Adjourning to the Living Room

My husband came home Thursday night with a surprise for me--a new Apple laptop. Totally shocked, I tried to get him to take it back. He refused. I told him that I didn't need it and that it was too much money. He ignored me and opened the box, to my deep distress.

At the same time, I felt guilty for not being able to respond in a way that let him enjoy giving me this fabulous present. Luckily, he anticipated that I would react this way, and it did not phase him. God bless him!

Friday morning I realized that this gift was the final incentive I needed to make the move to the living room for all my leisure activities. Our living room has the customary living room furniture as well as my desk, the piano, a fireplace and most of our books. I had been spending most of my time in the game room because the good reading lamp, music player, and the computer were all in there. Unfortunately, the television is also in there, and one of the surround sound speakers hangs right above the computer, so that if I was using it during the menfolk's action movie time, I was bombarded with sound effects that made me feel like a mama bear does when someone threatens her cubs. Worse, I am unable to tune out the news programs, and the majority of the stories disturb me long after the report is over.

I say "the final incentive" because I had already started trying to make the move. The first step was replacing the old CD player that no longer worked. Herb did that for me last week. He also bought me the connection I needed to hook up my iPhone to the stereo so that I could listen to my playlist through the Bose speakers that are mounted in the gable ends of the room. Being able to play music in the living room again enticed me to spend time working on cleaning up my desk, which had become a dumping ground instead of a workspace. One of my "Happiness Project" goals is to read the Bible all the way through before Christmas. Once my desk was clear, I started reading there. Since my desk is against a window, I can pause from reading and look out into the backyard. That pleases me exceedingly.

With the arrival of the new laptop, I realized that almost all the essentials for a ladies' retreat were now in place. I placed the laptop on my clean desk. It looked great! Now I just needed a reading lamp on one end of the couch. I replaced Herb's brass finished reading lamp in the game room with a black one, and I took his to the living room. I lit a scented candle on my desk, sat down, and listened to the Celtic Harp CD while visiting my favorite blogs on my new laptop. Ahhhh.