When Good Things Happen to Smart, Manipulative People

I wouldn't exactly describe myself as manipulative, but I do have a way of getting what I want when I want it. I guess you could call it a talent.

So this table with the two vampire holes was kind of bothering me. Thanks for the tip on wood filler. Will buy some at DIY Store tonight. In the meantime, I covered that part of the table with some magazines and various pieces of mail, and you-know-who was none the wiser.

We have to get our asses in gear regarding this condo because want to make it look presentable by June 3, the day of our housewarming party. So, we went out shopping on Saturday and decided to buy a bench for our table (the one with the vampire holes in it.) We also had to get lace curtains to go beneath our real curtains that we purchased a few weeks ago. They are gorgeous - the real curtains, I mean. A perfect compromise between the ugly (I mean, elegant) floral pattern that he wanted and the simple leaf-pattern that I wanted. In a word, they have an elegant leaf pattern on them, and they are supposed to be green, but they look kind of yellow in the light. Luckily, I happen to like yellow.

We were also in the market for a coffee table, and these are so damn expensive. I kept telling Suk to go down to the DIY center and make one himself, but you know salarymen and their tools. Those two words don't really belong in the same sentence.

We meandered around the store for a while looking at various tables, and Suk in his usual non-impulsive style, was all like, "Not exactly what we had in mind. We should go somewhere else tomorrow."

On Sunday, we went to a different store where we knew there would be plenty of benches to choose from. And it was at this store where we actually purchased the lace curtains. While looking around for a decent coffee table, we came upon ... It.

It was the perfect compromise between the kind of table I had been fantisizing about for months and the kind of table he wanted.

It was country style, lighter color wood. Two benches at a 90-degree angle with a small, square bench in between. The price was within our budget, and they had only 4 left. We sat down at It and discussed the ins and outs of the size, the style, etc. We compared and contrasted it to other tables that we kind of liked. We walked around the store for what seemed like hours, and in the meantime, we found a coffee table that we both liked.

We decided to put the old table in my scrapbooking room so that I can use it as a worktable, which would give me a lot more space to work on, and I won't have to sit on the floor anymore. Plus, we won't have to buy a desk eventually - that was to be my birthday gift.

Eventually, we came back and we bought It along with the coffee table. And the best part of the whole weekend? All compromise and no fights! I couldn't believe my luck.

And it gets better. The two vampire holes will belong to me now. I can blame it on my scrapbooking tools and say it was a total accident...that is if anyone notices them.

Next project that I must finish this week. An A2 size scrapbook page with the theme "FAMILY" that will go in a picture frame. We received a really cool frame from Karen, a friend who moved to the USA recently, and we are going to hang it in the dining area. I have to find photos of his family and my family to put in it.

Max is doing fine, but it not quite there on the housebreaking yet. I need to find ways to manipulate him into doing what I want. Any suggestions?