I want new patio furniture!

And I have for some time now, actually! And really, most of the furniture that we've gotten for the patio/backyard has been either hand-me-downs, stuff Mark got off a job when the customer bought new stuff, or stuff Mark went and picked out by himself and bought for us.

And every year I see all of this really cool stuff come out and I salivate for it. I think my patio furniture desires actually become stronger every year - and I used to never have patio furniture desires. Patio furniture just was or it wasn't. I mean, as long as we had something out there, I was happy. I really didn't care too much about it. I think I have always wanted some kind of hammock, but, beyond that I really just didn't care. And then one year - BOOM! There it was! Patio furniture desire! From whence it came - I haven't a clue!

And now, all of a sudden, I'm some kind of patio furniture junkie! You know just the kind of weirdo I mean - we've all become one at one point or another - you think you're some kind of expert on the topic just because you're always 'window-shopping' for said thing. HA!

Well, this weirdo was doing some more window shopping this morning over breakfast! I found yesterday's mail on the counter while I was getting my breakfast ready and brought it with me to the table to read over coffee. We got one of those summer shopping catalogs and I was having so much fun 'picking out' just what I wanted for the balcony! There was some really nice teak outdoor furniture and also this very cool set that I couldn't decide if it was really cool or just really dumb. It was a table and four chairs set and the table had a firepit in the middle of it. We are a fire-loving family - we love to sit around the fire and just veg - or roast 'shmallows - or whatever. But it seemed like maybe having the fire in the table wasn't maybe the best idea.

For one thing, you're not getting a lot of table room that way - would make outdoor meals difficult. Another thing - it's nice to have the fire sort of below you - to look down on. And the most important one - uh...duh! - what about flying embers - flying onto the wooden parts of the table - the onlookers - the wooden chairs ....it just seems to put the fire at the perfect vantage point to cause trouble.

But - I don't know, I could be wrong.