Hi. This is Mark here. Stacy's husband. I've never "blogged" before. But since I was so kindly celebrated here by my wife, I figure I'll write the follow-up post. Here goes...
WOW, what a GREAT birthday I had, thanks most of all to my lovely wife. I was so blessed by her letting me sleep in, by her gifts to me (a subscription to Steelers digest, a Steelers book and a Steelers cap). And that dinner and dessert were phenomenal -- she is an exceptionally excellent cook.
Okay, to answer the questions...
1. I am now 38 years old, I guess, but my youthful wife keeps me feeling at least five years younger.
2. The Pittsburgh Steelers are my favorite team. Always have been. Asking me to choose a favorite player is a little like asking me which one of my children is my favorite. My favorite current player is probably Hines Ward, with Troy Polamalu a close second. All time favorite Steeler? Come on, how can I do that? (Fletch, if I was a Seahawks fan, Largent would of course be my favorite, but that's kind of easy when there's only one Hall-of-Famer to choose from.)
3. My favorite musician/band? Another really tough question. Most days it's U2, but there are times when I think it's Van Morrison, and often I think it's the 77s. Maybe it's Michael Roe (of the 77s) because of his solo work and his being part of both the 77s and the Lost Dogs. Overall, I'll stick with U2.
4. I'm 6'6"
5. We didn't have a snake. I caught lots of garter snakes, but never kept them for a pet.
6. I have 5 siblings: a sister and four brothers.
7. I have a B.A. in Journalism
8. My current favorite game to play is Ticket to Ride Europe, but I enjoy all those on the list.
Jodi, thanks for being such a good sport and playing even though you don't know me at all. And yes, I do seriously love the Steelers. If you do the math, you'll realize I was about 5 to 10 years old when the Steelers won 4 Super Bowls in the 70s. Even at that young age, I recognized true greatness in a football team. I made a lifetime commitment that I've never regretted.
Mike, you got 7 out of 8 right, with a bonus for knowing Ward. That makes you one of the big winners. But that's hardly fair, because you know me well IRL (how's my use of blog lingo?) But you did beat the other contestant who knows me well -- your wife, who only got 6 of the 8. (And I'll give Amy the bonus just for knowing there was somebody named Lynn who played for the Steelers.) [Lynn Swann]
Chad (w/ Michelle helping out) also got 7 of 8. (As for Ken Griffey Jr. being my favorite player, I think it was clear that NFL was meant, but you're right, it wasn't specified, so BONUS to you!!) Chad lives far, far away from me, and I've only seen him on three occasions, so his score trumps Mike's. I crown him CHAMPION of the contest, and I'll put him on the waiting list for BFF status.
Carrie, who amazingly got 5 of 8 right, is the winner of those who don't really know me at all. I am impressed.
Ella, thanks for playing my game, sweet girl. So glad you got the Steelers question right, and yes, Bettis was my favorite Steeler in his time.
Sorry, Cutzi, you didn't win, but thanks for playing.
Fletch, Settlers is probably my all-time favorite game, but the question asked for my "current" favorite.
Cindy, although you skipped the quiz, your comment that I have a beautiful family and an amazing wife who adores me is the best response of the bunch, so I award you SUPER GRAND CHAMPION PRIZE in my birthday contest.
Finally, thanks again to you, Stacy, for making my birthday (and 364 other days every year) so great. I love you and cherish you. To all of you who read Stacy's blog and to those of you who "know" her solely through this strange blog world, I can assure you that you are only seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how encouraging, caring, amusing, thoughtful, Godly, and just-plain-wonderful she is. I get the incredible gift of being loved by this woman every day. I am blessed.
- Mark
Happy Birthday! (and a game!)
Today is Mark's birthday!
Mark has the day off today, so we began the day by giving him the gift of sleep. While he was doing that, we crept out of the house to pick up a few groceries. We woke him up with donuts and coffee and a noisy song of Happy Birthday. Then we did some gifts, and then I spent a few hours in the kitchen. We get to have my family and Mike and Amy and family over for a birthday dinner tonight, (and oh how I wish you could join us, Timmons family!)
On the menu:
Two lasagnas (one regular, one butternut squash)
Garlic bread
Caesar salad
Apple pie & ice cream
In honor of Mark's birthday today, I'm posting a little "How Well Do You Know Mark?" game. For those of you who have been to some of our birthday parties over the years, you'll recall that we like to play these types of games. Now, I know many of you don't know Mark all that well, so I'm going to help you out by making this a multiple choice game. Ready?
1. How old is Mark today?
(a) 36
(b) 33
(c) 38
(d) 35
2. Name Mark's favorite NFL team
(a) the Seattle Seahawks
(b) the Cleveland Browns
(c) the Pittsburgh Steelers
(d) the New England Patriots
*Bonus Points (2) if you can guess his favorite player, too!
3. Name Mark's all-time favorite musician/band
(a) Van Morrison
(b) U2
(c) The Seventy-Sevens
(d) Elvis
4. How tall is Mark?
(a) 6'6"
(b) 6'4"
(c) 6'2"
(d) 6'
5. What pet did Mark's family NOT have while growing up?
(a) snake
(b) pigeons
(c) goats
(d) chickens
6. How many siblings does Mark have?
(a) 4
(b) 5
(c) 2
(d) 6
7. What did Mark major in in college?
(a) Elementary Ed.
(b) History
(c) Journalism
(d) English
8. What is Mark's current favorite game to play?
(a) Poker
(b) Settlers of Catan
(c) Ticket to Ride Europe
(d) Carcassonne
Now... you're on the honor system as far as copying other people's answers when you see them in the comments section. I know you wouldn't do dare do such a thing.
Have fun! :)
~Stacy
I'm a terrible housekeeper
Really.
I just am.
In our home, it would not be unusual to....
... find a vacuum cleaner that I used maybe two full weeks ago still standing out in the hallway. Right in front of the closet it belongs in. Sure, it's in the way. But I just step around it. As does everyone else in this house.
... find that a corner of my counter is always full of papers, mail, magazines, coupons, bills, cards, a bag of chips, a cookbook, and much, much more. And just so you can all feel, every one of you, quite better about your own countertops, here is a photo:
... find my bed, unmade, for the twentieth day in a row.
... find dirty clothes or towels strewn across the bathroom floor.
... find clothes lying on the bedroom floor.
... find Lincoln Logs, Legos, Wedgits, Tinkertoys, and/or dollhouse stuff strewn across my living room floor. Making it difficult to walk.
... find miscellaneous items on every single seating area in our living room. Right now, as I look around me, this is what I see:
*Across the room, on the blue couch, is the remaining (folded) laundry that I have yet to put away. Also a hamper of socks I have yet to match. There is always a hamper of socks I have yet to match. Also on the blue couch? A library book. And a hanger. Some hair pretties. Some clothes (too small or yet to grow into) that I don't have a place for, so they're waiting on the couch until I come up with a plan.
*Also across the room, on our chair-and-a-half, you would find the remains of a project I was working on earlier today. Some bakers twine, felt, scissors, and paper. Also my sweatshirt. And Ella's. And my keys, I see there now. Which is quite handy because when I need to leave the house tomorrow and can't find my keys, I might just remember typing their location here.
*The couch I'm sitting on at the moment has not one, but six pillows covering it. Two of which belong here, four of which do not. The kids were apparently playing with pillows at some point this evening. Also three books, Ella's baby doll, and another sweatshirt of Ella's.
Just to point out that if someone were to stop by unexpectedly, I would have to SCURRY to clear off a spot for them to even sit down.
I also see a bag of handmedowns that has been sitting in the corner of our room for a couple of weeks. I have yet to go through it. Or maybe I already did and have simply forgotten that I did; I don't know. I see two shopping bags leaned against the couch, my raincoat lying on the floor (Don't ask. I have NO idea. There are hooks for coats right by the front door.) I see my shoes, my purse, my Bible, a picture Ella made for Isaac this afternoon during her quiet time. A blanket lying on the floor. My sweater. Another book.
I hate this. I have always been like this. It used to be a *HUGE* battle; THE battle, between my dad and I when I was younger. I could not keep my room clean. It's not that I don't mind the clutter, I do mind it. When I stop and notice it. But most of the time I really do not see it. I am long in the habit of looking/walking around it. I need to train my eye to notice things out of place.
The good thing about this is that when I go to other peoples' houses, I think they're spotless. I really do not notice your clutter. And if perchance I did--you know, were you to point it out to me-- I would just love you to pieces.
The bad thing about this is,...
Well, there's plenty. To name just a few:
1) I'm a terrible model for my children. I need to get disciplined in this area myself so that they can learn good habits from me. And, um... my clutter plus that of my three tiny clutter-bugs? Not a pretty sight, folks.
2) I love having a tidy house. (Notice I did not say "clean". Tidy would suffice.) It really makes me happier and more at peace and able to rest when there is order in our home.
3) It causes me great anxiety when people do stop by. Really. Great alarm ensues in this house as people are obliviously getting out of their vehicles or walking up the sidewalk towards our home.
4) It makes me crabby. At myself, at my kids, at my husband.
I really want to change, I do. [And don't even for one second suggest Flylady to me. I tried that, once, for about two days. And let me just say that the very last thing I need is four-hundred daily emails cluttering up my already-full inbox in addition to all that clutters my house.]
So. We're working on this at our house. I am trying to be a diligent mama and remind the kids to clean one thing up before they get out another. I am trying to work at keeping our own bedroom clean and free of clutter. (And, HA! If you could see it now you would *so* know this is not going so well. ~smile~) I am trying to tell myself, as I walk through my house, "If you see something out of place, don't just walk by. Stop, pick it up, and put it where it belongs." I am praying that God would help. And teach me discipline. And open my eyes to see the mess. And give me creative organizing solutions. I have asked Mark to formulate a clean-up plan for the kids to be accountable to him for (something like they all have a designated area to keep tidy throughout the day and he can inspect it when he gets home from work.)
So in between meals and laundry and disputes and correction and school, we are applying ourselves to this task of keeping house.
I just am.
In our home, it would not be unusual to....
... find a vacuum cleaner that I used maybe two full weeks ago still standing out in the hallway. Right in front of the closet it belongs in. Sure, it's in the way. But I just step around it. As does everyone else in this house.
... find that a corner of my counter is always full of papers, mail, magazines, coupons, bills, cards, a bag of chips, a cookbook, and much, much more. And just so you can all feel, every one of you, quite better about your own countertops, here is a photo:
... find my bed, unmade, for the twentieth day in a row.
... find dirty clothes or towels strewn across the bathroom floor.
... find clothes lying on the bedroom floor.
... find Lincoln Logs, Legos, Wedgits, Tinkertoys, and/or dollhouse stuff strewn across my living room floor. Making it difficult to walk.
... find miscellaneous items on every single seating area in our living room. Right now, as I look around me, this is what I see:
*Across the room, on the blue couch, is the remaining (folded) laundry that I have yet to put away. Also a hamper of socks I have yet to match. There is always a hamper of socks I have yet to match. Also on the blue couch? A library book. And a hanger. Some hair pretties. Some clothes (too small or yet to grow into) that I don't have a place for, so they're waiting on the couch until I come up with a plan.
*Also across the room, on our chair-and-a-half, you would find the remains of a project I was working on earlier today. Some bakers twine, felt, scissors, and paper. Also my sweatshirt. And Ella's. And my keys, I see there now. Which is quite handy because when I need to leave the house tomorrow and can't find my keys, I might just remember typing their location here.
*The couch I'm sitting on at the moment has not one, but six pillows covering it. Two of which belong here, four of which do not. The kids were apparently playing with pillows at some point this evening. Also three books, Ella's baby doll, and another sweatshirt of Ella's.
Just to point out that if someone were to stop by unexpectedly, I would have to SCURRY to clear off a spot for them to even sit down.
I also see a bag of handmedowns that has been sitting in the corner of our room for a couple of weeks. I have yet to go through it. Or maybe I already did and have simply forgotten that I did; I don't know. I see two shopping bags leaned against the couch, my raincoat lying on the floor (Don't ask. I have NO idea. There are hooks for coats right by the front door.) I see my shoes, my purse, my Bible, a picture Ella made for Isaac this afternoon during her quiet time. A blanket lying on the floor. My sweater. Another book.
I hate this. I have always been like this. It used to be a *HUGE* battle; THE battle, between my dad and I when I was younger. I could not keep my room clean. It's not that I don't mind the clutter, I do mind it. When I stop and notice it. But most of the time I really do not see it. I am long in the habit of looking/walking around it. I need to train my eye to notice things out of place.
The good thing about this is that when I go to other peoples' houses, I think they're spotless. I really do not notice your clutter. And if perchance I did--you know, were you to point it out to me-- I would just love you to pieces.
The bad thing about this is,...
Well, there's plenty. To name just a few:
1) I'm a terrible model for my children. I need to get disciplined in this area myself so that they can learn good habits from me. And, um... my clutter plus that of my three tiny clutter-bugs? Not a pretty sight, folks.
2) I love having a tidy house. (Notice I did not say "clean". Tidy would suffice.) It really makes me happier and more at peace and able to rest when there is order in our home.
3) It causes me great anxiety when people do stop by. Really. Great alarm ensues in this house as people are obliviously getting out of their vehicles or walking up the sidewalk towards our home.
4) It makes me crabby. At myself, at my kids, at my husband.
I really want to change, I do. [And don't even for one second suggest Flylady to me. I tried that, once, for about two days. And let me just say that the very last thing I need is four-hundred daily emails cluttering up my already-full inbox in addition to all that clutters my house.]
So. We're working on this at our house. I am trying to be a diligent mama and remind the kids to clean one thing up before they get out another. I am trying to work at keeping our own bedroom clean and free of clutter. (And, HA! If you could see it now you would *so* know this is not going so well. ~smile~) I am trying to tell myself, as I walk through my house, "If you see something out of place, don't just walk by. Stop, pick it up, and put it where it belongs." I am praying that God would help. And teach me discipline. And open my eyes to see the mess. And give me creative organizing solutions. I have asked Mark to formulate a clean-up plan for the kids to be accountable to him for (something like they all have a designated area to keep tidy throughout the day and he can inspect it when he gets home from work.)
So in between meals and laundry and disputes and correction and school, we are applying ourselves to this task of keeping house.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a book review
Okay, this book review is a long time in coming to you. I originally wrote it back in October but just haven't posted it yet!
The book is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver.
It was on someone's blog that I first heard of this book. (And I'm sorry, but I can't remember whose blog it was.) It was listed with several other books as a resource in a post regarding how to eat healthier or something. The author, Barbara Kingsolver, didn't necessarily appeal to me, as I wasn't actually a huge fan of Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible when I read that years ago. But I would like to learn more about eating healthier so I made a mental note of the title. The next time I thought of it I looked it up online and read a review. The review told me a little more about the book and it was enough to make me decide to put it on hold at our library. Little did I know everyone *else* in the city was also on our library's hold list for this book. I think I was 91st in line or something.
By the time I got an email from the library telling me the book was waiting for me, I'd nearly forgotten all about it. I took it home and picked it up to skim through it. (And truth be told, at this point I figured that was all I would do: skim through the book. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to READ an entire book about eating healthier. Skim, yes. But read? I'd have to be convinced.) But I began reading and that was that. I was hooked.
Kingsolver, in a very conversational style, takes the reader on a journey her family made one year, which was basically to grow or raise all their own food. For an entire year. Or, as Kingsolver describes it: "This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew". [Provenance, for those like me who need a definition, is "the origin or source from which something comes."] Kingsolver continues:
We tried to wring most of the petroleum out of our food chain, even if that meant giving up some things. Our highest shopping goal was to get our food from so close to home, we'd know the person who grew it. Often that turned out to be us, as we learned to produced more of what we needed, starting with dirt, seeds, and enough knowledge to muddle through. Or starting with baby animals and enough sense to refrain from naming them.While this is not my personal goal, I was truly fascinated to find out how this family achieved it. What did that look like, exactly?
Kingsolver, with the help of her husband and daughter, tells us how they did it. We are told what they planted, and when. With each new month, we learn what comes up in their garden and- my favorite part- what they did with all that came up in their garden. We learn of her daughter Lily's egg (and meat) business. (And I learned that Lily has the same affection for her hens as Ella does for ours.) We learn of their decision to raise turkeys for meat.
We read about their ever-prolific zucchini in July and of countertops overflowing with ripe tomatoes in August. Following each month's information is an excerpt written by her daughter Camille, who shares some of their family recipes as well as their meal plans. When asparagus was up in garden, they had all sorts of meal variations on asparagus, when the squash came up, their menus shifted to accommodate the squash. To get an idea for the types of recipes they share in the book, go here.
I enjoyed the fact that this was a family venture for them. Each family member worked hard from planning to planting to weeding to harvest, and when it was canning time, they all lined up to do their part in the kitchen. There is something so comforting about this type of work to me. I have fond memories of going out to my grandpa and grandma's home when it was bean-picking time. We'd gather in the garden to pick bags full of beans, meet up in the yard for snipping, and then head into the kitchen for the canning. Together. Working alongside one another towards a common purpose. I love that.
Now, I like to try my hand at growing vegetables in our garden, and I do like to go to our local farmer's market. But that's about it. Our garden has primarily been just a hobby for us. We do glean off of it throughout the summer months, but I've never looked at it as a primary way to feed our family, even during the months when it's at "peak" production. I really liked the idea of being intentional about what to plant, and how much, in order to feed our family for a sustained period of time. (Even if the period of time may be 2 months, in our case!) Kingsolver is a woman who planned out how many onions she thought her family would go through for the entire year, and then planted just that many. There's a section of the book that describes their pantry: shelf after shelf of canned tomatoes, dried herbs, root vegetables, and much, much more. All from their very own garden, planted, tended, and harvested by each one, and enough to feed their family for an entire year. Amazing.
While I don't aspire to do the one-year thing for our family, I would like to grow in these three areas:
1. Be more intentional in the planning of our garden (what to plant, how much to plant, what can we plant that will keep?)
2. Harvest more from our garden (I'm envisioning the whole family, working together in this)
3. Get better at planning our menus around the produce coming up in our garden, or the seasonal produce from the farmer's market.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. So much that I told Mark repeatedly, "I want to own this book."
And now I do. [Thank you, honey!]
Christy's question
Christy writes:
I have a question. A while back you blogged about keeping your kids in church. Did you ever get any of your children to sit through the entire sermon quietly when they were between 18 months and 2 years old? We're keeping our 18 month old with us. She does well during worship and about half way through the sermon. We're training her at home to sit during Bible reading time, but that time is a lot shorter than a sermon at church. We're hoping eventually she'll get used to staying quiet the whole time, but I thought you might be able to confirm our hopes since you've been doing it awhile. We've tried books, coloring, etc, but those tend to make her want to talk more. I'm leaning toward not bringing anything extra to church other than her sippy cup and stuffed animal, but is that unrealistic?
Thanks for any pointers!
[the post Christy referred to is this one.]
My response:
To answer your question, we have had Isaias (our youngest) with us in church since he's been home from Guatemala, so... from 9 months of age to the present (he'll be 3 in March).
It sounds like you're doing exactly the right thing-- starting with training her at home during your family worship times.
Every week (with few exceptions at this point), Isaias sits through the entire service quietly (1 hour and 15 minutes including worship). We bring children's Bibles, blank notebooks (ie- not coloring books with characters in them) and crayons. (I take a notebook and Bible to church each week so I figure the notebooks/crayons are good practice for their own note-taking!) We also bring them a sippy cup of milk or water. They are allowed to sit in our laps or on their seats. After worship they can have their drinks and then their options are to sit quietly and listen, look through their Bibles quietly, or color in their notebooks quietly. (See the pattern? "Quietly.")
Obviously when he was littler he wasn't so much into the crayons. And for a season we did bring cheerios or raisins but now that we don't do that anymore I'm really thankful (dropped crayons are one thing, dropped cheerios or raisins (especially when they get stepped on!) are another.
But boy, Christy, it did NOT come without many battles. For several months we set forth that expectation to him but he fought it. We [usually Mark] had to take him to the bathroom for discipline MANY times. Every week during the service, sometimes more than once per service, he would get noisy. We would remind him to be quiet, he would disobey, and we would take him out. Then we would remind him again to be quiet, carry him back into the service, and if he acted out again, back out we would go. I am quite certain our entire church body is rejoicing that that season is over! But over it is. And now he is regularly quiet and well-behaved throughout the entire sermon. Of course we still offer many reminders: "Isaias, sit on your bum. No wiggling. Shh.... " (etc), but it's a rare occasion that we have to take him out of the service.
***
Christy agreed to let me post her question here so that any of you could chime in with your thoughts. I know many of you have had more experience than we have in this department, so would you be willing to share some of your ideas or encouragement?
I have a question. A while back you blogged about keeping your kids in church. Did you ever get any of your children to sit through the entire sermon quietly when they were between 18 months and 2 years old? We're keeping our 18 month old with us. She does well during worship and about half way through the sermon. We're training her at home to sit during Bible reading time, but that time is a lot shorter than a sermon at church. We're hoping eventually she'll get used to staying quiet the whole time, but I thought you might be able to confirm our hopes since you've been doing it awhile. We've tried books, coloring, etc, but those tend to make her want to talk more. I'm leaning toward not bringing anything extra to church other than her sippy cup and stuffed animal, but is that unrealistic?
Thanks for any pointers!
[the post Christy referred to is this one.]
My response:
To answer your question, we have had Isaias (our youngest) with us in church since he's been home from Guatemala, so... from 9 months of age to the present (he'll be 3 in March).
It sounds like you're doing exactly the right thing-- starting with training her at home during your family worship times.
Every week (with few exceptions at this point), Isaias sits through the entire service quietly (1 hour and 15 minutes including worship). We bring children's Bibles, blank notebooks (ie- not coloring books with characters in them) and crayons. (I take a notebook and Bible to church each week so I figure the notebooks/crayons are good practice for their own note-taking!) We also bring them a sippy cup of milk or water. They are allowed to sit in our laps or on their seats. After worship they can have their drinks and then their options are to sit quietly and listen, look through their Bibles quietly, or color in their notebooks quietly. (See the pattern? "Quietly.")
Obviously when he was littler he wasn't so much into the crayons. And for a season we did bring cheerios or raisins but now that we don't do that anymore I'm really thankful (dropped crayons are one thing, dropped cheerios or raisins (especially when they get stepped on!) are another.
But boy, Christy, it did NOT come without many battles. For several months we set forth that expectation to him but he fought it. We [usually Mark] had to take him to the bathroom for discipline MANY times. Every week during the service, sometimes more than once per service, he would get noisy. We would remind him to be quiet, he would disobey, and we would take him out. Then we would remind him again to be quiet, carry him back into the service, and if he acted out again, back out we would go. I am quite certain our entire church body is rejoicing that that season is over! But over it is. And now he is regularly quiet and well-behaved throughout the entire sermon. Of course we still offer many reminders: "Isaias, sit on your bum. No wiggling. Shh.... " (etc), but it's a rare occasion that we have to take him out of the service.
***
Christy agreed to let me post her question here so that any of you could chime in with your thoughts. I know many of you have had more experience than we have in this department, so would you be willing to share some of your ideas or encouragement?
I jotted this down from yesterday's sermon and it's been rolling around in my brain ever since:
Yes. That is my prayer. Lord, show me the things that seize Your heart, and may my heart be moved by those same things. And may I let go of all the other stuff.
We must not allow our hearts to be seized by the things that don't seize the heart of God. ~G. Thomas
Yes. That is my prayer. Lord, show me the things that seize Your heart, and may my heart be moved by those same things. And may I let go of all the other stuff.
On why my husband is the best there is
(Reason #6,000,000,001)
I've mentioned before that we live in a small-ish house. It's an older home, with lots of character, and I genuinely love our home. But occasionally I do wish we had a bit more space.
I've also mentioned that I have this thing for rearranging furniture. I'd say about every 3 months or so we have an entirely different living room arrangement. I reposition the couches and our chair-and-a-half, and the rug and the lamps and the end tables. I may hunt around downstairs or in other rooms to add "new" furniture, too. I do this mainly in the living room, but also in the bedrooms. Now, the bedrooms are pretty small. In our room, we can squeeze in our king-size bed, a small bedside table apiece, and one dresser. And that's a tight fit. But that doesn't mean I don't still like to rearrange it all.
Several months ago I was in our bedroom in a cleaning/decluttering/rearranging frenzy-- trying to come up with some way, some how, to make more room. And suddenly I had an idea: we could remove our bed! (By "bed" I mean our sleigh bed, not the mattresses.) I figured if we took out our sleigh bed (beautiful, but adding an extra foot and a half, maybe two feet because of it's girth), we would have all this extra space! How fun would that be? So when Mark got home from work, I proposed the plan: Let's take our bed apart and simply sleep on the mattresses for a season. See how we like it.
And now we're getting to the "On why my husband is the best there is" part. He was game. We took everything apart- which is no small task, taking apart a big ole' bed with little room to maneuver. And then we carried all the pieces downstairs and leaned them against a wall.
And so we've had these wide open spaces around our bed for some time. I love it. Other than the fact that our pillows always slide down along the wall by our heads during the night and the metal frame kept sliding around on our hardwood floors- we couldn't figure out how to lock the wheels-, so we had to continually shove it towards the wall. But oh, the space! Bliss!
And then yesterday, on a whim, I decided I missed our bed and wanted it back. So I tentatively broached the subject with Mark, "Honey? I was thinking we should move our bed back up. What do you think?"
And I tell you: he was completely happy to oblige.
He did not sigh.
He did not roll his eyes.
He did not groan.
He did not complain one iota.
Not even when, after we'd moved all the pieces back upstairs, propped our mattresses against the closet door and he was ready for the putting-the-bed-back-together step, he asked, "Now where are those side pieces you carried up?" And they were in the closet, where I'd put them. You know, the closet behind the mattresses we'd shoved against it. (Small room, remember? Not so easy to get things moved around in there.) ~Whoops!~
But as I said, he did not complain once.
See? He's the sweetest guy around.
[Thanks, honey! I *love* having our bed back in there. So now, what do you think about getting rid of your bedside table to free up some more space in our room? I am SO kidding.]
I've mentioned before that we live in a small-ish house. It's an older home, with lots of character, and I genuinely love our home. But occasionally I do wish we had a bit more space.
I've also mentioned that I have this thing for rearranging furniture. I'd say about every 3 months or so we have an entirely different living room arrangement. I reposition the couches and our chair-and-a-half, and the rug and the lamps and the end tables. I may hunt around downstairs or in other rooms to add "new" furniture, too. I do this mainly in the living room, but also in the bedrooms. Now, the bedrooms are pretty small. In our room, we can squeeze in our king-size bed, a small bedside table apiece, and one dresser. And that's a tight fit. But that doesn't mean I don't still like to rearrange it all.
Several months ago I was in our bedroom in a cleaning/decluttering/rearranging frenzy-- trying to come up with some way, some how, to make more room. And suddenly I had an idea: we could remove our bed! (By "bed" I mean our sleigh bed, not the mattresses.) I figured if we took out our sleigh bed (beautiful, but adding an extra foot and a half, maybe two feet because of it's girth), we would have all this extra space! How fun would that be? So when Mark got home from work, I proposed the plan: Let's take our bed apart and simply sleep on the mattresses for a season. See how we like it.
And now we're getting to the "On why my husband is the best there is" part. He was game. We took everything apart- which is no small task, taking apart a big ole' bed with little room to maneuver. And then we carried all the pieces downstairs and leaned them against a wall.
And so we've had these wide open spaces around our bed for some time. I love it. Other than the fact that our pillows always slide down along the wall by our heads during the night and the metal frame kept sliding around on our hardwood floors- we couldn't figure out how to lock the wheels-, so we had to continually shove it towards the wall. But oh, the space! Bliss!
And then yesterday, on a whim, I decided I missed our bed and wanted it back. So I tentatively broached the subject with Mark, "Honey? I was thinking we should move our bed back up. What do you think?"
And I tell you: he was completely happy to oblige.
He did not sigh.
He did not roll his eyes.
He did not groan.
He did not complain one iota.
Not even when, after we'd moved all the pieces back upstairs, propped our mattresses against the closet door and he was ready for the putting-the-bed-back-together step, he asked, "Now where are those side pieces you carried up?" And they were in the closet, where I'd put them. You know, the closet behind the mattresses we'd shoved against it. (Small room, remember? Not so easy to get things moved around in there.) ~Whoops!~
But as I said, he did not complain once.
See? He's the sweetest guy around.
[Thanks, honey! I *love* having our bed back in there. So now, what do you think about getting rid of your bedside table to free up some more space in our room? I am SO kidding.]
