Smug Marrieds: Fishsticks? Really??

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Today we've had the pleasure of hosting dear, dear friends of ours who used to live in Greensboro but abandoned us over 13 years ago to live in Connecticut. They were in town for a wedding and came to spend the night with us. We've been eagerly anticipating their visit for a month and spent the better part of the weekend getting the house in order--cleaning, stocking the fridge with food and wine, admonishing the cats to be on their best behavior, etc. 

They weren't arriving until this afternoon so I went to my morning workout class as usual. When I walked into the house, I froze. No. He didn't. He wouldn't have. 

"Blair?" I called. I walked down the hall and found him sitting in our breakfast room, eating lunch. "What did you make? What is that smell?"

"Fishsticks," he said, munching on one while holding another out to me. "Want one?"

"The entire house smells like fish," I said. 

"Mmmm," said Blair, cutting into another fishstick. 

"Why not just fry up some bacon while you're at it?" I asked. "The house reeks."

"You exaggerate," said Blair.

"Walk out and walk back in and tell me I'm exaggerating--never mind," I said, as he started to get up from the table. "Just go grab the scented candles. All of them." 

Fortunately, we were able to rid our home of the eau de fish smell well before our guests arrive. 

Why? Why do they do that??

Cheers,

Dena

Fun Friday: Mount Airy

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Heart With Joy on bookshelf - YEA!!This Friday we ignored the rain clouds gathering overhead and ventured up the road a ways to Mt. Airy, i.e., "Mayberry" and home of all things Andy Griffith. We didn't have any real plans for the day. Just thought we'd take a look around, eat lunch, see what there was to see and head home. Mt. Airy is less than an hour away from us, so it was a good, quick trip. 

The first fun thing to happen is that we walked into Pages bookstore and I saw my friend Steve Cushman's book, Heart With Joy, on a shelf. Had to whip out the i-phone and send him a quick picture. The next fun thing is that I discovered that not only does Stephen King have a new book out, it's a new book in the Dark Towers series. Hel-loooo! How did I miss that? We bought the Steven King book, a book called Wild by Cheryl Straying that several people have recommended to me in the last week, and a cookbook by Olivia Newton John. (I am a SUCKER for cookbooks.) 

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Smug Marrieds: I Want My Tiara!

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Blair got a package in the mail yesterday, a big brown box from Amazon. I love receiving packages in the mail, even if they're not for me. Who knows what could be in there? It's like Christmas.

Since we don't open each other's mail--ever--I had to wait until Blair got home to find out what he'd ordered. It was almost 9 p.m. before he got around to going through that day's mail. 

"What's in the box?" I asked, dancing around him as he cut it open. "Oooh--did you finally get me the tiara I've always wanted? You know, if you really loved me, you'd want to get me a tiara to prove it. So is it a tiara?"

"Next best thing, baby," said Blair. "Check it out." 

He then pulled out a boxed online gaming set and read the words aloud every woman longs to hear: "Look! It's Sting of Lolth. And it has an umber hulk on the cover!"

Sting of Lolth? Umber hulk? That is NOT a tiara! 

However, the non-tiara...whatever it is game-thing...seemed to please Blair, so it's got that going for it. Meanwhile, I'll plan to keep an eye out for new packages arriving. The odds are with me that, sooner or later, one of them will contain a tiara for princess. 

Cheers,

Dena

p.s. One of my all time favorite scenes below from Big Bang Theory, when Amy accepts her tiara. Little tip for all you men out there: No matter what the intelligence level of your woman, she's lying if she tells you she doesn't want a tiara. ;)

Fun Friday: Ziplining!

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Blair and I took our nephew Logan and my mom ziplining yesterday at Carolina Ziplines. Our guides Ryan and Whitney took us on a canopy tour through the trees of Stokes county. Below is a video that captures some of the highlights. A few notes: 

  • You'll see one section where I'm doing a "whirlybird." This is where they twist the ropes so you spin around in circles as you come down the line. I was the only one in our group to attempt it. Until... Mom and I were the last ones to make this run and after I left the platform, Mom decided I wasn't going to be the only one to do the whirlybird. Take a look at the results!
  • Don't know if you can tell, but the last 2 runs you'll see on the video, it's pouring rain. Actually made ziplining more fun. 

 I would do this again in a heartbeat! They have nighttime tours which I'm going to convince Blair to take me back for. Our guides were stellar, beautiful scenery, felt totally safe. If you're in the area, you should definitely try this!