of rolled over, squinted at the clock, and tried to read the time. I failed.

Mark my words! One day my eyes will work first thing in the morning before I add anything to them (like contacts or glasses).

Anyway, I plopped my head back on the pillow and asked Andrew what time it was.

"It's almost 8:30," he said.

I then asked him what time the alarm was set for.

Just after I said that, there was a tremendous BOOM! I jumped. Andrew looked at the clock to tell me what time the alarm was set for, but the power had gone out so he said,

"I would, but the power is out."

It was a good thing he told me because I couldn't see the numbers on the clock at all so I wouldn't have known...until the fan stopped moving, that is. Or I got out of bed and tried to turn on a light. Or tried to do pretty much anything (we are so dependent on electricity).

So, our morning was pretty much ruined. Breakfast was impossible. First of all, we had no milk, so that means no cereal. And even if we had milk, we wanted to limit our access to the fridge. The last time a transformer blew up we didn't have power for quite a few hours...and we were assuming, by the loudness of the explosion, that a transformer blew up again. We couldn't cook breakfast either because our stove is electric.

We couldn't shower because there was no light in our bathroom, and our water heater is electric.

We couldn't do laundry because that, too is electric...which means that we had to come up with socks for Andrew by the time he had to be at work.

We couldn't fiddle with the tape deck because it also had no power.

And we couldn't use the computer because...you guessed it. No power.

So, we did the only sane thing imaginable and went to IKEA. It had to be done. Andrew has been trying to get me there for days (and it only opened on Wednesday).

I conceded that we may as well go because we had decided we would try curtains to lower our utilities...and they sell 99 cent breakfast. We needed curtains, we needed breakfast. It was a win-win situation.

We got ready to go (foregoing the shower) and left for IKEA. Just as we pulled out of our PUD, we saw the electricity dudes already hard at work. Whether they caused the explosion or are just really quick responders is left unknown.


The ride to IKEA was fairly smooth...now that we have 4 tires again. It was remarkably smooth, actually. I had to keep reminding Andrew to slow it down.

IKEA was wonderful. It's kind of like sneaking into Europe a little bit...only different because it is still American. We had to laugh at all the oddities we encountered.

For example, as we turned down the road for IKEA (which is right off the freeway), there was a big flashing sign saying, "Event traffic only!"

The road was all sectioned off and it was crawling with police.

And then we were directed into parking stalls by workers wearing orange vests.


It was pretty funny. I couldn't help but wonder if now all Americans think that they experienced a little taste of socialism at IKEA. That isn't what socialism is, but I could see an American thinking it was...like that.

Well, IKEA is a pretty cool store. We got there before they opened and headed up to the cafe to get our breakfast. It was yummy. Andrew wasn't fond of the potatoes because they had red peppers in them and I wasn't fond of the eggs because they were airplane eggs--but it was cheap, and it was breakfast.

When the store officially opened we went off and explored the displays. IKEA's displays were neat. They sell cool stuff--some of which is expensive, some of which is within our budget. We found some curtains and looked at a lot of other things.

My favorite were the quilt covers. I am so in love with quilt covers. One day we're going to get one. They are just so cool because then you don't have all that fuss about sheets...and your quilt doesn't get all nasty from never being washed (quilts are a pain to wash). We'll definitely go back in an IKEA some day and get some.

I snapped this picture over my shoulder...I think it was a lucky shot

When we got home, we immediately started putting up curtains, even though we had electricity and should have been doing other things. Actually, I mostly did laundry while Andrew mostly did the curtains...but I helped him a little, too. We only got them up in the living room, but I really think it made a difference in how hot our house got today.

Things at IKEA are cheaper than you might find at other places because they are do-it-yourself projects.

We had to measure, cut, and "hem" them ourselves. Hemming only involved ironing this cool "easy hem" stuff onto the curtain so that it wouldn't fray...it was pretty easy.

We're excited to get curtains up in the rest of the windows. Oddly enough, the rods in our bedroom and the living room match: there is only one rod. We had been looking at getting a white "back" curtain and a colorful "front" curtain, but decided that the ones we got were overall cheaper. Except, we really wanted something brighter for the baby's room...so we got a white "back" curtain and a yellow "front" curtain (you'll understand when you see it).

Oddly enough, the baby's room's curtain rod is different: it has 2 rods for 2 different rows of curtains to hang. We decided we're simply inspired. Once we get them up, we'll show some pictures so that it makes more sense. According to this website, a double curtain rod is used to "achieve a layered look" so hopefully that's what we end up achieving.