Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Taste of Summer

I dream of this time of year when the tomatoes are ripe and ready. Can you blame me? Just look at 'em!


And then I make my all time favorite sandwich ever. Tomato, cheese (sharp cheddar), lettuce, mayo, on toasted whole wheat. MMMMmmmmmm.....I might have to make myself another one. Really, nothing tastes better to me at this time of year than this sandwich. No bacon. No lunch meat. Just sharp cheese, red juicy tomato from the garden sprinkled with a pinch of salt and pepper, crispy lettuce, and mayo.



I gotta go. That sandwich is calling my name......again.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Walking Away

In my life I’ve experienced the gentle wave of friendships coming and going…getting stronger and then fading away. I understand this happens in most friendships. I’ve experienced it. I’ve seen it in the lives of family members. It happens. In hindsight it makes sense. But during those strong moments you can’t ever imagine not being friends with that person. Then life happens, children, moves, change of life, etc and you find your self looking ahead to new things and saying goodbye doesn’t seem so hard. But what happens when a friendship ends abruptly? What happens when a discussion is opened and you realize that it will only continue to spiral out of recognition? What happens when you realize over half of the time you’ve been friends with someone, they’ve been assuming…judging…and never asking for truth or clarification.? And when given truth and clarification ultimately they end up sticking to the assumption/judgments in the first place. What happens then? Do you fight to hang onto a friendship or do you cut your losses?

Friendships should be mutually beneficial. Like most meaningful relationships in a person’s life, a strong true meaningful friendship ought to bring good out of those involved. What good would be had if fighting for a friendship continued to result in wrong assumptions, bad judgment, slander, etc.

I closed the door on a friendship today. Partly on my own but mostly because my husband insisted. I tend to want to fix things…relationships. It isn’t necessarily a good trait I have. But I tend to try to do everything I can to make things right. This time - though it wasn’t as clear to me as it was to John and a few others - there wasn’t anything more to be done or said. It hurts. It’s hard. And yet, I am relieved as I know that I did everything I could have done to save it. I have no regrets.

Today is a new day.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Random loves....

new movies I've seen and really liked:

Despicable Me - hilarious!
Sofie Scholl - awesome
Get Low - don't have many words for this one other than....watch it

I have a renewed liking for Sour Patch Kids. Almost as yummy as Hot Tamales. Almost.

Vacuum bags. The storage kind you find at Walmart...or on an infomercial. They are truly awesome. Life saving actually. Can you believe I fit 4 king sized down comforters into one XL bag? Yup....down to a size smaller than a couch cushion. Awesome I tell you.

Downsizing. I spent most of my weekend alone cleaning out the kids closets. What in the world was I thinking keeping all those clothes and baby gear?! #1: all the boy clothes have now gone through 2 bodies. Enough is enough. #2: most if not all of our baby gear has gone through 3 babies and is at least 5 years old. The stuff is severely used and could stand to be replaced when the time comes. Downsizing is both therapeutic and lucrative. I now have enough stuff to get rid of to have a garage sale. Plus I'm motivated to keep sorting and finding more.

Garage sale at our house next weekend. Lots of kid clothes, baby gear, winter jackets, etc.

My hammock swing. John cleared a spot at the edge of the field and hung my oh so precious hammock swing that has been sitting the closet for the past 4 years. I love him. So now I have a little quiet spot that is only mine to flee to when I need some peace and quiet...even if only for 15 minutes. Nothing like listening to the wind, swinging leisurely, as I look out into a field. Yup. Life is good.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Romance

My husband isn’t a traditionally romantic man. What I mean is, instead of real flowers for no reason he might grab a bunch of fake flowers at Walmart as he’s walking through to the electronic section. Hey! At least I know he's thinking about me even when he's out running an errand. Or I’ll get the occasional super comfy jammies that he picks out when he knows I’m just a bit stressed (and by comfy I mean soft and fluffy pj pants and a tank…not some silky number). And when he’s being super creative, he’ll spend some extra time at the hardware store trying to pick out the next random yet awesome kitchen appliance that I might like (e.g. old fashioned ice cream maker, popcorn popper, a Forman, etc). Our date nights usually consist of putting kids to bed and throwing in a movie or going outside to finish up a project together without the kids or of course there’s that never ending wood pile that always needs trimming. I must say, I DO like to watch him chop wood…..that man can swing an axe like a gosh darned lumberjack. *sigh*
And instead of love notes and sweet nothings whispered in my ear, he simply glances at me and holds my attention by some magical smoldering eye thing he does. It gets me every single time. Makes me weak just thinking about it. But what I might love the most about my oh so romantic husband is the fact that he gives me a whole weekend alone at home every few months. Alone. He takes the kids for a long weekend to his parents’ house and I get to stay home. Alone. You moms out there would appreciate this gift. It truly is a priceless one. Yes, my husband is not a flowers and chocolates, dates and love notes kind of romantic. Though sometimes I wish he was, I always go back to all that he’s done for me and given me and the details of love he shows me day in and day out. He’s quite simply MY KIND of romantic.

And so, this afternoon begins a weekend alone for me.


Thank you sweet husband of mine!