What do you mean you don't know what Pottery Barn is . . .

For my mother's birthday I bought her Pottery Barn ledges. Actually, I bought her PB ledges and a squirrel with a spoon because I went in to buy the shelves and saw the squirrel and HAD TO HAVE IT . . . right now, right now. I believe it's a squirrel shaped salt cellar, which my mother doesn't need, but somehow a squirrel holding a tiny bowl with an accompanying spoon is something my mother definitely needs. He is now living on the kitchen window and taunting the real squirrels . . . "ha, ha, I have a spoon!"

Mom and I put up the shelves without Mr. Crabbypants, despite our mutual astigmatism. Our astigmatism is usually used to get out of doing such annoying things such as hanging Pottery Barn ledges, because we do not see straight. However, with Mr. Crabbypants, there is yelling. The shelves would be very straight and my nerves would be shot for being sworn at for not giving him the pencil at the right moment. Mr. Crabbypants yelled at the television in the basement instead. My sister somehow joined in this activity so they were both yelling at the television, while my mother and I rolled our eyes upstairs and tried to see straight with the help of those little level thingies incorporated in the shelves.

After the shelving, which you cannot screw in too tight or they won't hang (lesson learned), we brought out all the boxes of baby pictures. My mom had a whole wall of them two houses ago, which I remember vividly. My sister then did the "I'm the youngest and I didn't get enough pictures and Emily has all the pictures and it's just not fair" thing but I think we are even because she is way cuter and always was. My mom is going to need about seventy-five more Pottery Barn ledges to put all the pictures up on them. She will now spend the next several weeks arranging and rearranging the pictures . . . which keeps her from making me help her rearrange the furniture. Plus it's free fun. And the little wooden squirrel taunts the cat . . . "ha, ha, I have a SPOON!"