Seriously?

I can't recall the reason we were discussing this odd topic, but the other day The Husband made a comment that, well honestly, makes me question his sanity.

"I think being eaten by a bear would be the best way to die."

WHAT?!

Yeah, that actually came out of his mouth. Wow! As you can imagine, I had to question this thought - oh, and horrible ridicule him. Here's his thought process...

"Killed by a bear is a memorable way to go.

People would be like, "Did you hear _____ got eaten by a bear? Pretty cool."

I don't think so.

Here's my thought on this..."Did you hear _____ got eaten by a bear? What a dumb-ass." Not only would it be horrible sad and pathetic, I figure he would traumatise the entire family from every going into the wilderness again.

He truly hopes to "go out with his boots on" someday. I get that thought, but I prefer the thought of peacefully dying in my sleep. He wants to live life to its fullest, but for some very odd, misplaced reason, he thinks that requires dying in some horrible, painful way. I believe that I can live my life with full vigor and excitement, but die peacefully and still have people remember my life and think I really lived. Different philosophies I guess.

Your thoughts?

How sweet am I?

Yesterday was a good friend's birthday. While having a relaxing celebration around her outdoor fire, we learned that today would be another friend's birthday. The Husband's boss/friend to be exact. The Husband noted that there would be a department meeting today and that it would be fun to surprise his boss with a cake for her birthday.

He turned to me and said, "Would you make her a cake tomorrow?" I glanced back and he quickly added, "Or you would you mind picking one up in town while you're there tomorrow?" I kind of chuckled to myself. In no way do I mind making a cake, but I don't usually have cake mixes in my house. (Note I said cake mix - yeah, I'm not the make-a-cake-from-scratch type...although I want to give it a go sometime.) Anyway, he was in luck as I actually did have 2 cake mixes in my house thanks to my mom giving me a baking-basket gift for my birthday a month ago (pans and mixes).

So, I said, "No problem" and added cake baking to my list of things to do. My dilemma arose when I remembered I had no icing in the house. I live 20 minutes or so from the nearest town with a grocery store and didn't feel like putting The Wee One in the car and spending 40 minutes (there and back) just to get icing. So I pulled out a cookbook and searched for an icing recipe that I could put together with things I had in my house. I did have the necessary powdered sugar, but only 1 cup worth. Crap! So, I made a very simple icing and spread it as thin as I could to cover the very simple cake.

I pulled out candles, plates, serving utensils, and ran the cake over to The Husband, hoping that his boss would take the "it's the thought that counts" philosophy when looking at the cake. Verdict: he came home with a completely empty cake dish. All of this goes to prove that I really am sweet...

A true friend last for all time...

There is a little coffee shop in a neighboring town where I sometimes go to get work done. (Remember, I'm supposed to be working on my dissertation to get it completed...um yeah.) Anyway, as I sat there yesterday, diligently transferring my survey results to readable statistical data, I noticed two older ladies sitting at a table nearby chatting with each other.

It was obvious from their conversation that they have known each other for many years. (Before you think I'm some awful person who ease-drops on other's conversations, let me say that the coffee shop is actually inside a Hallmark store and there only 4 tables that are placed very close together.) So, they were chatting and sharing memories from days past and having a great time with each other. Their friendship - that has easily spanned 20 or 30 years - has not changed in dramatic ways. While their stories of things that happened when they were 20 or so were more vivid, their conversations of more current events were just as endearing and meaningful.

It made me think of my friendships. Three in particular. These ladies are exceedingly dear to me, and while I have shared hilarious moments with each one that to this day might bring us to tears when we mention them, our friendship is not limited to that. These are women that I see myself sitting with in a coffee shop 20 years from now. Talking about memories, life experiences, current problems, even the dullest of things like needing to go shopping at Wal-Mart for milk. Those are the truest of friendships. The ones that are for a lifetime. I feel so blessed to have three of these friendships (who by the way are actually friends with each other as well), and I strive to never take them for granted. JuJu Bug, LaLa, and The Sister - I love you dearly.

Rainy Day Memories

I love rainy days. Not enough to move somewhere like Seattle, but I do love them. Rainy days are fun for me. They mark days of relaxation and a good kind of nothing-ness. The kind of day where you bake yummy foods or lay around all day watching movies under your blanket.

About 8 or 9 years ago - back with The Husband and I were still in the un-married dating world - we had a great rainy day. It was in February and it was a "yucky" day outside so we set up camp in my apartment's living room. I pulled out the futon, we both put on comfy clothes, popped a big bowl of popcorn, and literally did nothing but snuggle up while we watched whatever movie was on TV at the time. We talked, made fun of the movies, laughed about stupid things, but were perfectly comfortable being lazy all day long. I think I even have a picture of us somewhere, but it is in the "old pictures box" and therefore, has not been scanned at this point in time.

For some reason, the only movie I remember from that day (remember, we did nothing but watch movies...all day long) is Fargo. It is not an amazing movie, nothing particularly funny happened while we watched it, it just for some reason stands out in my memory. To this day, any time I see Fargo it takes me back to that rainy, do-nothing day and I smile.

Just goes to show that the simplest things in life can sometimes be the best memories.

State of Dress

Okay, this is really cool. Artist Robin Barcus Slonina is working on an art series called State of Dress. In this series, she is creating a dress to represent each state in America. I encourage you to check out her blog to view the different dresses. You need to go through the archives to find pictures of the dresses, since her blog has posts other than just dress-related. Below is a YouTube video of her Wyoming dress. Pretty cool.



I am curious to know what first inspired this series. I think it is really, really cool and I love the variety in the materials she uses. The photos of the dresses are great as well.

This is a very short post, but I hope you take the time to check out her blog to see this quite remarkable art series.