The Couch Chronicles

It’s a “snow day” today… on a Saturday. The kind of day when you can’t see beyond your front step for the snow beating down. The kind of day when slipper socks and oversized sweatshirts and pajama pants are haute couture. The kind of day when you do everything – napping, reading, drinking tea, doing crossword puzzles – on your couch.

I got home very late last evening/this morning from Las Vegas. (I hate Las Vegas. But I think I’ve mentioned that before…) LB is away. So a day like today when you can’t drive anywhere and when the power keeps going out so you can’t really be productive is perfect. No guilt for not doing anything “important.”

Curled up one of our couches and all of a sudden I’m surprised. When did we get such nice couches? I mean I know when we got them, but I’m a little put off. “We have grown up couches,” I think. And then… “I think I like it.”

It’s kind of like waking up one day and looking over at your partner (drool hanging from his mouth and all) and realizing that you are exactly where you want to be. (Ok, minus the drool.) Not that I mean to compare LB to a couch and all, but it made me think about the past couches in my life like many women think about the past men in their life.

I remember a plaid one when I was younger. I think it was gray and black and charcoal and not very comfy; too stiff. It smelled off. It was relegated to the basement.

And there was another one down there too. It had a very strong flower power theme; orange and green and brown. It had a matching chair. I believe they followed me to university.

“Upstairs” I remember the L-shaped couch. Very 80’s. Beige. With flecks of brown. Comfy. Removable throw pillows. I believe that couch still exists in my family somewhere.

And then there was the “living room” set on Valley Drive. The couch that was ivory with subtle teal and rose flowers. It was never sat upon much. Or maybe it was just because no one used the living room all that often. I don’t think the couch was at fault. It still exists too. But I think it’s in storage somewhere.

I remember the first couch set LB and I bought together after the futons and hand-me-downs. It’s now residing in my sister’s basement with new slip covers. When we go to visit it is inevitably where LB ends up falling asleep.

There were two couches we also brought with us from The Farm when we moved into our house. One was disposed of very quickly; too short, too shallow, too stiff. The other stuck around for awhile. But it too eventually moved on; much to LB’s chagrin. He LOVED that couch.

I like our latest set of couches. They are exactly where I want to be. We spent months finding them. We even tested the material together to make sure it was resilient to red wine spills. But that’s another story…