A night on the town was just what the doctor ordered.

Jim and Marilyn had been married so long they felt like it was forever. Gone were the days of passion and fervor; gone the days of flowers and candy. Sex? Yeah, nope. Not for 100 years or so, Marilyn would say.

Despite this, they cared for each other in the little ways. She washed his socks. He cut the grass. They made it through each day.

On the menu tonight was dinner, drinks, and a movie. Later, it would be a race to see who snored first. Ah, love.

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The challenge this week from Velvet Verbosity is TOWN.

Hubby and I celebrate our 45th anniversary Saturday. Our night on the town will include a trip to Homer where I hope the promised view is good for some great pics.


Joe Thomissen / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)

The deep loam of the fields smelt of horse manure, warm and earthy. Melissa inhaled deeply.

“This is what I’ve been missing, Papa,” she said softly. “The city just isn’t the same. I thought I could make it after Josh died.”

Papa gathered his weeping eldest child into his arms.

“There, there, girlie. Your Papa is here. Your home is here. For as long as you need us, we’re both here.”

Melissa nodded, took the oversized plaid hankie from her father and wiped her eyes. Together they walked across the pasture to Mama’s kitchen. Coffee and fresh cinnamon rolls awaited.

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written for Velvet Verbosity’s 100 Word Challenge: INHALED. Pop on over, check out the other entries, and write one yourself.


If you could see me,
Recognize
The power within my soul
If you could hear me,
Personalize
The joy within my being
If you could feel me,
Mesmerize
The life force within

Then I could
BE
The one you desire
The one you love
The one you need
If

If I could see you,
Recognize
The me within your heart
If I could hear you,
Personalize
The desire in you
If I could feel you,
Mesmerize
The you I want to feel

Then we could
BE
The two in desire
The two in love
The two in need
If only
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100 words in poetic form . . . written for Velvet Verbosity’s 100 word challenge: Recognize – celebrating National Poetry Month.

At long last . . . after 35 years with essentially the same bathroom . . . hubbymoose and I are getting a remodel! Exciting, no? Yes – but angst-ridden, too.

Choices!!! So very many choices. What type of bathroom do we want? (functional, please) Bathtub or shower only? (shower only) New toilet, too? (duh yes, says the moose. No, says hubbymoose. What???) Final answer? (yes, please) COLOR!!! What color shall it be? (wanted one, but $700 cheaper to take another. Happy with that – color chosen)

Email sent to local sales person . . . CLICK!!! $2500+ spent just like that.

Now we wait . . . the factory is shipping in FOUR weeks, not the promised two. Looks like a lot of folks are getting new showers. 🙂

As soon as a “time certain” for delivery is settled, we will be able to schedule the contractor to come in to begin demo-ing the old and prepping the room for the new.

Oh, wait! One more decision . . . paint color! We are not changing out the sink counter – which is brown – which played a part in the surround color choice – must work around those colors. Paint chips will be perused today, but I think I am leaning toward a blue of some sort.

Also need to pick out linoleum for the floor. Currently is a yellow pattern. Someone suggested I remember that this IS the 21st century, why stick with lino? Ummmm, yes it is the 21st century, but hubbymoose is still stuck in the 70s. (smile) Lino it will be.

We checked out a discount place last week at the suggestion of our sales person. First question? (size of bathroom). You’d think that might have been discovered before this trip? Nope – good old measure twice, cut once, hubbymoose had not taken measurements. He told the man it was THIS big, when in reality (after measurements were taken on our return home) it is a good 2 feet shorter on both sides (LOVE!) What this means is we can shop from remnants at a cheaper price – OR – we can purchase off the roll at a greater price.

We’ll be going back there to make a decision.

AND . . . I have decided we should treat ourselves with all new towels to match the new bathroom color scheme – shower curtain, towels . . . SIGH!

Once all those decisions are made – and we have a date – then I will need to figure out how to make myself presentable for work everyday while the work is being done. Yes, it is a smallish ranch-style home, built in 1978, which means it has ONE bathroom. Sigh. Depending on my work schedule I might have to get a hotel room. Or – go to the gym every morning before work – or something.

Did I mention that all this will be happening likely the week or so before daughter, Lessa, is getting married? ACK!!!!

A blessing in all this . . . we are doing this out of pocket. We are not charging anything. We are working really hard at getting ourselves totally out of debt before we quit working in a few years. If doing it out of pocket means we have lino (instead of stone or wood or whatever) I am totally okay with that.

Pictures? Yes, I will be taking before and after. You may never see the before . . . it is REALLY bad . . . but you will see the after . . . well, after.

Betsy stirred her coffee lazily. Outside her kitchen window the cat was play pouncing on clovers and chasing butterflies. It was an idyllic lifestyle. At least, that is what her friends would tell her when they visited. She was told time and time again how much she was envied.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

“Lissie-Sue! I beg you. Chew with your mouth closed! I can NOT stand hearing you smack your lips. Please try to be a lady.”

“Yes, Mama.”

Lissie sank down into her chair as her lips started to tremble. “I’m sorry, Mama.”

“It’s okay, baby. I’m sorry I yelled.”

~Brenda-Starr~ / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

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written for Velvet Verbosity’s 100 Word Challenge: SMACK from her current reading material – The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz.