September 3rd

Wow, I accepted a challenge to blog every day and I already blew it on the second day! Whoops. Since I forgot to blog yesterday, here's a synopsis:

I took Harrison shopping for school supplies. Luckily we didn't need much, since we've accumulated a lifetime's supply of pencils, red pens and graph paper. But then we ventured to the clothing. Shopping with a boy is so.....different than shopping with a girl. Basically, I hold stuff up, he says yes or no and we toss it in the basket. Not much thought put into it. Easy peasy. When we got home, I was really tired and entertained thoughts of taking a nap, but that never happened. What DID happen was that I washed a bunch of dishes, made dinner, made lunches, cleaned up the kitchen, watched a bunch of Criminal Minds and finally forced myself to try to sleep around 11 p.m. Because I knew that alarm was going off early in the morning and summer was O.V.E.R. 

Jeff's alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. I lay in bed until mine went off at 6:00. I haven't been up that early since last spring. I love working at a school and having summer off. It's REALLY hard to go back to school after a long, lazy summer off. I feel for the kids. Arlie was up and getting ready and I had to scramble to get "the sign" ready for the requisite first day of school pictures. We've used the same old sign - black letters on a yellow posterboard - since about 2007. I just add the year on a piece of matching yellow paper each year. I remember worrying that I'd run out of that particular yellow paper before my kids finished school. Today I realized I have PLENTY of it left, since we only have four more years before ALL MY BABIES ARE GRADUATED....WAAAHHHH.

Sorry. Momentary insanity. Anyway, I took pictures of Arlie and then she DROVE OFF TO SCHOOL! BY HERSELF! Ok, her dad was in the car. And she only has a learner's permit. But STILL! She DRIVES! WAAAHHHHH.

Sorry again. I then drove Harrison to school, along with his friend, Isak. Such a nice kid, that Isak. The boys were going to school today to be "web leaders" and help the incoming 7th graders adjust to the new school. Ain't that sweet?

I found myself an hour and a half early for work at that point. So, Starbucks. Duh. Also, I was smart this time and requested my chocolate croissant NOT be heated. The last two times, I've had a chocolate disaster. Still, I dripped my mocha which, thankfully, landed on my seat belt instead of my white shirt. Note to self: pack an extra shirt in the car for just such disasters.

I had enough time to go to Target this morning! Omg! Target before work? Unheard of. The reason I went to Target was to find steel wool. More on that later. And P.S. they didn't have any.

I had a FABULOUS day at my new job. I mean, it's my old job, but a new position. I'm working with the most amazing teacher in a kindergarten class, which is my most favorite age. The kids were cute, sweet, funny and happy, which is about as good as it gets for the first day of kindergarten. The parents were like the paparazzi - I saw more cameras at elementary school than at the VMA's. But I forgive them for being so obsessed with their offspring. I remember being a kindergarten mama. It's like throwing your baby to the wolves! You spend the first five years protecting them and teaching them stranger danger and then you drop them off for half the day with a stranger! There were some tears. Not from the kids. And the teacher had to shoo the parents away from the windows.

After work, I ran an errand but before I got into the store (because I was talking to my firstborn on FB and sat in the car forever), I got a call from Arlie saying she didn't know which bus to ride. Since I was pretty close to the school, I offered to pick her up. THEN we ran my errands - one stop at Big 5 where I didn't find what I wanted but found Arlie $100 worth of yoga pants, booty shorts for gymnastics, yoga capris and a hoodie. Yikes. Then, we went to Freddy's where I DID find steel wool. Victory!

You're probably wondering what the steel wool was for. Today is our 7th anniversary, and also our "Familyversary" which is the day Jeff and I married, blended our families, and became the family we are today. We like to celebrate this day with the kids by going out to dinner, which we did. But before that, Jeff and I exchanged gifts.

Here's the thing: Jeff researches each year's traditional gifts and always gets me the most creative gifts based on the traditional color, flower, item, etc. He is AWESOME at it and I SUCK at it. I am the worst when it comes to gift-giving. I just never come up with clever ideas. I like to shop from a list of requested items. Every once in a while, I hit the jackpot, but those times are few and far between. So, Jeff always wins when it comes to gifts. This year, I figured if he was going with the traditional items (wool and copper) then so was I.

But, seriously, what do you get a GUY? Especially my husband, who pretty much buys himself all the weirdly obscure hunting and fishing items he wants. I wouldn't have the first idea. So, here's what I came up with: wool socks, wool gloves, a jumbo package of Duracell AA batteries (COPPER TOP - get it?), copper pot scrubbers, and STEEL WOOL! Get it? All items I knew he would use. For sentimental reasons, I did throw in one handmade item - a wire-sculpture fish I made with copper wire and beads. It turned out pretty cool - like something you'd see at a craft fair or farmer's market. I even put a hanger on it so he could put it in his truck if he wanted.

Here's what he gave me: wool socks, wool gloves (can you tell we both shopped at Fred Meyer and the socks were buy one, get one half off? And the gloves were on clearance?), copper wind chimes, a copper wind ornament, a copper wrist cuff bracelet, and a bundle of cool copper bracelets. See? He's awesome. And so clever. We also took the kids out to Olive Garden for dinner and stopped by Dairy Queen after for mini blizzards. Good times with my sweet family!

Tomorrow Harrison starts his first day of 9th grade and everyone will be back in full swing for another school/work year. I'm loving my new position and part-time hours. I'm hoping the kids will love their freshman and sophomore years.

But I will NEVER love making lunches. The end.

Anniversary conundrum.........

Tomorrow is our sixth wedding anniversary. It's also our "familyversary" because it's the anniversary of the day we all became a family. As such, I'd like to do something together to celebrate our family. Jeff enjoys researching traditional and modern anniversary gifts and coming up with a creative gift for me that incorporates those traditions. For example, when the traditional gift was wood, he gave me a wood vase. When the traditional color was red, I got red dish towels. He also includes the traditional flower, sometimes the jewel, etc. It's very creative and sweet and I'm always impressed that he goes to such lengths to come up with a creative gift.

BUT. I have SUCH a hard time coming up with gifts for him. For one thing, most of the things he wants are incredibly expensive, or so specific that he would have to pick it out himself. He's not into trinket-y things. He already has most everything he needs for his outdoor pursuits (or only he knows/understands the specifics of what he needs). I try to do what he does and find gifts that incorporate the traditional anniversary gift ideas. But it's SO much harder to find things a guy would like. For example, this year the gifts are iron, wood and candy. The candy part is easy, but the iron and wood parts are a lot harder. And he just bought himself a muzzle loader gun which just happens to be made of iron and wood. There goes that idea.

When I tried to buy him a card, I could not find ONE card that was from a wife to a husband. There were dozens from a husband to a wife. Does this imply that only husbands should give wives gifts? Or that it's more important for the husband to give the wife a gift, than the other way around? It certainly seems so, since the only cards I could find were either from husband to wife or from someone else to the happy couple. I guess I'll just make a homemade card.

But the gift part is so hard. Jeff actually keeps a wish list of things he's wanted for years. I use it for Christmas and birthdays. But, often, he buys himself something from the list and fails to "check it off", or the item is expensive or over-the-top (a Harley?), OR it's a book that has been out of print for decades. Lately, he has packages arriving all the time with little things he's bought himself - a video on how to shoot better, an elk call; things I knew nothing about him even wanting!

I would like our anniversary to consist of dinner out together, and perhaps a gift of something for the home or an experience we can enjoy together. And, since it's also the day we became a family and our kids became siblings, I'd like us to celebrate as a family and perhaps buy something for the family (i.e. a big-ticket item we wouldn't normally buy) or buy tickets to a show or event that we'd all enjoy. I feel so much pressure to pull off a gift as creative as his every year and it's making me crazy. I know it's not about reciprocity - I should just be happy to receive his sweet gifts (and I am!) but I REALLY want to give him something he truly wants/needs/can enjoy each year.

What are your anniversary traditions? Do you exchange gifts? Go on a date? Take a trip together? Do you only celebrate the "big" ones? If you are in a blended family, do you do anything special to commemorate that? What about not spending money? Are there non-monetary ways you celebrate? Making homemade cards? Homemade dinner? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our fifth anniversary! Ironic that my blog about being mad at Jeff is followed by a blog about being married to Jeff, but hey, that's what marriage is all about. Ups and downs. Trials and tribulations. Cheesecake in bed. Wait, that's what this morning is all about! We're eating cheesecake in bed to celebrate our five year anniversary and debating how to spend this beautiful sunny day.

Five years ago on this morning, we were busy getting ready for the wedding. Our wedding included only our family - me, Jeff, Hayley, Hannah, Arlie and Harrison. Hayley and Hannah were my maids of honor, Arlie was the flower girl and Harrison was the ring bearer and usher. We had decided to get married with only a couple weeks' notice (after having spent the last year living together as a family and waiting to tie up loose ends from our  previous marriages!). That meant we planned, shopped and bought FAST. The best decision we made was to have our wedding at the Coeur d' Alene resort, where we got an all-inclusive package and a wedding planner that made it all SO easy to do long-distance. We got married on a weekend most of the family was gathering anyway, so no one had to do any extra traveling. Granted, our Seattle friends couldn't make it (with the exception of my best, best friend Tonya and her family - still love them for making the trip!), but most of the immediate family was there and some good friends as well.

In typical mom fashion, I busied myself with getting the kids ready and spent very little time getting myself ready! In fact, I quickly put my hair back in a couple of barrettes right before I had to walk down the aisle and didn't even pay much attention to my makeup, but it was fine because my kids looked beautiful and perfect! My dress was picked out by Tonya on a rush trip to Macy's the Monday before the wedding. We also found the girls' dresses there and found Arlie's flower girl dress at a boutique shop in Bothell the next day when leaving the orthodontist office. Right in front of us, in the window, was a perfect-looking dress and wouldn't you know, it was the right size too? Amazing. The boys got rented tuxes, which turned out great except that we picked them up on our way out of town, and didn't check the sizes. Harrison, age 7 at the time, ended up with men's pants, which Grandma Linda "hemmed" with a couple of safety pins right before the wedding!

I loved that all we had to do was show up in our finery and walk down the aisle. I loved that the minister included the kids in the ceremony, essentially marrying us as a family. I loved the food, the decor, the stunning view of Lake Coeur d' Alene, and the cake. Oh, the cake! The cake was, hands down, the BEST cake I've ever eaten in my life. It was created at Just American Desserts in Spokane and was covered with "tuxedo" strawberries (dipped in white and dark chocolate), cascading down the entire cake. Yum, yum, YUM. I still have never had a better cake. I wish I could replicate that cake every year for my anniversary, but that would require a five hour drive. Sigh.

The funniest part of the wedding was that Jeff's sister-in-law, Heather, decorated cans of "Flarp" (the "fart putty") with wedding pearls and set them out on all the tables. We had been hysterically laughing at this fart putty at the pig pickin' the day before, and so Heather thought it would be funny to classy up the cans and put them out as favors. It was hilarious and actually created entertainment for the many kids in attendance. Such a fun day!

The most touching part of the wedding was the toast Jeff gave. He had practiced it and even had it written out and in his coat pocket. It was sweet, touching, funny and really the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me. The part I remember most was that he said I made life a celebration, even the most mundane things. I loved that part. Because we've been doing it as a family ever since that day, and it's made us have so many laughs and good times.

I'm really the luckiest girl ever. Who could ask for more, really, than a great husband and an amazingly funny family who loves each other so much? Not me. I'm happy.

My Husband is so generous!!

I believe I must print a retraction. In light of my post "How cheap is my husband?" I received several comments, mostly favorable. However, my husband actually read this post today and felt I gave him a bum rap (but he also reminded me of some of his other "cheap" habits like recycling clothes - for example, wearing the same pair of biking shorts for two years, yes YEARS, before he realized they could be washed! Read the tag, genius!). Anyway, he pointed out the many ways in which he is also very generous and I promised him I would print a retraction of sorts (actually, I don't "retract" what I said, because it's all true, but perhaps this could be seen as the editorial section?). For example, one Mother's day he gave me a laptop computer! The next Mother's day he gave me my coveted Nikon D60 digital camera. For my 40th birthday he took me to a fancy hotel and spa. For my 39th, to Teatro Zinzanni, a wonderful dinner show. One October weekend he surprised me with a plane ticket and a weekend away to visit my sister and when I got back, he had furnished our room with new furniture, bedding and art! I was led up the stairs on a trail of rose petals and met with a candle-lit, brand-new bedroom! Sounds romantic? You bet your sweet patootie! There are many more of those stories (but I won't bore you with the details, or make you jealous!). So, I guess using that sliver of deodorant that fell on the floor was done with the best of intentions. Maybe he was saving up to buy me a mocha? I love you, Jeff!