Words I never thought I'd hear

Cole was shopping for furniture at Slumberland last night. Mom apparently wasn't answering her phone, so he called me to get a second opinion.

"Ashley, what do you think of a tobacco-colored couch? It has kind of a tumbled leather look."

Tobacco-colored? Tumbled leather? If he'd described it as a brown leather couch, I wouldn't have batted an eye. But Farmer Cole, talking like an HGTV host? That was unexpected. ;)

Thirty minutes later, he called again.
"What do you know about vacuum cleaners?"
"Get one that sucks!" Andy said, helpfully.
"I like Bissells and Hoovers," I said.
"Do you think I need a HEPA filter?"

What the deuce happened to my little brother?

when you visit...

I have a little favor to ask. Give my swimming "skills" confidence? Lately I've been wishing I had learned to become a better swimmer when I was young, because running can be a bit abusive on my knees. Since starting college I've had a couple friends teach me the basics, but I'm not comfortable enough to be able to go to the gym and do laps for a workout. And the flip turn propels water up my nose... I'd rather avoid that. The gym that's a 10 minute walk from the apartment has a pool that's open for a couple blocks of time every day - SO if there would be time, I would pay for the guest pass to get you in (it's cheap anyway) and then I would end up with a lower-impact workout.

And you're entirely allowed to tell me my idea sounds silly and I won't get discouraged.

p.s. We're going to have such a GREAT TIME when you come!! I absolutely love Madison in the summer. And there are concerts on the union terrace by the lake Thursday through Sunday... we'll definitely have to take one in. And just to be able to catch up on life and stories will be wonderful. I openly admit - I'm religiously counting down the days!

A tentative plan

We are soooooooooo friggin' excited about our upcoming trip to Madtown. I've been doing some research on Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, and Mapquest, and it looks like we'll spend about 7 hours, 45 minutes driving--less than I thought, which is good. Nevertheless, we want to make sure we maximize our time in Madison, so we're thinking of leaving Thursday night after work, spending the night near Des Moines, and driving Friday morning so we can arrive on your doorstep sometime in the early afternoon. Andy's class schedule and Hayley/Lindsey's work schedules are still somewhat up in the air, but this is the best-case scenario. If we can't leave Thursday p.m., we'll leave very early Friday morn.

Thoughts? Is this compatible with your schedules?

I don't want to assume too much, but we're bunking with you lovely folks, right? Should we bring sleeping bags and pillows and whatnot? (If you don't have room, that's cool ... we can stay somewhere close.)

Paul, are you living in Madison or at home this summer? It was a topic of debate at Pizza Hut on Sunday afternoon. :)