Day Thirteen: Something Old

I am so thankful that when my grandmother died, I was able to get a few pieces of her furniture.  My favorite piece is what she called the "Chinese cabinet".  I'm not sure it is so much Chinese, seeing as she bought it when she lived in Thailand, but it is what it is.  It's really beautiful on the outside with hand-painted decoration and inlaid wood, and the inside is lined in velvet.  My grandmother used to keep her silver in it, so anytime we had people for dinner (which was honestly almost nightly), I would fish what we needed from the drawers.

I love it too because I realize that I design my own house after my grandmother's taste.  She had traveled the world with my granddad compliments of the Air Force, and she collected furniture from every place she lived.  None of it "matched" per se, but it was so eclectic, that it all worked.  I've tried to do the same thing, and it seems to be working out okay.

The reason I love the Chinese cabinet the most though is because of how it smells.  When I open the doors to the cabinet (and do it infrequently so as not to contaminate that air with anything else), the smell of my grandmother's house comes wafting out, and all of the happy memories from my summers there come back to me.

Johannah:
One of my most prized possessions is Kitty.  I got Kitty as an 8th birthday present from Daddy, and she is still the stuffed animal I sleep with every night.  Don't ask me why she of all the stuffed animals I've ever gotten has stuck, but she is a dear friend.  She's now twelve years old, and bless her heart, she looks it.  Her "fur" is worn away, she lost her whiskers years ago, and due to the years of me sleeping on her, she is slightly squished.  Her red bow, however, still looks as good as new.  The most random thing :) And as you can see in the picture, this all leads to her looking very sassy sometimes.

Because the Air Force Marathon is always the weekend of mine and Daddy's birthday, he was sometimes away for my birthday, and I remember for this one, he had called me and asked what I wanted for my birthday.  Knowing he was busy, I told him "You can just get me a stuffed cat or something," and that was pretty much it.  The next week when he got back, I walked into our Germany home into the living room, and there was Kitty, sitting on the living room table.  I knew she was for me, and I thought it was so cute that her name on the Ty tag was "Kitty," and I never had any desire to change it.  She's provided some laughs for our family, and so she's kind of imbued with the love and memories of years with the family I love so much.

Ethan:
I didn't know what to put for this one, but Rebecca and I were getting ready for bed last night and I figured it out. I have a pair of blue adidas athletic pants that I have had since high school that are still some of the most comfortable pajama pants that I have ever had. When it's one of those cold winter nights and you want to feel comfortable and warm, all bundled into one, I pull out those pants with one of my big hoodies.
  Thinking about it last night (as I was wearing the pants), these pants have been a lot of places. I know I took them on my mission and wore them to bed during the winter, so they actually survived several moves throughout Poland and the end-of-mission purge. They also survived the teeny tiny washers that we had (to which Rebecca can now relate), although one of the strings got DESTROYED during one of those washes. It's all undone and big. I think I also took them to Brussels with me, so they survived that trip to Europe as well. I guess I'll have to take them to Greece with me in February to check another country off the list :-)

They are also super long, which I feel is some kind of requirement for comfortable pajama pants. They have to cover your feet at least a little bit so that your feet don't get cold when you're barefoot.
They're going on seven years of comfort and the comfort level isn't going down at all. I appreciate my pair of comfortable, blue, adidas pants. :-)

John - I love lots of old stuff!  I am very fond of all the old furniture we have acquired over the years.  All the new stuff we have ever bought has come and gone and often fallen apart, but our old european  furniture just keeps on keeping on.  It is durable and pretty and there are so many amazing carvings on them.  I also like the look and feel of an old house that is is good shape.  I like old buildings too!