You Know You're Old When...

You know the signs they have up near the check-out registers of convenience stores, grocery stores, and really any store that sells cigarettes and tobacco products? Well, they say that you can't buy those products unless you were born before that day in 1993 now. I noticed one in the store the other day and it kind of jumped out at me. It is what it's said all year. It means you're 18 years old.

On December 3rd this year my girls will be 18. That sign applies to them by age even though it doesn't apply to them for making an actual purchase. Yes, feeling a little aged.

Hubby's birthday is today. In Michigan your driver's license expires on your birthday every so many years. You can mail in a form and pay your renewal fee and not go to the DMV. This year Hubby's license expires. Tricky part is that your wife has to do it for you and mail it in at least three weeks in advance per the notice. The three weeks in advance part per the notice, not the wife doing it. Well, with company for two weeks (my parents came to visit!), chemo, and then a cold to complicate matters, I kind of just forgot. So yesterday after my chemo, Hubby brought me home and then went to the DMV.

If we'd done the mail renewal he wouldn't have had to have a new picture made. But since he went in he gets an entirely new license. The beauty of that is that he can mail in the next renewal and not have to get a picture done again — until he's at least in his 50's!!! Yep, feeling old.

$1 Jeans

This morning when Hubby left for work he asked me if I had a dollar bill because he was wearing jeans. I was still pretty much asleep so the oddity of the question didn't register.

I told him there was one on the kitchen table he could pick up on his way out.

Hubby leaves very early, and I don't always really wake up when he tells me bye. This morning about five minutes after he left, it registered what he'd said, but I knew it had snowed some overnight so I didn't want to call him while he was driving.

A couple hours later when I got up and called him, I asked him if he had to pay a dollar to wear jeans when it wasn't casual Friday.

It turns out that they have a fundraiser once a month and they can wear jeans on a day other than Friday and pay the dollar for the fundraiser.

Then it all made perfect sense.

Airport Courtesy

If you see a famous person at the airport,

and if you make eye contact with said famous person to the point that they realize you have recognized them,

does that mean you are friends?

Hubby said if it does, he's friends now with Mike Ditka.

That makes me wonder,

if you go up and shake their hand,

do you get to have holiday dinners with them?

If it does, we won't, because Hubby just made eye contact.

Home Again...

Hubby came home from the hospital again on Saturday afternoon. He's been feeling much better this time around.

Could be that new recliner.

The first time Hubby was in the hospital and we would walk the halls, albeit slowly, as he got closer to his room he'd start looking in each one. I finally figured out why although I never said much. He told the kids when we got home and confirmed my suspicions.

The kids brought their dad this balloon when they came to visit on Tuesday the 16th. It was tied to the chair in Hubby's room, and when he was looking in the rooms he was looking for the balloon.

That's how he knew which room was his.

New & News

News: Hubby is still in the hospital for another night. His transplant doctor happens to be on the floor for another complex case even though he's not on call for the holiday weekend. He pretty much gets to call the shots, and he told the other members of the transplant team that he wanted Hubby to stay for another night. I think he just wants to make sure his white count and liver numbers continue to go down (they were a little elevated when we were in the ER) and that his tummy really is okay and awake for good. It's no fun when they have to come back in again.

New: I mentioned Hubby wasn't sleeping good at home. Part of it was habit from waking up every couple of hours in the hospital for vitals to be checked. More of it was that he didn't have a recliner to sleep in a reclined position. Although our bed is fantastic, it's not possible to get it like a reclined hospital bed, and the couch is big and comfy but also not the same. We haven't had recliners since 2000. We gave our fantastic ones to my sister because we didn't have room for them in our house.

Today on the way home from the hospital I went to the furniture store and purchased a recliner. The boys and I went tonight and picked it up at the warehouse so it would be here when Hubby gets home, hopefully tomorrow.

It literally took me a minute to pick it out. After I did, I found out it was on sale as one of the Black Friday specials. Yay! Then I found out it was a Lazy Boy just like our old ones we loved. It looks almost just like them, maybe identical, just a different color. It felt just like sitting in our old chairs when I tested it. That must have been why I loved it so much!

So now Hubby can have a chair to rest and recline and sleep in when he comes home. He still has a long recovery ahead of him, and now he can be more comfortable.

News: Heather might go home tomorrow. Wouldn't that be funny if she and Hubby left on the same day, even if it was his second time!

Twists

Hubby is back in the hospital. We spent about eight hours Wednesday night/Thursday morning in the emergency room. He finally got to a room around 8:00 a.m. Thanksgiving morning. His Thanksgiving meal consisted of beef broth, jello, and Italian ice.

I'll just go ahead and give you the entire scoop. If you get queasy, stop reading.

Wednesday night Hubby had a couple of violent episodes of projectile vomiting. After the second one we called the transplant number and they said we should come and have him checked. Hubby had blood drawn and an x-ray of his abdomen.

He was diagnosed with ileus. Basically, a portion of the intestine went back to sleep. This is completely typical following most abdominal surgeries, for the intestines to have to wake back up. What was unusual was that his were functioning normally and then a spot of them decided to go back to sleep. He did not have a blockage, but the food he was eating and digesting in his stomach could not pass that point in the intestines.

This morning in his room he was already starting to feel a little better. His stomach was not hard to the touch anymore and the doctor thought it might have resolved itself, which is what it needs to do. The alternatives aren't pretty, or comfortable. He had liquid lunch and dinner with a little solids for dinner too.

Hubby's white count was a little high when they checked his blood, so they'll be making sure it goes down tomorrow before they make a decision on whether he can come home. Hopefully it was just from the intestinal issue. He doesn't have fever or any other symptoms and is hardly taking any pain medication. He's really healing quite well. There has not been anything abnormal or unexpected happen along the way in his healing and recovery process.

He is having a flare-up of his gout though, so maybe that's making his white count high. It's tricky to walk the halls like you're supposed to when you feel like you have shards of glass in the big toe joint!

We had a friend come stay with the kids last night and then she took them to her parents' house today for Thanksgiving (Mr. Churchmember and his family from this story). I ate in the cafeteria while Hubby ate his broth.

As the kids said, "This is a Thanksgiving we'll always remember." We have a lot for which to be thankful!

Home

Hubby came home in the middle of Saturday afternoon. This is one of the souvenirs we brought home with us.

Every morning I get to give him one shot for seven days. It's in the stomach kind of by the belly button and not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Although we do have to make sure Caboose isn't around or someone is running block for us. If you don't know much about him, there's a little about him and needles here.

Hubby is getting around much better than we thought he would. He's having to be careful not to overdo it since he's restless. Every day has been a little better until yesterday. It was a little blah and icky, but today seems better already.

This is what's going on at our house right now:

1. He started getting hyper-sensitive to smells on Sunday night in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep. Unfortunately one of the things I'd made had onion in it. He could smell it when he walked into the bedroom because I'm a mouth-breather. Now that's hyper-sensitive!
2. He also started struggling with a little nausea at the same time. I think it went along with the whole smell thing.
3. ESPN, hunting, or nature shows have been on our tv practically 24/7.
4. The first couple of days Hubby struggled to stay warm. I'd see what he needed and then go to the second floor. I'm always cold if that gives you any indication of just how hot it was on the first floor. I thought I was entering menopause.
5. We're very thankful the cat hasn't jumped on his stomach.

He's moving a little slower than he'd like, but probably very well for how soon it is after surgery. Hubby realized that the ideal thing would be if he'd had a recliner. We don't have one and haven't for years. Sleeping has been a little tricky for him. It's amazing to think that one week ago he had such a major surgery.

Heather was expected to be in the hospital about a week longer than Hubby, so she's still there. They finally got room on his floor and she moved there the day before he was released. We went to see her on the way out on Saturday. Her mom might leave a comment with a more detailed update.

Thanks for praying!

Recovery

I've been with Hubby since he got to his room Monday night. The transplant floor is sort of it's own special type of ICU but without one-on-one nursing care, although it is a better ratio than if he were on a typical floor. There are only private rooms and a pull-out chair, but the man at the front desk offered me a roll-away bed the first night. It's very nice and has a typical twin mattress on it.

Hubby asked me to stay again on Tuesday night, and Keith and Lori kept the kids another night. They've had them since Sunday night. Lori brought them up last night to see their dad for a little bit.

I know you're all probably curious how he is doing. You know how when you start a new brutal exercise program and the next day you feel bad and the day after that is even worse. It's kind of like that on a much grander scale. Hubby can have a tendency towards getting motion sickness, so some of the meds are making him feel dizzy and nauseous.

He's gotten very little real sleep. He has a central line that is very uncomfortable and he cannot wait to have removed, but they are providing TPN (liquid nutrition) through that line and cannot do that through a standard IV line. They have removed the other IVs and just have the central line in the neck now.

When you lose part of your liver, your own bilirubin goes up. He has a scratch on his eye from surgery. He'd love to take a shower. But he's not complaining and is trying to be agreeable. I told him he needs to get into that runner's mode now, the one I totally don't get, because running and me don't get along.

Even though we talked about what to expect to as much of a degree as possible based on the two C-sections I'd had, it still wasn't enough to prepare him for this. Yet even if he'd known, it wouldn't change his choice. This was a leading by God for both of us, and it really wasn't our choice at all. The glory all belongs to HIM.

Thanks for continuing to pray. I think Hubby would be happy with the six weeks recovery time now!

Today's The Day — Updated

Hubby has gone in for surgery. I got a call and they made the incision at 8:20. I'll get updates about every two hours as long as he is in the operating room. Thank you for praying for his safety and recovery as well as Heather's.

Laurie at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie has been kind enough to offer to forward cards for anyone who would like to send one. You just need to send it to Robert, c/o Laurie, P.O. Box 443, Blytheville, AR 72316.

UPDATE:

At about 3:30 the doctor came in to talk to me following the surgery (Heather started after him and will finish after him). I should be able to see Hubby by 5:00. Everything went well with his surgery. Please pray specifically for a quick (four instead of six weeks) and complete recovery, good liver regeneration, and minimal pain. Hubby has never had major surgery.

Becoming a Living Organ Donor

About 16 1/2 years ago, I took Chatty to Arkansas Children's Hospital. Hubby was still in Virginia. The girls had been born at 27 weeks gestation. They got out of the hospital the day they turned three months old, and about six weeks later after I'd nagged and nagged the pediatrician, we knew something was seriously wrong with Chatty's liver (it's a lengthy post, but includes links to the girls' birth stories and the explanation of Chatty's surgeries - just don't forget to come back and finish reading this one because you don't want to miss it either).

For the better part of a day we thought she had biliary atresia, a non-correctable liver disease where the bile ducts constrict and don't go back to normal. It would require a liver transplant. At the time she was 6 1/2 pounds, 4 1/2 months old, although they adjusted her age to 1 1/2 months due to prematurity.

After an ultrasound later in the day, everyone was doing the happy dance. They found a cyst in her bile duct. Surgery, although lengthy and some cutting and pasting would be required, would correct her problem.

We know that all the places we've been God has placed us. We can see His hand in it. So now to tie everything together...

Mari was one of my first blogging friends. I've since met her now that I live in Michigan too. Of course we met at Ikea! Goody for me that I live closer to it!

Well, last year around the holidays I realized that one of Mari's other blogging friends, Cathy, lived close to me. We exchanged a few casual emails. I told her where my church was located and she said she didn't live too far from it. I was in the car shooting the emails back and forth on my blackberry. I even mentioned it to Hubby casually while he was driving. I started following Cathy's blog.

In June of this year, just one day before our 25th anniversary, Cathy posted of the need for a liver transplant for her daughter, Heather. They were looking for someone with the same blood type, O+. That's what Hubby's is.

I asked him how he felt about being a live liver donor (I think I might have told him it was local and for an only child), he said to find out what he needed to do, and that's pretty much the beginning and end of it.

On November 15, my husband and Heather will both be having separate surgeries with separate doctors in the same hospital at the same time, which of course is local because we all live right here. Who had that all planned out?

Hubby's recovery will be 4-6 weeks. He'll be in the hospital about a week. They will be taking out the larger, front lobe of the liver (65 percent) and leaving 35 percent. It will regenerate to the normal size in six weeks.

My husband is a nice guy. He's pretty laid-back. He also has a great sense of humor. It's hard sometimes to show complete personalities on a forum like this. You can see his silly picture with Caboose and Mr. Excitement at a monster truck show on my sidebar. That's him. But sometimes it's a little more subtle. For example, I had him go pick up an ice cream cake at Dairy Queen on Father's Day for himself. Well, for all of us to share. This is what we ended up with:

I'm sure he had the lady at DQ laughing with that request!

Curly Hair

It's no secret that I've always wanted Marcia Brady hair. I think I've said it more than once. My cousin even made up an unflattering nickname for me when we were growing up that was completely related to my hair. CBFH.

Every person that asks me if my curly hair is "real" also asks if I've always wanted straight hair. Usually they have straight hair and have always wanted curly hair.

I didn't let my hair "go" until I turned 40. All those years of fighting it and time spent fighting it and little did I know that my Hubby would love it this way.

He likes to squish it up on the top by my scalp. About the only time he can get away with it is when he leaves very early in the mornings and I am asleep. Sometimes I wake up when he squishes my hair. That doesn't always make me very happy.

I think he has probably even made some analogies about my hair, but nothing that has ever really stuck in my mind. Until last night.

For some reason he squished my hair when he got home. One of the kids was standing there. They probably gave him a weird look. He said, "It's like a water hose. Or a straw."

I've even squished my own hair since then trying to figure out those analogies. I can't even come close.

Happy Father's Day!

(Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the $60 CSN Gift Certificate here. It's open until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, June 20th.)

Chatty left for horse camp early today, so we are minus one in our pictures. It's weird. I took a picture of her, but it's on the camera she has with her. That was really good planning on my part.

Before this picture Buddy told Hubby, "This might be your last Father's Day where you're taller than me."

This might be the last Father's Day where Sparky is taller than Caboose. You can even see her heart in the picture.

Last year I fondly remembered Lou Brock Bobblehead Day from 2004.

This is Father's Day just two years ago, right after I started my blog. We were still living in Virginia at the time.

Happy Father's Day!

We Will Never Forget

Hubby's immediate return from Kuwait in March, 2004.

Yesterday...

I cleaned out the inside of my van, with the help of my children. It ended up being around 80 degrees outside and I took advantage of it. Of course now that we live in Michigan, it's 80 degrees and the kids are burning up. Acclimation at it's finest.

Anyway, it hadn't been vacuumed since we moved from Illinois.

That was before we moved to Virginia, which was before we moved here.

Which basically means that it hasn't been vacuumed (I have a Shop Vac for the heavy duty job) since prior to May, 2006.

Four years, people!

We took out all three of the middle seats so we could do the most thorough job. I was too embarrassed to take a before picture. You can also use your imagination as to the things that were found, most of which were yucky, sticky, or both.

When I pick Hubby up at the airport today I just can't imagine he won't notice what's different.

This post is linked to The Spring Clean Along hosted by Life as Mom.

We Played the Game

You know that game, "What's different?"

Except I didn't even tell Hubby he was playing it when he got back to town. I just knew he'd notice and I wouldn't have to. He was going to be so proud of himself.

You may or may not remember this picture.

It hangs on the long wall above my bathtub. I love it dearly.

So the end of the tub was empty. You can't just put any picture up there to go with that big old flower picture, and I didn't have anything else, and I hadn't seen anything cute or reasonably priced, etc.

So at Hobby Lobby the other day they had all wall art on sale 50 percent off. So I wandered. I do that well.

Now see what it looks like.

Because I wasn't sharp enough to take a before picture with the empty wall, just imagine it.

They're not tiny. I just knew Hubby would see them. This is our master bathroom! I still do a double-take every time I walk in there and see them hanging there.

I asked him in bed last night if he noticed anything different.

He didn't.

Not until I sent him in to look.

Happy Birthday, Hubby!

You finally aren't that icky prime number 43 anymore. You're that nice, round, pretty 44.

Don't worry, I'll be there with you in a couple of months and a half.

Overheard from Hubby at our house tonight:

"That's the tallest cake I've ever seen." (Six inches to be exact.)

"I hope this doesn't set off the smoke detectors."


"Open the back door."

"Oh, I get it, you made this in honor of Jeff Gordon and the Rainbow Warriors." (Who?)

"The next time I'm an increment of 22 I'll be 66, and then 88. And then I'll be..."

...here I piped in probably dead.

I found the recipe for this rainbow cake over at MckMama's blog. I'll share the recipe with you tomorrow along with all the crazy casualties along the way.

If we don't get Hubby an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen I usually make him German Chocolate Cake, which is his favorite. I didn't find this out until we had been married for at least six years, maybe more.

And we had dated since the 9th grade. How could I not know that was his favorite cake? I'd spent lots of birthdays with him, and I have a good memory. I mean, I still remember Mr. Bergman from 9th grade and how he deducted two points from my grade every day I was late to class (and he didn't fall for the excuse that I had to get all the way from typing class at the other end of the 'L' to my locker and then to his class in five minutes), and how he deducted points for a word I used in an essay that wasn't a word (understandingness), but I still thought it was cool because it took up an entire line on wide-ruled paper, and how all these deductions cost me a whole letter grade one semester. Not bitter, just a good memory. So the point is, I don't ever remember having German Chocolate Cake in my life. That is, before I made one for him. You know, when I found out it was his favorite.

So this year when I saw the rainbow cake I knew it was time for something different. It was moist and yummy, and oh, so pretty. Even fun! What more could you ask for than that.

Have another great year, Hubby!

They Say the Funniest Things

You probably think this post is about Caboose.

It's not.

I might pay big for this post though.

The good news is, Hubby likes the blog. I hope that counts for something.

See, the middle of last week, Hubby got sick. He even had to miss a day of work. He never had any fever, just really bad congestion, which goes straight to his chest. Makes him cough bad, sound bad, and basically feel like he's been hit by a truck.

Since this is VBS week and we are still operating with just one vehicle, I am transporting him so that I can have it the rest of the day. He has to be at work by 6 a.m.

I.am.not.a.morning.person.

So when I talked to him Monday at about 6:40, exchanged pleasantries, which aren't usually very pleasant for me, not being a morning person, he says to me in the extremely deep, gruff, still sounding sick voice,

"Do you like my deep sexy voice?"

I immediately hear some shuffling and muffling at the other end of the phone. That is followed by,

"I was talking to my wife."

Immediately followed by this from me,

"Who was that?"

Basically, it was one of his co-workers a couple of cubicles over. He heard him and popped his head over to see what in the world was going on. Hubby told me he had to be pretty red at that point.

I feel sure he was.

And in my defense, I cleared this post with Hubby before I posted it. I was a good wife. This time.

Tag — with a Guest Blogger!

I was tagged in a new way by both Mari and Bonnie. In this version of tag, the person who is 'it' tells a story with a bunch of different blog names in the story, and if your blog name is in the story, consider yourself tagged.

Get it?

And like in the original, real, game of tag, I think you can be it more than once. You know, if you're slow. So I felt free to use Mari and Bonnie's blog names in the story.

Except that I didn't write it. I had a guest blogger. My very first one. My hubby! He wrote a story for me.

I gave him a piece of paper with blog names and said, "Please put as many of these into as short and funny of a story as you can," and that was it. He wrote it in Word, and I copied it and pasted it over here.

Only his story isn't short. But it is funny.

And since he's guest blogging, please read it.

Thank you.

My Vacation.

Oh, I Take Joy in telling you the story of my vacation to Cherry Hill Cottage for the celebration of Callapidder Days. I say this of course with facetiousness leaping off my tongue. In My Little Corner of the World vacations are a rarity, but being the Money Saving Mom this was the year. A lot of people like to take vacations to exotic destinations, but not us; we were going to be Kicking It In Crazyville. Yep, that’s where the cottage is located, Crazyville. Really, Take 90 West until it ends, spits you right out in Crazyville. The name fits the place.

It started harmlessly enough; the day was a Simple Beauty. With a little Creative Organizing in the back of the van, we finally got all of our luggage loaded. You see, when it comes to traveling I’m not The Simple Wife. I like my own pillows — all four of them. I like my children to have their own pillows — all four of them. There are just certain necessities. To be honest, my husband is really The Lazy Organizer, and doesn’t enjoy trying to fit the entire Home Sanctuary into the minivan. I'm an Organizing Junkie and look forward to the challenge! My husband’s idea for “Controlling My Chaos” is packing one change of clothes and a tent. That is so…….native, and definitely would not make me The Happy Housewife.

Tuesday was our first full day in Crazyville. It was over a hundred degrees outside so all I wanted to do was stay in The Inspired Room of the Heritage Schoolhouse. It was named so because that’s where Mr. Reece and Mr. Jeather, pronounced like an 'H' because he was of Spanish descent, had the "inspiration" to change the name of the town from Heritage to Crazyville. The room inspired me to stay inside where it was cool. That evening we went to a small local playhouse and saw a rendition of the famous play “Confessions of a Pioneer Woman.” Hubby’s theory is that they took Little House on the Prairie storylines and changed Laura’s name to Bea. Needless to say, Our Quiverfull as a whole was not happy. We had a couple of boy “arrows” that were “so bored I think I’m going to die.” That’s ok, the next night was their night.

Wednesday was just as hot, if not hotter than Tuesday. The highlight of the day was our introduction to Lady Beatrice de’Ville. So famous was she, that the town folk just knew her as The Queen B. We’d never met such a popular stray cat. A little later we went to the local fudge shop and had vanilla pencils and Chocolate Ink pens. Very creative! Other than that the day was spent sitting by the pond watching each other sweat. That evening we had big things planned. First, we were going to an open air, albeit hot air, concert featuring My Five Men, and then we were going to be treated to a big Crazyville tradition (they wouldn’t tell us what). The concert was interesting, you might even say entertaining in a comedic sort of way. It seems that My Five Men had a lot in common with Milli Vanilli. Unfortunately, when man number five succumbed to the heat, they had no one left to play their tape. You might say they instantly transitioned into the 4 Reluctant Entertainers. After dark our host told us it was about time for us to go to Farmer Joe’s and see what Crazyville was all about. The boys went Crazy when we found out that we were Goin’ Cow Tippin’. Now we had a couple of girl “arrows” that refused to leave the quiver. I’m with the girls — this night I’m MomE & Loving It. Hubby says that Joe turns out to be quite the Tip Junkie. Cool thing was he was quite the tipper on tippin’. He lived up to his reputation in these parts as the top tipper, and is now the envy of my boys.

Thursday was another hundred degree day. Hubby and the boys couldn’t fathom the thought of returning to the playhouse to see the production of “Confessions of an Apron Queen.” Hubby said he feared it may be a play about Martha Stewart. Don’t even ask what my thoughts were about Ol' Mother Nature. I’ll just say that I started referring to her as the Big BooMama. The day started relatively cool, and my initial thought was It's a Bubble Bath Day. Unfortunately, the only bubbles I saw this day were the ones resulting from the sweat boiling on my skin. I don’t think a cold bubble bath would be much fun. Hubby was very supportive. He reminded me that his idea was to camp in Yellowstone Park, and the high temperature that day was seventy-one. It slapped me right back to reality. Sleeping on the ground in a tent, watching my family getting eaten by a bear, or a wolf pack, or….do buffalo eat people too? I now found appreciation in hundred degree days. That night I said a small, simple prayer, “God, please Bring The Rain.”

I woke up early on Friday thankful it was the last day of our vacation. We would be heading home tomorrow on 90 East. A soft rain was falling, an answered prayer. Hubby was watching the History Channel. The kids were lined up at the window quietly watching the Backyard Birds. I got on the computer, and while surfing the net and Blogging Along, our Blissfully Domestic cottage turned into a house of horrors. You see, on this otherwise quiet rainy day, The Queen B invaded The Sparrow's Nest. The Bless Our Nest sign the kids had made at the craft shop earlier in the week and which Hubby had nailed under the nest was knocked down. As I ran outside to assess the damage, I hit the wet porch and the next thing I know I’m Looking Towards Heaven. Though slow in responding and initially a bit irritated, Hubby came to my resue. He had been watching the Ignorant Historian explain how General Lee led the Union Forces across the Potomac River into Canada during Operation Desert Storm, but he took me to the hospital where everything checked out ok. When we got back to the cottage Hubby showed the kids how the hospital had Freebies 4 Mom; namely, a neck brace for precautionary purposes, nice yellow socks with grippies (which Hubby joked would help on the slick porch) and a large bottle of Motrin. Then Hubby broke the news; turns out that the Sparrows had found a new Nesting Place and hadn’t set up residence in their nest this year.

We returned home on Saturday. I recovered. Hubby unloaded and cleaned, although he didn’t check the boys pants pockets prior to washing and drying the clothes. I’m beginning to think I need to start Learning to Trust Hubby to plan our vacations, but right now I’m really enjoying My Blessed Life at home where I have more than 5 Minutes for Books.

Oh no, gotta go. I hope what I hear is not Hubby drying Rocks In My Dryer again.


Thanks for the story, Hubby. You did a great job! I also appreciate how you told everyone how many pillows I have and how you put all my current Yellowstone issues into the story. Really.

And in case you forgot, that was ink pens you were drying in my dryer. Please don't try rocks.

Musical Instruments and Tanzanite

Twenty-four years of marriage equals musical instruments and tanzanite. I looked it up this year for fun even though I don't think we've ever purchased a gift from the traditional or modern gift charts.

I mean really, "Oh, I think I'd like a harp for my anniversary this year."

Or maybe a flute.

Or bongo drums.

Next year might be a good year to start though, being the silver anniversary and all. Boy, does that make us sound old!

This is one of my favorite photos from our wedding. We don't have many, but this one from us leaving the church is special. I can actually see a lot of my family in it, specifically my grandpa (the second man on the left — the first one is my father-in-law), and the lady throwing the rice in the burgundy dress. That is my great-aunt Ola. She was married to my Uncle Bill, my grandma's brother, and I used to spend time with him on his farm. They always gave me fresh cow milk (ick!). She was in the earlier stages of alzheimer's, but Uncle Bill brought her unexpectedly. It was really neat that she was in this picture and I can see the smile and joy in her eyes. My grandma's sister and husband are behind us on the right. There's more, but I'll stop.

My mom made my dress for me also.

Happy anniversary, Hubby! Hasn't it been the best 24 years of your life?!

I hope so, because he's going to be really mad at me for putting a picture up of him with this hair.

Love you!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Also known at our house as "Lou Brock Bobblehead Day."

In 2004, Hubby had just recently returned from Kuwait. We had tickets for the St. Louis Cardinals game on Father's Day, which also happened to be the day they were giving away Lou Brock Bobbleheads to the first however many thousand people through the gates. Of course our intent was to be some of the first people at one of the gates, Lou Brock being one of Hubby's favorite retired players.

Hubby was still in bed, and I had all the kids gathered up and told them to go tell their dad Happy Father's Day. Caboose, in his four-year-old infinite wisdom, told me, "Mom, it's not Father's Day. It's Lou Brock Bobblehead Day."

He started early in life.

Since we don't have a photo of Lou Brock from that day, here's Hubby with his wonderful kiddos. The girls were ten and Buddy was seven. Hubby was 38.

Lou Brock is top right on Caboose's shelf.

Happy Father's Day, Babe! We love you!