Showing posts with label Things I Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Things I Love. Show all posts

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Lovely, Lovely Saturday

Saturday: sweet, sleepy, Saturday.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

1. I love sleeping in until 7:30. Bliss.

2. I love your no rush ways and your fragrant coffee.

3. I love that there will be no heels worn today.

4. I love that soon, the house will be clean and restocked with food.

Thus ends my first full week of full time employment. It was a great week. I've learned so much (and have sooo much to learn). I feel like I really started to accomplish some tasks without much hand holding by the wonderful Megan.

She is happy too. For the first time in months, she left work on a Friday at 5:00pm. I think she danced a little jig on her way to her car.

My Girl's only complaint is that there is nothing to eat in this house!. I will fix that little problem today! Promise!

Today, we'll drive down to see Boy and spend a little time with him. Bliss!!

Ahh, lovely, lovely Saturday. I embrace you with my entire soul!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Treasures

With the help of my Beloved and my Girl I've been able to rearrange some things and unpack a few boxes that had been eagerly awaiting a space of their own since we moved into the little, green house on the corner. It feels good to be truly settling in. There are so many little things I haven't been able to accomplish because I'm working, working, working.

Today, Beloved and Girl moved a tall piece of furniture from the garage to the family room, where I was able to place all my scrapbooking supplies, stamps, card making materials, and other keepsakes. It thrilled my heart to finally have a space for all these items. I am preparing, slowly and carefully (because Beloved glares at me if I don't take it easy), for the arrival of Boy.

BOY!

His room is nearly ready and I am excited to hear all about India. I am thankful that I am off work and will have extra time to spend with him while he is home. We know our boy, and his feet seldom stay home for long. I will treasure these moments.

While unpacking a box, that said Christmas dishes on the outside, I found more of my Omi's wedding dishes. They are dishes that she brought from Germany when she, my American GI grandfather (Opa), and mother moved to the US after the war. I ended up with these lovely, fragile dishes purely by chance, but I treasure them and I like to think that Omi likes me having them too.

Because I have a lot of downtime this month, I've been able to spend some time with folks I seldom see. It was wonderful to catch up with them, even though they both gave me heck for not telling them about the surgery. I assured them that I was fine and I know how busy they both are (they each have seven children) and I didn't want them to bother with me. They, in turn, chided me for keeping secrets. It's great to be loved, isn't it?

Tomorrow we are visiting yet another church. The hunt is on for a church home. We are hoping to find one that our family will fit in with and where the Cross is treasured and valued for what it truly is.

I suppose I could call this a month of treasure hunting because I feel like I am rediscovering my purpose. These weeks of recovery, and yes I am recovering, are certainly helping me to focus on what is and is not important.

That's one more thing to treasure!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Cheap Date

The other night, after depositing Girl at camp, Beloved and I drove home.

In silence.

We'd had some not so great news. Well, it wasn't news, it just wasn't good news. Basically, it was like getting a piece of birthday cake with no frosting. Or movie popcorn without butter. You get the idea.

As we motored along with the flow of traffic we were both buried in our own thoughts.

I glanced sideways at him and he had that, "Someone stole my cookie," look on his face.

I hate it when someone steals his cookie.

Makes me want to punch someone. Hard.

And then bake cookies.

We rode like that for several more moments until I broke the silence with, "I need a burger and a beer".

I don't drink beer.

So, that's what we did. We pulled into a place that looked promising and realized as we entered the front door that we were under-dressed. In Mt. Angel? Seriously? One look at the menu told us there was no beer or burgers, only dinners starting at $18.00.

Dude, I just want a brew.

We exited, feeling reckless and little silly, and drove north.

Once we reached the haven of our own town we swung into McMenamins. Look it up. They've got all sorts of cool places to drink beer and eat burgers. If you are so inclined.

"I think I'll have a glass of IPA and regular burger," I said perusing the menu.

Beloved agreed and only laughed a little bit because I ordered a "glass" and not a "pint" of beer.

"Me no likey beer," I reminded him, it just sounds good.

So there we were, with our tiny glasses of beer (seriously, like kiddie cup size glasses of pale IPA), and our regular burgers (no cheese - too many calories....snicker...) and those wonderful fries. Heaven, I tell you, pure heaven.

And we ate. And we laughed. And we hashed out the disturbing news. And we laughed some more.

And then I had to confess to him that my tiny IPA had made my lips numb.

"Really?" he queried.

And then he laughed and told me he had always loved the fact that I am a cheap date.

And then he smiled and I knew I didn't have to bake cookies. Which is great considering that entire meal was probably worth all my calories for one day.

But hey, whose counting?

Saturday, January 23, 2010

The Exception

On the wall by my desk sits a picture of me and my Beloved on his brother's wedding day. I love it. I love the dress that I was wearing and the pink shirt my honey was wearing. Blonde's look great in pink. I'm just sayin.

I vividly remember that late summer day and how my usually snarky sister-in-law to be, was so nervous that she almost didn't make it down the aisle. Weird that. They were married right here on the farm and I think it kind of irked my dear, sweet mother-in-law that we didn't have a double wedding.

But that was years before SIL and I were truly friends, you know, like we are now.

Those were the days of one upping each other.

Idiot girls

As I sit here, gazing at the photo, I realize that our son is the same age that we were in that photo. Only, he's smarter and single.

When I look at the pictures of my children, that stand nearby, I see people who amaze me. They are both so much more than either me or my husband were at their age.

More focused

Sober... Ahem....

Serious

I've been told by people that we married too young. We did. Maybe, but I guess it's working out.

Others have told me that our marriage is the exception, not the rule.

Does that mean that we've let our children down? We don't yell and scream and throw things. We did, once upon a time, but we outgrew that silliness.

Our marriage isn't perfect, but we're committed, or maybe we should be committed...

I hope that our children have learned to fight through the hard times and that they realize that sometimes, frankly, you are not going to love that person you wake up with (and that's okay as long as you remember that you still like them). I wonder if they'll remember to do kind things for their spouse, especially when they don't feel like it. I hope they remember that there are so many things that are far more important than money.

I hope they smooch in front of their children until their children scream with disgust.

And that they'll leave the kiddies home and go out on a date.

I hope my children will look back at our marriage, long after we are gone, and tell their grandchildren the love story of their great-grandparents.

This squishy blog post is brought to you by three failed marriages that I learned of this week. These shipwrecks burst upon me suddenly and I am saddened.

It hurts my heart, it truly does.

The picture hanging on my wall shows me two very young adults who were crazy about each other. I think I'll hang a more current picture next to it. Just another picture of two middle aged (gulp) adults who are slightly nuts, but are in it for the long haul.

Friday, January 01, 2010

Simply For Review

I've been a bad blogger for the better part of six months. I don't really know why. Sure, I've been busy with work and family, but that usually doesn't slow me down too much. Maybe I've been wrestling with writers block. Perhaps I've wondered why anyone would read this dribble. There's always the amount of time I have spent on Facebook that could help to explain my being MIA.

More than likely it's a combination of all the above.

And here it is New Years day. The year of our Lord, two-thousand and ten. Crazy.

This year I watched my children grow and expand their horizons. I noted, when looking at Boy's senior picture, how much he's changed since he left home. Amazing.

Boy, who is standing behind me, reading over my shoulder, said to tell you that he is "hotter"...

ahem...

Boy has recovered from Mono and bankrupted us by enrolling in school. As I write this he is packing his things, preparing to return to the round house he shares with his roomies. It occurred to me that we may not see him until spring. Then I realized he only lives an hour from here! Duh!

Then there's my Girl. Seventeen, holder of a drivers permit, looks beautiful in a formal, finally understands Algebra, and so content.

She is not here to tell you that she is hotter than two years ago. She wouldn't anyway. She's not the way!

Last night, New Years Eve, Girl and I lay in bed and read Shel Siverstein poems. It struck me that this is a year of big changes for my little girl. She'll graduate from high school. She'll turn eighteen. The world will be her oyster...cept she doesn't like oysters!

One big dream she has is to have Soldier Mommy at her graduation tea. It's a dream I hope will come true.

The rest of the family has grown up too and I so enjoyed some of the cousins being here in August.



It was a year of the visiting friends. Two girlies who make my heart sing. They have both experienced such brutal heartbreak this year that sometimes I wonder how they manage to breath in and out, in and out, in and out.






Of course the Writer was still around, only less frequently because she's a working fool and has little to no time for anything!

My Omi died. Ya'll remember that sad tale from September.

I learned that every single member of my parents family are back stabbing, lying, hurtful individuals, whose company I can afford to live without.

Then God showed me that my family are those they he has brought into my life. Ladies like these below, who accept me for the Idiot Girl that I am.




Girl has good friends too!



And so does Boy!




Beloved is still my Beloved. After twenty-two years he still puts chains on the car and drives out in the nasty, snowy weather to rescue his idiot wife who got stuck on a hill. I promised him that I will never drive in the snow, ever, ever again! Beloved puts up with my ranting and crying and silly talk. He's a keeper I tell ya.

All in all, it's been a good year for friends and cooking and laughing. I'm a blessed Idiot Girl to have all these wonderful people in my life and even though 2009was hard in so many ways, I still think it was a good year.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

It's Hard to be Blue

I took the two days I was supposed to work this week off. I wanted to be here for the boys. I'm so glad I did. I had forgotten what it takes to survive with a three-year-old in the house. Boy am I tired.

Don't get me wrong, he's awesome! He makes me laugh. He helps in the kitchen. He's always busy, busy, busy. He has a stubborn streak a mile wide, but thankfully, that really isn't my problem.

See, I did learn a thing or two from the Wee Girls when they tormented me. It's true, some battles are best left for others to fight.

The fourteen-year-old knows more than anyone...ever. has. at. any. time. in. history.

So, if you have any questions, just send them my way. He's sure to have an answer within a nano second. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that he already knows what you are going to ask! Ha!

My Boy is home and when Game Master mentioned that he'll be able to get his drivers permit in a couple of months, Boy's mouth fell open. He later admitted to me that fifteen seemed a whole lot older when he was fifteen. Funny that. Boy also asked if he was a know it all at the ripe old age of fourteen and I assured him that he was. "It's a stage," I said.

I didn't bother to explain to him that the next stage involves not only knowing everything, but also having a healthy share of arrogance and bravado.


Ya just gotta love young men.

Having all this testosterone in the house is a nice change from only have Girl around. It's louder and messier, that's for sure. But it's also filled with plenty of laughing and teasing.

Good times.

I'd rather have that than silence...which is what has been happening online for the last couple of days. It means that Soldier Mommy is on a mission.

Radio silence

Thinking about her, out there in the sand, doing whatever it is she does, makes my stomach feel all wobbly. I want her home. Now.

With only a couple days until Christmas, I've started baking. I've never baked this late in December, but here we are. There's plenty to do and yes, still shopping to finish, but all in all, it's a grand thing.

I think about the type of baking my Omi did, you know, back in the day. I miss her. Every once in a while I wonder if my mother thinks about me. Or my father. I wonder if Golden Child found a job or if Baby's still drinking.

Not that I plan to ever spend another holiday dinner with any of them, but I wonder.

And even as I sit here, feeling a little blue about it all, there is a little boy with a huge smile staring at me. He's just waking up and every time I look at him he closes his eyes - pretending to sleep.

It's hard to be blue around Mister Smiley.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Good Things

*Boy is home again to continue his recovery.

*I wore a top last night that I haven't been able to fit into. Yay me.

*I've caught up on all my review materials.

*I bit my tongue off instead of telling someone that her husband is a butt head.

*The yard is winter ready.

*My grading and planning are up to date.

*Met nice people at church last night.

*Got a raise!

*Haven't had to deal with any family drama all month.

*Finally figured out why we still live on the farm - see below.



This my friends is a Kyocera tape deck which was manufactured in the 1980's. My beloved is addicted to ancient stereo equipment. When this little beauty became available...well, let's just say there was a near stampede to get to it before it sold.

Sigh.



And here he is checking out his new girlfriend toy. I know he'll never leave me for another woman...unless she has better stereo equipment...

The man is going to nickle and dime me to death.


What good things are happening in your life?

Monday, October 12, 2009

A Few Things I Love

I do love me some Stargate. Yep, it's true. I like my sci-fi, but I like it clean, without a bunch of skin or gore.







I haven't made up my mind about Stargate Universe. Thus far I've only seen the first two episodes. We shall see.

Bath and Body Works. I love this store. Smelly soaps and lotions for everyone in the family. My two favs Midnight Pomegranate Anti-Bacterial hand gel and Lemon Kitchen soap. Delicious!





I know, right? Laughing Cow Lite Cheese and red grapes. Yummy!





And yes, I love going to they gym. I love working out and feeling good about myself. I adore that I have muscles and that I am stronger than I have ever been in my life.



Starbucks, hmmmm. I stopped drinking caffeine and switched to decaf. Now, I've given up decaf which leaves me this:



A tall, light ice, green-tea lemonade equals 100 calories. It's a real treat!

I adore fall. Its crisp wind, brilliant colors, and pumpkins! Makes me want to make pumpkin curry soup.




Season finale was the bomb! I love this show and its realistic and sometimes painful representation of being a fat girl. You know I'm rooting for Jane to be happy with herself, regardless of which dude she ends up with.



No. C22 lipstick. The only lipstick from Sephora that I have ever purchase. The only one I have ever spent $12.00 on. Yes, $12.00 for a LIPSTICK. Crazy, but it was birthday money so I don't feel tooooo bad. I adore this color and think I'll wear it for the rest of my life!



Now, these cartoons always make me laugh or think or whatever. I think they are a lot of fun and just a little bit sarcastic. Kinda like me!



Thus ends this rambling post of things I adore. What do you adore?