Chair Shopping in Sweden

Last summer, Jess and I went chair shopping. After we moved into our new abode, we decided the upstairs was the proper place for what I like to call "movie central." We had just come from an apartment and did not have much furniture. While we loved to watch movies on the weekend and play the occasional game of Lode Runner on the old Nintendo, it was difficult to enjoy this together because all we had to sit on was the floor or a banana chair left by the previous occupants. We switched off, but mostly I was on the floor and that got quite uncomfortable after about 20 minutes. I had just started a new job and did not have much money to spare. We decided if we got another comfortable chair, we could at least make do until we could afford a couch. I don't want to leave you with the impression that we had no other furniture, just not any to give up for "movie central."

And thus, our quest began. We thought maybe we could get a giant bean bag type chair. After stopping at one store we quickly realized this was not the cost effective solution we were hoping for. So next, we went to the place any price conscious furniture shopper would go: Sweden by way of IKEA.

Sweden is not like America. In fact, it is different. They also make furniture quite differently. It is shaped and colored in ways I would not have thought possible. But then again, I am no furniture designer. We did find a chair we liked, but not at first...

Is this even a chair?

Not the comfort I was hoping for.

Is that a back rest?

Or a hand rest?


The hole would definitely keep snacks from building up.

But there is no place for the other leg.


This chair looks promising.

Two holes for two legs.


Ahhh...the captain's chair?

Onward and upward.


Looks like a play chair.

Just no playing hide and seek behind this chair.


Here is the chair we finally settled on.

Just the larger version.

After our quest we were famished and luckily there were Swedish meatballs cooking upstairs. Those were pretty straight forward.

Count the Camaro...among my favorite cars

Six months ago, I wrote a blog about the Cache Valley Cruise-In and the many Camaro's that could be seen dragging main street. If you didn't notice my subtle sarcastic humor, I wasn't exactly complementary of the Camaro, nor did I intend to be. I never really thought that Chevy non-Corvette sports cars were that cool, and if you drove one, you probably wore tank tops and Levi cutoffs. I know this is a harsh generalization, and I apologize to all who have stuck with the Camaro through the years.

Admittedly, I have hopped on the Camaro bandwagon, especially after having seen the new redesign up close and even sat in one at the recent Salt Lake City Auto Show. I was so impressed that I have even come to the self realization that of the newly designed sports cars of yesteryear, the Camaro would be my top choice for purchase. Jess agrees they are nice cars, but has stuck with her love of the Ford Mustang. That means that eventually, we will just have to have two sports cars, instead of one.

Now, this does not mean that the next time we drive up to your house, that Jess will be in a Mustang, and I will be in a Camaro. In fact, if it were up to me, we would both pull up in a Ford Fusion Hydbrid, having driven 700 miles on a single tank of gas. But, the auto show has made me much more sympathetic to the Camaro, and I will no longer subject the Camaro to my sarcastic wit.

Jess standing by her all back Camaro at the Auto Show.

I continue to love red cars.

The Case of the Suspicious Spectacles

On January 8 at approximately 10:15 pm, I came up with the title to this blog. The events I am about to describe are real, or at least made up to sound real.

The holidays brought lots of visitors to our normally quiet abode. The season began by an expected visit in early December by the owner of the home we currently occupy. He came, he ate, and he left.

We had a day after Christmas party that was attended by most of the Jessica's family (aka "the in-laws"). They came, some of them ate, and some of them left.

New Years Eve brought another gathering to our home. This time, my friends from yesteryear came over to catch up on life and celebrate the decade now past.

After life settled back to normal and visitors stopped making the trek to Western Utah Valley, we decided to finally clean the house. As we did so, we noticed a pair of glasses that belong to neither myself nor to Jessica. This enigmatic eyeware was spotted between the arm and cushion of a little used armchair in the corner of the family room.

"How unusual?" I thought.

I quickly acted to crack the case. I texted all of my friends who were at the party. I sent an email to our December guest. And Jess texted her mother who invariably got the word around to "the in-laws." So far, no one has claimed these furtive frames.

Here is the evidence: A pair of glasses.

So, now I turn to you, my faithful readers to help me decipher how these glasses ended up tucked away in a green armchair.

Below is a picture of the specs spoken of. The lego man is not evidence in the case. He serves to hopefully bedeck an otherwise boring picture and provide scale lest any of you think that these glasses are either too large or too small to be owned by a human of usual size (an h.o.u.s.).

My determination to solve this case is wavering. I fear life-altering consequences such as prolonged blurry vision unless the glasses are returned to their rightful owner. If any of you can supply additional information, please email, text, or comment. There is no reward.

Recently updated blog

In a recent Christmas letter that I wrote and sent out to many friends and family, I encouraged everyone to check my blog and promised that it would be updated. Actually, I used the phrase "recently updated." I was actually hoping that no one would check the blog between the time they received the letter and the time I would be able to update it, and therefore, to all it would have been recently updated. Come to find out, a few of you checked. Consider this my long-winded apology...

The best update I have to write about, is a forthcoming addition to our family. Below is the 3D ultrasound of junior.

I am not sure who he looks like more, me or Jess? He is cute and I can say he is a squirmy little guy, so he may have the restless energy of his father and the attractive features of his mother. And just this last week, I felt him move for the first time. I am very excited for the little guy to come. We don't have any specific names picked out, but perhaps if any of you have any ideas...

I'm at a loss at what else to blog about for now, so I will keep the first blog of 2010 a short one, easy to digest, and hopefully cleverly informative.

I wish everyone a happy 2010.

Count the Camaro's

Do you just love Chevrolet Camaros? And I mean really love them? Even before the 2009 Camaro turned out to be a transformer named Bumblebee who is an awesome fighter and has a good sense of humor? Really? If you can answer yes to all four of these questions, then the Cache Valley Cruise-In is the place for you. On the Fourth of July every year, Cache Valley closes down main street, so people can cruise in their restored (and sometimes not restored) hot rods. It is quite an entertaining event. Living in Cache Valley for most of my life, I took this event for granted, and only watched the parade of cars a handful of times. Jess had never seen it, and since we were in town for the Fourth, she didn't want to miss an opportunity to see what this event was all about.

The Camaro was by far the most popular car this year. It seemed that every other car was a Camaro, so I invented a game called Count the Camaros. I think I won. I am really good at counting (and I was the only one playing). What follows is a small sampling of the whole.

1...

2...

3...

4...5... (2 for 1)

6...

7...

8...

9...

10...

11...

Eleven Camaros was enough to win the game this year. If you have never seen the cruise-in, maybe that should be integrated into next year's summer plan. I'd be happy to take on any challengers who would think to beat me at Count the Camaros.