Playground House: "You just can not fake that sort of wear and tear!"

Linda Sue inspired me to take seriously my idea of bringing the Crack Home dollhouse home for the Girlettes (who were all for it), by saying, 

"You just can not fake that sort of wear and tear!"

bink said, "If you have a budget of millions like Netflix making Stranger Things, you can". 
But right, in my life, I will only get the real deal if it is, in fact, the real deal. 
Which this is. 
Wood paneling from the 1970s, carpet samples, linoleum, peeling wallpaper, ripped Easter Seal stamps...
It's tattered, but it is solid.

Penny Cooper has renamed it PLAYGROUND HOUSE.



I hesitated mostly because it'd take up a fifth of my living room, taking into account proper space to maneuver around it––and to work on it. (I'll put it up on the work table.)

Also--transportation. 
No way was I getting that to the bus--it's a two-person carry. But I was talking to a coworker about it, and she said, "I can drive it home for you today! I have a van."
I didn't know that. She did, and it was easy. Nice.

I'm excited to work on it!
The interior dividing walls upstairs are blank--to be painted.

Possibly, painting furnishings for the upstairs bedrooms on the walls, inspired by Ludwig Bemelman, creator of Madeline? 
Rendering loosely a fireplace and curtains; a doorway around the doors (they're just the right size for the dolls); 
an empty frame for postcards.
Maybe some jungle animals? 
Parrots, or poodles?

BELOW: Bemelman's drawing of his Splendide Apartment.
 (More on Bemelman and hotels at Condé Nast Traveler.) 
The salmon pink would go well in the Playground.

I will sit with it for a while and see.
Or, just start.
Penny Cooper says SHE can draw the drawings! 
Well, okay then.
_____________

Christmas is one week away, and today I am taking the bus to the butcher where I always buy the beef (chuck roast) to make pot roast for Christmas Eve. 

Unless--if bink is up for driving, we could go together. 
A couple months ago, she had foot surgery to plane down bone spurs, and her foot is still healing, so she has to take it easy.

It'll be bink and Maura and neighbor Alice for Xmas Eve dinner. 
Marz was going to come, which I'd love, and maybe she will, but I encouraged her to stay and celebrate with her sweetie Q. 
"It's your first Christmas together!"

I'm sure she wants to stay, but she wasn't sure she was invited to family stuff--though Q's parents treat her like family already. 
 I get it--there's that awkward period when you're not sure what your role is--can you trust you are welcome?

Seeing her in a romance makes me (sort of) want to fall in love. Nostalgia for those lovely dopamines!
I don't know--it's been so long, I can't even imagine it... 
And mostly it seems like it'd be a massive inconvenience--far worse than a large doll house in your living room!

Yeah, so it doesn't sound like I'm into it, does it?

A few years ago, after I tried online dating (dull, so very dull), 
I'd declared that love would have to drop on me, like an acorn dropping from an oak tree in autumn.
It hasn't, and bink pointed out that since I never GO anywhere to meet people, it's unlikely it will. 

Lately I am interested in meeting people who MAKE THINGS, and I have started to do that. The needlework group meets again this Saturday. Doesn't seem like an oak forest, more like a prairie of compatible grasses and flowers.

And it's wonderful that Em is back at the store--she and I have already started to assemble a new Alley Protector! And she said I should take the Crack Home home too.

Anyway, I am happy for Marz, and I hope she stays up north for Christmas. (I bet she will.)

bink just called--she wants to go shopping, so yay! 
Better get my lists together.
I'm also hosting a tea on Sunday--making almond-flour scones with dried apricots.

I've started to loosen up a smidge about eating NO added sugar and have been eating sweets more at special occasions.
At the holiday potluck at work yesterday, for instance, I ate a half-slice of pie a volunteer made w/ cherries he'd picked in the summer--so good! 
He said the recipe called for a cup-and-a-half (!) of sugar, 
but he only used half-a-cup--so the cherries were tart, like they should be. so good)

 I'm a little afraid I will backslide, 
but so far it's been no problem. As long as it's not IN my house, I think I'll be okay.
And NO ICE CREAM!
Ice cream is more addictive than falling in love.

___________
Oh, one more thing--I was glad Ass't Man finally came back agin to put together an End Cap.
 (He'd come once, then missed two weeks, so I wasn't sure he would).

He talked again about mistakes he'd made at the store--being so inexperienced working with people--so it seems he's taking accountability, but in a sideways way.
Though I've missed him over the past two years, I am reminded of how immature he is emotionally, though it seems he's matured somewhat, working with Special Ed students.
 "You can't do anything but be patient," he said, "so I've had to learn that."

He only has about an hour between getting off work and picking his young daughter up, and he spent half of that chatting with old coworkers, which is fine with me. 
He works fast, and I helped him with put this end cap together. With Xmas I have not kept up with housewares, and it's nice to have a display that is NOT holidays.