A "Hot" Valentines Day...

("Not cool guys, NOT cool")

Well, it's only 9:15am so we are only about three hours into the "normal" waking hours of this holiday, but ours has already been exciting and "hot" so I cannot resist posting. My sweet hubby decided to get up early this morning and make me breakfast - eggs and bacon. I woke up to find a wonderful card on the dining room table and Andy in the kitchen cooking away! All was fine and dandy until he started the dog on fire. Yes, the dog was on FIRE!

Just as he was wrapping up making breakfast a corner of the paper towel he was using to cover the cooked bacon slid onto one of the burners and burst into flames. Meanwhile, laying peacefully on the floor, Samson glanced up lazily at Andy to see what the swearing was all about. Before we knew it the paper towel had dropped onto the dozing dog and he was running around the kitchen IN FLAMES!!! I had visions for that split second of him running into the living room in a panic and catching the drapes on fire and thus burning down the house as Andy and I stand there wondering why we have not bought a fire extinguisher yet. But, thankfully he ran for the back door and we were able to pat him out before taking more action by throwing him outside and covering his flaming fur in snow.

(Sammy's singed side- it's hard to see but the hairs are all curled up and brown on the ends)

Now, as we sit here thinking about how close we came to a house fire, and Samson wanders around the house with a large circle of singed hair on his back, (he got a few pieces of bacon for his troubles) I am thankful that we will not be on the evening news under this title: "Husband Starts Dog on Fire and Burns Down House for Valentines Day."

For those of you that listen to 97.9, Free Beer and Hot Wings would have a hay-day with us!

Happy Valentines Day!!! (bad picture of me, but it's kinda cute anyways...:)

Thinking Green

If you work in the home building industry right now, you can't help but find yourself “thinking green” occasionally as it's the latest hot topic amongst builders and consumers alike. I don't think this is an idea that is likely to be a fad or fade into the back ground in favor of other, more important priorities. After all, we've all seen the affects “El Nino,” “La Nina,” and supposed global warming have had on our weather. Right now though, I gotta say I could do with a little more warmth.
When I was a kid dad used to joke that I was going to grow up to be a tree hugger. Though I do like to hug trees (I think it may be unrelated, I just like how they feel...), and I like to do as much as is feasible for the environment (especially our furry friends), I do not consider myself much of an environmental activist. However, I love what my company and a lot of the companies we sell are doing to encourage (and have a part in) this green movement.
Why am I thinking about all this? Well, maybe it's because I'm wearing green this morning, or because I saved some water by not showering, (ok, ok, I just woke up too late and will remedy that situation this afternoon), but mainly I think it is because I'm looking around wishing that I could see just a little more green! I keep telling myself that our reward for this time of frosty breath and icy fingers will be a perfect spring and summer that us Michiganders live for! Maybe we can even get an awesome Indian Summer like we did last year for our sufferings as well...hey, a girl can dream.
Though my family will tell you I've never been a big sun-tanner, I do appreciate the wonderful feeling of walking outdoors in only jeans and a t-shirt (I hate shorts- wedgies are not my thing) onto fresh green grass and the quite sounds of distant birds...*sigh* And I can't help but daydream when I'm driving past huge, grassy fields of how amazing it would be to rung pell-mell through that field on horseback.
Alas, we are now in the cold grip of winter and that idealistic image seems years away. I can't wait to revive my lawn this spring into something other than a muddy expanse of land, to hang flowering baskets from the hooks on our garage, and finally ENJOY taking the dog for a walk! Even if my skin begins to prickle a bit from an on-coming case of sun poisoning (my nemesis) I'm fairly certain that as I grow older summer and all it's wealth of warmth and fresh smells is truly the time of year that I live for.
Where am I going with all this? Well, I'm not quite sure, it's just what is on my mind at the moment and since hubby is gone for awhile and I don't have anyone to really talk to, this is how I can get it out, right? I hope everyone is having a wonderful wintry day and keeping an eye out for that elusive first robin red-breast of spring!
P.S. How bored do you have to be to beg your sister to let you babysit her kids because you know you can count on THEM to want to hang out ...2 year olds don't make too many Saturday night plans!