Ikea Day

Going to Ikea is hard work. I went there with a purpose and filled up my car with that purpose.

The day started with the fuss of actually getting out the door. Some days, that feels like a mini marathon where everyone is kicking you in the hiney, then you get punched in the face at the finish line.

The mask mandates make so much sense in Hamilton County (it's actually Indiana, but lots of counties aren't as picky about it). I can give infectious diseases to people as I walk to my table for brunch, but once I'm there, the disease knows it's not allowed to jump on anyone, so I can take off the mask at the table.

Also, it knows that 6 people at a table are okay, but if you add a 7th, the infectious disease is allowed to jump onto that person.

That's my perception anyway. It put me in rather a foul mood to start, but sister time and some good coffee were soothing.

My sisters and mom did some shopping in the area while I happily held my sleeping 5-month-old nephew. I was saving up my shopping for the big one, Ikea.

Getting to Ikea from Clay Terrace involves the equivalent of a merry-go-round in a car. Roundabouts at every road. Maybe you fly off at the right tangential road; maybe you don't.

When Ikea appeared in blue and yellow glory as we passed over I69, Kara exclaimed about how big it is. She hadn't been there before.

My first time there, I thought it was impressive that a store has its own road sign on 116th Street.

Ikea. Eeee!!!

I sent this picture I took to Kris in anticipation of all the wonderful things I would find inside.

I set out straight for kitchen islands. Actually, going straight would involve plowing through a number of displays and walls, so I went the shortest route I knew. You can't go straight to anything at Ikea.

I had two islands in mind, and seeing them in person made it easy to see which one we'd like better.

Once that purchase was set up, I wandered through the store finding and not finding other things on my list.

Kara had her ideas of what she needed. We ended up with 2 duvet covers for her instead of one and a sheet set. We'll just get a different sheet set.

I should have been more careful in selecting the bedding, but it was getting extremely hard to focus with a child who had been in the store long enough, the entirety of the population of Indiana having a day out there, and having on a mask that was making me sick to my stomach and giving me a headache.

Kara said she almost blacked out from the mask. By that time, we had just gotten out of the store and could breathe again. It still was a couple hours before she felt okay.

We landed at my sister's house to finish out the day and went by the road that took us past my late grandparents' house.

Grandma and Grandpa built the house on 4 acres west of Indianapolis in the 1950s. They actually built much of it with their own hands. Grandpa made the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. He paneled all the walls. He carved the apron at the kitchen sink with a beautiful design. The house itself has an ingenious layout that he designed.

They always kept the house and grounds in a beautiful condition.

To drive past it today is rather sad. Someone is mowing the yard, but we can hardly see the house for all the overgrowth of bushes. The voluminous pines that bordered the front by the street are now skinny shadows of what they once were.

I'll just keep in mind the picture of what their house was and all the happy memories there. I miss my grandparents.

My sister's house, with her four children, was an oasis after the chaos of Ikea.

The day was a success: I checked off most of my Ikea list and spent a grand amount of time with people I love.