(Nearly) fully furnished

This weekend, after much delay, I took a major step towards "grown up-hood" (like "adulthood," but less so) and bought a couch. Those of you who know me well will not be surprised to hear the process. First I mentioned needing to do it a lot and then last weekend I walked through one furniture store in a very noncommittal fashion before calling it quits. This week I decided that it would happen. I mean, really, enough is enough. I am 27 years old. I have lived here almost three years. It is okay to buy furniture. So we went to a furniture store and sat on a fair number of couches, but the only one I liked was a horrific shade of red. Not horrific, but definitely the color of an accent pillow, not your entire couch. The second stop was Macy's (yes, they have furniture; I too was surprised) where we circled once and sat on all the couches (there were about seven). And then I bought the first one we'd seen. It was in my budget, a good color, comfortable and bigger than loveseat, but small enough to fit easily in my small-ish living room. Consider this an open invitation to come sit on it - you can even put your feet up on my $20 coffeetable, although I can't promise they'll be much else going on in that room. Anyway, so that's that. Yay permanency! Or something.

Last week of school starts tomorrow. I have never been so ready. Last week the boys were completely off the chain. Seriously. At one point I was giving rationale for why I asking them to NOT simulate masturbation in class. I couldn't make this shit up. But the project we're working on is going well and I think it will end on a good note. Plus it keeps them busy and occupied through the last day, which is key. Middle schoolers go home Tuesday and then it's three days of meetings (gah) and graduation and we're done. Not a bad year at all, although these last six weeks or so have been rougher than I would have liked. Then I get one week off (HOORAY!), followed by a week of orientation (not bad) and then only a few days until I'm in LA (that's a mixed bag).

Speaking of LA, I got my course schedule and reading list on Friday. Holy crap, kids. It's a damn good thing that I like to read so much. Even still, this is going to be an intense couple of weeks for me. As Brian said, I better come back real smart. I think it'd be impossible not to. We'll see. Now I'm focused more on planning the three day vacation Maggie and I are taking before I start class. Anyone with good "things to do in LA" ideas, let me know.

And now, because I haven't posted in awhile, a list of kudos to close out.

• Welcome to DC, Chris! I am excited (and grateful) to have you as a new roommate and, later, to just hang out in DC after work, etc.
• Congratulations, Beth and Keith! The wedding was beautiful and reflected entirely not only your love of and commitment to each other, but your unique and fun-loving personalities. I hope the honeymoon was as wonderful as it sounded.
• Happy 30th birthday, Maggie! I am so glad I was able to be with you as you entered your third decade of life. You are an amazing and inspiring person and I am truly blessed to have you as my best friend.
• Welcome home, Rachel! Good luck with the transition back to life in the Miller household. Call if you need to vent and definitely come see me before you head to China.
• Enjoy the new place, Lindsey! I am so excited for you (and Lizzie) and I can't wait to see it when I'm next in town.

I think that's it. If I skipped a kudo (is it appropriate to make that singular? Wendy?), please accept my sincerest apologies.