Swans live here

I don't know if seeing a swan swimming in a lake beside a highway is a normal occurrence for you, but it isn't for me. Well, 2 weeks ago it wasn't.

Here is a glimpse into daily life in the Austin household: every morning I wake up {at what seems like the crack of dawn} and take Thomas to practice. Side note for a good mental picture: us driving into the immaculate Patriot's football facility in the green mullet truck with the dent in the side and pulling up next to Escalades, BMW's, Land Rovers, Hummers, etc etc. And me driving in my pajamas with my eyes barely open. Anyway, I digress. I take Thomas to and from practice because we are going to try to make it as long as we possibly can with just one car. So, I pass a number of lakes en route to the facility, and the lakes always have SWANS nonchalantly swimming around. Now, in the south you may see any number of geese or ducks swimming around on the water, but I have never, ever, ever, seen a swan in the wild. Thomas argues with me EVERY day and says it is no big deal. He says "there are lots of swans at Swan Lake in Sumter, why are you getting so excited about swans?" But I have told him many times that the swans at Swan Lake are not WILD. Well, they aren't wild like the swans here are. The Swan Lake swans are all tagged and the Swan Lake people lure them there. But these swans are just chilling on the lakes up here, acting like it is their job.

Okay, obviously I'm obsessed with the swans. Thomas yells out "SWAN!" every time we spot one and makes fun of me and even has started sending me links to articles about swans, including this one about some stolen swans in Orlando. He wanted to steal one of the swans we see everyday and keep it for a pet. No thanks, I don't care to be a criminal. Anyway, I finally got a picture of a swan today {after nearly killing us by crossing multiple lanes of traffic} and am glad I captured an image before they migrate to warmer places.

And in other news, after a long search today we have completed our living room with another great couch. We can officially have visitors without everyone having to sit on the same couch! Hooray! 

We went to about 5 furniture stores today and after our 5th store Thomas was like "Margaret, you are not making any decisions, what is wrong with you?" I just hadn't seen one that I LOVED. There were plenty that I loved the looks of, but the price tags were just more than I was willing to spend. I know I was spoiled by my awesome white couch for just $150 bucks, but I just wasn't seeing anything that I thought was perfect. Everything Thomas liked looked like a hotel couch or was a hideous reclining couch. We decided to run to Ikea and see what they had in their "as is" section of furniture. Well whaddya know they 

had a PERFECT couch for $200 bucks! The only problem with it is that the left arm has something wrong with the stuffing, but you can't tell when you look at it. So, the green mullet truck with the dent in it came to the rescue again and faithfully carried our new couch home.

Thomas says the couch is purple. I say it is brown. The people in the store said it was purple-ish brown, which sounds hideous.

I still say it is brown.