Pool Sharks

Trouble, oh we got trouble,

Right here in River City!

With a capital "T"

That rhymes with "P"

And that stands for Pool!

(From The Music Man. Couldn't help myself...the song has been going through my head for days...)

Christmas money always makes my mind spin with ideas. Guilt free money! What to buy? Bryan and I both talked for days about this, that and the other. Mostly our ideas were revolving around individual wants. But then one day a brilliant idea struck me out of the blue. It piqued Bryan's interest when I shared it with him. And the kids were downright excited. (Ex: "Oh Mom! I could get really excited about that!" Excited, see?) and we eventually decided to combine our individual Christmas guilt free money and put it towards a pool table. (Pool/Billiards...is there a difference other than billiards sounds more refined?)

So after doing some research on-line, we took a lunch break one day and went shopping. And what I discovered was that pool tables are much more involved than I realized. So many different brands, different woods, different qualities. When it comes down to it, buying a pool table is buying what can be an extremely well crafted piece of furniture. Strangely enough, it reminded me of shopping for pianos. Do we want a Yamaha or a Wurlitzer? When talking with the various sales people, I was amazed at how much goes into building what I originally had thought was not much more than a simple little game. And granted, though I knew I was willing to pay a bit more for something that looked less like a "toy" and more like something I would be proud to have in my family room, I was still surprised at the craftsmanship that goes into these tables....and that the price range is all over the place depending on what you are looking for (and can afford...we saw a $35,000. table...a Steinway, maybe, in piano talk).

After much discussion, we settled on one....picked out the felt color and the pocket style, splurged a bit for a ping pong table top...and then arranged for delivery and installation the next day. Originally we thought maybe we could install the sucker ourselves. After all, how hard could it be, right? Then we watched the video. And decided that we'd spring for the extra $350. to have someone put it together and level it for us....

I wish I had a before picture of the basement to share. Originally there was a black leather couch facing the fireplace with a rug in-between. And a skinny little accent table behind the couch. The couches in our home have played ring-around-the-rosie and this room is now an officially a game room. Watching the girls turn our home into party central over the Christmas break with friends in our basement each night playing foosball, watching movies and playing games...it made the decision to make this space even more teenage friendly an easy one. We like that they feel comfortable in our home and enjoy being here. Plans are in the works to finally install floor to ceiling, built-in bookshelves along that far wall. Bryan says he can build window seats on either side of the fireplace. It's a work in progress but I'm excited about what's coming. Hopefully this pool table will see a lot of use and not be something that sits collecting dust after the novelty wears off. We're all building up our pool shark skills and have really been enjoying smacking the balls around for the past few evenings. The ping pong table top comes at the end of the month. I foresee some serious tournaments coming up....