Sorry, no baby talk here either. Tone is a different story. I can -and have- said "good morning, and how are you this sunny day?" with an intonation that would have done credit to cooing "ooooo, an' how's mama's sweet li'l baby binky..." The closest I remember coming to any euphemisms, was when Trina was doing that gag-heave preliminary to presenting a hairball. I had just scrubbed the kitchen floor where she was standing, and I looked at her and said, "If you are planning to up-chuck, you had better do it outside." She looked immensely affronted and stalked out.

Maybe now that it is Fall, we can get back to this again. I am glad I am not the only one! I have major medical issues (that involve flare-up & times that are fairly OK), but I was messy before that. The thing about the garden is that when I am feeling pretty good, I just do the garden. That way, it can grow on its own while I am down. One year, I tried to do both, and when "down" came along, the house got messier anyway, and there wasn't much food because I split my time trying to do both. I have kids that do what I ask pretty much (great kids!), but I have to do more fussing with my son to get there. However, he is mildly autistic--Asperger's--so just the transition of going from what he is doing to doing something else is where the struggle lies. Once his mind is on track, he gets the job done. I threatened to buy a roto-tiller, so my husband said he would dig. It took a bit to get him to dig before, but I guess he doesn't want to deal with a machine not used that often. I have always hand-dug--myself, my whole life--but with the med issues, I am not always able. As far as the house goes, I am merssy, not dirty (usually). I am a bit of a pack-rat, but it is good stuff. In the winter, sitting idle is NOT something I can do. I knit hats for babies in the hospital, pack seeds for the needy, all kinds of things to keep hands busy--even while the TV is going. So, I have bins/totes full of yarn (from hitting the sales when they are there), an entire wall shelf that goes withing a foot of the ceiling full of various beads, lots of gardening books...and here is what makes it all look so bad: we have an 850sq ft 2-bedroom house, and there are 4 of us. My husband is a carpenter, so half the one-car garage is full of extra building materials. Really, who could pass up several sheet of plywood? They were used to block stairways so that prople wouldn't use them during construction, and then unnecessary after (headed for the dumpster). We gat a bay window free and sliding glass doors. You get the picture. I do not Spring clean. I Fall clean. I makes more sense for me. I host Thanksgiving for my family, and I do a big thing on Christmas Eve. So, I Fall clean & have the holidays. During the winter, in a clean house, I do my charitable activities, read about gardening, peruse the gardening catalogs, and get ready. Then I bring out the dirt for staring seeds. The windows fill up with plants over the next few months. That can get messy. When it is time to harden off. Plants go in and out. That gets messy. Of course, I clean meanwhile. Then the muddy shoes, then the soil amendments (aka manure), then the filthy clothes. Then losing 5 pounds in the tub at night--hey, if you don't you haven't gardened! When the weather warms, I have kids in and out, as well as myself, and I cannot imagine hollering every time a dirty shoe comes inside. So my Fall clean starts the "cleanliness", and it goes downhill form there. Maybe this is TMI, but it is so great to find others who will focus more on the garden than the house. As long as my health hold up, I garden constantly. I had Lyme Disease in '06 & '08. It is rampant here (doctor's words). I am ready to go to Maine or something. They have a bit of Lyme up there. Well, it may be good for the house too. It would be a longer winter (clean house time) and a shorter summer (poop & dirt time). I do keep the meals, dishes, laundry, bathroom caught up. After that, DIY, or it will stay there. Poop on that too! Mom's need to have fun! The food is plentiful, nutricious, and delicious! Robin

Okay, apology accepted and I hope you gave one to the owner of this lovely bush in person. I too think it was a lovely gesture on the part of your husband and made you very happy, but perhaps one bloom would have done the trick too, rather than taking them all. The bush will survive of course but maybe the owner was looking forward to lots of blooms too. Next time ask permission beforehand. Happy anniversary, and good for you for having the courage to fess up, at least, in this forum.

The only one who actually believes my driver's license weight is my husband. I have no idea why he hasn't noticed me balloon out over the years while my driver's license weight remaines the same..... but I'm not complainin'. I always worry when he fills out forms that require weights... I'm always waiting for the insurance salesman to bust out laughing. Now for the real question... how much heavier are you? My lie is up to 21 lbs (and after I polish off this box of See's candy it'll be even higher.)