The Best Visits

I think the best visits are the unexpected ones.  B is in Florida visiting with his mom and watching as much spring training baseball as he can possible get in while he is there.  More power to him!  I don't have the vacation time to take the trip and quite honestly, it's been his thing to do with his mom for the past couple of years and I love the good times they are having and the memories they are making. 

My unexpected visit came in the form of my dad and nephew traveling down to spend the weekend with me.  I had hinted at the beginning of the week that there was a trade show that might interest my dad this weekend in our area.  And he never mentioned it again - until Thursday night.  Dad was watching my sister's 10 year old son this weekend and wasn't sure if my nephew would want to make the trip, so he'd let me know.

Well, my nephew was up for the trip, Dad pulled him from school early on Friday and they were here in time for supper on Friday night.  We had a great time of playing cribbage, eating, visiting the trade show, eating some more, playing phase 10 dice and just enjoying each others company.

I love my family and the times we have together.  Their unexpected visit certainly made my weekend!

My Valentine's Day Gift

B took all my hints for the month prior to Valentine's Day (which included numerous searches for pretty rings on different jewelry store websites and keeping one particular ring's website up on my ipad for 2 weeks prior to the big day) and decided to give me jewelry for the big day.

I went with B to a dental appointment on Valentine's Day and after his appointment, he decided to take me "ring" shopping.  We went to the store that I had favored on my ipad and looked at that one.  Then we went to 2 other jewelry stores to see if they had anything that would fit my large finger (which is huge - I have man hands, what can I say).   We went to lunch.  We went back to one of the stores and I thought we had settled on one, and the clerk informed us that they had to check on the cost because it would need to be ordered in my size  Well, the price of gold had gone up substantially and the cost more than doubled so we thanked them for their time and left.  In the end, I told him to get me what he wanted and surprise me later in the day.  I even told him that I didn't need a ring, a pack of gum would be fine and it wouldn't have to be specially sized to fit my fat finger!

My beloved went back to the first store and ordered the ring that I had drooled over for a month.  That was the good news.  The bad news was that it wouldn't be here til March 4th.  On March 4th, I went to the store and asked if my ring was in.  Well, the 4 was really a 7 on our paperwork, so no it wasn't.  Then yesterday there was a phone call from the store telling me that the ring would be in today  Yeah!  So I drove down after work to pick it up.  Um, sorry Mrs. H, but your ring wasn't shipped today.  It will definitely be here tomorrow...on the 7th! 

Do I trust them?  Does this ring really exist?  And when it gets here will it really fit my finger?  Will I even like it? 

Stay tuned....the Case of the Long Lost Valentine's Day Ring will hopefully be solved tomorrow!

Lessons at the State Game

I grew up in a small town where basketball was king.  The goal was to make it the tournament, win the Gold Ball and be state champ.  I never played on the court (unless it was during phys ed!), but I've cheered, screamed, and cried at more than one tourney game.  I cheered for my friends during school, my brother and sister during their high school careers.  And now, I've cheered for my oldest niece and nephew.   I have 4 more nieces/nephews to go..and I plan to be at those games being the crazy aunt too!

Yesterday I watched my nephew's team try for the gold ball.  This is a team that wasn't suppose to make it to that level...would count themselves lucky to make it to the tourney at all.  But after 3 overtime games, winning over competition that had beat them during the regular season, they made it to the big one.  I wish I could write that it was a Cinderella finish and that they carried the gold ball home with them on the big yellow bus.  But that didn't happen.  They lost, not by a lot, but a loss nonetheless.  And in that loss, I watched these young men show us adults how to handle a defeat.   There were tears, but there was also no slumping in their chairs.  They accepted their runner up trophy and showed it proudly to the audience.  They might not have been yelling and smiling, but 2nd in the state really isn't that bad.  I don't know if I've been 2nd in the state in anything!

I sent my nephew a text after the game that told him how proud I was of him.  He scored 4 points, he made some great rebounds, and he's a handsome devil.  Oh and I also told him I was proud that he managed to foul one of the opposing team's players were the sun doesn't shine.  See what I mean?   I need to learn what those boys already know...how to be gracious in defeat. 

It's only a matter of time

B has a cold.  Not the stuffy head, blow your nose a million times kind of cold.  Oh no, he's got the deep in the chest, cough til your lungs explode and drive your wife crazy kind of cold.  I noticed his deeper, and somewhat sexier voice last night.  He said he was feeling fine, I knew he wasn't.  By 8 p.m. it was apparent that if I was going to get any sleep, Nyquil would need to be taken.  (By him, although I thought about it!)  So, he took his medication like a good boy and slept like a baby.  Of course that meant that the germs were being thrown into the air with each snore and I'm pretty sure the majority of them landed on me.

This morning my throat felt a little sore.  But I don't have a cold.  I blamed it on not sleeping well.  I swigged my diet coke all day and forgot about my throat.  We bought cough drops tonight, because I can't stand the hacking.  He isn't using them.  And even when he does use them, he chews them quickly (crunch, crunch) and that's almost as bad as the hacking.  I think a double dose of Nyquil is in the works for this evening.

I don't want this cold. I have tried to avoid him, but it's hard when you are husband and wife to avoid the germs being spread everywhere. 

So, I know it's only a matter of time before I'm hacking up a lung.  Can't wait.

The things kids say

We have had the blessing of having our 6 (almost 7 he reminded us) year old nephew at our house every day after school this week.  We love this kiddo with every fiber of our being.  He is handsome and smart and tells it like it is.  We have had discussions on all sorts of topics from why do we say the blessing before we eat to when can he have a sleep over.

He has had many pearls of wisdom for us this week.  He asked me Monday if I knew that B was 50.  I pretended to be surprised and asked him if he thought he looked good for his age.  He replied, "oh yes, he looks really young!" 

I made chop suey for supper one night - after he told me that he loves chop suey.  Unfortunately, mine was not quite as good as his step-mom's.  It was good...just not great like hers!  He ate a little bit, and then went home and ate another supper.

Tonight we were playing the Wii and he told me that I should play because I needed exercise.  I could stand to lose a little weight.  I said "what!" and he told me that I looked good, but could lose a little around my tummy.  So of course I played the Wii!   My personal trainer is 6 years old!

We have him with us one more night this week and I cannot wait to hear his latest thoughts.  Our house is going to be mighty quiet after tomorrow night!

No More Snow!

The past 3 or 4 weekends there has been no snow.  The weathermen have threatened us with the possibility, but nothing.  The past 3 or 4 weekends we haven't had much for plans - B was working, last weekend we just hung at home. 

We have had this upcoming weekend planned for weeks as a quick trip to see my family 4 hours away.  Monday, the weathermen talked of a little snow possible on Friday.  Tuesday, they said it might be around 6 inches in our area.  Today, they are now calling it a huge Nor'easter with feet (not foot) of snow, coming in Thursday night and lasting til Saturday morning.  What?????  I'm afraid to hear what these weather guys have to say tomorrow morning!

I worked extra time Monday and today so I could leave early Friday.  Won't that be great...driving in the middle of a blizzard?  The good news is that there isn't suppose to be much for snow where we are going.  The bad news...our 4 hour drive will probably take 5 or 6 stressful hours. 

Oh, some more good news is that Sunday they are predicting sunshine and no snow on either end of the state.  The bad news...the weather people will probably have changed that by Sunday!

So, please pray for safe travels for us!

Superbowl Sunday

So what's so special about today?  Yes, 2 football teams are going to battle it out to see who is the better team today.  Big whoop.  Yes, we are going to have  our 2nd annual Superbowl Party for 2 and eat buffalo chicken dip and fajitas.   Yum.  Yes, I am going to watch the commercials and probably not much football.  Truth.  Yes, I do all of this for my husband who is a sports fanatic.  Love.

I think what makes this day special is that B and I got up and went to church.  We worshipped and fellowshipped and heard a great message from our Pastor.    Millions of dollars are being spent today on bets, food, tickets, and more.  But the bottom line is that spending time with the Lord and an eternity in heaven is priceless compared to all the other goings on today.