Life In Bloom

I couldn't stop smiling if I tried right now because my husband's home. MY HUSBAND'S HOME! I didn't feel like I could write about his absence during his absence because I'm scared of Internet Boogiemen who prey on home-alone housewives, but now that he's back and my resting pulse has slowed to a nice rate of IFeelSafeAgain, I'll tell you that he was gone, and I was alone for 5 days, which felt remarkably like two weeks. And even though he's sorely afflicted with a stomach bug and is currently moaning and bellyaching (literally,) and shuffling around from one horizontal surface to the next in a heap of pillows and blankets, I'm still smiling to have him home. See, because I don't really love being alone. I like being alone, like alone in one room, typing away at a blog post, while Nate's in the other room reading Warren Buffet's letter to his Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. Or alone, like alone at the thrift store rummaging for treasures amidst the piles of trash, very much loving the aloneness, but knowing I will go home to a houseful of Henry and Nate. Those kinds of alone are very pleasant. But I don't like being alone-ALONE -- caring for a child alone, eating alone, worrying neurotically about my husband's safe return alone, going to church alone, being scared to walk by the all-glass back door alone, and especially sleeping alone are all for the birds, in my world. So the A-No.1 reason behind today's smile is having a husband again.

I'm also smiling because as a result of having a husband again the home improvement train, which completely derailed in his absence, is rolling again. Look!

I hope to have "Ta-Da!WeFinishedTheBathroom" pictures to post by week's end, and provided Nate's ailing bowels heal with haste, I can't imagine any reason we wouldn't complete the task.

And look what's blooming in my front flower bed! It is a delightful surprise when the fruits of someone else's labors beautify your front yard, and by extension, your life. We've had many surprises during our ownership of this home, but only about five lovely ones, and these blooms account for four.

The other lovely surprise was the wisteria that bloomed this spring, but is now just a very aggressive thorn in our garden's side. Other than these, the surprises have mostly been of the, "Oh Look! You've got a broken pipe!" or "Surprise! Your kitchen sink is backed up for a mile!" or, "SUCKERS! This wallpaper was adhered to stick through the millenium!" variety.

And I can't finish this post without mentioning my dear friend, Sarah Hyde (again!) whose kindness makes me mist up almost as much as it makes me smile. She took Henry and me in while our dad/husband was gone and let us sleep in her spare bed, eat her most delicious bacon and German pancakes for breakfast, and loved us like her own. Sarah is an easy friend, easy to talk to, easy to spend time with, easy to love. She feels like a fave pair of old jeans--soft, comfy, and totally familiar. Every girl knows how hard it is to find that OhSoCrucial pair of "just right" jeans. For me, finding a good--really good--friend is a bit the same way. It doesn't often happen that I slip into such genuine friendship with someone so seemlessly, in fact, only one other person comes to mind, (I love you, Mandy!) But I think sometimes, when we really need a friend, we find one that fits just right. First try. Thanks for everything, Sar. You are, quite literally, a blessing I am counting.