Romantic Re-Writes

I was sick and in bed most of the day.  I woke up and thought OMG American Idol is coming on soon…. and my next thought was OMG I haven’t posted anything on my blog yet!!  I’m doing NaBloPoMo, which is short for National Blog Posting Month where you are supposed to post every day during the month.  So I started writing at the same time I was watching Idol.  As soon as it was over and I sent my post I kept thinking….. why do I feel like I’m forgetting something????  Then it came to me!  Oh yeah!  I have a guest post for you guys for Leap Blog Day!

Marianne from webandofmothers.blogspot.com wrote up today’s post!  Click here to read the other blogs that are participating.

When Donna asked me to guest post for My Garden Blue, I was so honored! A talented writer had sought me out to share my alcohol-infused voice of irreverence and ineptitude. Not one to shirk my responsibilities, I carefully reviewed Donna’s blog in order to fully appreciate her niche. That’s when I got really nervous.

Donna is kinda crafty.

And romantic.

And she reads more than just People Magazine.

Oh crap. I am the kind of person who outsources her kids’ projects to family because I’m bad with glue. My husband and I show our devotion to each other not with romantic love notes, but rather by getting up from the couch during Dexter to microwave some popcorn. Worst of all, the only book I have picked up in recent memory is my Weight Watchers Guide to Eating.

I am a blog embarrassment.

Still, I trudged on. I had made the commitment. I was a woman of my word. So I asked Donna if there were topics she preferred. She kindly suggested a story on how I met my husband. My palms got a little sweaty and I wondered if I should fabricate a nobler version of reality. In deference to editorial integrity and pitiful first-meets everywhere, I opted for truth.

I met my husband at the Old St. Pat’s Block Party in Chicago (as seen on TV’s Oprah). My girlfriend and I were three sheets to the wind when another over-served attendee approached. He smiled at us, nodded his head, and asked bravely: “Hey ladies. Want a bratwurst?”

That’s right. My future husband, father of my three children, charmed me with an offer of sausage.
Since that fateful day, I have suggested to Joe that we twist the tale a teensy bit and tell our kids we met at church (which isn’t exactly a lie…the church was right there). He remains quite comfortable with how our first introduction went down. No creative license necessary. End of story.

I’m not sure what this tale reveals about me or our relationship. Despite our inauspicious start, we are pretty happy with how things played out. We get along well. We like to golf and watch Pawn Stars. He cooks, I clean. He kills spiders, I handle the parent-teacher conferences. He saves the city from disaster as a Chicago fireman, I save my children from killing each other.

A match made not in heaven, but rather at the western gate of the Chicago Loop.

(If you are interested in reading more from Marianne, please visit at either webandofmothers.blogspot.com or her Chicago Parent Magazine blog, Failing with Gusto (link to http://www.chicagoparent.com/community/failing-with-gusto).

Love Notes

What time is it?  Can you just hear that line from that Jason Mraz song?  Well today I was all set to watch American Idol at 8pm and ran my kids off so I could have the TV and everything….. only to find out it isn’t Wednesday!!!!  It’s still Tuesday ARGH!  Okay, so I’ll have to wait another day to watch American Idol but I don’t really want to watch anything else on TV right now.  I’m feeling a bit stoned since my doctor changed my medication.  I started this new drug when my husband came home with it and after about 5 – 10 minutes I started feeling high.  So I don’t really want to work on anything complicated.  I just need to sit here and stare into space or munch on cookies hehe

I’ve been thinking about February.  I still need to come up with something to do.  I think I am going to put a note or quote or saying or something somewhere for him to find each day until Valentine’s Day.  I don’t have any money to buy him a gift since I have fibromyalgia and can’t work anymore.  I’ll just have to get really creative and I have 13 days to think of something.  The first “love note” I’m going to put on the dash of the car for him to find in the morning.  After all, my husband is the glue that holds me together.  I’ve been dealing with a lot since I started having the fibromyalgia pain and all the other annoying problems that go with it.  When I was so out of it with the pain before they figured out what was wrong my husband went with me to every doctor appointment.  He did whatever he could to make me comfortable and to try to make me smile.  He bought flowers and cute pajama’s when I couldn’t even get out of bed.  He was with me though all of it.  He has always been very supportive.  But that isn’t the only time….or the only way.

I’ve never been very confident in myself.  Whenever I think, “wouldn’t it be cool to……”, he just said, “Do it!  I know you can!”  When I wanted to go back to school to get a business degree in finance he pushed me to “do it!”  When I suddenly realized I really wanted to help people more than chomp numbers he supported me.  I decided to take the class to be a CNA and some other medical related classes.   He said, “go for it!”  He happily paid for the classes even after the car kept breaking down and we had to put a lot of money into getting a new one.  I got the job I wanted and loved it for the time I got to do that.  Now I can’t work anymore and he is still supporting me.  He’ll come home with flowers out of the blue.  No real reason other than he just wanted to see me smile.

He’s a heck of a man but he doesn’t care about all of the goofy stuff that people do for Valentine’s Day.  I can’t let it just go by though.  I tell him all the time how much I love him but I think putting it down on paper cements it.  That is something he can keep and if he ever doubts it all he has to do is look at one of my “love notes”.

The first one will be a quote

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made
~Robert Browning from the poem Rabbi Ben Ezra
So what are you doing for Valentine’s Day?  I’m curious…. if you are single, do you do anything for yourself on V Day?  Or do you pretend not to notice all of the roses, candy and cards at the stores?

Sleep…. and gravy

I’ve been in bed all day.  I should be a super model by now.

I’ve been reading a lot when I’m awake.  Hopefully I’ll be finished with this book soon.  I’m still reading The Chase by Clive Cussler.

The NaBloPoMo Prompt for today is an odd one.

Tell us about the beginning of your life.

My life began when I met my husband.  I heard a laugh that was very distinctive…kinda sounds like a hyena.  He lights up the room and seemed to be the life of the party when he was in the bar next door to the restaurant.  Sometimes I would stand in the little room that was a small kitchen area that was open to the bar and the restaurant and listen to him laugh and watch him sitting at the bar.   He had a mullet, sky blue eyes and looked like Kurt Russell…seriously.  We both worked at the same hotel.  I worked in the restaurant and he was a courtesy driver.   One day I saw him helping an elderly lady in a door and he was talking with her.  He was so nice to her and obviously not just doing that because it was expected.  Next I saw him talking with an elderly old man and being so patient and listening to him even though he was hard to understand.  I thought, wow, he’s a really nice guy.  Then he came over and talked to me and my heart turned to jello.  He asked if I wanted to go to his softball game.  I said no LOL  I knew my dad would never allow it.  Then this other guy asked me if I wanted to go to a game and I didn’t realize he meant the same game.  This other guy was the brother of a girl I was going to school with (at a private Baptist school).  That meant his family was Christian and suitable.  I asked my dad and he said I could go.  Then I see Chris there and he saw me with this other guy that he didn’t much like and wasn’t happy.   I found out pretty quickly that this guy wasn’t such a gentleman.  Later on I saw Chris driving up into the parking lot while I was on break and we got to talking.  I explained about my dad and that if you didn’t go to church you didn’t pass muster.  He laughed and said he would never pass then.  He was also 6 years older than me.  Well to make a long story short…… we’ve been married now for 20 years.  It has been the best part of my life and every thing else is just gravy.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success”    -Henry Ford

I am loved

My husband came home last night with the prettiest flowers.  They are bright and cheerful and I love them!
I'm loved on 365 Project

 

A friend came over too.  We had a nice visit.  It was a really good day.  I think I over did it though because today I slept  in till noon and woke up with my back hurting.  I went out to the living room and fell asleep on the couch.  Now it’s 10:15 pm and my back is still really hurting.  I’m not sure what’s up with that.    Hopefully it will start feeling better soon.

Love & Fill in the ____ Friday

“What a grand thing, to be loved! What a grander thing still, to love!”
― Victor Hugo

You can join “Fill in the blank Friday” by just clicking this link, copying the lines to your blog and answering the questions! Link up there too so other people can see your version.

 

1. One of my favorite things to do when I have free time is play around on the internet.  I especially love to check out new pins on Pinterest and maybe even add a few (hundred).  Then I read some blogs and write in mine, listen to some music on youtube, check out facebook and my inbox and than just google anything that comes to mind.

2. When I have free time I tend to do what I wrote above or I knit, crochet or do some other craft, turn up the music, journal, paint my toe nails some crazy color I wouldn’t want on my fingernails, paint or draw, take some pictures, and READ. 

3. If I had an entire day completely to myself I would do the above.  I almost always have the entire day all to myself and that isn’t always fun…..but I guess I also clean and organize some stuff every day

4. I would prefer to spend my free time (alone or with others…) oh with other’s definitely… unfortunately people are usually at work or school or otherwise doing things they need to be doing.  I love those days when I can spend the day with my husband.  We go shopping and sometimes stop by and get some french fries at McDonalds or go to some other restaurant and read the paper (fighting over sections)

5. Most of my free time happens all the time now.  I can’t work anymore and my kids are teenagers.  Every day is free time and it gets really lonely.

6. The best thing about free time is being able to do what you want to do when you want to do it.

7. The next time I have free time I should probably clean my house and the clear out the garage  but instead, I’ll probably do what I mentioned in #1 LOL 


The NaBloPoMo Prompt for today is
Do you wish the start of the year was in a different season? Which one?

Spring. I think starting a new year with new growth outside would be perfect. Besides, I’m cold.  I love to see the snow receding and the new green grass starting to emerge.  I love it when I see the first shoots of my perennials start reaching for the sun.  I love seeing the neighborhood children start to come out again to play in the puddles made by the melting snow.  

 

Here is my picture for my 356 Project

 

Yawn on 365 Project

A doggie yawn

Doesn’t smell good, I’ll tell you what…

Exquisite Taste

My prince has been gone on his business trip for 3 sleeps now.  I haven’t been sleeping well without him so I toss and turn and wake up turned the wrong way on the bed.  Today I woke up and I was still tired.  I just wanted to stay in bed and mope.  I made myself get up though and puttered around the house.  He called me this evening, like he has every night, to tell me how his day went.  It just makes me miss him more.

I was thinking about when we first got married.  Things were so different then and we’ve changed so much but we still loved each other then as much as now.  We were renting a house in town several blocks from where we worked so we walked everywhere.  There was a grocery store half way in between the house and work so we really didn’t need a car, although sometimes we wished we had one when it was cold.  This one time it was my birthday and he came in breathless.  He gave me some flowers and candy he had bought at the store along with a card.  When I opened the card to read it I was surprised that it rambled on.  He is usually really brief when writing.  The card explained how he had walked from work to the store, which is about 4 blocks, and when he got home, which is about the same distance, he realized the card wasn’t in the bag.  So he walked back, in the snow, to the store to get the card.  While there he decided to get something else and they asked him if he wanted the card to be put in the bag.  He thought that was a good idea because it was snowing but when he got back home the card was again not in the bag.  So he went back again and got the card and walked back home.  He was really cold by the time he got there.  So all of this was written out on the card and when he ran out of room he turned the card and continued up the side.  It was so funny but then I realized he was really nervous.  He was worried I wouldn’t be happy with my gifts.  The flowers were a little cold and did end up dying but how could anyone now love a gift that took walking back and forth through snow to get.  How could anyone not love someone like that?

There was another time that I remember when he wanted to get me flowers for valentine’s day but didn’t have the money.  He knew I loved daisies so he drove around trying to find some growing wild.  He found some growing in the ditch beside a highway and stopped to pick them for me.  He brought them to me in a vase with breakfast in bed.  These are the little things that matter to me.  That is something money can’t buy.

We haven’t been apart much over the past 20 years.  We’ve gone on a few trips together and he loves to show me new and interesting things.  He is so thoughtful.  When I went with him on another business trip to Phoenix he found this cute little hotel near a shopping center.  So while he was off att he training seminar I was reading by the pool, getting my nails done at the mall or taking pictures of a humming bird, wild rabbits and quail!  It was my first time seeing a humming bird and quail.  He rented a convertible Sebring and drove to Sedona.  He knew I had never been to a zoo before so he took me to the Arizona wildlife world zoo where I fed giraffes!  Even when we were in Anchorage, AK to see a specialist to find out what was wrong with me he turned it into a fun time.  He makes everything fun.  We went to this huge mall and he pointed to a hair salon and said “Donna Jean, you should see if they can fit you in” and he waited on a bench just outside the door until they were done.  I love it when he calls me “Donna Jean”.  He doesn’t say it like my mom did LOL  When my mom said that I knew I was in trouble but when he says it, its full of sweetness.

My Chris makes me think of that quote by Robert Browning

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made.

So I finally took a picture of Aunt Nin’s teapot that I mentioned in another post.

Aunt Nin's Teapot

And here is another box that Chris bought for me.  I love this one!

On a slightly funny note, my son Jared was just peeling an orange and he said he thought it was bad.  I smelled it and it was a grapefruit.  I’ll have to eat that later with a little sea salt although it will be interesting since it is peeled.

On a not-so-funny note, I think I have an absess tooth.  This bump popped out on my gums at the side of a tooth that already had a root canal done on it years ago.  So I’m worried they are going to have to pull it.  The later it gets the more it hurts and I can’t wait until tomorrow morning when I can call the dentist.

 

Message in a song

My husband is always looking up songs he heard in a movie or a show.  This time he came out here and put this song on and told me it was for me and gave me a kiss.  It was very sweet…  AND it’s Rob Thomas!  My favorite singer!  He didn’t even realize that until I told him.

Lyrics

When the hour is upon us
And our beauty surely gone
No you will not be forgotten
No you will not be alone

And when the day has all but ended
And our echo starts to fade
No you will not be alone then
And you will not be afraid
No you will not be afraid

When the fog has finally lifted
From my cold and tired brow
No I will not leave you crying
And I will not let you down
No I will not let you down
I will not let you down

Now comes the night
Feel it fading away
And the soul underneath
Is it all that remains
So just slide over here
Leave your fear in the fray
Let us hold to each other
Until the end of our days

When the hour is upon us
And our beauty surely gone
No you will not be forgotten
No you will not be alone
No you will not be alone

Valentine’s Day

I’ve been thinking for a long while about a poem for Valentine’s Day.   I started…….and then deleted several times.  Just imagine how many trees I saved by using the computer?  Before computers I would have balls of paper all over the floor. 

Here is my tree-saving Valentine’s Day poem.  It’s called Remember When?

better than ice cream…

Me and my honey on the train to Denali

Me and my honey on the train to Denali

This picture was taken on our 15th Anniversary while on the train to Denali.  Now we are about to go to Surprise Arizona to celebrate our 17th.  We both had a three day weekend to celebrate out anniversary this year and I was so sick Chris had to cancel all of our plans.  I couldn’t get out of bed the entire time.  So now we have great plans for Arizona and I can’t wait!
~~~~ ~~ ~~~~

Your love is better than ice cream
better than anything else that I’ve tried
and your love is better than ice cream
everyone here knows how to fight

and it’s a long way down
it’s a long way down
it’s a long way down to the place
where we started from

Your love is better than chocolate
better than anything else that I’ve tried
oh love is better than chocolate
everyone here knows how to cry

it’s a long way down
it’s a long way down
it’s a long way down to the place
where we started from…

A Mother’s Love

Ever since I read about Kevin, the soldier that was hurt in a suicide attack in Iraq, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about his mother.  The woman that sits by his bedside waiting for him to show some sign, anything, to show her he will be okay.  My heart hurts for her and I haven’t been able to get her and Kevin out of my mind.  I can’t imagine any worse pain than watching your child hurt and not knowing if he can hear you.  Everything I do, every one I see reminds me.  I saw a young man in an Air Force uniform today and he looked so young.  He didn’t seem all that much older than my oldest son who is now 14.  That reality hit me like a gut punch.  I don’t know that I could be that brave of a mother….. to watch my son go off to war.  Who knows, maybe that is something that is waiting for me.

I wish there was something I could do to help but I know I’m really powerless to do anything but pray and hope for Kevin to recover. 

I decided that such a brave woman, the mother of a brave soldier, should also receive a paper crane to remind her to be strong and that there is hope.   She will receive #4 out of 1,000.

Paper Crane for a brave mother

 

A Mother’s Love

A Mother’s love is something
that no on can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God’s tender guiding hand.

Thanks for Stopping by

I participated in

NaBloPoMo January 2012

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