Thursday Thirteen

so, several years ago I heard about this blog activity called "Thursday Thirteen." Simply explained: Every Thursday a new list of 13 things is posted. Any theme works.

I wasn't very good at keeping up with the posts on Thursdays and they'd often be late. So, I stopped doing them after a while. But, I'm going to try it again because I'm trying to regularly post on my blog, but hopefully it will also inspire me to write more.

As we have 3 weeks before our big move to Palatine, I suspect my Thursday Thirteens will be themed appropriately with moving and the new place. Enjoy!

Things I Want for Our New Place

1. New Couch - The Palatine place is so updated and modern. Our frumpy Salvation Army finds kinda don't fit in. Hopefully we can find the money to get something nicer.

2. Guest bed - Yeah, we have a guest bedroom, but nothing for guests to sleep on. My parents are supposed to be visiting 3.5 weeks after we move, so they'd probably like to sleep on something while here. That means a mattress and a frame. Nothing fancy. Just something basic and comfortable.

3. New vacuum - We have 2 right now. One is a regular full-power vac for carpet and the other is a smaller bagless vac for carpet and bare floors. We're keeping the full-power vac, but won't be using it much because our new place has ZERO carpeting(which we are thrilled about). I was thinking of getting a hardwood floor vac, but I can't decide. I would LOVE to get this Dyson vacuum and get rid of both vacuums, but it's just a wee bit pricey. We may have to do with the broom and dustpan for now.

4. Gas grill - So, I MAY never be able to eat anything on our Weber grill. At least not until my Crohn's is in remission. I've put two and two together that some of my worst flares happened after eating food made on the Weber grill, so it must be the charcoal. This makes me sad. Though I'm not sure they make cheap gas grills these days. So, again, we may just have to utilize our grill pan until we have more money or I'm in remission.

5. Napkin holder - Yeah, weird and random, I know. But we just switched to using cloth napkins instead of paper and the napkin holder we have is too small. It'd be nice to get something that matched our paper towel holder that is made of dark-colored metal in a scrawl-type design.

6. Futon - We have an extra den space/loft that is big enough for our computer desk and a futon, which would make an awesome extra guest bed. We had a futon mattress, but Daphnis decided to pee on it, so it's time to toss it. It didn't have a frame to go with it because it was broken and we threw it out on our last move. Guess it's time for something new anyway.

7. New towels - We have tons of towels between the two of us that we've accumulated over the years, but they are pretty ratty. We never got any sort of bath towels after we got married. It'd be nice to have a complete new set in the bathroom. The kitchen could use a matching set as well.

8. PVC-free shower curtain - I recently read about shower curtains being one of the most common things people expose themselves to chemicals to because they contan PVC. Now they make PVC-free shower liners to go with whatever cloth curtain you want for decoration. They're pretty cheap too. Now if only old shower curtains could be recycled!

9. Space savers - I use this as a generalized term, but it's basically anything that can utilize the space we will have at the new place like stackable shelves for our dishes that go in the cupboards or over-the-door towel racks. Our new place is smaller than the house we're in now, but with the proper space savers, it doesn't have to feel smaller.

10. Coffee table - Right now we're using the piano bench as our coffee table in the TV room. The space is so tiny in the TV room now there's not much room for any normal sized table. I'm looking forward to having something suitable for the new place and have our piano bench at the piano where it's supposed to be.

11. TV stand - We currently have a TV stand and a larger entertainment stand. The entertainment stand won't fit in our new living room because there is a fireplace. We still can't decide if we're taking it along with us or not because of that. It would have to go in the guest bedroom otherwise and we'll have to check the space on that. Our TV stand is doing fine right now, but it's not long enough to hold our speakers, the DVR box, the stereo, and the Wii. I would love to have something that could hold all those things, so we don't have stuff scattered on the floor like we do now.

12. Computer table - The desk we have now is big enough for the computer, but no room for my scanner, so it sits on the floor inconveniently. A simple table next to the desk would solve the problem easily.

13. Felt pads - To go on the bottom of dining room table and chair legs so they are easier to move and won't scratch or scuff the hardwood floors. The piano could probably use these too.