The Tuesday Four Meme

So, it's Tuesday of Holy Week and I'm waiting for a phone call from a friend.  It's still rather early in the morning so I opened up my laptop to read blogs and saw this meme. I don't think I've ever participated in the Tuesday Four meme so while I wait, I'll play along.  To join in, head over here. 

living room coffee table

 1. What will we find on top of your refrigerator?

I cannot stand when there's crap.....er...things on the top of someone's fridge. It's so very messy looking usually.  I have a stainless steel fridge and it's under a top cupboard that holds extra mugs, water bottles, and travel coffee mugs.  The top of my fridge is bare. I don't count the dust. 😃

2. What will we find on your nightstand?

On my nightstand I have a lamp that has a soft glow lightbulb that matches the lamp on Dave's dresser. They match the color of our walls although a bit lighter. I also have a Norman Rockwell mug my parents gifted me years ago that holds  a lip balm, a small bottle of essential oil (DigestZen), a small bottle of essential oil (Frankincense...very effective for neck tightness), and a mini flashlight.  I also have my peppermint  foot cream, my smartwatch  charger and my iphone charger.  On the 2nd shelf down, I have a pretty wooden box which contains a callous lotion for feet (I'm a hiker and when you wear wool or wick away socks, the moisture stays away from your  feet resulting in dry feet!), a foot pedicure set/pumice stone, and an emory board.  I also have my DoTerra Deep Blue Cream (extremely effective for sciatica pain/low back pain/upper back pain) and 2 library books waiting to be read. 

On the bottom shelf, I have a bigger box (one of those pretty decorative boxes) which holds birthday cards that I buy in bulk from Current, Co. that I like to send to friends and family and I think there are some notes in there from an organization I volunteer with). Oh, it also holds a folder with a copy of our end of life plan (mainly financial info for our daughters if something should happen to Dave or I unexpectedly.  The original forms and our will are kept in a secure place that I won't write about 😊  

Dave's nightstand holds a wedding photo of me, a tissue box, and his alarm clock. Yes, he still wakes up to a real alarm clock. The three drawers in his are full of junk....i can't begin to write it all down. That's his space and at least it's not visible!

3. What is in your purse or handbag?

In my current  purse (it's a soft buttery leather sling style in a light tan and I love it!) I have a cosmetic bag that holds a compact, lipstick, lip balm, tylenol, aleve, allergy meds, lactaid tablets, tweezers, etc etc. I also keep my wallet in there, my checkbook, a protein bar, a package of nuts (I'm on the go alot!), and one of those mini tissue packets, a pencil and several pens. 

4. What will we find on your coffee table or side tables? How about your kitchen or dining table?

Coffee tables:  the family room one looks like this.  This is mainly Dave's space. I don't like this coffee table and never have. It's pine wood and is horribly scratched up. (all due to Dave using it as a desk.....don't get me started....).  I literally use lemon pledge on it once a week to keep it shiny at least.....i prefer large cloth baskets to hold his stuff.  It also holds the tv remote, his kindle, a couple of his Bibles, a book he's reading. The Bible you see on the table is a Spanish/English Bible that he used on his missions trip to Guatemala a couple weeks ago.  That little dark brown box is one the girls gave him for Xmas many years ago, the year he got published in a sci fi magazine. It holds his pens/pencils and has a quote by Hemingway on the front. We usually keep the iphone speaker there as well although sometimes he brings it up to his office. I don't know why it's currently down here in the family room as we have a really good sound system with mounted speakers in the corners of the walls,  with our tape player/cd player/radio unit we bought years ago and keep in the bottom of the TV cabinet. Yes, it still works. Yes, we do sometimes play CDs vs our playlist on the phone or laptops especially when we have game nights or company for Xmas. 

The bottom of the coffee table is black metal and it holds another basket  full of dave's writing notebooks, more Bibles, devotional books, his laptop charger and a couple of his Science fiction magazines. The bottom also currently has 2 board games which we plan on playing on Easter late afternoon when the gang comes over. 

family room coffee table 

My living room coffee table is pictured at the top of this post. This is my space.  The living room is minimal. That little flower patterned box is my Spring box (I have one for each season). It contains my iphone earbuds, my laptop cord/charger, a bunch of highlighters, pens, pencils, a small notebook, a set of AA batteries, and a few bookmarks. The blue pottery bowl is a gift from my father in law about 10 years ago and it holds my coasters. I also have those 3 candles in an arrangement...i love candle glow...and the other side of the table has my Women of Faith study Bible with a journal underneath that I keep my small group class notes in. Underneath the coffee table on the one shelf is a stack of piano music (Baroque, classical and romantic eras) along with my choir music binder, a Memory Drive thing for my Macbook, my wireless headphones, and 2 folders containing SoulSteps info (the hiking group I own and lead).   As you can see I don't like messes.....most loose items go in a pretty box. 

Side Table:  I only have one side table and it's in the family room. It matches the coffee table. Here's a pic of it: 

Family room between the armchair and the rocking chair. 
The lamp has a tiny bulb in the bottom for when you want just a low dim light.
The top bulb is a 3-way one.  I LOVE this lamp and it's now over 20 years old! The hunter green color matches a small hunter green mini-bookcase we have next to the couch. 
As you can see, it only holds coasters with a small white container of seasonal  coasters in the back
and a photo of my 2 daughters taken about 3 years ago. 
The bottom holds yet another box and it's filled with Snapfish photobooks I've created since 2006!

Kitchen table:  we do not have an eat in kitchen, opting for the bigger design that's more open with floor space. I just have counters in the kitchen plus a trash bin that is like a small stand. The top of that holds our fruit bowl, post it notes in a little wooden box and a jar of pens/pencils. 

Dining room table: currently has 2 plaocements, 2 cloth napkins, and a pot of silk crocuses. 

The corner cupboard holds all of our stemware, mugs, pie plates, a pretty  cake plate, etc.  It's shaker style and pine. 

I also  have a dry sink cupboard that I inherited from my parents. The top of it has an artificial palm tree type plant, a creamer/sugar that is decorative only and comes from my mom's kitchen and is 1940s vintage.  it also has a cloth basket filled with cloth napkins. We do  keep paper napkins in a small basket in the kitchen but we only use those if traveling or hiking.  I much prefer cloth as they're classier and better for the environment! 

On the other side of the room across from the dry sink cupboard, I have a mini little stand that has 2 doors and in the middle 3 little pull out baskets made of wicker which holds odds and ends like tiny battery operated tea lights, small candles, some Xmas cds, extra batteries, etc etc.  The top of it that's visible holds a photo of my daughters with my dad before his dementia set in, a small pottery bowl that has a wooden heart in it that dave bought me years ago, 2 tall taper candles in sage green in bronze holders, and a small green candle that smells like pine trees. 

That wraps up the Tuesday 4.  What about you? are you a basket person and keep your stuff hidden away, or do you like it all out on the tabletops??