An Inside Glimpse: Where The Magic Happens

Okay, so there’s no original magic here today, but dang! What’s more exciting than to see where it would happen if there were?!

It’s been a hard week, what with navigating the new “how to prove you can pay for a house” rules, being brilliant at work, sleep deprivation, etc. Still… the guilt lingers that for this week’s blog, we got nothin’ except for this photo Rick snapped a few weeks ago. I came across it looking for photos of Cheeco*.

office_full

This is our, um, “office.” This is where we download photos, telecommute, connect to the internet when the damn wireless doesn’t work, store stuff we haven’t found a home for yet, and so on.

office_computers

Here’s math I both understand and enjoy: if one computer is good, three are better. In fact, we have five computers and four mobile phones, and this is where the math breaks down. Nine computers are not better than one. I’m not sure what the tipping point is, exactly, but I may have found an answer here to why my eyes are burning more these days. I thought it was allergies.

office_painting

Rick’s working on a new painting. You have NO IDEA how much fun this painting is. I want him to call it “Happy Bar Mitzvah, Bernie!”

Two old girls, each dozing in their separate universes: the one in black is remembering when she could shake her booty like those young kids on the dance floor.

The one in blue is concerned at the realization that her booty has gone totally numb, and is wondering when THE HELL she will be able to get out of there and peel off the damn girdle. Maybe look into those new Spanx “shapewear” items Mitzie (in black) is always blabbing on about.

The old guy has gone to bed (and possibly died in his sleep) but forgot to go home first. Mitzie is hoping he doesn’t drool on his cummerbund again.

office_crossword

I love crossword puzzles. I don’t actually do them, but I love how much forethought went into the naming of them: “Honey, what’s a four-letter word for “‘O patria mia,’ for example'”? These kinds of questions lead to cross words, often ending in “How TF should I know?!” Even worse, the habit (addiction?) leads to SOME people thinking it’s perfectly legitimate to use “crossword puzzle words” in Scrabble, for instance. (Who knew “ave” would actually be in the Canadian Oxford English Dictionary, dammit! I lost a turn over that challenge.)

But I digress. Crosswords are good for the brain and keep young men off the streets at night.

office_game

The fabulous game board behind the computer is one that Rick painted. It’s the playing surface for a game called Rummy Royal, which his grandfather used to enjoy with his Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (“PBRs”) and Lucky Strike cigarettes. One of Rick’s family members found a beaten up copy at a yard sale, too fragile to actually play, so Rick traced the game board, enlarged it, then hand-painted it on to a piece of masonite. He decoupaged on some European-style playing cards, added a coat of varnish to hold it all together, and voila… Bobs Yer Uncle!

Apparently, there is a betting element to the game, so in celebration of our international household, we scotch-taped both a Canadian one-dollar bill (hard to find these days, but one was unearthed from the zipper of a very old jacket) and a US dollar bill in the “pot” in the middle. And darn it, the first time we actually get around to playing, I’m going to win them both. Given my success (not) at Scrabble these days against my formidable opponent, I think we may be giving ol’ Rummy Royal a try soon.

Meanwhile, we have a huge, beautiful, sentimentally rich game board that unfortunately has no wall mounting option, so it sits behind our computers and leans against the wall. This works well, except for the odd time when the arms of the office chair got stuck under the desk and drove forcefully upwards when I dislodged my butt from the seat. This caused the board to bounce forward, knocking both Macs on their faces and scaring the hell out of the neighbors.

Did I mention we’re moving soon? Did I mention why? Well, never mind…

office_mess

Of course, there is the obligatory mess of computer peripherals, cables, iPods, Elmer’s glue, Sharpies, etc. without which the obligatory mess simply would not exist.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

*Cheeco has been a defacto member of our family for almost fifteen years. A cross Shitzu-chihuahua mix, Cheeco was more than a pet for Sandi, my sister. Cheeco was a gift, and Sandi had to lay his poor little tired body down this week. Bye, Cheeco. You were a peach of a pooch.

2 thoughts on “An Inside Glimpse: Where The Magic Happens

    1. rickandkathy

      Jackie, we almost focused in on the toaster but left it alone just for the fun of seeing if anyone would recognize it from the Marriage Lessons From A Toaster post.
      What a hoot that you found it!

Comments are closed.