18 Years!

Happy Happy Happy Anniversary!

My how time flies.

Happy Easter, a little late.

The Annual Traditional Destruction O the Peeps. Last year we put one in the microwave until it blew up about 20 times it's normal size. They actually make a pretty good S'more! This year, death by gamma ray (Magnifying glass).

Date 10/52 Does This Really Count as a Date? Chit Chat on the Couch

So, getting in date night has been more difficult than we anticipated. Often, our time together is at the end of our days when we're both so tired and wiped out that the best we can do is just smile and maybe watch some TV or read side by side.

But, we decided, we're not going to feel guilty if date night is much simpler than we expected it to be! Nope, I'm not going to count reading before we fall asleep as date night, but we decided last night that our criteria for date night has to be simpler. After all, we don't want this to be one more thing we feel guilty about!!

So, it's a date if:

• We have kid free time to connect
• It doesn't involve home repair or maintenance

Pretty easy, right?

So, last night, we spent two hours on the couch talking. I know this doesn't seem like much to many, but it was fun. We're so often multitasking, that solely concentrating on the conversation was really nice.

So, we've entered the double digits of Datedom. Here we go.

Date 9/52 I Think We Need to Focus on this More Ice Cream Cone Conversation

"Yes, but our vacation was a 10 day date."

Nice try.

McD's ice cream cone, conversation. We're going to be dating daily from November on to hit our date quota. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG.

This is really harder to fit in than we thought it would be.

Date 8/52 Sleepover Couch Surfing

Sam at a sleepover, we vegged and watched TV. Chatted and, still jet lagged, went to sleep early.

Watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. This has been frequent conversation with my mom friends. (Did you know that candy bars with almonds are ok in Moundsview School District cafeterias since almonds are a source of protein, so they're HEALTHY!????! ugh Think we need a revolution here.)

Date 7/52 Wine, Sunset, and Sea (Gelato babysitter)

We Haven't Dropped Completely Off the Face of the Earth

Life has been really busy. And we've been neglecting our blog. Sorry!

My Grandma, who I call Norman, has been very sick. Heart attack, kidney failure, and now healing at home after 3 weeks away. This all happened while we were out of town so we felt pretty helpless being so far away. There's been too much grandma drama this year already. Enough already.

Spring has sprung and so longer days and more time outside have kept me away from the keyboard. Joy!

We took a trip for Spring Break. If you'd like to see our pictures and find out where our adventures took us, send me an email at eaolson@comcast.net and I'll send you an invite to see our Flickr album. Yes, you have to sign up for Flickr. No, it won't kill ya. I can't upload them all here. All are welcome to look, but I've got to hear from you to send you the invite.

Sam has grown a foot since Christmas. Well, almost. He needs a new bike and is starting to look down on me. His pants are almost all capri length. I'm rationalizing that he's a trend setter and not that he needs new pants for only a couple more months of school (and will grow out of them by the first day of 7th grade!).

Darren stained and hung a couple of new doors downstairs last weekend while I was geezer sitting Norman. So, the mudroom and basement have new doors, the bathroom will get it's new door this weekend. We still need a new stair railing and the deck needs replacement this summer. We also need to refinish the kitchen cabinets and finish the mudroom. Then, it's on to replacing the stuff that we put in when we first moved into this house 10 years ago. A two bedroom condo sounds great to me right now. Preferably in Vernazza!

Happy Easter!