Okay, I’m not sure if I was technically kneering or not but I don’t really know the rules about taking photos inside stores. I mean, of stuff in the stores, not people I’m with, etc., which prob’ly *is* harmless enough.

Every time I visit Mouse‘s apartment, I think that she needs some shelves and maybe a table or whatever. It’s a cozy little studio apartment in an old house that has been broken up into apartments and there isn’t space for a whole lot of stuff but storing things on the floor does get a little old. I would know. And Mouse is not one of those college kids who sit around drinking beer and smoking pot until they fall asleep in front of the boob tube with the test pattern on. You know the ones. She is always busy with various prodjects, school-related or otherwise, and they require supplies and books and stuff. Oh, and don’t get the idea that she’s some little goody-two shoes suck-up, either. She’s just herself. Anyway, today, finally, after months of procrastinating and dithering, we launched an expotition. To Ikea, about 20 miles or so over in Megalopolis. We went there once before, two years ago, and you’d think I’d be able to drive right straight to it. And so did I, but no. I nonchalantly told Mouse to turn *off* the road we were *supposed* to be on, onto another road that more or less paralleled it several miles to the north. When we hit Newburgh Cemetery, where all my Day-Twa ancestors are buried, I knew we had gone too far.

We finally made it after quite some fuddly-duddling around and iPhone looking up and just plain instinct. On Mouse’s part. So, did I get dizzy in Ikea this time? Once or twice, but I managed to hold it together somehow. Ikea is a learning curve. The first time we went there, two years ago, we had a rather specific shopping list. We didn’t find the things *on* our list. We did find a couple of things that were *not* on our list. I got seriously dizzy in the warehouse area but, all in all, it was okay because we made it outta there $11.00 lighter. Yes. That is all. We were overwhelmed by the whole thing.

Today. Another rather specific list. Mouse had the foresight to write down the names and numbers of the things she was interested in. Now if one of us had realized that we also needed to write down the warehouse aisle numbers? Yeah. I was still overwhelmed but much less so than last time. I did not get dizzy in the warehouse section. We were too busy finding the items she ended up wanting to buy. We still managed to confuse the poor cashier but after I apologized profusely for being a such a klutz, she removed her grizzly bear costume. I think by our third trip, we’ll have it down. And that’ll probably be two years from now, given our shopping habits. We were *exhausted* at the end. And ravenously hungry. Fortunately, just as we were futzing around about where to find food, a Panera loomed out of the mist parking lot.

The take? Glass shelf modules and a coffee-type table that can be used for prodjects. Or doing homework. Or serving food. Or tea. Or whine. And it has a shelf underneath the top for more storage. And we all know how that kind of thing goes — the more places there are to stash *stuff*, the more *stuff*. Oh, and some cute glasses (they’re in the slideshow) We were both *exhausted* when we got home today. Did I already say that? I felt like I had walked 11 miles from the Smith Bridge to the Chase Bridge and kayaked 11 miles back. The Ikea Death March. What did we spend? Well. Significantly *less* than I expected and a *fraction* of what was spent at Haas Transmission earlier this week.

My hands-down favorite part of the day was the part where we drank coffee and knit at the Plum Market Cafe before getting on the freeway. Click here or on the pic for iPhone-type pics of our expotition.

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