The life of Riley

I think Riley is on the right.....

I was thinking about this phrase, and wondered where it came from.  Apparently Irving Brecher wrote a radio script with Groucho Marx in mind, and named it thus.  Some give credit to a poet named James Whitcome Riley, for a poem about the comforts of prosperity.  Another ponders if it refers to the O'Reilly's in Ireland who printed their own coins which were accepted in England as well. O'Reilly is the most common name in County Cavan in Ireland, where in the 11th century, an O'Reilly was the king (see below from Wiki):

In medieval times, the area of Cavan was part of the petty kingdom of East Bréifne or Brefney O'Reilly after its ruling Gaelic family. This in turn was a division of the 11th century Kingdom of Bréifne. For this reason the county is colloquially known as the Breffni County.^[9] 

No one really knows where the phrase originates, although it didn't become popular until the early 1900's.  So, there is somewhat of a mystery that surrounds The Life of Riley (apparently the last name was shortened at some point in time)....all I know is that the dictionary refers to it as "an easy life", which could mean few money worries, or just few worries, period.  

Well!  Now that I've got that off my mind....ha ha.  Son #2 is moving to back to Austin in a couple of weeks.  He is taking the old sofa ~ which has been in our bedroom (which is fairly large, although I should explain the only furniture we have is the bed and two night stands - we don't own a dresser), and has become the repository for clean sheets and towels that need to be put away, or clothes that need ironing.  I don't know what I will replace it with, but I did run into a consignment shop I didn't know about last week.  I will have to go have a look at what they have.  

I found the consignment shop when I took a pair of shoes to be repaired.  The insole was in bad shape, so I finally tore it out and bought insoles at Walgreens, but I hated them.  For one thing they were silicon, so my feet were literally swimming (I have very sweaty feet), and they weren't quite long enough.  I had spent a lot of money on those shoes, and they were still in great shape.  For $25 bucks, they will redo the insole, put on a new heel, and clean them up a bit.  If they look good, I have another pair that I love that are starting to look a bit shabby, and see what they can do with them.  Truthfully, I think the days of shoe repair are numbered.  They posted signs that required payment up front (probably because people took too long to come in and pick up and pay), and signs proclaiming they have had to increase their prices.  Do you have shoe/boot repair businesses where you live?  

Well, this has been a nice break from studying for an exam I'm taking online today.  It's looking like a beautiful day out there....a nice change from the cloudy rainy day we had yesterday.  

Love, 365