Better Than A Coffee Break

An original photograph by Benjamin Purdum!




Jenna brought the kids to a park near the building where I work and called to see if I wanted to spend some time with her and the kids. HMMMMM....GEE LET ME THINK ABOUT THAT!! Sammy freaked out when he saw me because I think he thought Jenna was going to leave him with me. But I had a great time. Ben is into photography, as you can see. He took this picture of the building and told me he was taking pictures of the "kwouds."

And then he ran under the tree and took a picture straight up. I remember being on a picnic with Tony a few years ago and I did the same thing. Tony said I was finally thinking like a photographer.




Sammy really had a tough time at the park. One of his little friends brought a toy with her, but dropped it in favor of playing with a ball. Sammy picked up the book and was happily playing with it, when she decided she wanted it back. Sammy was not a happy guy.








Jenna took this picture of Ben and I.





This is Ben deciding to run with the other kids or play ball. Big decision!!

Thanks for calling, Jenna.

Blue Feet

Construction on our bathrooms has started. While having only one working bathroom has presented a few challenges, the outcome will be worth it. Tony and I are rotating staying home from work to be with the builders. Tony stayed home on Monday. It turned out to be a frustrating day for him and when I got home from work, I found that he was eager to talk about the whole experience thus far. While I was interested in what he was saying, I couldn't get past his blue feet. He was wearing sandals, but very clearly marked, in some Avatar sort of way, were patches of blue all over his feet and part of his legs.

I know Tony. Being married to him for this long, I know his communication style. If he thought blue feet were important, he would have started the saga of his day with them. He didn't, so while they were a distraction, I was confident they weren't life threatening.

And indeed Tony had a day. Work men tearing down the bathrooms, talking to people at work to solve a problem even though he was on a vacation day and then the air conditioning decided to go off and leave us with frozen coils.

What a day. I found his story to be an interesting illustration of the differences between us. When I have a day off, I am thrilled to have back to back episodes of Frasier, Lifetime TV movies and Dr. Phil--and if I can find a "Top Model" marathon, it's even better. A day off to me is an excuse to do absolutely nothing....and seriously, while I may do a few minor things, I'm certainly not going to do anything that is going to annoy me. Tony on the other hand, sees a day off as another opportunity to take care of the house and yard. God forbid he should actually sit down and watch something on TV. He's up early, has his coffee, hits the hot tub and then attacks his "to do" list with vigor.

As the builders were tearing down our bathroom, Tony saw an opportunity to tackle a problem that has apparently bothered him for years--the toilet in the small bathroom off the kitchen "runs." Now, I recall, there were times when Tony would stick his head into the bathroom as I was applying my makeup and say, "that thing is running again, do you hear it?" From my perspective, that's not really a fair question. Do I hear water? Yes. Isn't a toilet supposed to have water? Yes. So I never really understood the "running" part. But, it annoyed him greatly, so when the builders took the toilet out into the garage, Tony found that to be an excellent opportunity to fix it.

He went to Home Depot and bought new and improved, "toilet insides." I can't get any more specific than that because I know they go inside the toilet--what they do when they're in there is any body's guess.

So Tony took out the old insides, opened up the new ones and struggled for the next hour to get the new insides to fit. Apparently nothing worked. He twisted, bent, attached, re-attached, swore and finally gave up. See, this is the difference that I was talking about. When Tony drives my car and asks how long a noise he hears has been going on--I can't tell him. If I hear a noise, I turn up the radio. If something doesn't work, I go out and buy a new one. I don't credit myself with the talent to take something that isn't working, apart and put it back together in a manner that will make it work better or different...that's just not me. But, in the long run, I don't spend an hour in the garage on a muggy, 97 degree day, either. Call me crazy, I'd rather be inside the air conditioned house, watching Top Model.

But, in the end, Tony fixed the toilet with the old insides and managed to return the new parts to the box so that all of the pieces fit. But, he still had work to do. Tony likes "blue toilet water." You know that stuff that you buy called "A million and three flushes," but in reality, after four flushes it's not blue anymore? Well, there was some blue water in the bottom of the toilet, so Tony decided to flush it out with the garden hose. It flushed all right...all over him--hence, the blue feet. He finally picked up the toilet and put it over a drain in the garage to get rid of the blue water.

There was a sense of pride and accomplishment in Tony's voice, but also a sense of frustration in back tracking from Home Depot, not being able to install the new part and getting blue feet.

Like I said--Tony and I are different. I can absolutely assure all of you that I will never have blue feet because I flushed blue water out of a toilet in our garage with a garden hose on a hot summer day. But, my sense is that Tony is the better person, for he wore his feet proudly and I had to admire his spirit for trying.

I don't think that Tony will ever retire. I think he will continue to take care of our home, possessions and property where ever we are. And, if that means having blue feet--God love him.

A Candle in the Wind

When I was in a job search, I used to call all of my potential interviews, candles in the wind...they were out there, but the slightest thing could blow them out and I would be left with a burned out candle. But to me, it was nice to have candles in the wind...they were opportunities, they were potential career moves. They weren't official, but they were something to give me hope.

"Official" things in life are funny. We always knew that Marie would be in our family, but it wasn't "official" until Tony asked her to marry him. We always knew that Jenna and Jon would have beautiful children, but it wasn't "official" until Ben and Sam were born...and we always knew that David and Joanna could weather any storm, but it wasn't "official" until David got sick.

Retirement and moving is becoming more and more "official." We got our first lot loan payment notice on Friday...meaning we own (or are at least paying on official Swegle dirt!!) And, Tony's retirement clock is "officially" ticking off each day.

I posted that when we went to North Carolina, I talked to the builder, who is trying to set up a Call Center, and ultimately, sent him my resume.....well, I got an email from him on Friday, asking if I was still interested and asking me to call him.

It's a candle in the wind....the wind that will blow across our new property and new stage of life. It may not work out....but it give me hope. Never blow out your candles in the wind, children...they light your path.