And we’re off to the races. Halloween was successful. Candy is dwindling and space has been cleared for our gazillion Hanukkah decorations plus a Christmas tree.

BB doesn’t have a full week of school until after Thanksgiving. I’m not sure what that’s about.

I cleared space, but not as much space as one would think. Our Sesame Street stuffies are still hanging around.

Captain and I have a running Bert and Ernie joke. He’s Bert and I’m Ernie. That’s the high level explanation.

Six years ago, when we bought our house with its double-sided fire place, I dreamed of a library with two leather chairs.

I accomplished the library portion immediately. Due to necessity, the library became library/office/home gym. As soon as the exercise bike and weight lifting bench moved in, it was hard to imagine where two chairs would go. Also any extra money we have, I’m loathe to spend it on chairs when it could be used for travel.

So the library/office/gym remained full and chairless. There is an office chair and a stool I use for midday one on ones, usually to confirm I can leave a kid behind while I drive the other kid EVERYWHERE.

The first Christmas we were in our house, Crate and Barrel was selling Bert and Ernie pillows at a steep discount, final sale. I’m sure they were intended for a kid’s room. I gifted them to Captain and told him final sale before he had time to voice any misgivings.

I said,

“They’re for our future library chairs!”

“Ok.”

Then they went to live in the closet for the next five years.

A year ago I was at my dear friend’s New Hampshire condo. She mentioned they might be replacing a couple chairs with a couch. At the risk of being too bold, I said,

“If you ever don’t want them, we’d love them! But totally understand if you’re going to sell them.”

Last month they replaced them with a couch and asked if we’d still like them! YES YES YES!

Captain surveyed the home gym. I surveyed the bit of space in the corner, across from the fireplace.

Our amazing friends fit them in their car and drove them to us. Turns out the library/office/gym has room for books, a desk, an office chair, a stool, an exercise bike, a weight lifting bench, a rack of weights and TWO CHAIRS.

Captain and I regard the chairs. I raise my eyebrows at him and ask,

“Bert and Ernie?!?”

“Get them out of the closet! They’ve been in there long enough.”

So they have. They’re out, proud and enjoying the library/office/gym.

Yesterday I poked my head into the library/office/gym and asked Captain,

“Is it okay to pass along the Sesame Street stuffies?”

Captain looks at the picture of Bert and Ernie on his desk. He looks at the Bert and Ernie pillows on the chairs. He says,

“I do have this picture of Bert and Ernie and we do have those pillows.”

“Right. So maybe it’s time to pass along the stuffies?”

“How many Bert and Ernies do we have?”

“Two Ernies and one Bert.”

“Maybe we keep one Bert and Ernie and pass along the rest?”

“Ok…”

“I don’t need to keep Big Bird.”

All the Sesame Street stuffies are still in my living room. I was ready to part with them, but the idea of breaking up the pack has left me immobilized. Maybe we need a third library chair for the entire cast.

WordPress offers AI assistance for editing and generating excerpts. Here are a few AI summaries of this post:

Our ever-evolving home doubles up as a Halloween candy storage, Hanukkah decorations showroom, Sesame Street museum, and a library-office-home gym, sans the comfy library chairs. After years of aspiring to own plush library seats, our pals gifted us their old ones, finally embodying the complete vision of our applaudable multi-purpose house. A long-stowed Bert and Ernie pillow pair now proudly grace the new chairs, undergoing hard negotiations regarding the fate of their Sesame Street comrades. Surprise, we might need an extra chair!

The multi-purpose space in a family home which doubles as a library, office, and gym finally gets the long-awaited addition of two chairs. The chairs, gifts from a friend, accommodate the previously closeted Bert and Ernie pillows. The Sesame Street stuffies face an uncertain future, but Bert and Ernie remain constants in the mix.

The narrator and their partner, affectionately referred to as Captain, have slowly been transforming their home-based library/office/gym into a more comfortable space, recently adding two chairs gifted by a friend. Alongside this transformation, a recurring Bert and Ernie theme has developed, supported by long-stored pillows and multiple stuffies. Looming above it all is the question of how many Bert and Ernie items should remain, leading to a humorous consideration of needing a third chair for all the Sesame Street characters.

In a nutshell, after Halloween and before the festive season kicked into gear, a family sorted their space. They transformed their library/office/home gym by adding two chairs they received from their friends. They revived a Bert and Ernie joke with some themed pillows. However, deciding on whether to keep or part with their cherished Sesame Street plushies has them stumped. Their solution? Perhaps another chair for the entire plushie cast!

And below is what AI thought about my writing. Sounds like I’m doing great work.