I Take Pride In My Humble Means

Like a mirage in a desert, this couch was an unbelievably good yard sale find.  A few months before I got married and moved out of my dad's house, Jessi (my maid of honor, bff, rowdy sidekick) and I went yard sale hunting.  The goal was to furnish a house for cheap.  When we pulled up to the house we saw a sofa and couldn't believe that it said $75.  We pulled closer and saw that it wasn't $75, instead it was $15.  We were excited.  I bought it, we loaded it in my dad's F150 and I slip-covered that sucker.   We've been together for 9 years, 2 slipcovers, and 1 queen sheet.  It was at our first house where we would drag it out on the front porch when a bunch of people came over, and has served us very well in our current home.

(Random memory: for the months and weeks leading up to the wedding, I piled so much stuff into my dad's house.  At one point we had 2 couches, 2 love seats, and several chairs in his little living room.  His hallway was full of wedding gifts.  He never said a word or seemed to mind.  Good times.)

For the 9 years that we've been together, I've taken pride in my humble means.  Does anyone else ever do this?  Feel so good for being not-fancy?  We've tried to make the couch work and pretended that we can't see it's ugly plaid through the off white slipcover.  We've talked about how we like her shape and a solid back without cushions.  When people sit in that one spot and the couch makes that funny noise, I don't apologize for it.  Instead, I am all pridefully humble.  The truth is I really love what she says about this house-we're not fancy.  We don't need new things.  We'll take seconds, gladly.  We're humble.  And I'm proud to say it.  

This week, we're giving her away.  I've been given the opportunity to go and pick something out that is new and quite fancy.  While it's hard to let go of the fun times and memories of our first humble couch, it's harder to let go of my pride.  While some people take pride in having nice things, others of us take pride in not needing nice things.  Both are wrong.  Both place value on things and let them define who we are.  When I get my new couch, I'll have to sit on it a lot and think about this.  Feel free to join me.

The Handprint

"Have you seen The Handprint ?"  John asked me with a weird look on his face and a tone in his voice that resembled a small child about to wake a dragon.  I didn't know what he was talking about, so he explained that there is a black handprint of Burl's on our white slipcover.  My reaction was unparalleled.  

I calmly told him that I didn't care and that I would just wash and bleach it when I could and it would be fine.  Then, I went on to tell him my new philosophy: eventually my kids won't be around to make messes.  One day, it's just going to be John and me here making the messes.  One day, the kids are going to grow up and become teenagers who drive cars and go to college then adults who can vote.  I'm eager to see who they evolve into, but I'm not trying to rush it.  I imagine that Future Meg would look back at me now and tell me not to worry about the messes.  I'm not chasing the kids around with a lint roller and clorox wipes or anything, but sometimes I react to messes the wrong way.  

A while ago, Joseph came over to play with Burl.  After an hour, he brought him happily inside and Burl was filthy.  Inside myself, I freaked out a little bit and told Joseph something about how he should clean him off before he brought him in.  I made everyone freeze in place while I stripped Burl down, cleaned him up, & swept up the house where he tracked dirt.  That was my first reaction.  It wasn't asking him if he had fun or talking to him about what he did.  My first reaction to a very happy Burl was to clean him and tell Joseph how to treat my house.  I think about that moment a lot and feel repulsed.  That's not how I want to greet my happy children or my brother who's being a great uncle.  I don't want to see the mess before I see the people.  I want my house to be available to everyone anytime, no matter how clean or dirty.

Even though I won't plop muddy Burl on the white couches and talk to him for hours until seeing the mess, I want to react differently. I'm not letting anyone paint on the walls (yet) or stack furniture, but I am starting to relax.  

Canoeing at Sunset

Dear John, last week we went on a little canoe trip at sunset for a date.  It was on a school night, which is like any night for me, but it felt a extra exciting to do something fun in the middle of the week.  When I saw the canoes sitting right by the creek a couple of months ago, I knew I had to try them out.  I called and called and emailed and finally got details on what to do.  If we went with our family or a group of friends, then we would have had a wild time and someone would have flipped their boat and the stories would have been grand.  Since we went alone, the stories weren't as grand, but the time was just as spectacular!   

A few years ago, I'm not sure we would have been able to jump in there without knowing every detail of what to expect.  We just showed up with our money and my camera and went for it.  No guide rode in our boat, no wild teenagers or old hippies were there, and no one was there to taint our time.  Some guys helped us in the boat and told us that people ALWAYS tip over and we were on our way.  It took us about a minute to get used to the feel, but we found our rhythm quickly.  Simply easy, just like we hoped for.  

While I make jokes constantly, hoping to get a laugh, you wait until the perfect time and hit a home run.  That Last of the Mohicans joke you made when we were going fast (aka, not slow) was hilarious.  Perfect timing.  Perfect delivery.  I think I scared the otters away with all my laughter.  Also, we have to watch that movie again.  Soon.

This morning in your email you listed all the fun things we've done this fall and said that the good times don't seem to be stopping anytime soon.  I love this about us!  Can I say that it's the new us?  Can we make adventures, big and small, part of our lives regularly?  Who have we become?  I'm not going to question it or analyze it, because I just want to enjoy it.  These are good days, for sure.

I don't know how to end this, because I'm feeling so giddy remembering how much fun we had.  I'll say this: We slipped into this with ease and energy and rolled with the punches current.  This surprises me and doesn't surprise me at the same time.  We've changed.  I love you.  Until next time, see you around our house.  Love, Meg

This Week's Menu

Every Sunday, I post my menu plan for the week.  I only make a plan for Monday-Thursday, because the weekend has a mind of its own.  Eat dinner out.  Go to a friend's house for lunch.  Finish off the leftovers.  That's the way of the weekend.  For this week, I'm planning to make the following:

Roasted Chicken, acorn squash, green beans

Pork tacos, smoothies

Chicken salad sandwiches and fruit