My man

My man

I was thinking today about all the things that my husband can do. He is one of those really cool guys who can fix stuff and I like to brag about it. When we first got married, my mom had this washer that had flooded a couple of times and she was sick of it. SO, she gave it to us. The future of laundromats was no longer in our future. Because guess what? Not only did she give us the washer, but the perfectly good dryer as well. Because I mean, please, you can't buy a new washer and not have the perfect match???? Right?????

So, mom gets her new washer and dryer and we get the 3 year old ones. Ron tells me "I can fix that". He goes and buys a Whirlpool repair manual (long before days of the internet) for $10 and buys the part for $15. For $25 and a little bit of elbow grease from him, while I brought him cool, refreshing lemonade in tall, chilled glasses, we had a washer and dryer that served us for 4 moves, 3 kids, and approximately 9,742 loads of laundry.

That was a proud wife moment. My husband could FIX things. And not have to take the whole day off work to do it. He grew up on a farm. He can fix all kind of practical stuff like baylers, tractors, well pumps, fences, and radiators. He also can do a mean trick on toaster, a sewing machine, a cable, a guitar, lawnmowers, any computer, etc. etc. Sometimes he even fixes things when you don't want them fixed because you'd like a new one.

He can also do all sorts of other random things really well. Examples? Juggle, remember useless formulas from math classes taken 20+ years ago, make incredible "Ron-burgers", and talk in any number of puppet voices, i.e., Kermit the Frog, Grover (especially Near and Far), Donald Duck and Scooby Doo. He regularly speculates and pontificates about all things space, time and matter. He is a humble gospel scholar. He makes yummy mashed potatoes and he is a very good marksman (but hates hunting). He can inseminate a cow if needs be, or even deliver a calf if pressed. He's tall and can get stuff off the high shelves. He is awesome to have at a campfire because he can play anything you want him to (and somethings you don't want him to.) But, don't even get started on the whole music thing...that's a whole 'nuther thread.

Oh, he's not perfect though. He has road rage bad and he doesn't play board/card games well, though, because he cheats and he hates to lose. He forgets to put the juice away in the morning and he doesn't pick up his stuff. Something has to keep him on earth, though, doesn't it?



One last really smart thing he did...............Marry me. 'nuff said.

Popped collar?

Funny picture of the day................

Especially for you children of the early 80's/preppy phase. Who popped their collars? I did, and did it proudly. In fact, I gasped in glee when I was at the ever trendy Hollister at the mall one day buying an over-priced, poorly made shirt for my daughter, when I saw that the salesman had a DOUBLE POPPED-COLLAR POLO

It was then that I realized that not only had 60's hair, 70's bell bottoms and 80's music made a comeback, but that the

DOUBLE POPPED-COLLAR POLO

had now returned with gusto to the glorified annuls of a popular, hip, cool, over-priced poorly made store. The end.

Proof my Mother Hated My Sister


I was just reading my cute niece, Lauren's blog, who obviously gets all of her humor from moi, her slightly poorer, but much younger sister of previously noted Aunt Cathy, who happens to live at swanky 1 Central Park West. But I digress.

Anyway, I was thinking today about how much I love my sisters. My sisters are the most awesome women I know. I am SO lucky that I have them as friends and mentors. In fact, here is a really awesome picture of us from 1967:



Aren't we adorable. I mean, look at the expressions on our faces!!! Standing peacefully in front of the Christmas tree, gazing off to the East, wondering what it would have been like if we had seen the star, or dreaming of all the wonderful Barbie crap we were going to get the next morning! I wonder where we were going that day....or night. I wonder how many times Mom yelled at us to look up at the hallway lig....er, star in the East, and how many times Carolyn poked me in the ribs.

This was in 1967 and I would have been 4, Carolyn was 9, and Cathy about 13. Look at Cathy in her groovy little houndstooth print dress! She looks awesome. Look at me all cute and four. With the long straight hair that I could sit on, and my cute, mischevious grin. You know, the youngest who was spoiled and got everything and her sisters who were at her mercy?? (Somethings never change.) But, please, someone tell me.....what did Carolyn do to tick off my mom so much??? Did she have a horrible labor? Did she not do her chores that day? Did she play "Bridge Over Trouble Water" from the Big-Note Guitar Book one time too many on the slightly out-of-tune guitar she got for Christmas??? I mean, seriously, WHO makes their MIDDLE CHILD wear their hair like this?? What I really want to know is....what did she do to deserve the cat-eye glasses that were in her future?? (stay-tuned for pictures).

So, yes, Lauren, in response to your blog post, homely people DO get married. And they make beautiful children. And with lots of therapy they grow out of all the mean things their mothers did to them. Amen.