Couch, Television, Refrigerator

COUCH:

Today we woke up on a mission: a couch. We piled into the car and drove down to Alpharetta with this goal in mind, although our first destination was a total bust. Fortunately, we stopped by at Northpoint and saw a "Rooms to Go," and jumped out of the car to look around. Madison really had a good time here. There were so many chairs to sit in and so many beds to bounce on. Mommy and Daddy had the very good fortune of finding something that everyone could compromise on, a nice couch that will be delivered before the end of the month to our new home - it's brown and big, and no doubt you'll be seeing a photograph of it when it gets here. As Mommy was looking for some other pieces of furniture, Madison and Daddy had a good time in the massage chair, and at one point being engaged in a pillow fight with a nice salesman. He saw his opportunity, and swatted her with an elegant pillow - but she struck back, and there was all kinds of screaming going on in the middle of Rooms to Go.

After such hard work shopping, it was time for a treat. We asked Madison what she wanted to eat, and out of the mouth of babes: "Pizza!"

So we went back to the California Pizza, and had a wonderful meal there, including Madison's first tiramisu. It was really a great experience there - we'll be sure to go back soon.

Now, most folks would be content to go home, but not us. We next drove to Buford, just past the Mall of Georgia, to a place where we could shop for appliances and electronics. Madison slept on the way there, her tummy full and a smile on her face.

TELEVISION:

Here is the mathematical formula for the amount that Daddy knew about television sets when he woke up this morning: diddly / squat.

Yet now both Mommy and Daddy are experts. Heck, I could work the sales floor now if I wanted to. Which oddly enough, I don't. Sales guys tend to lurk around, and it's downright creepy sometimes. I mean, you turn a corner and there's this guy fiddling with his tie, pretending that he wasn't trailing you like some sort of hungry predator. We went to one place today and while looking at a few televisions, we literally had - I'm not exaggerating - seven different sales people ask us if we needed anything or had any questions.

The thing is: yes, I have questions. But you're so annoying, I don't want to ask you them!

Madison enjoyed watching the huge televisions. I'm not going to lie: Mommy and Daddy sat there amazed at the quality, looking at the movie "Avatar" for the first time on a sales floor.

Daddy has had one television for most of his life. I'm sort of sentimental towards it, actually. I got it when I worked for a company called ViewStar. When the company was sold to Pegasus, I bought the television for $100. It's big enough - thirty something inches or so. It fits real nice in our entertainment center in the living room, and has been a great television for us since - get this - 1996! This television is so old, I remember playing Mario 64 on it the day that video game came out!

It's a great television set. It's just that we want a flat screen television to hang on our wall at the new house in order to save space. This old television is thick. And it weighs three hundred pounds, so I really don't want to move it anymore!

So, today, we rolled Madison through the large amount of flat screen televisions and noted the prices, ranging from $800 to $4,000 or so. Daddy pretended he knew what he was doing. "Okay, so that one's bigger, so it costs more - right?"

Apparently, there's more to it than that. First of all, you have to decide: do you want a LCD, LED or a Plasma television set. Fortunately, Mommy brought along a piece of paper for research that weighed out the pros and cons. This led us to the LED television set.

Which led us to the television set that we bought. It's 55", and it will hang right up there above the mantle above the fireplace. I have no doubt in my mind right now that this is the finest 55" television set in the world.

REFRIGERATOR:

Mommy may have the refrigerator picked out - but we were too tired to actually commit to anything, despite the best efforts by lurking salespeople. This place has literally hundreds of refrigerators, and Madison dedicated her time there to pressing the ice release feature on each and every one. For some reason, the different responses of these machines just cracked her up. No ice ever came out, but strangely enough, some would shoot a remnant of water out, surprising everyone. This alone kept her going around the entire store, checking out refrigerator after refrigerator.

We left Buford quite tired, but believe it or not, we didn't go home just yet. Next, we went back to the new house to check out the refinished flooring. It looks great: nice and shiny! Daddy was visualizing where the television would hang, and Mommy was measuring out where the couch would go. Madison was busy stealing Daddy's hat and hiding it in random closets. I actually had no idea we had that many closets until I had to start looking for my hat!

By the time we got home, it was practically bed time. Daddy read a few books for Madison - for some reason, she chose "Olive the Other Reindeer" and "Olive, My Love," two books that feature some wonderful artwork and cute stories. But both have to do with holidays that are months away. No matter: she wants to hear it, so Daddy reads it to her!

Madison went to bed quite content. Mommy and Daddy are pretty worn out though. It was quite a day!