Honey I made you a mixed tape for our Anniversary!

You.

Dear Casey:

Have I ever told you how much I loved that you pursued me 15 years ago? You were everything that my teen aged heart wanted in a guy. You were HOT, smart, funny as all get out, you were the popular guy, you romanced me with poetry and flowers, you were passionate and opinionated, you were the dangerous boy who was so so so good. When we first flirted you had long pink hair and you took me to meet your parents at a competition. You use to point out that my jawline was strong and defined, something so little that you so vocally admired. You thought my body was awesome, something that I had never thought myself. You taught me to love me as I was through your words and actions and love.

Seven years ago we married at our winery. We said our vows in front of all our family and friends, people who had supported us in our decisions for years. You wiped away my tears through my laughter, you held my hands tight and never took your eyes from me until we both looked at Alex. You gave me the magical wedding that I had imagined, all feminine and girlie and beautiful. You picked a wedding ring that I get complimented on all the time. And you didn't smash cake in my face, thank you thank you thank you.

A Couple weeks ago I hung up our collage frames that we had stored for years. They are full of us, young us, the beginning of us, and I have loved staring at them remembering those moments and others not pictured. Alex has been learning those early stories, the small details about you that I remember. Like your hands, how they were always callused from your music playing. And how you would play with Matt every single day after school. I have told him about the ham and cheese sandwiches we use to share at lunch and how you use to call my winter coat my Patting bear coat. I have shown him all the pictures of us snuggled up so tightly in each others arms and he pointed out how you are doing the finger scratching thing you do in all most all of them. You do that to him sometimes.

Casey, I love you, all of you. The guy you were, the man you are today. Today your hands aren't callused from playing your bass but from the pen caps you click open and closed while you teach. Today you play with Alex every chance you get, always challenging him to a game of some sort. Today you make cheese pizzas and share them with us both. Today you steal my Ugg slippers and wear them around with your heels hanging off the back. Today I have tons of pictures of you snuggled up with Alex or with one of the pups. Today you work your ass off to give to us. You give us time, you give us security, you give us all of you.

I have wanted you from the beginning, have wanted you in my life for always. I am so glad that you are Alex's Daddy, that you are my husband, that we moved to Texas together, that we have stuck together. I am so glad that I have 15 years of you to look back on and to smile over.

Happy Anniversary Casey. I love you.

Nicole

I might be many things...

I voted today because I know the lines will be crazy here on Nov 4th. So I went on down to my library, hung out in line for 20 minutes, voted, pressed the big red Vote button and snagged my sticker.

And THEN...

I was called an Ignorant Republican Bitch by someone at Alex's school. Now I might be many things, Republican and Bitch included, but I am FAR FAR FAR from ignorant.

So I set that harpy straight on regarding Obama's support of live birth abortions, and told her that I don't judge people based on their political choices, but based on their actions. Therefore in my book she was a Bigoted, narrow minded snatch.

*grin*

And THEN...

The little Hispanic Democrat grandma that I had been having a friendly political talk with gave me a High Five and said Amen!

Amen!!!!

What we have been doing...

We have been watching Gun slingers...
Eating homemade pesto and tomato sauce.
I have been sighing over this lovely church.

We have all been loving our time with Poppa Loren.
Alex has been running circles around ancient trees.
I have been contemplating Bovine body piercings.
I have been daydreaming about owning something like this some day.
We have been rescuing baby pumpkins from destructive puppies.

We sure have been busy.

Countdowns Aplenty

I/We have lots of events coming up, all crammed into the next three weeks period. With all these events all lumping themselves together I am going to spend the next three days getting as prepared for them as possible.

The Events:

• Casey is home for two weeks straight.
• A Pampered Chef party
• A Cub Scout Halloween party
• My Father in Law is visiting.

The Needs:

• Must get the bulk of cleaning done this weekend so our time with Casey is spent together and not cleaning which in this house is sometimes synonymous with me being a harpy.
• Must clean all "public" spaces very very very well, mostly focusing on the kitchen, living room, and downstairs bath.
• For the Scouts I want to get the yard cleaned up, which included the garden beds, and all the dog deposits. Plus I need to make sure that the yard is generally space for all those crazy kids.
• For my FiL visit, I just want to have a clean welcoming home, and have all our Halloween decorations up.
• I also want to draft a two week ( at least) meal plan and shop from my pantry first then the store to make sure all the groceries are readily available. I do not want a food meltdown which in the midst of this prep or events.

Today to-do's:

• Clean, Clean, Clean
• Mop and super vacuum
• Dust Dust Dust
• De clutter the "public" spaces, it amazes me how much extra stuff I just had hanging on our fridge!
• Windows and Sills, Lord, please stop sending us Flies, they are gross.
• Pantry clean up, this room always ends up messy, Why??

Monday Mornings

I stare at this everyday.

Ahhh I swear I could kiss myself for finally rearranging my schedule so I have Mondays and Fridays off. Mondays are not so bad when I can start off the week with a slow cup of coffee, some Jack Johnson, the tease of rain outside my window, and 2 too many puppies wrestling at my feet. Nice for me.

Snippets:

• I made pizza Friday and it was so much better than the pizza we had out on Saturday.


• Saturdays Italian restaurant did give me a fabulous dish called Charcoal Chicken, and a bit of buzz from the wine.


• It was homecoming Saturday and seeing all those young kids in their dresses and suits made me feel old, but awesome. Here I sit at 31 with a great husband, a great kid, I had awesome hair and cute purple shoes on, and none of those girls could top me. Yeah I had to pull out the ego for this one. :)


• I started SUPER cleaning the kitchen. So far only one side of the room is done, but on that I side I have scrubbed the counters, put away extra stuff that was out, cleaned off the top of the fridge, cleaned off random stuff on the fridge, and removed stuff that I had tacked to the wall. It looks so white and clean now. Yay!


• I made a Lemon Mousse cake Saturday for my moms birthday,and I really wish I had taken a picture of it. It was delish.


• Casey got stung by a wasp Friday, I felt so bad because I didn't even know the nest was there and he was picking up the hose that I had draped over the nest. Ouchy!


• I have a HUGE urge to paint the downstairs of our house, maybe because we are having two parties and one guest in the next three weeks. Eepp!

Today, I am going to squeeze in some Japanese food, some laundry, some homework wrangling, some bread baking, some mopping, some rain dancing, and some bad TV. Yeah Mondays are great.

Don't we all have days like this?

Little bit use to be able to sneak off the deck right here, but she has grown in the time she has spent with us and now she gets stuck. Some days are just rougher then others.