Common things matter

burnt breakfasts,
dinners and suppers,
a messy house,
disorder,
chaos,
sluggish,
untimely,
bad attitude,

these don't sound to loving and romantic, huh?
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good breakfasts,
dinners and suppers,
a well-kept house,
order,
system,
promptness,
punctuality,
good cheer,

happiness in married life depends upon such commonplace things as these.

--J.R. Miller

The itsy bitsy spider

went up the water spout.
Down came the rain,
and washed the spider out.
Up came the sun,
and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider
went up the spout again.

Such a cute little nursery rhyme; don't you think? Well, I couldn't help but think of it this evening as I was clearing stuff out from under our front porch (one of the tasks to make the yard look nicer). Prior to our days with a shed, we stored some random stuff under the porch - things that have not been touched since they were put there. I began by pulling up some weeds along the edge of the porch ... and then I pulled out some leftover garden bed edging. It was filthy (rightly so since it had been sitting there for two years) and had cobwebs all over it. I began to spray it clean with the hose and see a few spiders running from the water. No big deal, I thought. I continue to spray and notice some egg sacks attached to the sides of the edging. Interesting. I'm now done cleaning off the edging and start to spray down a yellow crate under the porch; it was filled with some plastic containers and old flower pots. I then notice this cob-webby thing on the crate (just thinking about it now made me shiver)... it had a bunch of tiny bugs on it... I go in for a closer look and realize that it is a BUNCH of baby spiders. I kid you not! You know that feeling, after seeing something like that, it feels like they're crawling on you. Oh, that is so gross!!!

Now, I must clarify that I am not one that is easily bothered by the variety of bugs in the outside world. Knowing that God created them and that they each serve a purpose is actually quite amazing to me. And I typically just let them be. But upon seeing this not-so-pretty nest of a hundred plus baby spiders creeped me out! I immediately went inside to tell Tony of my discovery and then armed myself with wasp & hornet spray. Yes. Because we of course didn't have spider spray. Ha! I sprayed that area like crazy and kept that stuff by my side, along with the high-powered water hose, as I pulled out the rest of the stuff. ;)

I also unearthed some lovely shiny black spiders with a touch of red... black widows they were. And a really neat writing spider (he was left alone). Oh, and there was a mad wasp. And lots of black beetles. Some of our "junk" was pushed way under the porch, and there was no way I was crawling under there to get it. (I know you don't blame me). Praise the Lord, for a random bamboo stick about 4 foot long, that I ended up using to push those hard to reach items out into the light. :) Everything was hosed down and then sorted - keep or trash. The keep pile was carried to the shed and the rest is going to the dump tomorrow!!

{Insert a huge sigh of relief} I am sooo very glad that is over with!! And pray that all those little spiders do not go up the spout again. ;)
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In other news, we were able to hang up some more of our new blinds yesterday!!! Yippie! Now all that's left is the front living room and dining room.

We celebrated last night with a homemade cheese pizza and some yummy wine. <3

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My parents invited me over for breakfast this morning and this is what we ate....

It was nice eating breakfast with them and my brother Joey. :)
And just for fun, Pedro (the dog) loves cherry tomatoes.

Homework

Earlier today, we noticed that our front yard is looking a little blah. It is dull and uninteresting. Maybe it was the way the sun was shining down on it, because I know it doesn't look much different then it has for the past several weeks. ;) Weeds have grown into our mulch beds and driveway. The mulch itself has kind of weathered away. The porch has spots of green on it. The color palette is... well, rather boring. You get the picture. Sooo, I've been given this homework assignment: make our front yard look spiffy in two weeks time. I'm very much looking forward to the challenge, and by God's grace we'll have a neat, colorful, welcoming front yard in a couple Saturdays. :)

Really, really.

6am the alarm goes off. I press the snooze button and glance over at Tony, who is still sound asleep. I lay there for a few moments as my mind figures out what day it is and starts thinking [make breakfast. pack Tony's lunch. read. what did we read last night? mow the yard. I hope it doesn't rain this morning. design a business card. clear the garden...] Tony's alarm starts to go off and now I'm out of bed, busy in the kitchen. I finish packing Tony's lunch and gather all his items by the front door: lunchbox, cell phone, iPod, keys, and a book to read on his lunch break. I go chat with Tony as he finishes getting ready. <3 Then out the door we go, me following him to his truck, talking all the way. We hug and we kiss. Then as Tony drives away, I stand on our front porch, waving and blowing kisses. And praying for his safety throughout the day. ;)

Oh, I love my husband so very much! So very, very much! Marriage is such a wonderful gift from God ~ and I am graciously reminded of that each day. Waking up beside Tony is a dream come true! {Yep. We're really married. Really, really.} When we were dating it seemed like it took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. for the wedding day to arrive. But it did finally come and now we're living the wedded life! :) Thank you Lord, ever so much, for my prince charming!

My prince has been busy this week - work during the day and school in the evenings. I've been keeping house, trying to learn how to make websites, practicing my native american flute and sewing skills, cooking new recipes and baking a blueberry-peach cobbler (last nights treat).

And now I'm going to go act on some more of those early morning thoughts - particularly making all the weeds and grass one height a.k.a. mowing the yard. I started last night, while Tony was inside doing school work. But the grass was pretty thick and still wet from all the rain we've received this week. Which meant I had to stop every few minutes to clear out the bottom of the push mower. My pride was being tested for sure, as the neighbors were out on their riding lawnmower just zipping along with no problems. Haha. Oh well. Pride needs to be crushed!! I must say, though, that I really do enjoy mowing the yard and don't mind the push mower at all. I rather like it - it's a good workout and it is always nice to see the finished product.

Two little piggies go to market

Where: Pricetown Fire Department
What: Benefit/Auction for Lisa Mozingo
When: August 8th, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm