The things you find in a couch...

Firstly, Happy New Year to everyone!

Secondly, apologies to my regular followers; I know content has been thin (non-existent) lately.

Some of you may remember that back in November Liz and I got a couch from her grandmother. We later also got a matching chair. When we got them we were warned that they may be dusty, so we removed the pillow covers and washed and vacuumed them, and also beat out the cushions with a bat.

Today, I was sitting on the couch half asleep and I happened to reach down behind one of the cushions. Well, not just behind the cushion, but down underneath where the cushions sit and the back of the couch meets the bottom of the couch. "What the...?" was my first thought as I pulled out an envelope addressed to "Lewis for Senate" with Liz' grandfather's name and address on the back. The discovery prompted a thorough search and subsequent cleaning of the couch and chair. Here is what we ended up finding:

• a 60 page newsletter, Daughters of the American Revolution, from September/October 2005, folded in half,
• the reply envelope for "Lewis for Senate",
• a flyer for debt consolidation,
• a return envelope for Consumer Reports onhealth (a magazine)
• a list of things to do,
• a hair clip/comb,
• a hair tie,
• numerous newspaper clippings, some from 2004,
• several napkins,
• a bookmark,
• an Indian school pamphlet thing, with religious quote,
• food, including a largely intact pretzel, chocolate covered nut, popcorn and granola,
• our own ruler (must have fallen in there recently), and the motherload,
• a 13" pair of scissors!

The story behind the scissors and newspaper clippings is that Liz' grandfather had multiple pairs of these scissors, and would read newspapers on the couch all the time. When he found an article that someone he knew would like to read he would cut it out to give them. It was a running joke within the family that whenever Liz' grandfather asked for his scissors, these were the scissors he meant - not some little pair of regular scissors, but these massive ones. Not only did he cut newspaper clippings with them, legend has it (Liz told me) he also used to cut his nails with these scissors!

So, what's in your couch or chair?