[insert witty line here]

It's dreary and rainy and grey out, though - being a lover of the Pacific Northwest - this does not bother me much. Being at work, however, is a real downer. :/

Especially since I'm thinking of all the things I should be doing at home. tjstein is coming over Saturday to help me with my craft room, and I'd like to not completely embarrass myself with the state of my house. This means some cleaning must take place tonight and tomorrow night. I do, at a minimum, have to make enough room for two people to stand in my craft room!

Hopefully she will help me be (semi)ruthless in my culling. I don't want to get rid of stuff that I see that I might have a use for, but I have to admit there's stuff there that I got in bundles at garage sales that, honestly, I should just get rid of. Sure, I *might* be able to find a use for them, and I'm sure I could think up something, but... Yeah, we all know I'm keeping *all* of it, why do I kid myself? But at least I hope to be able to find things!

Anyone who wants fabric can stop by on Saturday afternoon and try to drag some of it from my hands! ;)

In other news, I'm debating buying a used CD off of Amazon, through a third-party seller. Sure, it would cost me $20, but I've not seen it anywhere and I've wanted it for a long time. I've eaten free leftovers from work for lunch the last three days, that should cover it! I think I shall. I mean, I have been looking in the used sections of stores for *years* now, might as well do it. But that doesn't solve the problem that I have two CDs in my 'cart' from Amazon right now, and I still need to spend $4.04 to get free shipping. What to buy, what to buy... Um... how about some CRAFT SUPPLIES! :D

Hopefully I'll have a story to post this afternoon, too. I need to get back into writing.

The way to a man’s heart…

This is the incredibly heart-warming story of the first time my husband told me he loved me. If, after reading this, you do not believe in soul-mates and true love, then I fear there is no hope for you. [And if any of you who really know me believe the previous two sentences, I recommend a good strong cup of coffee and a reality check.]

It was a warm, sunny day on the banks of a river in Paris, where we’d jetted for the weekend. We were strolling hand-in-hand, enjoying the scenery and contemplating our lives and our future. And then, in a moment, we both felt a tug, a sort of emotional pull towards each other, and… we turned to face on another, looked deeply into each other’s eyes… and he said it. [Um, sort of. Replace ‘sunny day’ with ‘evening’ and ‘banks of a river in Paris’ with ‘cookie aisle at Dillons’ and ‘jetted for the weekend’ with ‘driven to for munchies’ and you have the general idea.]

*ahem* Sorry, here’s what I meant to write:

I’ve often wondered if, knowing then what he knows now, it would have happened that way. I have no doubts that it would have eventually happened, but perhaps not in quite the same way, and certainly not at the same time. In fact, when you think about it, the first ‘I love you’ was given under false pretenses (mine, not his). I had made a statement I was, as it turned out, ill-equipped to uphold. Though I maintain that anyone else on the planet would be happy with my chocolate chip cookies and I married a freak of nature.

Seriously, who does not like delectable moist and chewy chocolate chip cookies?! My husband, that’s who. Oh, he doesn’t turn his nose up at my melt-in-your-mouth to-die-for gooey, soft, and chewy concoctions, but I know in the back of his head he’d prefer… *shudder* …Chips Ahoy. Oh, that’s right, you heard me! The man prefers those crunchy, crispy little flavorless discs of goodness-knows-what over my baking.

I’ve tried to make my cookies crisper (the only thing I found that helps is to actually melt the butter, not just soften it, but that only does so much), truly I have! But to no avail. These days my baking consists mostly of cakes and brownies for him, so in a way it has worked out. But I digress.

We’d been dating… I don’t know how long, actually. And we decided to run to the grocery store for something to eat. Strolling down the cookie aisle, he reached for the Chips Ahoy. I brashly made the statement that I could bake far better cookies than that (which I and everyone else on this planet – save one – agree that I do!).

Him: You bake cookies?
Me: Um, of course.
Him: Well, I love you then.

Honestly, I’m not sure what happened after that. One would hope I reciprocated the kind, loving words, but it was a long time ago and my memory has failed me. Nowadays we toss around ‘I love you’s with the casualness of people who have been together a long, long time, but I will always remember that first, special moment… [In a way, this exchange really set the tone for our wise-ass, sarcastic relationship, which has worked out brilliantly for us. I’d say it’s not for everyone, but I, for one am quite happy – and that is the honest truth.]

Brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it?