Power Tools:

Last week my hubby mentioned something about the food processor I have sitting up in the cupboard. He has been eyeing the huge zucchini we brought indoors and wanting to shred them. He loves zucchini bread but more so I believe he loves a good power tool.  He's never used the processor before so this morning I pulled it out, set it up, gave a short demo and he got right to work. That man shredded enough to make twelve batches of zucchini bread/cake/brownies. Little does he know, I usually end up throwing out a couple of frozen containers of the zucchini in the spring because we can only eat so much of it. Was I going to stop him?  Hell, no!

Now, I have to tell you that smack dab in the middle of shredding, my power tool wielding hubby sneezed. No hand over his mouth, no turning away from the project, no awareness whatsoever that he had done anything wrong. 

EEEEEK!

Listen up, friends.  When someone is doing you a favor, you don't criticize them. Okay? You just don't.  However, please note that I will not be bringing zucchini bread to the potluck. As a matter of fact, I haven't brought homemade food anywhere for a long time. I have dogs and I'd die if you found a dog hair in one of my dishes. Dog people will understand this.  Not the point of this post ... I digress.

Last week, my main squeeze cooked dinner twice and I should have taken a picture of it to show you the love and care he took in plating it. He even went so far as to slice the pork steak into large, bite-sized pieces. The honey dew and watermelon on the side almost made me cry. That plate was a thing of beauty.

It's been a tough couple of weeks at work as we are short-handed. Several of my co-workers have been so gracious to help out and has made the wait for a new work buddy bearable. She'll arrive September 8th.

In the meantime, I'm thinking of all the power tools I have in my life. Of them, the most powerful are the words Please and Thank You.

Note to self:  Be gracious. Be grateful. Be Kind. Be generous. What would you add to this? What are your power tools?

love, susan

Limner, This One's for You!

Happy National Dog Day!   Every day is dog day at our house. We don't need no stinking holiday to celebrate the wonderfulness of our fur kids.

 

A big shout out to my pen pal, Limner (over at Oh Write Me), for her nice notecard saying she misses my blog posts. I miss them, too. There are not enough hours in the day to do all the things I wish to accomplish. I can count on one hand how many posts I've written this summer. It isn't that we haven't been busy, I just haven't written about it. My excuses are as follow:

 

I made a new year's resolution to read 52 books this year. I've dedicated early mornings to reading at least 30 minutes but 45 is better. That means I haven't been journaling, blogging, or letter writing. Note: I started this year choosing a theme word. This year I chose the word create.  In that, more than material creations, I've made time to get out and do some things I've only been talking about in the past.

 

I have set aside Monday evenings for photo shoots. I invite anyone who is willing to sit still for photos to meet me at a location. This week I hit the dog park with a co-worker and got some great shots of her dog along with mine. Other Mondays, I met friends of friends at the park to shoot family photos, I made a house call to a very pregnant lady, a friend and her son who was going off to boot camp, etc. I feel like my mission is being accomplished in the creative department in so many ways.

To date, I've finished reading 12 books. I am not deterred by the fact that I most likely will not read 52 books by December 31st.

A huge thank you to my loyal pen pal for the nice note and inspiration to write a post. This blog is a great documentation of the great life I have. It's a better idea for me to write than try to keep it in my forgetting mind.  If you're reading this, Limner, I'll be getting back to you on those questions you asked in the last long letter you wrote. Don't give up on me.  :-)

love, susan