If We Were Having Coffee On This February Morning…

February 27, 2016August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 49 Comments

THE SETTING:

We’d be sitting in my kitchen at the table, staying warm, glancing outside at the bleak leafless trees that make you wonder if you’ll survive this time of year with your sanity intact.

We’d be drinking basic brewed coffee, with cream, and eating donuts because carbs are where it’s at when the world is this dull and gray.

We’d be listening to the local university rock radio station because on Saturdays they play hits from the 60s & 70s & 80s– and it’s fun, once in a while, to groove on tunes from the past.

THE CONVERSATION:

√ We’d be sharing… our latest reading obsessions, which in my case would be 3 different books that I seem to read depending on which room I’m in. My father did this and I realize I’m doing it now, too. So, when I’m in the tv room I’m reading The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin. In the living room I’m reading 1215, The Year of the Magna Carta by Danny Danziger & John Gillingham. And in our bedroom I’m halfway through The Key by James N. Frey. You’d assure me that this book-reading behavior isn’t as weird as it sounds.

√ We’d be discussing… how I find Cheryl Tiegs’s out-of-touch criticism of Ashley Graham’s size and look to be sad and spiteful. I’d mention that I never thought CT had much on the ball, so I suppose she hasn’t noticed that the ideal body image of models has evolved and diversified since her days as a model. I’d realize that I was being snarky, but conclude that sometimes it’s the only response to stupid.

√ We’d be laughing… about how this week, after months of effort, I got to Level 445 in Candy Crush Soda Saga, and how I believe I just might make it to the end of this game, which is Level 565. You’d roll your eyes at me because whatever, but I’d still be proud of this achievement considering I’ve never come this close to finishing one of these silly games before.

√ We’d be talking… about how when Zen-Den went to buy paint for one of our bedrooms, he made me the happiest girl on the block when he bought me a brand-new slick and wonderful Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap Fan Deck that has in it, according to the SW sales clerk, 200 new shades of paint. My little amateur interior designer heart is racing with the possibilities.

THE CONCLUSION:

We’d have to part after an hour or so of chit-chat because we each had obligations in the afternoon to get ready for.

We’d hug and promise to get together sometime in the Spring, which for both of us is busy, then realize that maybe it’d be Summer before we do this again.

And we’d thank each other for listening to & laughing about our small victories and wacky ways. Like friends do everywhere. Often over a mug of coffee.

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Idea for this post came from Diana at Part-Time Monster.

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Doing Nothing. Taking Names.

February 23, 2016February 23, 2016 / Ally Bean / 38 Comments

It’s difficult to keep a personal blog when there’s not much happening. ‘Ya know?

I can tell you things like I’m feeling well & walking more. Zen-Den is content with his life at the moment. We are happy, thinking about attempting to plan to go on vacation sometime, somewhere.

Projects around the house continue. Culling out what we don’t need anymore & giving it away. Painting one bedroom a new color. Waiting for the carpenter to be available to put crown molding in some rooms.

Weather is nicer, warmer, sunnier. Talked with landscaper about removing some overgrown shrubs, taking down a pathetic tree, adding some decorative grasses. Ordered more fancy stone for the path under the deck.

But you see, that’s all I have to share today on these hallowed blog pages. Not much happening at Chez Bean.

So I’ll leave it up to you, my gentle readers. Should you care to talk about the stuff in the photo above, OR have a question for me, OR want to tell me something about yourselves, please feel free to do so in the comment section below.

Heaven knows, I don’t have much to say today, so I’m hoping you do!

At The Home Show: Chatting With A Carpenter, Learning Too Much

January 18, 2016January 9, 2017 / Ally Bean / 22 Comments

# # #

AS SOME OF YOU KNOW, I’m the sort of person who people love to talk with. Well, talk to– more accurately.

I’m a good listener and do love a good story. I admit that.

Since I was a teenager, strangers, in particular, have told me their stories. I don’t ask, they just tell me.

Sometimes to their own detriment.

# # #

THUS IT CAME AS NO SURPRISE that when Zen-Den and I were at the Home Show this past weekend, Chatty Charlie the Carpenter deviated from his sales pitch to tell me a story about his nemesis, Danny Long-Greek-Last-Name, who is also a carpenter.

In a nutshell, Chatty Charlie feels that Danny Long-Greek-Last-Name has risen above his station in life. Is a snob now. Who charges too much for his work.

Which Chatty Charlie admits is excellent.

# # #

IN FACT, CHATTY CHARLIE TOLD ME that Danny Long-Greek-Last-Name is the man who finished our house years ago. I’d forgotten the carpenter’s name, but recognized it instantly when I heard it.

Meaning that Danny Long-Greek-Last-Name crafted our beautiful fireplace mantel and surround.

Which I love.

And am looking to have a second level added onto, so that the whole fireplace/mantle/surround area reaches almost up to the apex of the cathedral ceiling.

# # #

NOW LET’S THINK ABOUT THIS conversation, shall we?

Chatty Charlie the Carpenter, who I’m meeting for the first time, in his need to be understood, has inadvertently told me who might do a better job than he could with my small carpentry project– which Chatty Charlie claims he wants to do.

And with that glimpse into how my life unfolds [and how a small business can fail], allow me to end this post with my summation of this conversation: he cut off his nose to spite his face.