Paralyzed with JOY!: Southern Surprise!

A while back I wrote about getting a new recliner here and here. I love my old recliner and it has served me well for many years, but a few months ago I decided it was time to upgrade to a new recliner since my other one has been around for 7+ years and it gets a lot of wear and tear. I got my new recliner a few weeks ago and I love it! I obviously don't need my old one anymore, but it's still in great condition, so I wasn't ready/willing to part with it to just anyone.

My sister Sharon visits quite frequently and this past Christmas she was telling me how she's been wanting a recliner like mine to have in her home. This was before I started entertaining ideas about upgrading my recliner, so when I did make an upgrade and Sharon found out that I was looking for a new home for my old recliner she asked me if she could have it. I was ecstatic when she asked because I hadn't thought of giving it to her (since she lives so far away and I didn't know how I would get it to her), but when she put her dibs in for it, it was hers!

But there was still the predicament of how to get it to her since it's not like she just lives around the corner. I've been thinking of different possibilities, but any time Sharon's family visits she usually has most (or all) of her kids with her, so the chair wouldn't fit in her van. Well, imagine my surprise last Thursday afternoon when Sharon and her friend Shellie (and Shellie's truck) showed up at my house! Sharon told my mom not to tell me she was coming, so it was a complete surprise! I'm usually not keen on surprises because I'm the kind of person (especially with my situation) that likes to make sure I have all my ducks in a row, but this was the kind of surprise that I like! It was just a short trip; basically just long enough to get the chair, but Sharon and Shellie were at least able to spend the night and we had a great time!

Last Christmas I bought several Cheesecake Factory gift cards, and I got a coupon for a free slice of cheesecake with each gift card I bought. I'd already been planning to use them on Thursday evening since they expire next week, and the fact that Sharon and Shellie were spending the night made the idea of getting cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory even more appealing. My brother-in-law Brett stopped at Cheesecake Factory on his way home from school and got a slice for each of us. Cheesecake Factory has SO many different kinds of cheesecake, so I always try to get something different each time I get cheesecake from CF. This time I decided to go for the Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake. (This is the description of it from the menu: "Layers of Our Fudge Cake, Chocolate Cheesecake, Vanilla Marscarpone Mousse and Chocolate.") It was really good! It was actually a really light cheesecake, so I was able to eat my entire piece without feeling full. (It probably helped that I skipped dinner!)

[I apologize in advance for these pictures!] Here's my Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake, and Chandra's Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake, which was also really good:

Sharon got White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut and Shellie got Ultimate Red Velvet:

Laura got Chocolate Coconut Cream and Brett got Chocolate Raspberry Truffle:

I've been asking Sharon for weeks to send me pictures of what she looks like since she's pregnant with her sixth (and most likely last baby), so I was thrilled that I got to see Sharon in person! For weeks she's been telling me that she's huge, and although I'm sure she FEELS huge, in my opinion I think she looks relatively small and absolutely adorable for being full-term! What do you think?

Here are pictures of Sharon, Laura, Chandra and me (four of the seven sisters in our family). The majority of us are so spread out across the country, so it's always great when any of us are together.

And finally here are a few pictures that Sharon sent me showing my chair in its new home. Things are a little crowded, but Sharon's glad to have it in her home!