(somewhat) sleepless in Chicago, large party seating, and other unconventional perks of residing in the Shenanigan home

Sleepless in Seattle, sleepy/sleep late in Chicago:  My sleep patterns have been off for over a week. I don't know how to snap out of it. Suggestions are welcome.

I wake up at 4 or 5 am after maybe four hours of sleep, and then I lay awake for an hour or two. I read sometimes, or just lay there. Eventually I go back to sleep until 8 or 9 am. This isn't ideal as I'm not a lady of leisure. 

I cancelled our flights to Atlanta for various reasons. As you read this, Reg and I are driving to GA for his basketball tournament. Reg can drive a bit here and there, but I'm dreading the long drive. What if I don't get a normal sleep the night before? There's no way I can squeeze in a later-morning nap as is my new custom, as I plan to leave early. Plus, I'll be way too anxious about driving to nap. 

Prayers offered for our safe travels this week are much appreciated

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Think 12 Days of Christmas, but our version is:  2 MICROWAVES, 3 REFRIDGERATORS, AND TABLES FOR 8 OR MORE EVERYWHERE:  

I still have Lad's college microwave, pulled from my crawlspace, on my kitchen counter. I filed a complaint with Thermador over the premature breakdown of our pricey, built-in microwave drawer a few months ago, and have heard nothing. Somehow including a reminder on my list of things to do hasn't helped me carve out the time to actually make that phone call. Maybe I'll call them on Bluetooth while driving to Atlanta. Multitasking is the only way, apparently. 

I still have a partially working, cold-drink-chilling extra fridge in my dining room. I love it there. If having a dining room fridge is wrong, I don't wanna be right. 

I have a dog, that doesn't belong to me, tied to my back door, or nudging my hand off of my keyboard when he wants me to pet him when he's allowed to roam the uncarpeted spaces on the first floor while not tied to the back door. 

Finnegan vs. my mouse - the struggle is real.

*(editing to add:  after reading about the passing of sweet Barkley, Nicole's dog at Girl in a Boy House, (HI NICOLE) I must admit that it is not lost on me that Finnegan is crazy about me, wagging himself silly when I come home from somewhere. Finn has stolen my heart despite the fact that I wasn't asked permission to add him to our busy, non-puppy-proof household. RIP Barkley).

And, drum roll, I have an extra, VERY old kitchen table and chairs in my living room. 

The day before the grad party, I spotted said kitchen table at a garage sale down the street. I went and checked it out. Ed, interning in the basement most days, texted his buddies to see if anyone had procured a table for their college house. They still needed one. I was busy getting ready for the party, so I sent Tank down with the $50 to secure it, saying we'd pick it up later.

The morning of the party, I woke up with a lightbulb moment. Does anyone else wake up with clarity, like things they remember they were supposed to do or just great ideas? I decided that it might make sense to pick up that table and set it up in the living room as extra seating during the party. 

You might recall that we, Hillbilly-wannabes, repurposed our living room coffee table to support Lad's bed - in combination with the bottom section of the dismantled bunk bed. This arrangement has left the living room, which we thought would be an excellent space to keep Lad's dog, fairly bare. The problem? Finnegan DOESN'T want to hang in the living room alone. He'd rather follow me from my laptop in the kitchen to my desktop in the study, tucking his nose under the palm of my hand and nudging my hand off of my mouse, begging to be petted. Never having lived with a dog, is this normal, or is Finnegan just exceptional? 

I paced myself fairly well with the grad party preparations. Mark this party as a turning point in my life. I'm not a rock star at pacing. I usually end up un-showered and panicked as people are arriving. There is a first for everything though, and while I wasn't 100% ready and eating bon-bons while reclined on the couch, I was basically in good shape. 

A few hours before anyone arrived, I saw a window of time - even though I was still sweaty and un-showered after my run, so getting to the push-the-envelope stage as far as how I was allocating my time. I tend to run off the rails with my I'VE GOT TIME FOR THIS mentality. What can I say? When push comes to shove, I start to believe I have super powers that don't necessarily exist. Am I alone? 

I grabbed Curly. We trotted down the block to the garage sale with my wagon in tow, turned the table upside down on the wagon, and hauled it home. The sellers offered to deliver the chairs in their car, which was handy. 

I never shared the stationary bike story. Ah, another day. No one will accuse me of having an HGTV-esque flair for decorating. We bought the living room couch, but the end tables, lamps, art, all hand-me-downs. I made the curtains. Come on over for dinner, I've got frozen pasta from the grad party, and plenty of seating. I thought I had a photo of us bringing the table home  on the wagon - the leaf wasn't inserted, so it was doable. 

No one ended up needing to eat at the extra table, because the threat of rain turned out to be a slight (albeit annoying, because large intermittent drops persisted for about 30 minutes) fat drizzle. The kitchen table and outdoor seating proved sufficient. Now, Ed has a table and I have available seating for a crowd that I don't expect to actually show up before the table departs with Ed in August. 

Coming up next is the exciting information we've gathered about the goings-on under and above our deck. I have video that you won't want to miss. Any guesses? Here's a tip, it's not a raccoon. 

Anyone have unconventional home setups, furniture-wise or otherwise? Are you good at party prep? Successful at mimicking HGTV decorating tips? Since I'm in my 50's, I do dream of one day being rid of hand-me-down furniture, but admittedly not a priority.