Break out the power tools

Bill is a good, good man. On top of his crazy-business, he is tackling some exciting home improvement projects (with the help of my dad and some other amazing people.)

These are a few of the things on his list:

-Installing some much needed food storage shelves (he's gluing and drilling right as I type!)...as of this week we will have our year's supply. It feels soooo good.

-New wood stair banisters and hand rails in our entry way. (the man we are hiring will be able to do it in the next couple of weeks)

-New flooring in the upstairs (hopefully over spring break)

-An archway entry to our dining room (hopefully over spring break)

My dad has also built us a beautiful shelf to go beneath our t.v. and will be constructing built-in book cases for two walls downstairs. Thanks Dad for all of your help. I love you so much!






*Oh, and as a side note...Bill also pre ordered the 6 hour Pride and Prejudice on Blu-Ray (Because watching Colin Firth {in his High-Definition glory} play Mr. Darcy, comes in second only to watching my husband slather on the Liquid Nails and use his power tools!) It will ship out on April 20th. I think a 6 hour movie marathon will be in the works as soon as it arrives.

NBR

For the last three weeks, at dinner time, Porter has literally been shoveling the food in his mouth as quickly as he can, taking his plate to the sink, and with a mouthful of food, saying, "Thanks for dinner mom...I've gotta go, it's ready to start!!" while running down the stairs to turn on the television.

Through most of this, I had just assumed that he didn't want to miss his favorite PBS show, Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman.

Little did I know.

On one particular night last week, Porter rushed through his dinner as usual, ran downstairs, and after about 30 seconds we heard him scream:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Bill and I were very startled by this outburst and so we yelled back down asking him what was wrong.

To which he replied: "Mom! Dad! The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 300 points today! I'm LOOOOOOSING money!!"

Bill and I just looked at each other and started laughing.

Yep. He had been rushing through his dinner so that he wouldn't miss this:

What a kid!

In his weekly GATE class, Porter has been learning about investments. Each kid in the class was given $50,000 imaginary dollars and required to research the markets and choose what they wanted to invest their money in. Porter has had an absolute blast with this and has taken it very seriously. He even came home on Thursday and said he was up 17 grand.

He's home sick this morning and I can't bear to tell him what the markets have been doing today :(

I think I'll let Paul and Susie break it to him tonight on the Nightly Business Report.

Life Happens...

...and the blog goes out the window.

I've been trying to allow my life to be less consumed by my computer and trying to be doing things that I need to be doing.

It's taken a lot of self control, but it's actually been really nice.

I've tried to block out the voice in the back of my head that nags at me if I havn't blogged in nearly two weeks, or commented on everyone's blogs that I follow.

And do you know what? I've survived with flying colors-- it's actually been very empowering.

It's amazing how much time I have had, to be doing the really important things, like....

emptying our kitchen garbage of car keys, pots and pans, silverware, toys, and many other hidden treasures left for us by this little member of our family:

Love Affair

My husband loves cast iron.

In fact, he used quite an unusual method in college to determine how much he would spend on a date with a girl.

And it all had to do with... a dutch oven.

Bill enjoyed dating and he was a very creative dater, often coming up with very clever, fun dates on a dime.

But, Bill really had to like a girl if he was going to pull out his pocketbook for a date. He knew that a good dutch oven was about $35. And he frequently used this price to compare with the possible price of a date. If he liked a particular girl and was interested in pursuing things with her, then he wouldn't hesitate spending some money on a date. If not, well....then....let's just say, he would rather spend his money- on a dutch oven!

When we met and after getting to know each other, to my delight, I quickly passed his dutch oven test. (Thank goodness :). And after we were married, for one of our first Valentine's he bought me some cast iron cookware... because, and I quote, "Nothing spells L-O-V-E like cast iron!"

I must admit, it took me a few years to get the hang of cooking with cast iron. I really didn't enjoy it at first- - too heavy for my weak arms, drying and oiling them so they wouldn't rust, a pain in the neck to clean ("you mean I really can't use soap on these things?!?")

But as the months and years passed, and my pans became shiny, black, beautifully seasoned and nonstick - my heart softened and my admiration (for both my pans and my husband) increased.

Bill very recently showed his love for me by presenting me with his mother's cast iron skillets. And these pans are simply amazing- 30+ years of love, seasoned into each one.

I use cast iron every day. I love it. It is my pan of choice. It is a love affair.

And for this Valentines Day I am hoping to get this:



A reversible cast iron grill...

...because nothing spells L-O-V-E like cast iron!

Yep.

She walks.