Quilt Accomplished

"Listen! My Lover! 

Look! Here he comes,

leaping across the 

mountains,

bounding over hills.

My lover is like a gazelle or

a young stag.

Look! There he stands,"

~ Song of Songs 2: 8-9

 He comes home today. After a week of leaping mountains in northern New York. 

In my Bible I have the scripture above underlined, and in the margin is written: Reminds me of The Mister!

I don't know when I wrote that note. Which is strange, I almost always write a date... but I guess that's how love should be... timeless.

While he was away, I had several goals - make dinner every night (when he's gone I'm tempted to eat toast or cereal for dinner), watch lots of movies with the kids, and finish the 16th Anniversary Quilt. 

I managed to accomplish all three. (Smoothies are a meal, right?)

I'm most excited about the quilt. My mountain-man enjoys a good back-packing trip. He loves his ultra-light and warm sleeping bag on the trail, but at home he enjoys a good quilt.

Several years ago, he kept hinting that I hadn't made anything for him, and that he would love to have a quilt for his office. So I made him this one....

Its not beautiful or fancy, and it isn't even "quilted" but its a favorite and often in the winter on weekend afternoon, I'll peek in his office and he'll be napping on the floor... wrapped up like a quilted burrito. 

Makes me happy. 

This week I only needed to bind the Anniversary Quilt. I tried to do it the "correct" way. By hand. But in the end it was all machine sewn. I'm a quilting newbie... plus, I was running out of time and just wanted it to be done.

When the last stitch was sewn I put it on the bed, just to see what it looked like...

...and, of course, take some pictures...

I kept thinking to myself... I can't believe it I did it... I can't believe I finished it... I can't believe it all came out... just the nearly the way I wanted...

Its made from fabrics that have been repurposed so its already amazingly soft and light.

I spent a good chunk of time looking at it, admiring it. Wondering if The Mister will like it too...

...and then I took it off again.

Because I won't sleep under it until I'm with him.

What We'll Do For Love

Young love is foolish.

Apparently, old love is too.

Eighteen years ago I had a summer romance.

At first it was a glance, then a few spoken words, and soon we were holding hands and taking walks and spending time together.


When the days began to shorten and the air began to chill we knew we were in love, but we wouldn't admit it to each other.

Yes, there were love notes and picnic/dinners in the park, but by far the craziest thing I did for love was to wake up at 4:30 am to beat him to the gym.

You see, I knew he got up early to work out. I also had a membership to the same gym (although my favorite part of the gym was the smoothie bar aerobics class.) I certainly had never seen the inside of the building at an hour the birds aren't even awake.

But I had a plan.

I would intentionally get there 10-15 minutes before him, with fixed hair (and the cutest work out clothes I could find) so he would walked in and see my dedicated-self running (all too fast) on the treadmill.

I had the whole conversation worked out in my head -

"I didn't know you worked out this early." he would say.

"Yeah, I like to get it over with. Out of the way." I'd nonchalantly reply, trying to act like my lungs weren't burning in my chest.

He would be so impressed with my dedication, my early morning stick-to-it-iveness... he would like me.

Of course, it never went the way I had imagined. He was surprised but polite, and all business and routine that early in the morning...there wasn't much time for flirting chatting.

Plus, he already liked me. What was I thinking???

Within a couple weeks I realized that my early morning trips to the gym to impress my man were better left to brighter times of day. Getting up that early was hard work! It all worked out though. We declared our love for each other that Christmas and were married 17 months later.

As it turns out that wouldn't be my last early morning trip to the gym.

My mid-morning workout has been lacking since homeschooling put a monkey in the mix....so I started to look for an early morning work out partner.

Turns out I didn't have to look far...

The Mister, also desiring to be more consistent with exercise volunteered to work out with me. So several days a week we are getting up before the roosters to enjoy some early morning time at the gym.


I'm thankful. Thankful for a man who is generous and faithful, with his time and with his heart... as well as easy on the eyes. If you're going to the gym at 5:30 in the morning, its helps to have something nice to look at...

The things you'll do for love.

Sixteen

I don't normally post on Wednesdays (usually I'm cramming lesson plans for my afternoon history class at co-op) but since I have been MIA in the last five days, I thought I'd pop in.

In true CoffeeGal style, I got bit by a crafting bug last week and have had tunnel vision of epic proportions. Any free time has found me at my sewing machine.

In my last post I wrote about Log Cabin Squares for quilting. Well, that's what I've been doing: I made twenty Log Cabin quilt blocks....

Some of you may remember chuppah I made a couple years ago for a friend.

For eight months I put my heart-and-soul into that project, embroidering every monogram by hand. Quilting old family fabric into a quilt-of-sorts. A tapestry for a young couple to marry under.

I tried to explain how this project felt in this post, but here is a small glimpse of the work involved.

This project was challenging and brought great personal satisfaction, but when it was completed it wasn't mine. I handed it (and everything about it) over to its rightful owner.

One night last week I was talking to The Mister and showing him the sample quilt blocks I had sewn, and he said emphatically, "I love quilts!"

When my husband speaks emphatically, I listen. He tends to be a pretty even-keeled guy, reserving passionate verbiage for things he truly feels passionate.

And it got me thinking....

I often make things for the kids, or myself, or for friends. I almost always make things for those who ask me to, and every once in awhile someone will actually pay me.

Very rarely do I create things for my man.

And he deserves something.  Especially since one-month from today we will have been married 16 years.

As I have been sewing, I've been thinking about that chuppah, what it meant in the days of hard work, and the lessons I learned both during and after the project was complete. It made me want to make something like it to celebrate our marriage; The joy. The hard work. The crazy and the calm. I want to make something that shows the depths of beauty that comes from a relationship that isn't always easy, but is so worth the effort.

This is the beginnings of the quilting project I am calling Sixteen. It is to be a gift to The Mister. My hope is to hand-embroider some of my favorite things about our life together (thus far) and give it to him when we go away (to a log cabin in the NC mountains) sometime next month.

My plan is to use only fabric and thread I already own. And we won't be boxing this baby up - we'll sleep under it. Hopefully for many more years....

Bragger

Several years ago The Mister and I were given an entertainment center from some friends.

It was a beautiful oak piece that we enjoyed (and I used as in my office to hold fabric and craft supplies) but eventually I grew tired of its bulk.

(I'm not even ashamed to show this old pic of my office....y'all, sometimes life is just a mess.)

I asked if he would build me some smaller shelves so I could get rid of the entertainment center.

He graciously did so.

And then I painted them the prettiest color blue I could find.

However, he was sad to see all that wood go to waste so he took that oak shelving unit apart; painstakingly taking out hundreds of wood staples, and said he would figure out what to do with it someday.

Being the supportive and generous wife I told him he could ''do whatever he wanted with it, as long as he kept in his garage.''

Nice.

Little did I know that he would turn that entertainment center into this:

Our new shoe-holder that sits in the foyer. It opens into three different compartments - one for each of the kids and myself. He built a separate shoe box that sits near the back door for his shoes.

Isn't it amazing?

I don't know how in the world he got this to all fit together so tightly with all the detail and trim.

I'm proud of him.

Many years ago he said he had always wanted to work with wood. To make things for our home and to be part of some creative process. Of course he has always been busy bringing home the bacon, but back then our kiddos were young and it was harder to invest time in the creative side of our lives.

(For you with young children: there WILL be time for creativeness again, I promise!)

Its been so fun to see him build his skills as a wood-worker...to fulfill a longing for creativeness that he has always wanted to pursue.

He doesn't know it yet, but soon he'll be building a new coffee table for our family room.

This weekend I was showing him how I was using the old windowpanes from our house to cover the garden beds after turning the soil.

He casually said, "You know, you could make a small green house using those windows."

Of course, he and I both know that that 'you' really meant 'him.'

I'll be adding that to the list.

Giving Thanks: Another Birthday!

Today's is The Mister's birthday.

I was thinking about him this morning and it occurred to me how patient he is...

As you may know from past posts, I have a tendency toward impetuousness that's meant to get things done quickly, but ends up taking twice as long. You may remember my recent banking fiasco and my Pressure cooker catastrophe.

Let's just say that I average one "accident" a month...only this month I've already done two three.

The good news is that there is only seven days left in November!!!!

What did I do this time?

Well, I mixed up a bunch of deposits at the bank causing much confusion (but we've figured it out!).  I ruined yet another kitchen item on the stove top (always turn your burners off before placing your glass cake pan on the stove...glass, unevenly heated, has a tendency to explode) and I broke the garage door...but at least I didn't back my car into the side of the house. I already did that once. I try not to do the same stupid thing twice...unless it involves the stove top.

Yes, The Mister is long-suffering and patient, and when i do silly things he comes up behind me, sweeping the broken glass and patching the stucco.

He takes good care of me, and I try very hard to take good care of him....when I'm not making more work for him.

For his birthday I've planned a feast - his favorite lasagna meal. He doesn't like to be fussed over, but it is my privilege to do so.

I'm working real hard at being extra sweet too. Mostly because I still giggle a bit about that first year we were married and his birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day, and in all my "this-is-my-first-married-Thanksgiving-excitement, I sort of forgot...

I'll never forget again.

Speaking of keeping memories alive....I still sometimes wince when I remember that night, so long ago, when we were working together as newlyweds in the kitchen of that itty-bitty duplex on campus...when he was doing the dishes (by hand) and I was trying to multitask while making a pot of rice. I accidently burned his bare back with the scalding pot lid...

He'll never forget that, I'm sure.

Good times, good times...

Happy Birthday Mister,
Thank you for sharing life with me.
I'll do my best not to get into trouble this week...but after 17 years of dating and marriage I think you know how hard that will be...


love,
your coffeegal

Random Poll: Picnics

I love to laugh.

I especially love it when I get to laugh uncontrollably.

Yesterday, The Mister and I had a very deep and serious conversation about picnics.

It all started at the lunch table as we discussed a church picnic that is coming up next month. The date for the outdoor venture was announced, but the time was not. 

If the picnic is during the day, we can go. If it's during the evening, we can't (we have a fancy-dress military dinner/event that I don't want to miss.)

During this great debate I defended my theory: whenever you eat in a park, its a picnic.

He thinks picnics are only done in the daytime (and require certain picnic paraphernalia.)

We agreed to disagree.

Later, while reading together in our room (or I should say he was reading and I was playing Angry Birds) he found my daughters Flip camera and decided to bring the aforementioned topic up. I tried to rebuttal by bringing up past evidence. He objected.

So here you go...

I know this video is probably only funny to me...I love to laugh that uncontrollable, snorting, spitting, laugh that is good for the soul. Plus, I love it when The Mister and I are having so much fun that we fail to use good english.

But the REAL reason I brought you here today is to ask you to help us solve this debate:

When is a picnic a picnic?

How I Broke (and Fixed) My Kitchen Aid Mixer

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

As a youngster my dad would occasionally do things with good intentions that didn't work out so well.

My mom called them "wild hares," and while most time these things were perfectly good and productive, occasionally they ended in trouble.

For instance, one time in early summer he decided that he was going to rearrange his bedroom. Being the mid-80's he and my mom had a king-sized waterbed.

He spent the morning draining and dismantling the bed. Then he hauled all the furniture into different spots and cleaned the room 'til it shined like the top of the Chrysler building. Then he put the water bed back together in its new spot.

I remember it like yesterday...that green water-hose being snaked through the large, east-facing picture window. I remember the sound of whooshing water as it filled the big blue mattress.

The day passed quickly and soon it was time to take my brothers to the ball park. Being baseball season, I spent a lot of time there. I liked it. My dad would hand me a couple of bucks and I would spend the whole evening hanging out with the sisters, running back and forth in my dusty flip-flops to the snack bar for Fun-Dip and Big League Chew.

I can remember the moment when I looked up and there was Bob, our neighbor. He was gathering us up and said that my Dad had told him to come get us.

What?

Well, my dad got caught up in watching the boys play and forgot that he was filling up that king-sized mattress back home.

He made a mad-dash home, getting there just on time to see the bulging-bed split, creating a deluge bigger than Southern Arizona had seen in a long while.

I am so glad that we didn't have internet back then, because a bed that size (when filled to capacity) holds 248.7 gallons of water...and this one was WAY over capacity.

Of course my dad wouldn't have needed the internet, he could've probably guessed, since the water went under the walls and seeped into both my brother's room and the formal living room, rendering three rooms and the hallway flooded.

His one day project to make things better ended up in a long weekend of wet-vac rental and borrowing every box fan we could find within a 30 mile radius.

I'm sure by now you are wondering what in the world this has to do with my Kitchen Aid mixer?

Well its my defense sweet friends: I am becoming my father. (Which endears me to him all the more.)

Yesterday I was giving my kitchen a good, deep, cleaning, and it occurred to me that my beloved Kitchen Aid mixer hadn't been deeply cleaned, ever. I mean I've wiped down the outside many, many times, but its been sounding a little tired lately (I use it almost daily) and I figured it needed some love.

So I began by dismantling the two big dots on the outside of the main casing.

These things have springs on them. And rectangular looking metal pieces with one corner cut off.

Then I removed a few more screws but couldn't get the thing to come apart. Not wanting to ruin my machine I gave up and put it all back together.

I plugged it in and turned it on to make sure all was well.

It wasn't.

No power at all.

*(%&!

So I panicked.

And ran to the internet.

I found that those big dots with loaded springs and weird shaped metal thing-a-ma-bobs (or "'brush" as the net calls them)  actually have to go in a certain way....

You have to take a flash light and look inside the hole...

 and in the back you can see something that looks like this:

Then you have to make sure that the missing corner of the metal "brush" is facing the circle of the diagram above.

Then you cross your finger, because I tend to make mistakes that are expensive this was (long ago) a gift from The Mister and I'm afraid to tell him I've damaged a perfectly good machine.

Whew!

It worked.

So, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree...but this time, I got to make an apple pie. Next time, and there will be a next time, I might not be as lucky...

Out of the Gutter

Success!

We have clean gutters.

Although I have to say, I thought this added a sweet and decorative element to our humble abode:

The Mister did a fine job. The hardest part was moving that crazy ladder. We almost broke two windows in the process, but all is well that ends well.

I survived standing in the bushes where wasps and snakes live.

At one point I said, "What am I supposed to do if this ladder starts to tip over?"

"Get out of the way and pray" was his answer.

I didn't just hold ladders this weekend, I also was able to pick veggies from my garden:

Jalepeños, cucumber, chive, sweet pea, basil and a tomato (that wasn't quite ripe but had been broken off by a careless farmer during the watering process.)

I also finished my first crocheted afghan:

(Truth be told I finished this the beginning of last week, but I wanted to give it to the baby-mama before posting.)

Mondays are always filled with weekend clean up so I am thinking about making my Monday posts short and ending  with "links".

Here are the links for this Monday....

You can get your mind out of the gutter with this post: Getting Wise and Empowered - Finding Balance


You can remember that we no longer have to live in the gutter with this post: Guilty - Lift My Noise

And in anticipation of Father's Day...this one has no bearing on the "Gutter" theme but it IS fun to do with the kids:

 Formal Greeting Card - Family Fun

Happy Monday!

Where's the Beef?

We had a "tragic" event in the La Vida house last night.

It wasn't so tragic for me, but I'm not sure my husband will get over it.

You see, my Mister is a loyal man. Not just in marriage, but in friendship, at work, at play.

He knows what he likes, and he sticks with it.

This is true with restaurants as well.

And his favorite place to get a burger?

Fuddruckers.

Now, let me tell you that his love for Fuddruckers runs deep. He has loved a 1/2 pound burger-medium well- with-lettuce-tomato on toasted bun for more years than he's loved me.

However, his love grew to even greater heights one Saturday afternoon thirteen years ago. We lived in San Antonio. I was five months pregnant with my first-born, The Boy.

Back then I wasn't a meat eater. As a matter of fact I hadn't eaten meat for over a decade (with exception of that one time I was at a Sunday afternoon BBQ with my church choir friends. That's the infamous day I had three sips of a margarita and FORGOT I was a vegetarian... but that's a story for another time)

Anyway, The Mister will tell you that living with a new bride that refused to put meat in spaghetti sauce or cook tacos with ground beef, was a little trying for a meat and potatoes man.

The things you put up with for love.

He was long-suffering (for 18 months at least), until that wonderful moment when I thought I had the stomach flu, but was actually pregnant. Oops.

One morning, after months of morning all-day sickness, I woke up hungry.

Very hungry.

I was certain that the only thing that would satisfy my hunger was beef. So at 6am in the morning I rolled my burgeoning belly over, looked at The Mister and said with a seriousness I'd never known, "I need beef. Today."

And we sat and watched the clock until it read 11:00a.m.... cuz he knew that the Fuddruckers down the road would be open for business.

That day he heard the angel's singing, and I've been carnivorous ever since.

As a result, we have dined in Fuddrucker's establishments across the country: Los Angeles, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Tucson, Washington D.C., and a several places in between.

When we moved to North Carolina in 2005, he was happy to find that we were within 10 miles of the only Fuddruckers in the three large cities that make up this neck of the woods.

Last night he came home from work with his mind set on a burger. So we all piled in the car and headed out.

You can imagine, given this history, how he felt when we pulled into the parking lot and found it empty.

Well, actually, there was another family parked in the lot, looking at the plywood that was covering the doors. They sat in a stupor, shaking thier heads, with tears in their eyes.

The Mister was speechless.

I thought I might have to drive.

I quickly decided on another restaurant, and through the course of the evening I realized he might be going through the stages of grief :

Denial:

Maybe they're renovating.

Guilt:

I've had meals here almost once a month for two years! I've had meetings here, and date nights with you, and shared burger's with family and friends... I guess it wasn't enough....

Anger:

This is ridiculous! That wasn't just a favorite restaurant! It was the only place I could count on a decent burger!

And then, as we sat down at the new, unfamiliar, restaurant, he went into the next phase - 


Reflection, loneliness and silence: 

I was asking him questions about his day to start conversation.

He would only give one word answers.

Soon we were sipping lemonade and he entered the final phase:

The Upward Turn and Acceptance.

This is when I made my swoop.

"Hey, since we're out, how do you feel about going to the Apple store and checking out the iPad? Mother's Day is just around the corner!

{Insert cheesy grin}

Cuz nothing say's  let-me-console-your-grieving-heart more than let's-look-at-$500-gadgets i don't really need.

I know, now you can see that he married me for my sweet and compassionate ways. I've tried so long to hide it.

Feeling Blue

Robin's Egg Blue to be exact.

Last week was such a nice time of rest.

With The Mister home we did some school, some building:

 (OK, The Mister did all the building, but I made sure he was well stocked in Mt. Dew!),

Some hiking:

Some cleaning, some reading, and some playing.

Not too much.

But not too little.

We took advantage of the warmer days to check out a new hiking trail (we have many within a 10 mile radius of our house). The river in many places was frozen. But the sky was blue and the sun was warm.

We had a picnic, and the kids played with ice.

Unfortunately, The Mister had to go back to work.

In the hopes of making this day go quickly until he comes home, we have a busy day planned.

I plan to have my shelves primed, painted, dried and ready for move-in by this evening.

Life is good.

I always have a hard time after vacation is over, but today I am grateful...and amazingly rested after some good family time.

What are you up to this week?

Mostly 'Bout Nothin'

The Mister has been home this week and it has been so nice.

He had some time off during the holidays, and that was good too. But this time, when there aren't a thousand and one activities, or things that have to be done, its better.

Not that he's been idle.

Cuz, I sort of capitalized on his being here,and had an eensy-weensy, little, project for him.

He's building these for my office.

He has spent the last two days working in the garage while I taught school.

Let me tell you what I love about him being home.... I love moments like the one that happened at 3:30 yesterday afternoon-- I made a pot of coffee and heated up two leftover banana chocolate chip scones, and invited him to come in for awhile.

He happily obliged.

And for 30 minutes we sat at the kitchen table and talked about everything-- and nothing. Love that.

Of all the people I enjoy sipping coffee with, he's my favorite.

Back to those shelves he's building...

The unfortunate part of getting new shelves is that I need to clean and organize my craft room, which has been a perpetual state of chaos since Thanksgiving.

You see the problem is that I have this big basket of wool yarn that I bought and in my attempt to ignore winter I have become a chronic flower maker, in hopes of making spring come early.

I tried my hand at a headband and it turned out all right.

The Girl considered using it as a neck warmer, but it seems that wool is a bit scratchy.

In my knitting craze, I decided to try to felt some knit wool and make flowers out it.

This is when I realized I might be allergic to wool.

But I'm having fun, so what's a few hives?

Hmmm.....what else can I tell you?

This morning i'm feeling a little queasy because last night I got 4 tweets/emails/texts, from four different moms (in four different states!) asking for prayer because the stomach virus had viciously hit their homes.

This makes me scared. I despise stomach bugs. Maybe its because for some odd reason, every emotion I feel is connected to my stomach. I get queasy if I'm nervous, sad, angry, excited, bitter, happy or any emotion in between...but nothing makes me more nervous than a stomach bug.

Let's change the subject....

Today we are taking a break from (written) school work and will go on a field trip. We aren't exactly sure where we are going, but we know that getting out of the house would be good today, while the weather is supposed to warm up a few degrees (before it plummets again!).

Happy Wednesday!

One More Day...

Typically Mondays aren't my favorite, but today I'm happy to have one.

I get to spend this entire day with The Mister.

The best part?

For at least six hours we get to spend this day alone.

Well, if you don't count the other people at the mall.

After 16 years of knowing this man, I still really like him.

He's speaking my love language this morning....he said he'd buy me a latte. So I'm not gonna take too much time here on the blog.

So....talk to me....

Tell me one favorite memory that happened on your Thanksgiving....or tell me if you braved Black Friday....or if you are hoping that today, when you hit the mall, everybody will be at home on the laptops for Cyber Monday...

Happy Day!

Supervising

I haven't had the chance to write this morning because my life is so very, very difficult.

First, Clinton the Embroidery Machine and I have been working on a secret project that cannot be revealed.

Of course it will be revealed in its time, because really? What do I ever make that I don't share with y'all?

Do you remember last year when I made this (go a ahead and click over there...its short, I'll wait)......

.....Well, seems my "spelling issues" are not confined to fiber art of the felt kind.

Clinton the Embroidery Machine does everything for me. Well, everything except check my spelling.

I am still riding the learning curve on this wonder-machine, but seam ripping of embroidery letters is not the same as seam ripping a hem, I'm just saying.

Second (ly?), I'm very busy today supervising my Fix-It Man. Its a difficult job but I am glad to do it. I have to keep my eye on him because he's so dang cute in his Clint Eastwood shirt.

In fact, he is so easy on my eyes that I have a long list of things that need to be "fixed" around here-- insuring his sticking around awhile. Well, at least until next Monday when he has to go back to his day job. 


I am going to be so sad on Monday...but that's four days from now, so lets not talk about it...

I am looking forward to tonight. I was going to watch my DVR'd Glee, but apparently some baseball game was on instead? Go figure.

Instead, the Fix-It Man (and the kids) have requested I make Alton Brown's Pound Cake for dessert tonight so I guess I'll do that, and catch up on a weeks worth of blog reading. Which is a lot like getting to go over to friends house for a quick visit...looking forward to that!

Happy Thursday!

Its Down

The dead tree is officially down.  Here is the Before...a 62 foot hard wood tree. (in case it isn't obvious its the dead one in the center of photo)

And After: 
And now the hard work: Chopping it up and hauling it off.

And this last one just for good measure and because he's so darn handsome when he's doing things that make him happy.

Federal Holidays on Mondays Never Get me Down

This weekend went by incredibly fast. I needed an extra day.

Luckily today we get one. 

But there will not be much resting today.

When The Mister got home I told him I had drawn up a huge plan for a raised garden that would require him going to the Home Depot, on a weekend (his least favorite time), and buying copious amounts of wood and other supplies. 

He didn't even flinch. He didn't complain, or tell me of his other plans for his extra day off. He looked at my pencil sketch, made suggestions on how we could make my idea better, made his own supply list, and went to the store. 

(Yes, I readily admit that I am spoiled. Its a fun job, but somebody's got to do it.)

Last night he built one of three beds. He will finish the other two today. 

I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

Now, I have to tell you that while I love playing in the dirt, gardening has never really been my forte. As a matter of fact, if plants were people, I'd be in jail. When it comes to plant killing, I'm a multiple offender.

Which doesn't seem right, because my mother (and her mother) both could grow a mean garden. I should be able to keep a garden because my gene pool is heavily weighted in the green thumb department. My mom could grow the most productive garden out of the desert earth that was in her backyard. 

Surely, I can grow a few little vegetables in this beautiful place. Especially with the amazing raised beds The Mister built.

I am going to give it all I've got. I'm going to do everything by-the-book. Then I'm going to pray like crazy!

Pictures to come.

Happy Monday!

The Power of Green

For almost 14 years now, when The Mister and I share m&m candies, he always encourages me to eat the green ones. 

Imagine my surprise when I saw the  all green m&ms on sale in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago. I knew I would buy some for him.

Meaning, I would be a sacrificial wife, and eat them for The Mister...cuz y'all know the story behind the green m&m's, right? They are known around the world for their   "Special Powers". 

Of course in high school that's not exactly how they said it- but this is a family friendly blog.

I quickly ran into T@rget yesterday for a few asunder items, so I moseyed to the Valentines section and picked up a bag of Greens.

On the front of the package is a picture of Ms. Green with her sultry eyes and sassy way. Her tag line reads: Sweetie, it's all true...

I thought it was so funny I was laughing out loud, and for half a second felt a tad self-conscious with a bunch of college girls standing around contemplating what candy they should get for the sorority Valentines Mixer. I'm sure they thought I was a fry short of a happy meal. But someday, when they are married to a man they've adored for fourteen years, they'll understand.

Sweetie, it's all true...still makes me smile just thinking about it.

I picked up a package and brought them home.

The kids were helping me unload groceries out of the car (I had been to Sam's Club too) and the questions started to form: Why are they all green? What's all true? I thought Valentine's Day was about red and pink? Why is green a new color for Valentine's Day?  Is it because they are trying to be green for the environment? Why won't you let us open them? Why are they just for Daddy? 

Oh for goodness sake! You spend all their infancy looking forward to the day when they will be able to talk, and read, and be inquisitive about the world around them...and when they can, you wish they'd mind their own business!

(I told them it was because lots of people really like the greens ones....although I am partial to yellow.)

Happy Saturday!

Of Falling Leaves and Fire Pits

I wanted to share with you the amazing talents of The Mister. Now, among all the things that he can place behind his name, he can add master fire pit builder. Although he would tell you that isn't true, because he isn't actually finished with the pit. He has some decorative ideas that involve hauling in some rock to keep the mud down to a minimum, and some sort of rustic benches made out a huge dead tree that needs cutting down in the front yard.

Which brings me to another topic. Why do men think they can cut down a GI-NOR-MOUS tree all by themselves? Oh, but he says he is going to do it, and he's been looking for just the right chainsaw to do it with. (can you just hear that old Tool Time man-laugh? Ar! Ar! Ar!)

Anyway, that Mister of mine is a good man for making me such a fine pit. Even when he arranged that flagstone in a certain pattern that didn't appeal to my high need for symmetry and orderliness. So he let me tell him how I wanted them. It's a good thing he's got muscles. 

I also wanted to show you the pictures of the tree's in my yard. Yesterday I walked by the window and was suddenly was taken back by the fanastic-ness of the trees in my back yard. 

Y'all, the leaves are putting up a show that makes me almost want to weep and laugh all at the same time.

These pictures aren't even good. They look so much better in real life!

I had something else I wanted to tell you, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was.

Oh well! La Vida Dulce!