Category: fun

Fireworks

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, right up there with Halloween. A large part of it is that I devour history books, and I have a particular fondness for critical players like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, those with vision and dreams and a passion for this country. I like to recognize and honor the battles fought to become the United States of America in the first place.

Of course, another part of it is fireworks! My husband and I started a personal traditional years and years ago of taking a cooler, chairs, and plenty of sunscreen to a park nearby that launches fireworks for Independence Day. We are pros by now: we know what time to get there, where to park, the best place to set up our seats, which vendors to visit, which ones to skip, etc.

My older stepdaughter and her boyfriend joined us this year, and I enjoyed sharing this little tradition with them. Maybe it’s kind of silly, but our simple 4th of July tradition means a lot to me, so having them there with us and being a part of it made me happy.

This year, I wore a patriotic t-shirt that my husband got for me, and I love that he knows I can never have too many 4th of July shirts! He joked about being jealous of my star-spangled sunglasses and temporary tattoos, especially the one on my cheek. (Hey, I get into my favorite holidays!)

My stepdaughter complimented me and said I looked really good, and that made my night. I have focused this year on self-improvement and introspection and genuine, meaningful growth: not merely externally, but very much internally as well, and I believe it shows. Your heart shows through, and the truer you are, the brighter and more positive you are to others.

The night went by so quickly. I enjoyed it very much. Time to take down the red, white, and blue decorations and pack them away for next year…and start planning our Halloween decorations!

Escape

I am never ready for a weekend to be over, but this one was extra difficult to say good-bye to. Last week was so busy, hectic, and crazy that my husband and I kept commenting to each other that we couldn’t wait for the weekend, and when it finally got here, we decided to enjoy it to the hilt.

Saturday morning we slept in a bit, even though we had a lot to do. It was just nice to be together, snuggled up, cozy, peaceful. We spent the rest of the morning and all afternoon in the yard together, mowing and trimming and cleaning up. It was a beautiful day, perfect to be outside. We got a lot done, then went inside for much-needed showers before heading out to date-night dinner.

I had just gotten a new dress and hadn’t had a chance to wear it yet. I had considered returning it, because I thought it was a bit too long. (When you are barely over 5 feet tall, pretty much everything is too long). But when I tried it on, my husband told me, “Your butt looks really good in that dress”, so I decided to keep it. Who wouldn’t?

I wore the dress to dinner, and my husband joked that he felt underdressed next to me. I typically relax in jeans and t-shirts on weekends, so wearing a dress was a change for me. It was nice. My husband told me I looked pretty, and I felt like we were celebrating something. I was happy just to be with him.

After dinner, we were standing near the entrance of the restaurant, putting our leftover boxes into a bag, when my husband said, “Well, hey! Turn around.”

I glanced over my shoulder to the restaurant door but didn’t see anyone. My husband laughed and said “The other way”, so I turned the other way and was surprised to see my older stepdaughter standing behind us, smiling.

She hugged us and told us about a trip she recently took with her senior class, and we joked around and just chatted until her table was ready. It was cool to run into her out of the blue like that. She was happy to see her dad, and he was definitely happy to see her. She is most certainly Daddy’s girl, and watching the two of them together is beautiful.

It was chilly on Sunday morning, and I joked with my husband that he is my favorite blanket. It was plenty warm, wrapped up in his arms, his hands gently stroking my skin. We contemplated staying in bed most of the day, but I don’t suppose my cat was going to serve us breakfast in bed, so eventually, we reluctantly got up.

The day went by so quickly. My husband said, “How come the better the weekend is, the faster it goes by?”

Back at work today, against my will, and mentally, I am not really at my office at all. All I am thinking about is when to escape to head back home!

Hooky

My husband this morning, as we stubbornly ignored the snooze button for the millionth time and snuggled back up under the covers in the peaceful darkness of our room: “Play hooky with me, and we’ll drive out to another city for lunch together.”

I would have loved to do just that! It was difficult to get out of bed and get the day started. He’s rather a bad influence, isn’t he? That’s okay. It got me thinking about planning a vacation together soon. Very soon.

Surprise

After a very busy day at work yesterday — not a bad day, just extremely hectic — I was happy to slide into my car and head for home. Our home is my retreat, my sanctuary, and I couldn’t wait to get there.

Then I remembered I had to swing by the grocery store. Dang it! Oh well. The list wasn’t very long. Soon I had grocery bags loaded in the car and was finally heading home.

When I walked in the front door, I instantly noticed three things:

  1. The house smelled divine.
  2. There was an awful lot of ruckus and activity in the kitchen.
  3. My cat was mere seconds away from imminent death by starvation, despite two previous meals that day, and he made sure I knew, without a doubt, just how hungry he was, loudly and repeatedly.

I dropped the grocery bags on the dining room table and wandered into the kitchen, followed by my howling cat. My husband was cooking up a storm. A loaf of Italian bread waited on a cutting board, and pots and pans steamed on the stovetop.

I had mentioned recently, while we were watching some cooking show, how much I love lobster bisque. My husband tucked away that piece of information, then did some shopping and got to work last night. When he called me to the table, there was a bowl of homemade lobster bisque, a small plate of toasted bread, and even a glass of wine waiting for me.

Funny thing is, neither of us drinks wine, so we laughed as we tasted it, made a face, then tried it again, thinking maybe it was an acquired taste, only to make a face again. That’s all right. The lobster bisque was delicious, and I have enough left over to pack in my lunch for a day or two.

It was such a beautiful surprise. I like that he was thinking about me to plan the dinner. I like that he paid attention to my passing comment about a TV show. I am touched that he spent so much time researching a recipe, shopping, and then cooking all of it and adding his own special touches.

My husband doesn’t like seafood, so he didn’t even get to eat any of it. He laughed and said he couldn’t taste-test as he was cooking, because he thinks lobster tastes disgusting. Well, I can assure him that it turned out great.

The day’s hectic pace quickly faded away, and I just felt so special and loved that I had to write about it. I will be smiling when I heat up my lobster bisque for lunch today!

The Fair

Ten days since I posted here, and I wish I had an exciting story, like entering the witness protection program, or becoming an elusive fugitive of justice, or just returning from my whirlwind world tour. There’s a lot going on, and my head is spinning, and I will need more than one post to get it all out.

I will start with this: I am fine. I am not actually in hot pursuit by the FBI or an imposing SWAT team. I am, however, extremely sleepy after an active but happy weekend.

Ever since the kids were little, my husband and I have taken them to the fair every fall. It was chilly, which just makes it even more fun somehow, holding my husband’s hand and snuggling close to each other as we stood in line for rides we already knew were going to hurt our aging backs, give me motion sickness, or trigger some other middle-aged ailment, but that we were determined to ride anyway. Yeah, we live on the edge like that.

After we had made it through the mile-long line for wrist bands, we had expected everyone to go off in their own groups and meet up later, but the younger crowd accompanying us actually decided they wanted to walk around with us. Anyone with kids knows that when your teenager, your adult child, and their friends want to hang out with you, even in public where others might see them, it is a high honor!

We have never stayed until the fair actually closed, but we shut the place down this time. And we still felt like we hadn’t had enough time there, even though everyone was starting to yawn and even shiver a bit. All of us slept quite well that night.

Yesterday evening, my husband and I spent some time with my older stepson and his fiancée. When we got home, my husband and I relaxed together, just talking about the weekend and whatever popped into our heads, then snuggled up in bed, not terribly happy that the weekend had drawn to a close, but content that it had been such a great one.

The rude alarm got us up to start a new week this morning, and I have a lot to do this week. More on that later. For now, just wishing everyone a happy Monday and a productive week.

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