New Desk!

Internet, look! I finally have an adult-sized desk!
The saga of the desk began months ago, when I decided it was time to retire what I'd been using since I was ten. Then came the deciding what to buy, then came the deciding if I should just wait until I get a house and have something new delivered there, and then I saw a project that involved decoupaging filing cabinets, and everything clicked.

My parents had two filing cabinets in storage and my handy father offered to make a desktop (since the options from IKEA were the wrong size). So for the cost of paint, Japanese paper, and some shelving--plus a week of free labor from my dad--I have a new desk!
We (I use "we" loosely) decided to use spray adhesive instead of Mod Podge, and it worked out great. I'm glad I went with a subtle pattern, since there's already a lot of pattern in the room.

And LOOK--there are no visible cords. My dad rigged up a brilliant system for mounting the power strip on the back support.
I love the desk (Toby does too!). Thanks, Dad!

Secret Parent Wisdom

So remember the new bird feeder from last week that the birds weren't going near? It was a topic of discussion on Sunday's visit to my parents. My dad asked me if the feeder had any glass, and I said yes, two sides of the feeder's rectangle were glass. Then he speculated that maybe the birds were getting a reflection when they approached the feeder, which was scaring them off.

Monday morning I filled the feeder up completely, thus blocking all the glass with seed. And now, on Wednesday, there have been at least three different brave birds eating from it, and a lot more doing a fly-by to check it out!

Seriously, first my mom saved the day with her cat knowledge, and now Dad is an amateur bird scientist. Does National Geographic have a special secret issue for parents? Or is it the fact that they have 30 years more experience than me?