Weekending

June 19, 2017 By Carole

What was it I said on Friday? Look for beautiful things over the weekend? I followed my own advice but I must admit I didn’t take many photos. There are 3 I want to share with you, though.

Naturally, there is a Friday Night Snacks photo. Our Friday night was different than usual, though. We first attempted to attend a local baseball game as the end of the year party for Dale’s company. I say attempted because, while we did go to the party and celebrate for a bit with Dale’s coworkers, it was raining really hard and the ball game was canceled. So, despite our original plans, we ended up back home with Friday night snacks. Just a simple little tray of cheese and crackers, hardboiled eggs, and blackberries. I almost always have hardboiled eggs in the fridge these days since the Instant Pot makes it so easy to cook them.

We had no plans for Saturday so Dale did some yard work and I puttered around, knitting and reading, doing a little weeding and deadheading, and just generally enjoying a relaxing. On Saturday night we celebrated our anniversary with dinner at the restaurant where we had our reception 20 years ago. The Olde Hitching Post has undergone some changes over the years but the service, friendliness and quality is terrific and it’s fun to go there and reminisce.

Sunday was Father’s Day, of course, so we started with breakfast on the deck and a quick photo shoot for some head shots for Dale and his brother Randy. (I’ll explain why that was necessary another time.) I made chicken wings (this recipe is a real hit with my crew) and the kids came over to hang out. I also made some really great quahog chowder since a friend of Dale’s had given him a great big bag of fresh quahogs and it was a nice afternoon and evening of hanging out, talking and planning for the new baby, and just enjoying each other’s company. We ended the evening with a fire in the firepit, which Dale just loves.

It was a great weekend and there was plenty of beauty in all of those little moments. How was your weekend?

20 Years!

June 14, 2017 By Carole

20 years ago today I married the perfect guy for me. That is not to say that he is perfect because no one is, but I mean it wholeheartedly when I say that Dale is perfect for me.

How is he perfect for me? I’m about to tell you.

He’s perfect for me because he loves me all the time. He loves me when I’m happy and excited but he loves me equally when I’m cranky and tired. He loves me when things are going perfectly and he loves me when everything is falling apart. In fact, I’d venture to say that I feel his love most keenly when things are difficult. I mean, it’s easy to be romantic and sweet when it’s smooth sailing but to still be romantic and sweet, to still feel and express profound love when things are at their worst is really what it’s all about.

He’s perfect for me because he makes me laugh. If you know Dale personally – and a bunch of you do – you probably also know that his jokes are corny and often really dumb. It’s not those jokes that I’m talking about when I say he makes me laugh – although I do have a few favorites that do indeed make me laugh. It’s the other stuff, the goofy faces and voices, the quips and comments, the stories he tells, that make me laugh. And – equally important – he makes me laugh at myself. He has this ability to take a really tense or difficult moment and turn it around for me and make it funny. Or at least not so serious.

He’s perfect for me because he works hard. I tease him because he’s slow and he wanders from project to project but the reality is that he gets up early every morning and goes and drives that school bus. He comes home in the middle of the day and he does chores like laundry and home repairs. He paints and wallpapers and mows the lawn and shovels the snow and brings in firewood and cleans the bathroom and changes the cat litter. He takes my car for the annual inspection sticker and he brings in the mail and he empties the dishwasher. He is always doing something to make our home a better place, to make my life easier, and I appreciate his hard work so so much. And, perhaps best of all, he never ever complains.

He’s perfect for me because he’s a wonderful father and grandfather. He’s generous and kind and smart. He’s handsome and he has long hair and he’s just a little bit of a rebel.

Finally, he’s perfect for me because he sings. He sings when he’s doing the chores and he sings when he comes in the door. He sings when he drives the car, he sings in my ear when we dance, he sings all the time. And it’s beautiful and fun and it fills my heart with joy.

And maybe that’s the bottom line of this whole relationship we have – he fills my heart with joy. He makes me a better person than I am. He rocks my world every single day and I can’t imagine my life without him because he is perfect for me.

Happy 20th Anniversary, Dale. Thanks for being perfect for me. I hope I’m perfect for you, too.

Book Club

June 13, 2017 By Carole

Last night was our monthly Book Club meeting and it was, as usual, a wonderful time. We’ve been meeting since last November and I look forward to our gathering every single month. I think the secret to our success is that we really enjoy each other’s company and also that there is no pressure to read a specific book. That’s right – at our book club you just talk about whatever book you most recently read. Or, if you haven’t recently finished something, it’s perfectly acceptable to talk about any book you’ve read at any time. While it would be fun to all discuss the same book – and maybe we will do that at some point – it’s actually awesome to hear about what everyone has been reading and it’s a fabulous way to add titles to my to-read list.

The other secret to our success? Shared snacks and drinks. We meet at Sean’s house and everyone brings something to share. Sean usually makes something exceptional, like last night’s homemade cherry chocolate chip ice cream, I tend to go savory and last night it was glazed kielbasa and pineapple bites, and it’s just always delicious. The first time we met I rushed around after work to get dinner on the table for Dale and I but then when we got together and neither of us were hungry I realized – I don’t have to make dinner on book club night! That’s another bonus, for sure.

Studies show that people who socialize are happier and more satisfied with life. I certainly concur with those studies when it comes to book club!

Weekending

June 12, 2017 By Carole

I don’t have a lot of pictures to show you from this weekend because, frankly, I just didn’t do a whole lot. Dale and I had Friday night together but he went to a reenactment on Saturday/Sunday and that left me with a lot of time to myself. It was great! Don’t get me wrong, I love my husband and spending time with him is high on my list of weekend activities, but it’s important to enjoy your own company now and again.

Here’s how I spent much of Saturday and part of Sunday:

I read. I knitted. I went for a mani/pedi. I puttered around. I did some photography work. I did some LipSense work. I tended the garden.

And the photos, which don’t necessarily reflect the activities:

Finally, late on Sunday afternoon we gathered to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of my cousin Len and his wife, Peg.

It was a small and very fun family event that included lobster and beer. In other words, it was perfect!

How was your weekend?

Weekending

June 6, 2017 By Carole

The major event of our weekend was Patrick’s graduation and the party that followed. BUT. You know that I don’t actually have photos ready of that, right? I will share some of the other highlights of the weekend with you today, though.

I picked the first basil of the season on Friday afternoon. I have to tell you that it smelled heavenly.

Friday night snacks. I have to laugh because I bump into people everywhere – the grocery store, on a photo shoot, at the library – who tell me how much they love our Friday night snack tradition and how great the food always looks. I agree that our weekly snack night at the end of the work week is terrific but the food? It’s mostly just cheese and crackers, people. Anyone can pull off cheese and crackers.

I made a flat bread pizza with local mozzarella, oven roasted tomatoes (thanks to Sean for talking me through that one) and our own basil. It was delicious!

I had a sweet one year old photo shoot on Saturday and spent the rest of the day in full blown party prep. Four dozen deviled eggs and fifteen pounds of potato salad. Not hard but time consuming. Dale did a lot of yard work to get things looking spiffy and by evening we were in good shape and had some time to relax.