Goldilocks

Well, our family has a new purchase.

20 some years ago, we moved into our house. And we had minimal furniture! But our American friends were returning to Washington (you met Evan earlier this week) and they gave us all the furniture they had used while living two years in Japan. Bookshelves, refrigerator, dining room set, closets, carpets, curtains and SOFA!

For 20 some years that sofa has served us well. But in the course of its life children have jumped on it, (I don't know how many English students I've had to scold about jumping on my sofa. Had they never seen one before? "A sofa is not a trampoline!"), and our old dog who was in diapers lived on it, cats have peed on it and scratched it and everyone of us has spilled something on it. All the stains and scratches proved our sofa was a vital part of our lives!

One year Tetsu decided the sofa was so dirty that he dragged it outside and hosed it down. Bad move. Now we had a dirty, smelly, sopping sofa and it didn't dry in the few hours out in the yard. The inner parts seemed to have been made with a lot cardboard and drenching that mess meant a dirty, smelly, sopping, LUMPY sofa... which eventually molded.... That was one of Tetsu's less brilliant ideas.

As a result of the hosing, the springs also rusted and would break regularly. And Tetsu, who felt responsible would turn the sofa upside down and tie the springs back together with twine and wire. I don't how many times I argued for a new sofa but he said "not with an old dog occupying it" and later "not with cats who will scratch it."

The dog has been gone nearly 8 years. The cats seem to be content scratching the walls. The sofa springs broke again.

"WE NEED A NEW SOFA!"

For the past couple of months we've been combing recycle shops. (We thought we would be less likely to get upset if the cats scratched a used sofa). Nothing suitable. Finally we found an outlet corner in a furniture store and much like Goldilocks we spent a few hours flopping down on various sofas.

"This one is too hard."

"This one is too low."

"This one is too narrow."

"This one is too cold. (I don't like Naugahyde.)

But I never said "This one is too big." In fact when it came to big I decided that since Tetsu is the only one who really uses the sofa (well, the cats claim it during the day) and he mainly SLEEPS on the sofa, then he needed BIG.

Yours truly chose the BIG sofa as a present to Tetsu.

True, it is a bit TOO big for our small living room. Tetsu is calling the new sofa "the Pacific Ocean"! It is long enough to spread out and sleep. It is comfy enough to get lost in the cushions. It is wide enough for four cats and two humans to relax on it at the same time.

And Tetsu LOVES it!

The cats are pretty happy too.