Lesson Learned

Note to self:  Never take the husband appliance shopping.  This weekend we went shopping for a new range.  Our old one is 16 years old and needed replacement, one burner didn't work and the oven heating element had fried and broken in three places.  I'm sure we could have gotten it repaired but we wanted a new one.  As we were perusing the aisles of The Home Depot and Sears looking at our options, I heard the strangest words coming from Chris' mouth.  He was actually advocating on behalf of gas stoves and convection ovens, and espousing their many wonders.  Who knew??? This from a man who has a very tenuous relationship with a stove of any kind, a microwave being the preferred method of "cooking."  But for the few times a year he heats a can of chili on the stove top he wanted a gas powered stove because "it would be quicker" and a convection oven "because it bakes more even."  Then he was really pushing for a duel oven stove, you know for the once a year we might need it.  I prevailed though, deeming the drawer down below for storing stuff was more important than two ovens.  So we ended up with the more conservative option I was pulling for...a perfectly nice stove in all it's stainless steel glory for under $1000.  Whew.  Success.  Until last night, this is, when I got home and was informed I am now the proud owner of a brand new refrigerator. One of those double wide ones that he since found out won't even fit through the front door.   It sure is pretty though so it should look really nice in our front yard.  I told him it was a good thing he didn't look at dishwashers.  Oh, of course he had, I learned, but they didn't have any in the same brand as the new stove and the new refrigerator.  Apparently they all have to match.  The things I didn't know. 

SISTERS

I just got back home from a 'sisters reunion' in Port Angeles, WA.  It was great fun.  The last time the three of us got together was in Cordova the summer I turned 50 so it hasn't been that long.  That year they threw me a surprise birthday party which was truly a surprise.  I knew we were having a luncheon and I knew several people were coming but it wasn't until minutes before the door bell rang that I saw the napkins that had something about 50 on them that I put it all together.  I know, not the sharpest crayon in the box.  But I had expressly vetoed any birthday party ideas when we talked about it months before so I naively assumed they listened.  In hindsight, I see the error of my ways.

Anne & Barb

One thing we all have in common is our incessant need to correct grammar, pronunciation and spelling.  We all had ample opportunity to do so at our reunion.  Okay, mostly they corrected me but I did get a few teaching moments in.  We all do some kind of puzzle on a daily basis, all different.  We all live in a similar type of landscape, two in Alaska and one in the PNW.  We all are avid readers.  We are all good cooks.  We all enjoy gardening.  We are all believers.

We all walk for exercise as well so we went on walks every day.  We had facials, we went to the movies, we shopped, we ate out and we laughed....usually over nothing.   I guess it was time for me to go because the night before I left we all three almost lost our meal laughing at the dinner table while my brother-in-law and his mother looked at us like we had grown an extra head.  I think it's something embedded in our collective DNA, a familial disorder that allows siblings to find the same thing hysterically funny while no one else finds it even remotely amusing.

They particularly do love laughing AT me.  My mannerisms, my choice of words, my fondness of whistling, my "vigorous" nature as they see it.  (Reluctantly, I must confess that part might be true, my husband has called me a bull in a china shop more than once.)   But they provided their share of humor as well.  We really didn't grow up together since they are 8 and 10 years older than me but we seem to find a lot of common ground these days.

It would have made my mom really happy to see us last week.  She always thought "sisterhood" she bestowed upon us was one of her greatest gifts.  So thanks Mom, we may not always have appreciated it but we do now!

The Blessings of Animals

Every once in a while I start a book and I am totally captivated by the end of page one.   I can't put it down even though I want to savor every delicious moment of it and never want to get to the end.  It speaks to me on every level, I learn life lessons and I fall in love with the characters and have the desire to be IN the story.  When the book is done I feel like my best friend has moved away.  This was such a book for me.  So I have to remind myself of a great quote that was in the book:

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened!"  Dr. Suess

LOOK!!

This is actually around 5 pm because I was already home.

As anyone who has endured a SE Alaskan winter knows, there are a couple months leading up to December 21st when the daylight winds down to something like six hours.  It's very gradual and I hardly notice to be honest.  Once it turns around it seems to go fast.  Last Friday night I walked out of work at 4:30 pm after a sunny day and look at the light!! I was so used to it being pitch black I hadn't even noticed the gradual change until........voila~!  Love.That!