"Watch out, Jon's in manly mode!"

That has to be the quote of the day.  As if we had a quote of the day.  Well, we do in this entry, and as one can tell by the picture, Jon really was in manly mode this evening; with a hatchet (a purchase he was very proud of) and his goggles he set out to break up some fire wood for tonight’s deck fire (this being after he grilled the burgers, too).  Now, if that isn’t manly mode, what is?  I suppose we could have added a flannel shirt.  Kristin and Matt tell us that part is required for the Lumberjack Competition on ESPN.  But flannel or no, Jon and Matt got the job done and all four of us felt strangely proud to roast marshmallows over a good strong fire that we built ourselves. The last time Jon and I tried to build a fire in our new outdoor fireplace we failed miserably and the partially burned logs from that evening are still gracing our catch-all box (read: old sandbox) in the backyard.  But tonight we were successful and it felt like a right of passage – we made a fire without the help of the scout master!  By the way, we also underwent another right of passage today, this one a hold over from the 1950s suburban American dream – Matt and Kristin called to borrow an egg to make the cake that they were bringing over for dessert tonight.  Now, we realize that it wasn’t a cup of sugar, but we figure that this is close enough.  Yes, I suppose we are adults now… when we want to be.

Michigan football countdown:  6 days to go!

Artwork belongs on walls

So how long does it take to put new artwork up on walls?  It depends on the artwork and the difficulty of the location in which it must be hung.  Sometimes.  For instance, we have this great metal sculpture thing (named "Ray") that belonged to Cortney's godfather and was given to us as a gift... last summer.  It is still in the basement, mostly because we want to hang it above our stairs, which requires either a fancy ladder or acrobatics, or both.  We also got a great clock from Jon's mom for Christmas, and until tonight that was sitting on the wine rack in our kitchen, but there is no excuse for that delay beccause it is just on a normal kitchen wall now, ticking away.  Then there's the African photograph we got at the Art Fair several weeks ago.  It waited on the floor in Cortney's office until tonight when it has finally come to rest on the wall above our bed.  Ah well, Ray will have to wait another few weeks I fear.  As for our bedroom, we are now sleeping in the heart of Africa although the wildlife seems to be a bit on the small and cuddly side (except for the turtle, which dwarfs our bed).

A marriage in numbers

We have been married for 17,544 wonderful hours, driven 7,011.24 miles on trips, shared 1,773 meals.
We have been married for 731 days, rented 110 movies, visited 38 National Parks and 26 of the states.
We have been married for 24 months, been to 11 major cities, 8 football games, 7 zoos, 5 stage shows, 4 theme parks.
We have been married for 2 years, adopted 2 cats (we already had 3 dogs), flown 1 flight, bought 1 house.
We have been married once, but it has provided thousands of joys and will provide an uncountable number in the future.

Happy anniversary to us.

 
 

Comedy of errors

I had meant to do homework tonight.  Really.  Jon was going to be out until at least ten (he is directing "Into the Woods" this month), the dogs had been fed and I was sitting down to get a lot of work done.  That's when the doorbell rang and our new neighbors (also friends from church) needed air conditioning while their own home suffered a power outage (during our 10o degree heat wave), so I introduced them to the kids and gave them the general tour.  After they left to go shopping and get dinner I finished making my own meal and sat down to do that homework I was talking about.  That, of course, was when the kid from the University called to collect money for some campaign drive.  Right.  He must not have noticed that we only graduated in the last couple of years, because he thought we were going to bave a thousand dollars to give him for a chair in an auditorium.  He should have called the med student who graduated in 1980.  It did, however, take me almost 10 minutes to convice him that we were not going to donate for said chair and by that time the phone was ringing again.  My mom wanted me to go look at the beautiful red ball of setting sun, which I really thank her for and I really enjoyed... until the front lawn sprinkler (yes, you remember sprinkler system 2?) came on, shooting straight up my shorts.  I had finally opened a book (remember my homework?) after drying off and changing into my pajamas when Jon called to say he was on the way home, and not 10 seconds later, the doorbell rang again - Kristen and Matt were still without power, and me still in my pajamas with soggy hair.  Then Jon came home, we all chatted until nearly eleven, they went home to try and sleep, Jon and I caught up on the goings on of the day and now we are headed to bed.   Homework?  What homework?  But it was a really fun evening.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

We went for a walk in the neighborhood tonight and finally met some neighbors. The people on the corner have lots of rescued animals. Hmmm, kind of like us. The people next to them have a brand new baby. We'd like to be a combination of the two. On the same walk we met lots of bunnies (they're eating our flowers more than anyone else's), ducks, and a muskrat in the nearby pond. Finally this year, our lawn is catching up with the others. Now if only our hot tub would do the same (read: we need to get one). It may not be summer down home on the farm, but it is friendly and full of wildlife.