The Girls

Just hanging out with my puppy.

Date Night

Jimmy was confident in his mad skills...

...and perfected his technique.


Unfortunately, my threatening look did not intimidate him...



..and I lost all three games.

Bright side of the night: bowling shoes matched my outfit and they glowed in the dark! (What does that say about my fashion sense? Yikes!)

The oven

Last night I was on my way out the door when Jimmy came down and said,
"I'm hungry. Do we have any food?"

I did a quick mental scan of the pantry and fridge contents. I then eliminated all meals that required any type of "difficult" preparation.

"Hmmm...oh yes..there is a frozen pizza you can make for dinner," I reply.

Jimmy opens the freezer and scratches his head. "Where?"

"Right there...see that big yellow box?"

"You mean this big yellow box?" he asks, triumphantly holding up the pizza.



"Yes, the one with a picture of a pizza on it. That would be the frozen pizza."

"How do I make it?" he asks, staring at it blankly.

"You just put it in the oven at whatever temperature it says for however long it says. Now I really need to get going,k? Love ya - bye." I try to leave, but I catch a glimpse of his face as he glances from the pizza box to the oven controls and back to the pizza box. Something inside me tells me to stick around just one more minute. So I do.

I hear him reading the directions out loud..."preheat the oven to 400 degrees..hmmm..."

He looks at me with his big blue eyes and then, "How will I know when the oven is at the right temperature?"

"Are you kidding me?" I am now slightly exasperated but the look on his face tells me it is an honest question. "A little timer will come up and it will beep at you!"

"I see." He whirls around, furrows his brow, and focuses on the oven controls.



He begins smashing each button on the oven control panel as it screeches "Beep! Beep! Beep!" He mumbles to himself, "Now, if I could just turn this thing on..."

"Oh my gosh!", I exclaim. "You seriously don't know how to turn on the oven?!!!"

He grins sheepishly, keeping his eyes fixated on the oven controls. "I can figure it out."

"Here. You just press 'Bake' and then adjust the temperature up or down until you reached the desired level. Like this."

"Oh. I see."

"How is it that we have lived in this house for three years and you have never turned on the oven?", I ask.

He tries to defend himself. "I dunno. The Waffle House didn't have an oven."

"Puh-lease!! Nice try buddy."

"I can use the microwave and the stove top! Who needs the oven?"

I bust up laughing and shake my head as I leave.

Later that night as I was falling asleep I tried to think of one time, just one time in the 8 1/2 years we've been married that Jimmy has turned on the oven. I racked my brain. To my chagrin, I could not think of a single moment...how can that be? How have I been married this long and never realized that my husband had no clue how to turn the oven on? Seriously?

The next day I ask Jimmy, "Can you think of a time in our marriage when you have turned on the oven?"

This was the expression on his face as he smirked and said, "Nope."

Absolutely Nothing

I officially declare today Pajama Day. I don't feel like doing anything important so I've decided to stay in my pajamas. I'm completely at peace with being lazy as it is a welcomed change.



People ask what I've been doing since I quit my job...I sum it up by saying "absolutely nothin'." They seem a little perplexed at the serene expression on my face, "What do you mean you're doing nothing?" I can see their anxiety building, "Are you looking for another job? Are you going back to school? Are you gonna start a family? Aren't you planning to do anything?"

"Nope." I answer. "The plan is not to plan. That's my plan."

To which I either get a look from them that says, "you've really lost your mind" or they break out in a grin and say "good for you!"

Frankly, I think this is all very funny, and not to be rude, but I'm pretty much done caring what other people think. I've already wasted enough of my time doing that and most people don't think of us as much as we think they do. So why worry?

Life is a lot better when you finally decide to stop worrying and stop planning every little detail. It never turns out like you think anyway. I just wake up and do whatever I feel like doing that particular day. The cleaning gets done...eventually...the groceries get bought and meals are prepared from time to time. I don't have deadlines or crazy unreachable goals anymore. Whew!

I'm done too with the attitude that the grass is always greener on the other side. Have you ever noticed that the curly hair people all want straight hair and the straight hair people want curly...the skinny people want a little more meat on their bones and the hefty people want a little less...the married people don't want to be "tied down" and the single people want to be married...the stay at home moms want a job and the people with jobs want to stay at home? The grass isn't always greener. Someone else's blessing can be your biggest trial. So I've decided to just be grateful for what I do have - all the blessings, trials, imperfections, and learning experiences that God has given me. I don't have to be perfect today. That will take eternity to master. For now I will chill out and just enjoy this very special time when I can do absolutely nothin'.

The other "woman"

She loves hanging out with Jimmy.



Here they are watching TV together.





This is what I saw when I rolled over this morning....



....I guess I've been replaced.



Oh well!

Paper made from poo

Elephant poo to be exact.

We went out on a date Friday night and attended the Preservation Durham Fall Fundraiser 2009. This is what we bought.


Here we are. So proud of our purchase.

Halloween 2009

Can you guess who we are?