Let's Chill...And Tell Husband Stories!!

      I'm not in the mood to complain about the cold, foggy, wet, and freezingly rainy weather!...Or maybe I am!..... No!!...I wanna talk about something that makes me smile! :-) And in order to do that today...considering the fact that I woke up cramping like crazy, freezing cold, and not in a good mood...I have to talk about my hubby. :-) He makes me smile! And he did something this morning that made me smile through all of the bad I just told you about! :-)
       He tried to make me smile by talking about what kind of animal must've left these tracks in the snow in our backyard...
 

      I'm sure his wild 'hunting wolf' story is really just a neighborhood cat out on the prowl! LOL...And, no doubt, there's probably not much to his frozen backyard tundra story either!!...

      I must say though...I think he's right about the bird's soggy food. It probably was all wet! LOL...
 

       Oh Yeah...my hubby has told me a few stories over the years. ^_^ I usually razz him and we end up in a ball of laughter, but this morning...I wasn't in the mood....But did that stop him from talking, or stop him from trying to put me in a good mood?!...Nooooo! :-)
      He decided he would sing! ^_^ He decided to sing  'Sara Smile', by Hall & Oates! ^_^ ...


      ...And it worked!!! ^_^ I am officially now in a good mood!! 

      I think it was the theatrically inspired version he sang, with his fist as the microphone, and his eyes closed...while doing movements as if he were one of Gladys Knight's pips!! LOL...Sorry. I don't have any pictures. I was enjoying it waaaay too much to take pictures!! :-))
      Now I'm in a chilled mood...a chilled good mood! :-) Yeah, there's still freezing rain on the ground. It's still foggy as all get out in the backyard. The snow is still piled high. And the bird's food is still soggy!...But whatever!! I have a reason to smile today, and his name is 'husband'!! :-) I know it's kinda sappy, but would you rather see me talking about this, or be here relating what our last argument was about?!...LOL
      That's what I though!! LOL Have a good day, Y'all!! :-) And kiss a husband or a wife today, will ya! I'm sure they deserve it....for SOMETHING!!! ^_^

Every Day Love Talk

It's  2:30 in the morning.
The alarm goes off right on cue.
He gets up and shaves and showers;
says "Bye Bye Baby. I love you."

Right around noontime
comes a call on his cell phone,
saying: "I was thinking of you.
I can't  wait til I get home."

When his work day ends,
he calls to say he's  leaving the job.
I count the minutes I know it will take
before he's  turning our doorknob.

Then there's  3 pecks on the lips,
and "Hi Baby! How was your day?"
"Dinner will be ready in a little while;"
and before we go to bed, we pray.

We curl up in each other's  arms,
giggle and talk, laying in the moonlight;
and its an "I love you" and "I love you too"
and everything in the world seems right.

Happy Anniversary, My Friend!

    This is a special day for some friends of mine. It's their 10th anniversary...Well, actually, yesterday was their anniversary. But since today is Friday...a good day for a couple of love birds to go on a date! ^_^ ...I chose today for this post. Let's call it the 10th anniversary of 'celebrate' day!! :-)
       Happy Anniversary!!!! :-) ... 10 years is only the beginning of forever!!

      By the way, you are now the new caregivers to my afghan 'baby' blanket too!!! ^_^

      Have a happy anniversary!...Eat something good, find some good music to dance to, giggle a little, hold hands, forget you have kids (just for today!! ^_^), and kiss and hug if you want to...You're married. It's allowed!! ^_^

(Vintage 1930s Art Deco Wedding Band Ring by WickedDarling)

Every Day Love Talk

It's  2:30 in the morning.
The alarm goes off right on cue.
He gets up and shaves and showers;
says "Bye Bye Baby. I love you."

Right around noontime
comes a call on his cell phone,
saying: "I was thinking of you.
I can't  wait til I get home."

When his work day ends,
he calls to say he's  leaving the job.
I count the minutes I know it will take
before he's  turning our doorknob.

Then there's  3 pecks on the lips,
and "Hi Baby! How was your day?"
"Dinner will be ready in a little while;"
and before we go to bed, we pray.

We curl up in each other's  arms,
giggle and talk, laying in the moonlight;
and its an "I love you" and "I love you too"
and everything in the world seems right.

What Did You Think Marriage Would Be Like...Before You Got Married?!

(kayadesign)

        I know that some of you would prefer that I talk about anything other than the sappy love story exploits of me and Mr. Wug that I talk about on occasion around here...Even the weather! But considering that our weather here in Massachusetts consisted of a shallow earthquake (1.4 on the Richter scale) on Monday, rain like crazy today and tomorrow, and snow coming on Thursday....I don't wanna talk about the weather....UGH!!! 

     I wanna talk about what I got to thinking about when I was doing the study for my upcoming meeting on Sunday. The article is on "Wise Counsel On Singleness And Marriage"...I've been both...single and married. ^_^ It started out by saying that 'few aspects of life cause more elation, frustration, or worry than our dealings with the opposite sex'!!...That is sooooo true!

     It got me to thinking back about my wedding day. And about how different my life is now...as a married woman...from what it was like when I was single!...Do you all ever think about that?! How different your life is from what you thought your life would be when you got married?!

      When we tootled down the highway toward our honeymoon in Florida after our 'I Do's, all I remember thinking about was how much fun we were gonna have!...

(FeliceDesign)

        We had planned our whole wedding together. Music, location, food, guests and everything...without a hitch! We had even agreed on who was NOT gonna be at the wedding! :-) All we could see ahead of us was a life...always and forever...of love! ♥    

          Yes...that was 'Our Song'! LOL I even have video of hubby singing it...*giggling*...and one day.....probably when something freezes over...he's gonna let me share it with you! ^_^ Don't hold your breath on that one though...But trust me when I tell you...hubby singing 'always and forever' in his completely loud and toned-deaf way is the gift that keeps on giving all these years later!! ^_^
     As I was saying...as we tootled down that highway, him in his white tuxedo, and me in my white wedding dress with pink rollers in my hair by nightfall, we were two love-sick, unrealistic nuts, whose marital expectations needed some adjustment! ^_^ We had a dream...no! not like Martin Luther King ^_^...but, a dream that our marriage was going to be extraordinary, unlike any people who had ever been in love before!
     After all...we had married our best friends...

(FayesAttic11)

        Talk of potential trouble or problems arising were the furthest things from our minds!...Unrealistic Nuts! ^_^ ...The reality of our finances, and how different we were in the way we thought about things, became pretty clear almost as soon as we got home from the honeymoon though...We had to eat biscuits and syrup for about two weeks because we had spent every penny we had on the wedding and honeymoon!!

     And while I was ready for us to die in each other's arms from starvation if we had to...as long as we were together! ^_^...hubby was ready to work three jobs, around the clock if need be, so we could have some money and never get in this predicament ever again!!!...See what I mean?! ^_^

      We've been pretty happily married for almost thirty years now, so clearly we've learned a few things about how to squelch some of that fanciful expectation! But it sure would've been a lot easier if we had asked a few more questions than we did back in the beginning of our relationship! :-)

     Questions like...

--Do you want to live in an apartment or do you really need to own a home?! There were arguments for and against both answers!...I have to say, I really liked the idea of apartment living where someone else rakes leaves in the Fall, removes snow in the winter, and repairs everything in the house without sending you a bill!!...Hubby grew up in a family owned home and couldn't imagine not living in his own house!

--Are you a money saver or a money spender?!...Again, there's arguments for both sides. I'm the saver in our house, but I'm not a penny-pincher either...Hubby once bought a small piece of Kobe beef from the grocery store that cost almost $40.oo and never noticed!! He just paid for it and came home! When I asked him why the amount was so high he said he didn't know! O_O...My dad still teases him to this day about that! He invites himself over for dinner on occasion by leading with: "When am I gonna get one of those $40.00 beef meals you're so crazy about buying?!" LOL

--What are we gonna do for leisure time?!...Play cards, go out to dinner two or three times a week?...Fly to France for wine and cheese?! ^_^ Hubby and I have worked this one out pretty well!

--Where will we live?!...In the city where everything is at our fingertips and open all night, or in the country, where the air is fresh and clean and we can see the stars in the night sky?...We've done both at different times in our lives...and love both! :-)

--How often are we gonna visit the in-laws?!...Uhhhh...this one is still an on-going conversation all the time!!...I remember an 'Everybody Loves Raymond' episode where they were talking about where to buy a house. Deborah...which is my namesake! ^_^...and Ray decided the same as hubby and I did...We wanted to live close enough to the relatives that they'd have to get in the car and travel to come and visit, but not so far away that once they got there it would have to be an overnight stay! LOL {By the way, if you've never seen 'Everybody Loves Raymond' look HERE and HERE. LOL}

--How will we discipline the children...if we have any?...which we decided not to...Good thing too because we would definitely have been on two polar opposite sides of that debate!...We had a hint of it when both of our young sisters stayed with us one weekend and they got into the dumpster out back after we told them not to!...Hubby ended up crying more than his sister, who he was suppose to be giving a spanking! LOL

--Would overnight trips, like to ball games and girl getaways, without each other be allowed?!...We never had any issues with this one. We've always spent so much time together anyway that a little trip with the girls or the fellas was never an issue. :-] We're only talking a couple of days here though. More than that might have been an issue!

--Can we have friends of the opposite sex?...No!!!! Not unless they were both of our friends...and never with the 'friend' spending time alone with the other spouse!...We drew our marital line right there! And say what you want...we're still happily together! :-) And we've seen some really 'wonky' stuff done by so-called 'friends'!!

      There are other questions that we should've asked. Ones waaay more personal than these...but I'm NOT gonna into that with you!! No! ^_^ But...let's just say....we're good! :-] 

     Our marriage has grown up...right along with us. And except for some occasional snoring and C-Pap machine issues...

(tastesorangey)

       ...and some non-sleeping, and some doing-anything-at-night-to-distract-myself-into-a-sleep-coma...

       (VinylWallAccents)

          ...we've worked out most of the problems that would give younger married couples trouble.

      Long story short....No! marriage is not what I thought it would be like when we first got married. Truth is...no marriage could be! ^_^ But what it is...

--kissing each other goodbye, even when we're just going to the store; 

--kissing hello when we get back;

--talking to each other and giggling about aches and pains in the dark before we fall asleep every night;

--fighting over what the other one has in his candy 'stash box';

--singing songs and dancing off key and while sitting in one spot; 

--having to be touching...even when we're just reading to ourselves while next to each other; 

--and phone calls just to say "I Love You"...just in case anything happens to the other one...You know...you might get hit by a car or something! LOL...

         ...is pretty great! :-)

(CharmsMaker)

       So what if love is not all 'giddy-giddy' like it used to be...We're good with that!...Nowadays love is just something that we do! :-)

Every Day Love Talk

It's  2:30 in the morning.
The alarm goes off right on cue.
He gets up and shaves and showers;
says "Bye Bye Baby. I love you."

Right around noontime
comes a call on his cell phone,
saying: "I was thinking of you.
I can't  wait til I get home."

When his work day ends,
he calls to say he's  leaving the job.
I count the minutes I know it will take
before he's  turning our doorknob.

Then there's  3 pecks on the lips,
and "Hi Baby! How was your day?"
"Dinner will be ready in a little while;"
and before we go to bed, we pray.

We curl up in each other's  arms,
giggle and talk, laying in the moonlight;
and its an "I love you" and "I love you too"
and everything in the world seems right.

When You Have A Lot Of Extra Time On Your Hands....?!

      So....like....it was Saturday. And I was in a pretty good mood after a really good night's sleep. {A whole 8 hours y'all!!! I NEVER get that!!} All of my studying was done. Hubby was home too, after all his day's errands were done. Hmmm.....what to do?!
     Well, I don't know what you do when you're rested, just hanging around the house with your sweetie, and you have nothing to do. But me?! I crochet...{started two new hats for the shop. Red and black}.
      I talk. {The two videos below are proof of that! LOL}...and I cook and eat!! :-)
     What do I cook and eat?! Ummmmm....anything I have a mind to!! What I 'wanted' to make yesterday was the Galette that I was talking about the other day, the recipe from the Country Living magazine. But the ingredients weren't in the house...the almonds were missing. So I did an old Country girl 'jimmy-it-up' recipe! ^_^
     I had a store bought peach pie here in the house...Flat. No real flavor. An 'in-a-pinch-it'll-do' kinda pie.  But I was in a pinch, and it 'wasn't' gonna do!! :-)) So this is what I did...I cut up three Granny Smith apples...one of the best apples on the planet for making delicious apple pies (in my old Southern girl opinion!). 
    There is a time and a place for a 'golden delicious' or a 'Macintosh'...but it ain't in my pies!! LOL {As a side note: A 'Cortland' apple works great too! In fact it works even better...taste-wise...if you're just looking for a good-tasting 'eat-it-right-now' type apple!}
    I digress!...LOL Anyway.....I cut and sliced the apples into a small bowl, added about 1/4 of a cup of sugar and some cinnamon. A lot of cinnamon! And let it sit off to the side and 'marinate' sorta. (That's what the header photo is...marinating apple and cinnamon. Can't you see it?! ^_^)

      When they were all done 'marinating' I took the store bought peach pie, threw it into my apple mixture, and broke it all up and mixed it...That was F-U-N!!!! :-)) Then I got out one of my big casserole dishes and mashed the mixture all down into the bottom of it.

      I know...it looks a mess! ^_^ But trust me. It works! I've done this before with all kinds of mixtures of fruit. I've even added cooked oatmeal to the mixture. Don't knock it till you've tried it! LOL

     Once it was all done I put it into a 425 degree oven (you can do this at different temperatures, depending on whether you want it to be firm and pie-like at the end, or like a topping for ice cream or something...I did the latter. For the firmer version just lower the temperature and cook it slower and longer.)
     I cooked it for about 20 minutes or so. When I took it out of the oven I put about a pat or so of butter in the dish and stirred it all up. It may not look like much, but let me tell you!...

       ...it was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!!! It had hot peaches and apples all swirling through it, and softened pie crust too! It was sorta like a dumpling mixture. But guess what?! It was still kinda sad looking. :-( So I had to do something about that!!

        I mean...I can't let all this goodness just sit here lonely...right?! ^_^ ...Enter pure vanilla bean ice cream!!!

      Pure vanilla bean ice cream in a separate dish right next to my peach/apple recycled dumpling pie smash!! ^_^ Yes! A separate dish!! That's how I roll!!! I hate seeing my hot pie swimming in milk....YUCK! I like to just put a spoon of ice cream in at a time, and when that section is gone....then add another spoon!

       Am I all by myself on this?!....Oh well. It won't be the first time!! LOL
    If you've done this kind of thing before, let me know. I don't know when the first time was that I 'jimmied-up' some dessert, but I haven't had it end badly but one time. ^_^ That time  was the cherries jubilee puff pastry 'thing-a-ma-bob' that I wouldn't even eat afterward!!!...But hubby did!...He's my own little handsome garbage disposal! LOL
     I've put blueberries and all kinds of fruit, oatmeal and all kinds of store bought 'wasn't-working-for-me' pies and tortes together! Once they come out of the other side of my kitchen....delicious!!! ^_^ You can blame this on my mother and my first 'Easy Bake Oven'...just saying! LOL
    And by the way, hubby does the same thing in the kitchen, but not with desserts. His is usually with eggs and cheese and meats of all kinds. And sometimes....O_0...Well, we won't get into that! LOL 
      But this morning he made a delicious breakfast! It was so good that it put me in a talkative mood! I'll leave you with that conversation in these two videos! LOL {They're videos, but not really. They're just for your listening pleasure! ^_^ Or at least, we hope it's a pleasure! LOL}

And just so you know what I mean...^_^

     I'm afraid to admit it, but this is just every day talk around our house!! LOL What can I say?! It keeps a creative mind 'hopping' having someone who listens to your nonsense!! ^_^ Along those lines, forgive me just this once for the sappy poem, okay!

 Every Day Love Talk

It's  2:30 in the morning.
The alarm goes off right on cue.
He gets up and shaves and showers;
says "Bye Bye Baby. I love you."

Right around noontime
comes a call on his cell phone,
saying: "I was thinking of you.
I can't  wait til I get home."

When his work day ends,
he calls to say he's  leaving the job.
I count the minutes I know it will take
before he's  turning our doorknob.

Then there's  3 pecks on the lips,
and "Hi Baby! How was your day?"
"Dinner will be ready in a little while;"
and before we go to bed, we pray.

We curl up in each other's  arms,
giggle and talk, laying in the moonlight;
and its an "I love you" and "I love you too"
and everything in the world seems right.

See! Sun Does Know Where Massachusetts Is!!

    Just a few shots of the backyard...with some sun in it! So you see...the sunshine DOES know where Massachusetts is...It just isn't all that keen on visiting us early in the morning that much right now! :-] But even though it's only a little...

     ...and the shade is trying it's best to hide it...

    ...It's out there, beyond the tree-line. "HELLO SUN!!  I SEE YOU!!" :-)

     Does it sound like the darkness until after 7:00 in the morning, and then it's return before 5:00 in the evening, is getting to me a little bit?!....Well, YOU"RE RIGHT!!! LOL But whatever!! I've got to just put my head down, stare at a crochet project or something, and pretend I don't notice! I mean, I DO have things to do besides sit here and stare out the window...Don't I?! ^_^
   Part of my problem today is that hubby is home! His being here makes me want to do nothing but chatter on (about nothing in particular)...and eat! :-) Is that a good thing...or a bad thing?! Come on!! Wouldn't you take advantage of it if you had a 6 foot man in your house, cooking sausage and eggs for breakfast, and doing dishes too?!! :-)
   Thankfully, he's got some other things on his schedule for later, so I'll be able to do some things on mine too! {I don't like to be crocheting or messing around too much on the computer when he's here trying to talk to me. Seems kind of disrespectful to him or something.}I want him to know how thankful I am to have him around. {Okay! Okay!....A little TOO much sap for this time of the day!! LOL} 
    I'm thankful to someone else today too. Natalie of NatCraftsandPhotos. She included my "Baby Bird's Words..." book of poetry ...

      ...in her new Etsy Treasury of 'A few of her Favorite things'! 

   There's a lot of really cool items in this treasury, including a blanket she made! Please follow the link over and check out the shops if you have a few minutes.
   Okay, lazy-bones...ME...is going to go and try to get something productive done...now that I'm full of sausage and eggs...and conversation! :-)) What are you doing on this fine Monday?! Are you chit chatting the day away with your family too?! ^_^


Every Day Love Talk

It's  2:30 in the morning.
The alarm goes off right on cue.
He gets up and shaves and showers;
says "Bye Bye Baby. I love you."

Right around noontime
comes a call on his cell phone,
saying: "I was thinking of you.
I can't  wait til I get home."

When his work day ends,
he calls to say he's  leaving the job.
I count the minutes I know it will take
before he's  turning our doorknob.

Then there's  3 pecks on the lips,
and "Hi Baby! How was your day?"
"Dinner will be ready in a little while;"
and before we go to bed, we pray.

We curl up in each other's  arms,
giggle and talk, laying in the moonlight;
and its an "I love you" and "I love you too"
and everything in the world seems right.

Communicating with words

My backyard, after a hard rain yesterday, is communicating that all is well.

  Thankfully, the hail we were expecting to get...we didn't! If we had, I might have had some disturbing communication to show you...I know you're wondering why I'm playing around with the word "communication" today. The reason is because I got a chance to hear a symposium yesterday on the communication of family members. Husbands with wives, wives with husbands, children with their parents, and parents with their teenagers. It was so good!! It got me to thinking about hubby and me and whether we would be considered good communicators.
   Google's definition for "communicate" included 1.) to transmit information...I do that with hubby all the time! "Please put that back where you got it", The garbage bag needs changing", "I don't think you should wear those colors together...especially not with those shoes!"
   And number 2.) to transmit thoughts or feelings...I do this all the time too, but this one is much trickier!
   The speaker giving the symposium gave an example of how husbands and wives sometimes communicate. I'll give you the gist of what he said. He said: 'A husband is 2 hours late getting home from work. His wife has been waiting for him, with dinner buzzers and children "going off!!" He saunters in the door and yells, with a big smile, "I'm home!" He expects everybody to be happy about this, but instead his wife says: "Where have you been? Johnny needs help with his homework, your dinner is on the stove, and the dog needs to go for a walk. I'm going to take a nap. It's your turn to handle some of the things around here!!!"
  The speaker then proceeded to show how the communication could have been better on both sides. He said: The husband sees that he's not going to finish his work project on time, so he calls his wife to apologize and to let her know that he's going to be a couple of hours late. She thanks him for calling and asks if he wants her to wait dinner for the two of them, so that they can be able to eat together. He says what a nice idea. She proceeds to feed the kids, walk the dog, and help Johnny with his homework. He finally gets home. She meets him at the door and says: "You must be tired." Once again he apologizes, tells her that he'll go and take the garbage out after he gets the kids all ready for bed. She thanks him and goes off to take a nap while she waits for their late night dinner together.
  Obviously the 2nd communication was much better...Oh if only things would go that smoothly all the time!!! For hubby and I it's a lot different after 28 years of marriage,...actually 32 years all together! I remember those early years of communicating...at a decibel of sound that only dogs could probably hear! LOL Oh Yea, we were "communicating" all over the place!! And usually not about anything good! We fought over time we weren't spending together, people we were jealous over, and food...we fought over food a lot! (Who was taking the most and who was not being fair to whom about exactly how much the other one had! WOW!) *Shaking my head*...Let's face it, there was not much "communicating" going on there. But there was a lot of transmitting of information....USELESS information!
  I also remember times of me crying about him forgetting our anniversary, him being irate because I destroyed his shirt or something in the wash, me going on for what seemed like hours about my ignored feelings...while he sat looking at the floor in total silence! UGH!!!! Then I would say at the top of my voice: "Say something!" And he inevitably would make the statement that was like throwing gasoline on a lit fire..."What do you WANT me to say?!" It's a wonder he's actually still alive!
  Thankfully, after a few storms (Like in the backyard) and some growing up, our communication became MUCH better...and it became more like loving friends. We talk all the time now. We're still just as passionate about our points of view, but our speech is softer, more thoughtful. We're more aware of the fact that we don't want to win an argument, we want to keep a friend. I think that our level of respect about the fact that we each are entitled to our own opinion, no matter what the other one thinks of it, has been what's made the most difference...Besides the fact that we both have to answer to a higher source than ourselves for the way we behave and "communicate." Now that's something to talk about!

Every Day Love Talk

It's  2:30 in the morning.
The alarm goes off right on cue.
He gets up and shaves and showers;
says "Bye Bye Baby. I love you."

Right around noontime
comes a call on his cell phone,
saying: "I was thinking of you.
I can't  wait til I get home."

When his work day has ended,
he calls to say he's  leaving the job.
I count the minutes I know it will take
before he's turning our doorknob.

Then there's 3 pecks on the lips,
and "Hi Baby! How was your day?"
"Dinner will be ready in a little while;"
and before we go to bed, we pray.

We curl up in each others  arms,
giggle and talk, laying in the moonlight;
and its an "I love you" and "I love you too"
and everything in the world seems right.

 

Every day...!

  I woke up in a really good mood yesterday! Even though my body was feeling like it had been hit by a train...which it always does anyway! I was looking forward to the full-blown sunshine and some good times! And while all around there were signs of summer...

  ...there was a kind of creeping gloom that you could feel in the air. You can see it in this pool picture...Yeah Water! But is that a dark cloud?!...Nah!

  Well, I was wrong! It was a dark cloud! All of a sudden it was pouring rain!!! Wish I had pictures of it, but I was in such a state of disbelief about it that I wasn't even thinking about taking pictures until it was gone!!! :-) Eh! Whatever! Rain just means guilt-free crochet time, more tennis watching,...and basketball too yesterday. (Congratulations to the  Lakers!)
   Besides watching the basketball game with me, hubby kept himself busy too...before the rain hit I mean. He had some leftover wood outside that couldn't just stay a pile of wood! It had to become, or be made to become, something useful.

  Okaaaaay! Now....what are we going to do with it?! "Put it next to the bed!" he said. "Sure honey! Good idea!" :-)) He supports my creativity....I support his!.......Even with my words!

Every Day Love Talk

It's  2:30 in the morning.
The alarm goes off right on cue.
He gets up and shaves and showers;
says "Bye Bye Baby. I love you."

Right around noontime
comes a call on his cell phone,
saying: "I was thinking of you.
I can't  wait til I get home."

When his work day has ended,
he calls to say he's  leaving the job.
I count the minutes I know it will take
before he's  turning our doorknob.

Then there's  3 pecks on the lips,
and "Hi Baby! How was your day?"
"Dinner will be ready in a little while;"
and before we go to bed, we pray.

We curl up in each other's  arms,
giggle and talk, laying in the moonlight;
and its an "I love you" and "I love you too"
and everything in the world seems right.