Tony (yesterday): Do you know what you want to do tomorrow at the fair?
Me: Yes!! I made a LIST!!
He thinks my lists are cute…
Category Archives: Best Husband
Wordless Weekend!
Filed under Best Husband, Wordless (mostly) Post
Pair of Perfect Weekends.
Old Miner’s Day Parade was occurring the weekend we went to the mountains two weeks ago, but we didn’t know about until it was happening. We heard the military jets fly over to kick it off and we saw remnants of it afterwards as we walked through town. But we were enjoying our delicious “regular” breakfasts while it was parading through town. Everybody loves a parade, they say, but I think it’s safe to say that we love our breakfasts more! Priorities!
Tony’s…
Mine…
… and we both had enough leftovers for 3 or 4 breakfasts during the week. Nothing like having a tangible reminder of one of our favorite restaurants (and people) for a week after the original meal.
The tiny carnival was in town, too, and we strolled through the local vendors mixed in with the “carnies.” Tony visited the vendor who was popping and bagging kettle corn, and I visited the vendor who was selling shave ice. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it really was shave ice, and it neared the quality found in Hawaii and wasn’t that snow cone stuff. (What’s the difference? See here: Link)
We also saw llamas, people fishing, baby ducklings following their momma in the lake, people camping, speed boating and hiking with their dogs.
We stopped and visited the donkey, who was really interested in me until she discovered I had no treats for her!
She came trotting up to me…
She waited for me while I went to the car, and then came back…
Look how sad she is because I have no treats…
How bewildered I am…
We BBQ’d hamburgers and toasted marshmallows, had popcorn and watched movies on DVD. Oh, and took naps in the afternoon and had a nice, relaxing bath in the evening when the temperature cooled off.
(Sorry, Photobucket is being weird about these photos… you’ll just have to tilt your head…)
This weekend we headed down to Sea World, the planned highlight being Breakfast with Shamu. We were so excited when they brought back the Dining with Shamu experiences a couple months ago!
We left the rest of the day unplanned and spontaneously had our picture taken with Sea World characters (Shamu, Polar Bear, the Penguins and Sea Turtle).
We also happened to be walking by the Dolphin Show and the Pets Rule show just as they were starting and managed to score really good seats.
Dolphin finale…
Cat on high wire. Must be some good treats at the other end!
Doggy jumping rope in tandem with human…
While in the dolphin show, the sun suddenly burst through the clouds, which heated up the stadium immediately. We both spotted a vendor offering lemonade that was so cold it had beads of sweat falling off the cups, we looked at each other and were all, “LEMONADE!” Which is where we bought our companions for the day — The Psychedelic Dolphins!
They walked around with us the rest of the day, they drove home in our cup holder with us, and when Tony went to a movie that evening, I sent him a picture message of them with text that said, “You left your friends behind! They miss you!”
This morning, we had an unexpected rain storm. It was chore day, so I was up and at ’em early, but when it started raining, I went upstairs and crawled back into bed, into my husband’s arms, pulled the covers up to my chin, and listened to the rain as he snoozed waiting for his alarm.
It’s moments like that, and experiences like these, that make weekends perfect. I hope yours was, too.
Filed under Best Husband, I did something Special, I Left Home for Awhile
Glad That’s Over!
It’s been quite the week around here.
The heat wave we have every summer has hit in full force. Especially in our area, since we’re up near a mountain, inland, we seem to have more extreme weather than those who live more coastal. Trying to get the get the heat out of the house at night always seems to be a bit of a challenge, especially since all of our bedrooms are upstairs.
Tony’s been in and out of the dentist chair this week. He has slowly, as budget permits, been taking care of his teeth. Getting fillings replaced, and if they’re too deep, getting crowns put on. Our dentist’s office has been working with him, allowing him to make partial payments as the work goes along. Despite the insurance coverage we have, which we’ve been told is really good, co-payments for dental work beyond the basic stuff is still very expensive.
One of the nights this week, he was hit with pain that kept him awake all night in misery. We thought it may be due to having kept his temporary crown on too long while we waited for money to catch up with treatment. So, he went in the next day and had the permanent crown put on. The next day, the pain returned. He found himself in the specialist’s chair on Friday having a root canal done on the tooth above the newly crowned tooth. A tooth he’d had a crown put on but a month or two ago.
I’m always amazed how such small parts of our bodies (a tooth, a toe, a finger) can cause such life altering pain. He seems to be feeling better, based on his activity level yesterday… he helped a friend move. You have to be feeling good to do that, right?
As a bonus, one of the places that his friend needed to go for furniture was up to the mountains. A block away from the Grizzly Manor. Which meant that, as a surprise (I didn’t know they were going up there, neither did Tony, actually), Tony brought me my favorite breakfast — The Mess. I was (and am) happy about that!
On Friday night, we spontaneously participated in Chick-Fil-A’s “Dress Like a Cow, Get Free Food” promotion. We were just sitting at home, talking. Tony’s pain meds had finally worn off and he said, all sad, “Today was Chick-Fil-A’s Cow Appreciation Day.” He looked at me, I looked at him. He goes, “They don’t close until 10pm…” We hopped online and printed off some cow disguises and off we went. I figured the fact that I was wearing my jammies in public (so classy of me, although in my defense they ARE Jack jammies, and those are pretty cool!) would be hidden by the cow disguise!
Sure we had people laughing at us in the parking lot, but we got a free meal out of the whole thing — and they didn’t, because they didn’t dress up. Plus it made us laugh after a bit of a crazy week!
Filed under Best Husband, Life Encompasses Me
Idyllic.
Minutes ago, our black and white kitty sat perched on my lap, purring loudly in response to a brushing that two nights ago I had promised him I would give him “sometime this weekend.” I have no confidence that he knew what I said, but I do know that he looks forward to brushing sessions like a boat riding seasick person does to seeing land. Head turning, eyes searching for what he desires when someone walks past the drawer where the brush is held.
As our cat looks forward to his brushings, I look forward to my hour long swims on the weekend under the early morning sun. Yesterday morning and this morning, I arose early and made my way to our community pool in the hopes that I would beat the crowds of neighbors seeking cheap “Marco Polo” type holiday weekend entertainment. I win some, I lose some. Yesterday, I lost. Today, I won.
In the afternoon yesterday, when the heat became overbearing, we headed to our local mall and walked hand-in-hand with each other through a few of the stores (air conditioning!). We headed to the frozen yogurt place and joined the throngs of people waiting in line for our chance at the cold treat, eating hurriedly to minimize the melting and dripping. The perfect excuse to eat fast!
Satisfied with ourselves, we headed home via the Duck Park route. We noted a group of fowls gathered near the sidewalk. As we drew near, we noted that someone had spread a great amount of seeded bird food there. Although the location of the food was less than ideal given its proximity to the road, we were thankful for it because we had no bread or food for them, since it was a spontaneous drive by.
Other small events lent the weekend a sense of ease and leisure, although it’s not — not really. We’ve been doing chores and normal weekend stuff, but the pervasive feeling of the holiday is here. Of just having an extra day that’s our own to enjoy with each other. Of freedom.
I feel like our kitty getting brushed — happy, content, long-awaited desire met for extra time at home. It’s good.
Happy 4th of July.
Filed under Best Husband, Entertainment can be Cheap, Who I am
Blogabilities – Week of 06/26/2011
* I’m ever thankful for a husband who notices small details. As a very tiny example (because there are far too many wonderful things that man does, way too many to list), when I buy the “personal-sized” watermelons at Costco, they come in a mesh bag of 2 that I hang on the corner cabinet in the kitchen. One day recently I came home and set groceries down and went back out to my car for more. I came back inside and most everything had been put away, including the watermelons hung just the way I usually do. I stared at them for a second and wondered if I had done that, but I smiled as I realized that I hadn’t, he had. He knew how I liked it. He’s always been that way… and I’m so blessed.
* I very much dislike bad marketing pictures. In fact, I’m making this a new blog category. Walking through Walmart, I saw this guy on a box for a floatie tube thing for the pool. It scared me so bad I took a picture (isn’t that what everyone does)? Then for the next two days until I cleared off my camera’s SD card, if I reviewed pictures I’d shriek and yell, “AHHHH, SCARY TUBE GUY!” And my husband would say, “Huh?” And then laugh at me.
* You may remember when my friend, Grace, had her baby … FIVE YEARS AGO. How does this happen, five years? She had a birthday party this past weekend, and I watched as Mia (her daughter) laughed and played with her friends, smiled and interacted with everyone at her party, and did crafts… and she starts school this year. I’m so baffled. From a tiny baby who stared you down with an “I dare you to make a fool of yourself!” look on her face came forth this happy, skipping child with a beautiful, engaging smile who loves dresses, Awana, Octonauts, Disneyland, princesses and (weirdly) snails. Mind boggling. Where did the time go?
* This very same friend (Grace) bought ME a gift and gave it to me at her daughter’s party. I’m not sure if this is a blessing or not, actually, because it’s a gift of the consumable nature. When she gives me these types of gifts, they’re usually highly addicting. This gift was organic/decaf corn tea. Sounds kind of weird, but it has, in just a few short days, become my new favorite warm drink. Over hot chocolate, even.
* I got a notice in the mail from my mortgage company. Worried, because I don’t like getting anything in the mail which departs from the regular mailing schedule from companies who collect money from me, I ripped it open. Happily, I discovered that they’re notifying me that my ARM is going down and I will be paying a tiny bit less each month to my mortgage company starting September. In times when money is so tight in our household, everywhere really, every little bit helps!
* The perks of having a small car… I can park all cockamamied in my parking spot to maximize tree shade and still be inside the lines of my parking spot. Bonus? No one can figure out how to park next to me without being all crooked, too.
* The pool bunnies are back. Since I’ve been swimming in the community pool again, I’ve been looking for them, waiting for them. I was thrilled (THRILLED!) to see one hop out and start grazing on the grass one evening this week. Pool bunnies are the best!
* S’mores cookies. Do you really need me to say more?
Filed under Best Husband, Blogabilities, I have Friends, I Judge Bad Marketing
Blogabilities – Week of 06/19/2011
* Me: I love your version of Rice Krispie treats. They’re so good and not as sweet as the store bought ones. I think everyone else must add extra sugar.
Him: Probably. I’m glad you like them.
Me: They’re mostly healthy, I think, you use less marshmallows than the recipe calls for… although there is a lot of butter in them.
Him: Yeah, but the butter cooks out.
Me: Stares at him with raised eyebrows. He’s totally serious.
Me: No. That’s liquor that cooks out.
Him: Oh. You’re right.
* This here is the primary reason I go to work on Fridays and get there by 8am. Also, you know, the whole “Building the Money Hump” thing. Oh, and to interact with all my charming co-workers. But mostly, this.
Croissant filled with scrambled eggs…
Fresh fruit…
* I know they’re lying to me, when I’m at the bottom of my FB feed and it says, “There are no more posts to show right now.” Liars! Liars!
* Based on traffic patterns this week, it appears that a lot of people have taken this week off from work. Good for them, good for me! Less traffic in my way cuts 10 minutes off of my commute. Such a treat!
* I’m not terribly thrilled that my boss is going on another 2 week travel trip, starting tomorrow. (sigh) I’m really praying that this trip will go more smoothly for him than the last one. The reality of it is that it matters not how much preparation one does in advance, because wacky weather and unattended packages left in airports can throw it all off.
* Because I’ve been swimming laps outside in our community pool, I’ve not been going to the gym to swim or attending my weekly aquatic aerobic class. My instructor for the class emailed me a couple nights ago to tell me how much she missed me. Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever?
* Outside the kitchen/break room window at work there are several jacaranda trees where a group of crows like to hang out. I love watching them hop around in the tree, fly from tree to tree, or when they sit up there and groom themselves. On an occasion last week, the gardeners were testing the sprinklers and there was one crow who flew down and hopped through the sprinklers like a 5 year old kid on a hot summer day. He hopped and flew through several of them, even found some puddles to splash through, and then went so far as to stick his face in the sprinkler itself. That bird was so wet and so very happy with himself. It made me happy to watch him being happy.
Crow in a jacaranda tree…
Kind of difficult to see him since he’s in the shade of the tree…
Filed under Best Husband, Blogabilities, Money Hump Building
Blogabilities – Week of 06/05/2011
* My right ear has been weirdly blocked for last couple of days. I mean, I can hear from it, I don’t have any pain, but when I chew anything — apples, gum, nuts — it sounds like I’m living in a drum. Even scratching my head makes it all echo-like in there. I’d say it’s like having water in my ear, but it’s not. *grunt* Very hard to describe and very weird. Hoping it goes away soon. I’m thinking it may be related to allergies, since my eyes have been really irritated lately, too.
* My boss is back in the office. The one who has the strange stuff happen to him when he travels. But not without a last hurrah of weirdness. So his travel day went well, his flights were even early. His flight landed and he was informed that the airport shut down minutes after his flight was on the ground, as well as all the freeways surrounding the airport (where my boss’ ride was), due to a suspicious unclaimed package. So, he sat on the tarmac for an hour, then they moved him and his fellow passengers, and everyone in the airport, into a quarantine area. For FIVE hours. The bomb squad finally blasted the package with high-powered water and then the package was deemed “harmless.” Apparently, some dude had forgotten to claim his harmless package and offered apologies. No arrests were made.
* My husband followed me home in his car from an outing this past weekend and told me that one of my brake lights was out. So he took that part of my car apart (and cleaned any remaining cat barf from the inside of my brake lens) and we headed off to Walmart to buy the appropriate replacement light. That little outing then turned into a spontaneous journey of getting paperwork from his doctor, then picking up a late lunch, eating that lunch at the local duck park, going to the grocery store to buy a cheap loaf of bread to feed the ducks at the duck park, and then back home again to fix my brake light. It was a beautiful day for spontaneous time spent with my husband… and ducks.
* While we were at the duck park we witnessed an inter-family fight. There was this whole family of people there, and two of the women and one of the men got into a physical fight. It was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen. It consisted of a lot of hair pulling (so cliche) and jewelry pulling and clothing pulling with a couple of attempted slap swipes, a pathetic attempted choke hold by one of the women, and then everyone marched to the car, crying, got in together and the main woman who seemed to have started the fight was the driver, and she drove away all wild and swervily with all those people in her SUV. Maybe it’s because we’d just seen the new X-men movie, or because one of our neighbors is a recently retired UFC fighter whose fights I’ve watched (ouch!), but I kept saying to Tony, “Should I call the police? Is that really a fight?” Word of advice: It’s always best to talk things through like adults, but — really — if you feel the need to make a spectacle of yourself at the local family duck park, at least learn how to properly fight. Because you NEVER know. Someone like me could be sitting there eating my lunch and totally judging your fighting abilities. And then blogging about it later.
* One of my favorite performers, Shania Twain, is coming back to the stage in December 2012. I’m so excited! I’ve been watching her show, “Why not?” on OWN, and while much of it is frustrating and seemingly repetitive, I also know that’s the best way to work through the heavy emotional stuff. Especially if the heavy emotional stuff has never been worked through before.
* My new printer arrived a week or so ago. I finally took the time to install the software this past weekend and I’m building a relationship with it. So far, it’s meeting and exceeding my expectations, although there are still a few functions I need to test out. It’s definitely not a trial sized printer and it LOOKS like it means business. There were stickers on the side of its box pronouncing it to be a “team lift” project. Hopefully the UPS guy had a helper to lift it. ha
* When we go to the movies, sometimes I like to get a soft pretzel but I really dislike salt on it. I’m a mustard girl. After the movie, I was surprised to note that they had given me the salt packet separately. I know I’ve always been curious what’s in my pretzel salt, so I thought you might be, too. Let the mystery now be solved…
Blogabilities – Week of 05/15/2011
* Remember the cat barf on my car I mentioned a couple weeks ago? i wasn’t sure how the barfer could top getting barf down in my gas filler area, but I am now able to tell you. For Friday the 13th last week, the Barfer barfed on the side mirror… and my hood, but the side mirror is the one that mystifies me. Trying to figure that one out… like, if it were bird crap, I could totally understand how it happened, but a cat? Mystifying.
* Also, on Friday the 13th, the coffee maker at work went out. Our Facilities Manager created this sign for the occasion and vehemently denied it being a Friday the 13th gag. I finally believed him when I saw the coffee machine fixing man out on Monday working on it.
* Did you know there are people whose job it is to go around to companies and restock their first aid kits with band-aids and Tylenols? I sure didn’t, at least not until I saw some dude in a uniform restocking ours at work. I’m still pondering what the guy puts on his resume as his official title. Also, what his qualifications have to be and how would one go about landing that kind of gig?
* Given my love for watermelon, and all melons in general, I have to say this story made me really, really sad.
* The owner of a company who partners with my company told someone pretty high up at my company that I am one of the nicest, most helpful people he’s ever worked with. He phrased the compliment in such a way that it sounded like he’s worked with me for years, although he hasn’t. Just goes to show that things do go through the grapevine, both good and bad. I’m glad this one was good.
* LivingSocial.com offered a deal with Fandango, 2 movie tickets for $9. Of course, I was all over that! We’re presently scheduled to see the new Pirates movie on Saturday morning and I can’t wait! Per Tony’s Movie Rules of Conduct, if the movie we’re going to see is a series, we have to watch all previous movies prior to seeing the new one… so, we’ve been watching all the previous Pirate movies this week. It’s a good thing I’ve been in a movie mood lately.
* Update on the washing machine fix… Tony determined that the broken part was actually a $30 part that we could buy at Sears. Once it was in, tested, and proven to be working, I called the company from whom I had ordered the $100 Brain/timer and asked to return it. In the course of the conversation, they learned that the part had actually been delivered slightly damaged. I told her it wouldn’t affect the operation at all, it’s just one of the four clips that hold it in place, the other three are just fine. She said not to worry, just go ahead and discard the part (umm, right, that will be happening) since they can’t sell it damaged and she would process the refund to my credit card.
* Last week, Tony’s parents went up to the family cabin in the mountains. For breakfast, they went to our favorite restaurant, pointed at our picture on the wall, and said they wanted one of “those messes for her” (“her” being me). The waitress knew exactly what order to put in for that (the Mess, no cheese, extra jalapenos), and then that night, my in-laws delivered said Mess to me at home. To say I was astounded and touched at their thoughtfulness would be an understatement. Then, when I opened the bag and saw these messages from the crew at the restaurant, I nearly cried. You guys, sometimes (a lot of the time), I either forget or don’t believe it, but I am so very loved.
Also, in case you were wondering, the breakfast is delicious. I separated it up into tortillas and rolled them up into “breakfast burritos” and froze them. There was enough for six of them. First time doing that, and it won’t be the last.
Bargain Weekend.
In these parts many stores were offering various free things for Earth Day, and we managed to spontaneously participate in a couple of them.
Disney stores, in exchange for 5 plastic bags (who doesn’t have 5 plastic bags hanging around?), were giving away a free “green” bag. The store we went to had Cars themed bags and we were quite happy with that! We zipped down to our local Disney store on Friday evening, and then as we were pulling out of the parking lot, I caught a glimpse of El Torito over my shoulder and, man, that sounded just right to me for dinner. So, a spontaneous trip to the mall also turned into a spontaneous stop at El Torito for dinner… and there was only a 5 minute wait for a table!
On Saturday morning, I was eating my breakfast and Tony pipes up with, "I'm going to get my free tree!" I decided to tag along with him to Lowes. They were giving away free little baby trees (promoted as "This Tree is One in a Million") that once planted, we can go online and register them, as well as see where the other 999,999 free trees went.
I guess its been awhile since we’ve been to our local Lowes (Home Depot is only a mile away vs. 10 miles for Lowes). I predict that I may be going over to the Lowes vicinity more frequently now, since we discovered a brand new Big Lots! right next door. Big Lots! had this Too Tall Bunny (too tall for the box, look at its ears!), I didn’t buy it, but I thought it was hilarious.
Following a lunch break at home (we had leftovers from El Torito!), we decided to take some donations to the thrift store. I had read online that many of the local thrift stores were running 50% off sales, and I managed to find some really cool things for super cheap. Have I ever mentioned how much I love thrift stores? Or how much I love that Tony loves to go thrift store shopping with me?
They had this lovely glass thing in the antiques/collectibles area. If I’d had any inkling what to do with it, I would have bought it. As it was, I just thought it pretty, took a picture, and left it for someone else who might appreciate it more.
You know what they say, right? The family that thrifts together stays together… or something like that. Or I might’ve just made that up. You’ll just never know. ha
Happy Easter to you… I hope it’s a beautiful one.
Filed under Best Husband, I ♥ Sales, I ♥ Thrift Stores, Time Consumers
Along for the Ride.
One of the things I appreciate about Tony is that he pulls me out of my routine and worries, and encourages me to do things spontaneously. Respectful, of course, of my needs or things I need to do… thus the word “encourages.”
Saturday morning he suggested going to the swap meet. It’s one of those things I love to do, just walk around and see what’s what, but just never take the time to do. I decided to go… and despite some physical discomfort, given what I’d done the day before, I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would. Although, I have to say, a post-adventure afternoon nap was definitely on the agenda after that!
Today was all about chores and planning ahead, boring but necessary.
Filed under Best Husband, I Left Home for Awhile
Jammie J's Quest 