Some of you long-time readers know that I’ve posted photos over the years of shoes belonging to whoever is visiting the house at the moment. A couple of weeks ago, when Nathan was here, I continued the tradition and posted this picture.
Well, I am here to report some sad news.
An era has ended.
Meagan added this picture to our Family Chat with the announcement that Nathan’s Rainbow sandals have said their final goodbye after twenty years of faithful service. (Twenty years means that Nathan bought them way back when he was starting college!)
Sarah chimed in on the chat and said, “I remember putting these on as a kid and flopping around the house since they were so big on me. LOL. RIP.”
It may seem funny to get attached to shoes, but I think that since we wear certain pairs so often, they almost become friends. You slip them on and feel like all is right with the world.
A moment of silence, please.
This weekend, Steve and I took a deep breath and a deep dive into his closet.
We are always successful with these cleanouts until we get to the hamper where he keeps his work clothes. (You can see it on the floor to the left.)
Steve takes his work clothes seriously. They don’t really have the appropriate and approved patina until he has mowed grass in them, painted in them, and fixed the plumbing in them. For twenty years. Only then are they deemed to be worthy of his collection.
A case in point. He looked at these jeans and said (quite seriously, I might add), “These are just getting broken in.” That statement was greeted with a long sigh by his long-suffering wife.
An example of a pair of shorts “just getting broken in.”
But this time around, we had something of a breakthrough. Cue the brass brand!
He actually looked at a pair of jeans with the knees knocked out of them and said, “These are getting a little worn out.” (My heart leapt.)
But then he added, “I’ll just cut them off and make them into shorts.” (My heart unleapt.)
But to his everlasting credit, he did get rid of a large amount of clothing, some for the trash pile and some for Goodwill. And to his everlasting happiness, his white hamper of work clothes is still filled to the brim.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about minimalism, purging belongings, paring things down for the next generation, etc.
The next morning, as I was getting ready for work, I got a text completely out of the blue. It simply said, “I can send you some of our stuff if you’re making room.”
That’s it. No hello. No preamble. No setup. Just a funny little sentence.
Even if I hadn’t looked at who sent it, I would have guessed it was my brother, Tim. A miscellaneous sentence on my phone that made me smile early in the day. Gotta love my big brother.
Have you tried this yet? It’s delicious! Just saying.
Many years ago, we were eating dinner at someone’s house. Our host needed a diced onion, and instead of getting a cutting board, she simply started cutting it while holding it in her palm! I was flummoxed, gobsmacked, and mystified.
I had never seen anyone do that and would never dream of doing it myself because I would most certainly injure myself. I thought she was the only person who did it, and then I happened to see a photo of a woman cutting a tomato, also in her hand. I was flummoxed, gobsmacked, and . . . well, you know.
Turns out it isn’t a one-off thing, and people actually do this without a second thought. Who knew?
As I’ve written before, I sit in a large lobby at work that has floor-to-ceiling windows. Whenever it starts raining, every person who walks through the lobby invariably stops, looks outside, looks at me, and announces, “It’s raining!”
I am a word-lover from way back, but I am having a really hard time coming up with a zippy rejoinder for that stating of the obvious. I’ve tried “Yes, it is,” and “Yep,” and “Look at that!” If you have additional suggestions, let me know in the comments because I am quickly running out of ideas.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the fun experience of having a doctor put magic marker dots on my arm. If I’d known practicing medicine was that easy, I would have gone into the field myself!
If you’ve ever had an allergy test, you know the reason behind those dots–they were marking places where allergens had been injected. Turns out I am allergic to mold which isn’t a huge deal but something that’s helpful to be aware of. It’s a good thing I am not allergic to dust, or we would have to move out of our house.
I also found out in the last few years that I am inexplicably allergic to . . . wait for it . . . zucchini. Who in the world is allergic to zucchini? A couple of times after I ate it, I started feeling nauseated, one time even running to the bathroom, thinking I was going to throw up. So no more zucchini for me. (Thankfully, I’m not allergic to chocolate.)
We usually make Fridays a movie and pizza night where we sprawl on the couch with the dogs and celebrate the end of the week. Tinker got so excited about the proceedings that he made confetti to toss around in utmost glee. Either that or he just shredded a couple of napkins. Not sure which.
Yesterday morning, Steve was sitting on the couch with Belle tucked quietly and contentedly beside him. Tinker came in, noticed the arrangement, and flew up the ramp to the couch. He flopped his entire body over Belle’s lower half and put his head on Steve’s lap.
Belle sighed and held her ground, continuing her nap even though her annoying brother had launched himself into her space. Those dogs always make us laugh.
Nathan and the family spent a couple of weeks in Florida with Meagan’s family. I loved seeing these photos of Meagan with her siblings and parents. These are the people who made her the amazing person she is. She has brought nothing but joy to our family for fifteen years.
And this woman in the middle is literally the one who made Meagan. Grateful for all four of these fabulous women.
Recently at work, I was finishing up a phone call at my desk. At the end of the call, instead of saying goodbye, the man said, “You are appreciated, you are valued, you are blessed.”
Definitely an unexpectedly wonderful way to close out a conversation in the middle of a workday.
I’ll close out this blog with the same words to my dear readers. You are appreciated. You are valued. You are blessed.
What about you?
Do you cut vegetables in your hand or use a cutting board?
Do you have any suggestions for what to say to people who comment on the rain?
Do you enjoy cleaning out closets or is it something you dread?
Have you ever had a pair of shoes that you have worn for years?
Do you have any allergies?
I also have a well loved pair of shoes, but only wear them as a costume now. Due to arthritis in my toes, I have had to donate several pairs of shoes recently.
I understand the concept of work clothes but I keep just one pair. Currently I am using an old pair of my dad’s overalls.
I also like the lemon kit kats, but really liked the chocolate orange kit kat I found a few years ago.
I often cut vegetables with my hand, saves washing a cutting board.
How about, “Oh, I thought the window washers were here” or “I thought the plumbing sprang a leak”
At a medical clinic once I actually did think someone was washing the windows, but it was actually a leak in the fire supression system.
I don’t like cleaning out anything, but realize that it must be done every so often.
I have not had allergy testing, but have found several foods that I am very sensitive too and could be a precursor to an allergy.
My mother always cut things in her hand, as did both of my grandmothers. I did too, until I married Mike – who was horrified at even the thought of it.
The first thing that popped into my head about responding to the rain comments: learn to say “it’s raining” in a few languages, so you can respond with that?
My closets are pretty clean most of the time. I will generally go through our closet and the linen closet about once per year to see if anything needs culling. Since I work from home, I have a super limited wardrobe. Haha! Our spare bedroom closet is our “travel” closet, where we keep our suitcases and duffels and what-have-you, along with a couple of Rubbermaid tubs of off-season clothing.
I had an allergy test decades ago that consisted of more than 100 marks/injections on my back. Turns out, I’m allergic to just about everything that’s green and grows, dogs, cats, horses, dust… you name it. Over the years my symptoms have decreased and we do have cats (including three fosters who need permahomes). 🙂
And I want you to know that your Monday blog post is truly a highlight of my week. 🙂
A light and quick comeback to the obvious “it’s raining,” is to ask if it’s raining up or down. Gets a chuckle.
I would only cut vegetables in my hand like that if I had decided I had a few too many fingers. 😅