Hands...are...freezing...up.

For ten years, my kitchen eating area was dominated by a big old oak table and chairs, purchased in 1992 at the flea market in Raleigh, NC, during our brief residence there. The eating area in the house in NC was about 14 x 16, and a big oak table and six chairs looked petite in that space. Then we moved to an apartment with a big dining area, and then we moved to this house 10 years ago, and the eating area isn't too puny, it's about 10 x 11, but still definitely smaller. That table FILLED the space, to the point of claustrophobia. And it was the wrong shape, and the base of the table hated the uneven tiles in the center of my kitchen floor so I had to shim it, and it was just time to send it on to a household that needed to seat a bunch of people.

So a couple of weeks ago, I sent the big old oval table and chairs that crowded the kitchen to The Mustard Seed, where it will be given to a family with a bunch of kids. And Target, answering the call of the Universe, offered me free shipping on the smaller, rectangular set I wanted. If you aren't clued in about Target's furniture selection online, it is fantastic. My house has three bookcases, one double dresser, a bigscreen tv stand and now a table and four chairs from Le Target, and they are all fabulous. And they do not look like put-it-together furniture, especially the TV stand, which matches my Ethan Allen living room like it was part of the collection. But I digress....

Table. Four chairs. Big Boxes. Much assembling. Arms...so...tired. This was after a couple of hours of vigorous yard work yesterday, attacking shrubs with clippers. My arms are trying to find the strength to strangle me in my sleep.

It's so sick, but I love assembling furniture. The pieces, the instructions, the wee little precious wrench they provide. Except I always go out to the garage to find one of the old bigass manly wrenches, because the additional torque is helpful to We the Carpal Tunnelly Challenged. This set was great, the hardware arrived not in annoying little plastic baggies, but in a labeled tray, like the hardware equivalent of a Whitman's Sampler. Mmmm, Whitman's Sampler...but I digress again.

So I spent the morning with the 45th viewing of "Stripes" on TBS, and the wee little wrench and the bigass wrench, and washers and bolts, and it was great fun, and I now have a lovely, sturdy, pretty table and four chairs that fits my eating area at last. As God is Mah Witnuss, Nobody Will EVAH HAVE to Rub THAIR ASS Along the WALL to squeeze to a chair again!