Y’all, I have the sweetest mother-in-law ever. 

She’s the epitome of all things Southern, lady-like, Christian, and sweet tea.  The woman never has a bad word to say about anyone.  Even if she tried it would come out all, “Well, honey, she is just going through a troublesome time right now.  We all go through troubled times.  How’s your sweet tea?  Enough sugar?  Would you like a slice of homemade lemon pound cake with that?  I can heat it in the toaster oven for you, if you’d like.”  Oh, how I love her.

She’s so sweet in fact, that I feel a bit guilty writing about her, even though they are words of praise.  And it’s kind of my law not to write about GR’s family (even though I did once).  And I created this law mainly because I am such a brazen hizzore who pukes in her own backyard, and I’m completely petrified that one day someone in GR’s sweet and trusting family might stumble upon this blog of hellfire and shame and ban me forever from their family.  But then again, they would probably be way too kind to do that to me.  Oh, the indignity of it all.

That being said, I’ll keep this short and sweet, not divulge too much information (not that there’s really anything to divulge—we’re a pretty boring lot), and hope for the best.

Anyhow, GR had to work on Saturday to make up for lost time on his job due to bad weather, and the great forecasting powers-that-be are predicting rain again this week.  Thank goodness for our Spring-like weekend.  Originally, our Saturday plans had been to go snow-tubing in the North Carolina mountains (a 3-hour drive) with Phoo and Big H, so I was pissed a bit disappointed that we had to cancel.  Big H even made a special trip to REI for some snow pants.  (Send GR the receipt, Big H.)

So, in order to cure my disappointment, I decided that I would go shopping and spend the money that I would have otherwise spent snow-tubing in North Carolina.  Now there’s some great logic for you…if you can’t spend it in one place, then by golly, you can certainly spend it in another.  I am a spendthrift genius if I say so myself.

And being the busy little hizzore that I am, it’s been a while since I’ve spent any time with the Goodness that is GR’s mother.  And because I felt the need for some of her kindheartedness and purity to rub off on the tainted Lulu, I decided to give her a call to see if she would like to go shopping.  Here’s how our conversation went (imagine my MIL’s sweet, Southern drawl):

Lulu:  Hi mother-in-law!  How are you?

MIL:  Hey, honey, I’m doing fiiiine.  How are you?

Lulu:  I’m doing well, thank you.  I was calling to see what you are doing today.  I was thinking about going to get lunch somewhere and then to an antique mall, and was wondering if you would like to go with me.

MIL:  Oh, honey, well, that would be fiiiiine.  What time are you planning to go?

Lulu:  Well, how about noon?

MIL:  Oh, honey, that will be fiiiiine.  That will give me time to go to the bank and run a few errands before you get here.  Where can I meet you?

Lulu:  I’ll just come to your house to pick you up.

MIL:  Oh, honey, why don’t I meet you somewhere?  That’s so far out of your way to come to my house.  I hate for you to come all the way out here.

Lulu:  Well, it’s not that far, and I really don’t mind.

MIL:  Oh, well, honey, I don’t know.

Lulu:  No, really, it’s not a big deal.  I would like to come and pick you up.

MIL:  Oh, well, honey, it’s just so far.

Lulu:  Really, it’s okay.  I’ll just be there at noon.

MIL:  Well, okaaaaay that will be fiiiiine.  I just hate for you to drive so far.  Are you sure I can’t meet you somewhere?

Truly, it’s only a 25-minute drive to her house, and GR would have killed me if I made his mother drive somewhere to meet me.  And, honey?  I really didn’t mind!

We ended up having a delightful lunch at a little sandwich shop (tuna salad for me, ham sandwich and sweet tea for MIL…in case you’re wondering, which, why would you?), and then we spent about an hour and a half at a fabulous antique mall, where I found many things on which to spend my North Carolina snow-tubing money.  Would you like to see what I bought?  Yes?  I thought so.

Since GR had repainted the bedroom furniture back in November and I had done some redecorating, I had an empty wall on which I wanted to put…something.  My first thought was a sofa or a plush chair, but seriously?  It would likely have ended up being a dumping ground for discarded clothes.  What I really needed was a resting place for my laptop.  It needed a home.  So, in keeping with my attempt at a French country theme, I was lucky enough to find this French Provincial desk…

…that I put against this wall in my bedroom here…

Actually, when I was a young girl, I had a bedroom set that matched this desk perfectly.  So, it sort of brings back fond memories of my yute youth.  Amazingly, I found the chair that matches almost perfectly for only $15!!  I just have to recover the seat, and voila!  It will be perfect.

And then I found this beautiful gold, Italian tray for $8.95…

And this small oil painting for only $5…

Truthfully, I only bought it for the frame, but I’m kind of leaning toward keeping the artwork.  It’s growing on me.

For $10, I purchased this hand-embroidered zebra pillow…

…which I put in a small chair in my home office…

And finally for $9, I purchased this hand-embroidered runner…

…for my dining room table…

All in all, it was a pretty successful day.  I got some great buys, and more importantly, I got to spend time with my wonderful mother-in-law.  Which was just fiiiiiine with me.