I have New E-Bay Auctions up. Go and see. I am trying a new thing, where I list a couple of my CafePress t-shirt designs, such as the Loteria Heart to the left, and refer by link to that shop. I will see if I get any orders from that.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was totally useless - my body is still experiencing trauma from my second (hey, and even my first!) personal training session. Oh, yeah, if you are already tired of hearing about my pain - BITE ME! I have never been one to suffer silently. And, if Momma's in pain, ain't nobody happy...

After I got myself up and flopped around the house, I decided that there was nothing else that I could do with myself - sooooo, off to IKEA!!!

I know, what has taken me so long? When my mother and I visited the IKEA in Houston 3 years ago, I became a rabid fan. A flight attendant on our plane saw our bags, and asked if we knew about the one opening in Atlanta - in 2005. It seemed like 2005 would never get here, and I could see the construction site of the enormous building any time I went to see my mom. Finally, a large billboard appeared, heralding the opening in Summer 2005. Great!!!

And then, the unthinkable happened. The grand opening was slated for June 29th - the day we were slated to fly to Texas for our family vacation. There was no (feasible, SANE) way that I could make it, but I did propose to my husband and best friend that we buy a bottle of champagne, go to the Houston IKEA, and toast the opening.

They were agin' it. I just don't get people sometimes.

I won't even go into their brutal mocking of my efforts to visit SuperWalmarts in the Texas area. Some people just don't have that entrepreneurial spirit. My DAD would have gone with me, and not complained about getting lost for just one little hour...

Anyway, back to IKEA. While the original furor seemed to die down, I complacently stayed in my corner of suburbia, comfortable in knowing that the IKEA, at last, was there. I could now visit it any time I wanted. I even chuckled over Hollis Gillespie's rant in Creative Loafing about being herded at IKEA. "I have plenty of time," I said.

But that is also what I said about the David Chihuly installation at that Atlanta Botanical Gardens, and I never got to that. What if IKEA implodes? Carpe diem!

So, I fed the dog, and took her outside, knowing that it would be a LONG time until she saw me again. I got in my car, and drove downtown. It was everything I had hoped it would be. I spent about 3 and 1/2 hours there, and only spent $15.00, but I have made a list of items that I will need to stock my home office and studio. What fun!!!