He Cooks, I Clean

The perfect marriage. He cooks, I clean. Sure, I can cook, but I'm not fond of it. I cook to eat, he cooks to create. He can make a steak that melts in my mouth like a popsicle. He also makes a fabulous breakfast taco that puts every other one in Texas to shame. His corn on the cob is always as juicy as an orange fresh from the tree. He is a master in the kitchen. After eleven hours of working with preschoolers, I really have no desire to go in the kitchen and make dinner. I'd much rather plop in the recliner for a bit while my man whips up a delicious dinner for us. My creative chef leaves a trail of dirty dishes across the kitchen every time. Apparently it takes forty dishes to make one meal. I love to see my kitchen shine, so I don't mind cleaning up at all, although I love to kid him about the messes he leaves. Since he gave my kitchen a makeover a few years ago, I have the kitchen of my dreams. We had this horrible off-white tile with grooves in between each to catch every crumb, and it was popping up in about twenty places. The appliances were adequate, but it was obvious from the dried paint drips and flaking edges, that the black stove had once been white. My new appliances are stainless steel, and it happily gleams at me when I polish it. I also got a brand new floor, dark chocolate swirls and a beautiful stainless pot-rack he so graciously installed for me. Dare I say it's actually a joy to clean my kitchen? He is a great guy and I'm lucky to have him. Thanks for dinner, dear!

A Trio of $25 Gift Cards

I don't think I've had a day with three wins. At least, not before Tuesday of this week. Just after noon, the UPS guy rang my doorbell and left an envelope for me. Those drivers are so fast that I rarely see them on their way back to their truck. Inside the envelope was a $25 Home Depot gift card. It's so much fun to get a prize with no prior notification. Plus, when it comes in an overnight envelope, it could be anything....a huge check, a letter saying the win was a car, or travel brochures for a week-long trip. But since Home Depot ends up with a lot of our money anyway, the gift card was a welcome sight.

The second win was a $25 gift certificate code for FusionBeads.com. My sister makes her own jewelry, so she laid claim to this win. We traded and she sent me a Best Buy gift card. I tried to "give" it to her as a birthday present, but she's mailing me the Best Buy card as my birthday present. I have three awesome sisters I'll tell you about sometime. Her beads order is already on its way to her. This is one of the reasons I love to enter sweepstakes...so that I can give things to people that I wouldn't ordinarily be able to give.

The third win arrived via snail mail, which my husband brought home with him after work. A $25 gift card to Stein Mart arrived, another win with no prior notification. I haven't shopped there in years but now I have a reason to go. Or maybe I will put it back for a gift for someone this year. Deciding what to do with the prizes is fun too. Sometimes I keep them, usually I give them to someone, but some items I have sold for the cash, to put towards my ever-dwindling debts. One win that I got a few years ago was a trip that didn't happen, so I got a check for the cost of the trip, and used it to pay of my husband's truck! It's been a fun hobby that benefits my family in many ways.

The Coffee Dilemma

I was in my forties before I ever even tried coffee. My husband decided it was time. He concocted a blend of regular coffee with a chocolate coffee and hooked me immediately. There is nothing that compares to a cup of perfect temperature coffee. It's like a big hug from the inside. I love wrapping chilled hands around a hot cup of coffee to warm them. I love that it is basically calorie-free. I don't add cream or sugar or anything else to my coffee, but I've discovered there is a coffee dilemma that I now face. I cannot drink any coffee except for the blend my husband makes. It is so good that nothing else compares to it. Coffee at restaurants is bitter and I just can't stand the taste. I don't like the specialty coffees, the fancy brand name coffees, and especially not instant coffees. I've become a coffee snob. If it's not ours, I don't want it. For the most part, this is not a problem. I work at home and spend most of my time here, so I can make it all day long. We have a couple travel mugs and a small thermos, so we can take a limited amount with us if we have errands to run. I guess I will just have to make and take a bag with me whenever I travel, although that might look slightly suspicious. I've noticed my husband has been taking filters full of coffee grounds with him to work lately. I guess he's becoming a coffee snob too.