Ikea Trip

This trip had been coming for a long time. All the excuses...we don't have time, we don't have space, our car is not big enough....had run out. Since moving into our new house, Rebecca was adamant about finally getting a real office. We now had the space, so she was going to make the time and reserve the work truck for hauling back the goods. I can't really argue with her. Her desks over our marriage have consisted of an old window on four Bed, Bath, and Beyond mini shelf things, a door on same shelf things, and finally my old desk. Having a good work environment is important and since she is full time at home, she needs to be super productive.

Having been several times before and being aware of the jokes about what this store can do to a marriage, we did not enter into the trip lightly. In my opinion there are only two ways to shop at/experience Ikea. You can either say we are going to run through to just see what is about and not buy anything (which is very difficult); or you can set aside a whole day and commit to getting through it section by section (also difficult). If you try to put a time limit on yourself and still shop the whole store, you'll never make it. One person will end up alone in the cafeteria knocking back some meatballs and the other may attempt to choke themselves with the complimentary tape measures. Limited time with seemingly endless decisions just don't go together.

We headed over to Atlanta on Labor Day in the work truck, enjoying the barely double digit MPGs. We got to the store about 11am eastern time. The store was a popular holiday destination. Without really any time limit other than driving back to Birmingham, we began to leisurely stroll through the store. Before we knew it a couple hours had passed. We realized we needed to solely focus on office furniture if we were going to get anything accomplished. So we went to the office section and selected a layout. A feature about Ikea furniture is that is interchangeable, but can also add to decision making. So rather than just get a regular desk, you can get just the desktop and use other furniture as the legs. So we decided on his and her desks using a combination of drawer case things and bookshelves as the legs. We also got some accessories to go on the walls. The only other major piece of furniture we got was a shoe holder to go by the front door. Four hours later we were finally set on what we wanted and made our way to the warehouse to pick it up. We get to the desktop section and they are out of the left hand side of our desk. Rebecca being physically exhausted and now somewhat defeated just sat on the ground. I checked with an employee and it would be two weeks before they had anymore. Not wanting another color and not having time to come back anytime soon, we just got two right handed desks and decided to flip one over. The bottom side has a slightly different finish and lots of holes for leg and brackets, but it would work for the time being.

Now 5 hours later, we had the truck loaded and empty stomachs. Knowing this is a common occurrence, the store has a cafeteria when you come in and a snack shop when you leave. This particular weekend they had a deal where if you spent $100 on furniture, you could get your meal in the cafeteria for free. I was in the mood for some Swedish meatballs and so it was an obvious choice for me. I called Brad, who now lives in Atlanta, to see if they wanted to meet us at the store. We had planned on going out to eat, but the price was right here. Brad and Lauren met us there and we all got our food for free. If ever in the situation again, there is no limit on how much food you get for free, so stock up on the prepackaged stuff. It was good to catch up as we reflected on the long day.

It was a successful trip. I'm very happy with how the office set-up has turned out. It is a more enjoyable place to work now, and we have more space in which to work. Here are some photos of the day and finished project.

Before we went into the store. Rebecca's caption on FB, was "Ikea, where marriages go to be tested"

Entering the warehouse

Just to give you an idea of "Assembly Required"

Finished Product

Shoe Holder Dresser

My half of the office.

Rebecca's Half.

Like Old Times

This past weekend was a trip back to high school days. A while back, my friend Brad suggested we go down to Spanish Fort, AL to visit our friend and former roommate Matt Cook (here is his blog) . We've all been friends since middle school, but since the end of college we don't get to see each other as much. So we made the trip down and had a great weekend of just hanging out. It was nice to sit around and not do much. We cooked steaks on Friday night. Saturday, Cook and I worked on his raised beds in which he plans to plants vegetables. We only had a circular saw to work with so Brad added helpful insight, such as "You need one of those saws that cuts the angles."  Cook had already done the base, we just put on the top cap. I think it turned out very nice. Sunday we went to church and then Brad and I headed back to Birmingham. I'm so blessed to have an abundance of friends from all my stages of life.

Hanging on Cook's Inversion Table

Its suppose to help your back.

Showing us how its done.

The Old Gang.

Atlanta 2010 - Part 3

Another night of anticipation meant another night of tossing and turning. Fortunately the king size bed prevented me from disturbing Rebecca. We ate our continental breakfast and then checked out of the hotel.

Our appointment at the aquarium was at 10 AM. It had been many years since I've visited an aquarium, so I was looking forward to our visit. I had only heard good things about the Georgia Aquarium, so expectations were high. Overall, we had a great time. Unfortunately, we got off to a bad start with "Deepo's Undersea 3D Wondershow." This $5.50 show consisted of 15 minutes of cartoons telling us shark's are misunderstood and our friend, don't pollute or you will separate dolphins from their families, mess up the oceans and you mess up everything. The special effects were pretty cool and that is what they sell, because they can't sell the content. There's nothing really wrong with the content (except being friends with sharks), its just a waste of money. I'll leave my rant at that. The rest of the aquarium was great. I enjoyed all the exhibits. I guess I had built up the hype too much because it didn't seem that much more impressive than Tennessee Aquarium. Maybe I'm misremembering. Rebecca probably took 500 pictures of all the animals, especially the penguins. The largest tank was my favorite, because there is such an array of fish, and the large windows let them feel so close. When you think of fish, it is easy to get a simple description stuck in your head. However, after getting to see such variety on all accounts it is amazing and refreshing to see the beauty and creativity of creation.

Our next stop was across Centennial Park to the World of Coke. I had been to the old museum a couple times as a kid, so wanted to see what the new one was like. We also used my Coke Reward points for tickets, so it was free. The set-up was similar to aquarium, in which you start in a big lobby and kind of go to a certain area you want. Also similar to the aquarium, it was extremely busy being July 4th. Everything was good except the tasting area. That was my favorite part of the old place and in the new one they have changed the set-up to just a basic soda fountain arrangement separated by continent. After a little bit of tasting, we were all full of carbonation. If you're ever in Italy, don't drink anything titled Beverly.

The World Cup Mascot: 'Zakumi'

The tasting area in the old World of Coke

That completed all our events in Atlanta, so we hit the road again. Some riddles from the Franci kept us occupied until about Oxford. Once again the girls did played their role in the backseat. David sneakily got a picture of them. 

Mom had some BBQ for us when we got back to Birmingham. Mrs. Kathy, Brad, and Lauren were also there to join us for 4th of July dinner. All of us then made the trip downtown to watch 'Thunder on the Mountain.' We went to one of Brad's friends apartments to watch from the top of his parking garage. Unfortunately it was not tall enough to see all the fireworks, so the Franci and us went to another parking garage that was three times as tall and also ran off our dinner in the process going up all those stairs. We still caught the second half of the show. We were a little further away than I would have liked, but still a good time.

Brad and Lauren

Dad stopped and got a small variety pack of fireworks for us to make our own show when we got home. The boys shot all the fireworks with only a few close calls to the audience. 

Another busy day in the books.