271/366: Boxes

And so the packing begins...

270/366: Some Days

I came home tonight.

To flowers.

For no reason at all.

Just because.

I had a rough week.

It never gets old.

Never.

269/366; A Pleasant Surprise

Preparing to move.

Is a contstant evaluation.

Of our personal belongings.

Sadly.

The yellow chair.

That I tried to salvage.

Didn't make the cut.

So my husband set it outside our garage.

While we ran out to have dinner with friends.

With the thought in mind that we would.

Properly dispose of it.

When we got home.

We pulled into the drive.

And found this little guy sitting in the chair.

I'm not sure where he came from.

I have my suspicions.

I couldn't bear to throw him out.

With the chair.

So I brought him up.

And hooked him.

In the handle of our screen door.

Where he stayed.

Somewhat haphazardly.

For a few days.

Tonight.

After an extremely trying day.

Of dealing with house inspections.

Moving arrangements.

Doctors.

And Stolen Debit Cards.

I rushed home.

In a foul mood.

Only to find.

My little friend.

Had moved to the S.

On the wall by our door.

This small little funny thing.

Made me whole day better.

It's the little things.

That make life happy.

268/366: Security

Very Often.
Security is something tangible.

The subtle click.
Of the lock on our front door.

The distinctive beep.
From the button on our key chain.
When walking away from our car.

I've never given.
Too much thought.
To the other types of security.

The "secure check out" symbol.
On a website shopping cart.
The pin on your ATM card.
The endless passcode questions.
For your bank.
Your email.
You phone.

Then tonight.
I had all of that security.
Thrown right in my face.

My debit card got declined.
Odd.
I checked out with an alternate payment.
Found the nearest seat.
Logged into my bank account.
From my phone.
And was throroughly shocked.

Someone.
Had drained my account.
At Wal-Mart and Forever 21.
In two different states.
While I was at work.

I was so mad!
Enraged!
Shaking!
Sad!
Frustrated!
Completely vulnerable.

So the bank will fix me up.
In the end.
All will be right.
In my world.
Yet, something has completely changed.

That, "It will never happen to me."
Sense of total security.
Is gone.
That makes me really sad.
Probably wiser.
But still sad.

267/366: Cassie

This is Cassie.
Tonight we had a really great dinner.
With Cassie's parents.

She was so sweet as she watched us.
Talking.
Laughing.
Catching up.

Tonight reinforced many things.
Strongest of which.
Was how much.
We are going to miss our California friends.
And how much.
We both really want a dog.

266/366: Age

After 30, a body has a mind of it's own.
                                           - Bette Midler

265/366: Robin's Eggs

You are wonderful.

Tasty.

Sinfully addicting.

And make fantastic.

Blue lipstick.

For little girls all over the world.

However.
I can honestly say.
I am so glad.

You are only here.

Once a year.

.

264/366: Harry

Today I spent a wonderful.
Afternoon and evening.
With friends.

We took some time out.
To get a few pictures.
Of sweet Harry and his parents.

263/366: The Notebook

When I was planning our wedding.

I needed a place.

For all of my spreadsheets.

Lists.

Paperwork.

Ideas.

More lists.

So I bought a notebook.

On clearance.

For three months.

It went everywhere with me.

Crossing an item.

Off of my endless pages of lists.

Gave me so much satisfaction.

After the wedding.

I couldn't bear to throw it away.

I stuck it on a shelf.

A couple of weeks ago.

I started to prepare for our move.

I found myself overwhelmed.

With lists.

Spreadsheets.

Paperwork.

I pulled my notebook off it's shelf.

Dusted off the cover.

Clipped together the pages of wedding plans.

And started planning the next chapter of our life.

Our move across the country.

For the next two months.

The notebook will go with me.

To track packing.

Rental trucks.

Home buying.

Plane tickets.

The road trip.

Of our lives.

I already hope.

I don't fill all the pages.

So that one day.

I will find another reason.

To pull it off the shelf.

262/366: Spring

One of my favorite parts of spring.
Is the beginning.
When everything.
Just starts.
To bloom.

261/366: Dinner with Friends

Dinner with the Haskes.
Is always great.

I'm never sure.
Who has more fun.
With the Legos.

The kids...
or the adults.

260/366: Kabobs

Tonight's dinner.
Was my first attempt.
At Kabobs.

Now.
I know these are by no means.
Difficult.

However.
I was quite proud.
Of how they turned out.
And that I actually ate.
The peppers.

259/366: The Door at the End of the Hall

One of the quirks.
Of our apartment.
Is this door.
At the end of our hallway.

Once upon a time.
Our apartment had three bedrooms.
Then someone made the third bedroom.
Into a studio.
And put a magical locked door.
Between the two.

This happened.
Long before we ever moved in.

Sometimes.
I think about how cool.
The door would be.
For a child.
With a wild imagination.

It could be the door to anything.
Locked.
At the end of the red hall.
With no knob.

258/366: Sundays at the Shop

My husband.
Is frequently at the shop.
Working on his current project.
Each weekend.

Sometimes.
On Sundays.
If I have a lot of editing.
Something I can do on the computer.
A book or ten I have been meaning to read.
Pinterest to explore.
Anything that doesn't require me to be at home.
Or out and about.

I will bring the laptop.
He will set up a table for me.
I will work or read or play.
While he works.
It's nice to be close to him.

Today.
I had a lot of actual work to do.
For my real job.
So I sat at the computer.
While he riveted.


Maybe not how either of us.
Dreams.
Of spending our day off together.
But.
We were together.
It was a good day.

257/366: St. Patrick's Day

We were going to go out.
And get Shamrock Shakes.
From McDonald's.
To celebrate.

Then we started watching.
Old Chuck Norris movies on cable.
Lone Wolf McQuade.
Time got away from us.

So we settled.
For lime sherbet.
With chocolate chips.
In front of the fire place.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

256/366: A Mystery

Another item we picked up.
On our antique shopping trip.
Was this camera.

It is from a WW2 plane.
I can't look at it without wondering.
What was seen through that lens.
How far has it traveled.
Could there possibly still be film in it.
How did it end up.
In an antique store.
In California.

I don't know that I will ever.
Have the answers to my questions.
That is what I love about finding treasures.
From the past.
They make you think.
Wonder.
Imagine.
Seek answers.
Knowledge.

The not knowing.
The mystery of it all.
Is the best part.

Not to mention.
It's.
Really.
Cool.

255/366: Treasure

On our anniversary getaway.
Last week.
My husband and I.
Did some antiquing.
Among other things.
I picked up this wooden.
Bottle crate.

It fits well.
With my existing collection of crates.
And will add a touch of L.A.
To our new home.
In North Carolina.

254/366: I Got Nothin'

Seriously.
I just liked the way this looked.
No reason behind it.
Other than the simple fact.
That the lines and shadows seemed neat.
It made me happy.
And I really liked the photo.

253/366: March Flowers

Someday.

I will have my own yard.

Where I will plant my own flowers.

Watch them grow.

Cut them and put them in pretty vases.

On my table.

In my house.

Soon.

252/366: Dish

As I was walking in.
From work tonight.
I was struck by the overwhelming number.
Of satellite dishes in my neighborhood.

It makes me wonder.
How different the rooflines would look.
Without them.

What people would do
Without them...

251/366: Paper

The traditional first.
Anniversary gift.
Is paper.

My husband.
Gave me.
Vintage prints.
Of some of our favorite places.
In California.

Pretty.
Spectacular.
Paper.

250/366: Saturday Night

My original thought.
Was that I would post.
About a nice relaxing.
Saturday night.

And no sooner had the thought.
Crossed my mind.
Then I started humming.
This song:



S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y
Night!

It's just a Saturday night.
A Saturday night.



I really hope now.
Everyone else.
Has the Bay City Rollers.
Stuck in their head too.

249/366: Date Night

Dinner out.
Followed by.
Browsing through the book store.
Resulted in me coming home.
With leftovers.
A new magazine.
And this guy...
Whom my husband said.
I must have.

Wise,  he is.

248/366: Marriage circa 1913

Don'ts For Husbands
by Blanche Ebbutt:
Don't forget your wife's birthday.
Don't sneer at your wife's cookery.
Don't drop cigarette ash all over the drawing room carpet.
Don't domineer over the servants.

Don'ts For Wives
by Blanche Ebbutt:
Don't open the door for yourself when you husband is present.
Don't greet him at the door with a catalogue of the dreadful crimes committed by the servants during the day.
Don't scoff at your husband as "too old for tennis."
Don't let the house get stuffy by sitting with closed windows.


While thoroughly entertaining.
These books make me quite glad.
It is no longer 1913.

247/366: Wine

Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection.
                                                                                               - Ernest Hemingway

246/366: Unordinary

I am a huge fan.
Of taking.
Something unordinary.
And using it.
To make something.
Completely ordinary.

Like a bench.

245/366: Anniversary Part 2

I think that I might fly away, in my hot air balloon.
And hide from worldly worries, on the dark side of the moon.
There's but one thing I need before I float into the blue.
I need a sky companion.
And I want it to be you.
                                                           - Graeme King


We celbrated our anniversary today.
With champagne.
Cake.
and a ride.
In a hot air balloon.

Perfect celebration of a perfect day.

244/366: Anniversay- Part 1

My husband and I.
Are celebrating our.
First Anniversary.

Warning:
The posts for the next two days.
Will be all kinds of sappy and mushy.

We started off our day.
With breakfast at our favorite place.
And a walk on the pier.

It was a happy morning at the beach.

We visited the spot where we had our first kiss.

And I caught, thanks to my husband, the cutest old couple.

Walking hand in hand on the pier.

I so hope.

This is us.

In about 50 years.

243/366: Mad Libs

At our wedding last year.
We left Mad Libs.
At each place setting.
.
They were awesome.
We were graced.
With nuggets of wisdom.
Such as:
Don't fry bacon naked.
We wish you 10 years of happiness and stinky cheese.
Always put the toilet seat down.
Floss every night.

As I was preparing for.
Our Anniversary getaway.
I grabbed the Mad Libs.
To take with us.
I thought it would be fun.
For us to re-read.
All of the marital advice.
We were given.

So as I was packing.
The Mad Libs sat on the table.
I glanced over.
And for just a second.
Lost my breath.

The one on the top.
Was from my grandfather.
Who had a stroke last summer.
Who is no longer able to write.

I stared in disbelief.
At my Grandfather's handwriting.
Something I never thought.
I would see again.

Amongst the pages.
Of funny advice.
From friends and family.
Grandpa had written his advice.
Words like.
Happy.
Life.
Beloved.
Pray.
Faith.

Suddenly.
Something that already meant so much.
Means so much more.

Our anniversary weekend.
Is off to a phenomenal start.

242/366: What's For Dinner.

The sign.
Of a really excellent.
Dinner out.

Is a really excellent.
Box of leftovers.

Lunch tomorrow.
Will be grand.

241/366: Houseguest

Tecate.
Memory cards.
Laptop.
On the coffee table...
Maurice is in town!

Always great.
To have him here.
With us.