…there is:
A toy train because Frances and George were having a disagreement about playing with it. Of all of the fancy Thomas the Train Engines in the house, both wanted to play with this plain, wooden engine. Maybe it was just a battle of the wills. But I really think it was because that is the engine their Aunt Katherine gave them.
Two marshmallows (one plain; one bunny-shaped). Frances loves marshmallows more than pretty much anything else in the entire world these days. She accidentally dropped these two when she was parading around the house the other evening, saving her “special treat” (as she calls them) to show Daddy. Everything about this makes my heart sing – that she uses the words “special treat” to refer to her dessert, that she loves marshmallows with Easter just around the corner (good timing, kid!) and that she wants to show her treasure to her daddy so much that she is willing to put off eating them until he gets home from work. I, of course, replaced the dropped marshmallows with clean ones. But I secretly kept the dirty ones to make me smile when I’m schlepping up the dirty dinner dishes.
Four partially-eaten dog bones. Max loves bones. Marshall pretends to love them and then spits them out. Of all of the things that Marshall does, this one is most unusual (and endearing) in part because he will eat anything, except apparently a rawhide bone that is made for dogs.
A penny. For good luck!
A penny. For good luck!
A digital outdoor thermometer. Thankfully, this small but immeasurably important piece of equipment conveyed with our house when we purchased it almost seven years ago. I had no idea how handy it would be then, but I look at that thermometer countless times a day particularly now that I am home and have a daughter who is obsessed with wearing sleeveless dresses at all times. But its most useful purpose (to me anyway) is to let me know how cold (or hot) my predawn run will be. I know exactly what running clothes to wear if the thermometer tells me it’s 18 degrees or colder (layers, layers, layers), 37 degrees (my UVA hat, gloves, a turtleneck and thinner pants), 45 degrees (baseball hat, long sleeve shirt, shorts, no gloves), 59 degrees (short sleeve shirt, shorts, baseball hat) or 70+ degrees (sleeveless shirt, shorts, baseball hat and lots of Body Glide!). I have no idea what I will do if this thermometer breaks and hope that Radio Shack is still in the business of making these little gems if it ever does.
Happy Friday everyone!
PS - please excuse the blurry picture and filthy windowsill. I am in the process of convincing my wonderful husband that we need to invest in a better camera and this picture is Exhibit 853 for my presentation. The filthy windowsill is to convince him that we need a live-in maid. I am hoping the large cost of the latter's request will convince him that the former one is really not that bad.
OK, so I know I just sent you an epic email, but I had to add my two cents here as well...
ReplyDeleteFirst, I made fun of the (not-so-pretty) thermometer hung outside by our kitchen door which the previous (and older, with very different aesthetic preferences)owners left for us. And now I'm totally addicted to it. If I didn't have it, I would practically be paralyzed with indecision as to what to wear, how to dress the kids, whether or not I need to start the car in advance...So I feel you on that. (Maybe someday when I decide to exercise I'll use it to determine my attire, too. One can dream, right?)
And now, for some unsolicited input, I have to tell you that I LOVE my camera. I got a Canon g11 last December as a birthday treat for myself and I've never regretted it. As far as cameras go, it's not the very cheapest option by far but it's also not ridiculously expensive either. I love that it's super easy to use and takes great pictures on auto with no thought or effort on my part. (I just turn off the flash unless absolutely necessary and let the camera do the rest...)
However, it has fancier features and can grow with you if you choose to expand your photography skills (one of my New Year's resolutions). A lot of professional photographers use it as their smaller, everyday out-and-about camera for these very reasons. I should add that the newest version, the g12, is now available if you're interested...And Amazon usually has the best prices on them.
So, I think I've finally said all I wanted to say. It would be SO much easier if we lived closer and we could actually see each other to have these kinds of conversations, wouldn't it? Wishful thinking, I know...
Over and out.
We also "inherited" an inside/outside thermometer when we moved into our house. It was in the kitchen window over the sink and I didn't realize how much I used it until we remodeled the kitchen over 2 years ago. To this day when I'm at the sink I find myself looking up to the spot where the thermometer was hung. There is no place as convenient!
ReplyDelete