Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Sweet Deal: Free Doughnuts

June 1, 2007 is National Doughnut Day according to Krispy Kreme. In honor of this great occassion, they are giving out free doughnuts at participiating locations. Check with a location near you to see if they are participating.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Date Idea: Air Hockey


Airhockey
Originally uploaded by はたけカカシ_photography.
The best dates are often the "active" kind. The kind of date where you get out and do something. If it is something you rarely do, even better. Get out, laugh, be active and have a good time. Need an idea?

How about air hockey? It is fun and inexpensive. What if you don't have an air hockey table? No problem. They can be found in lots of places. A local Walmart has one. Maybe a bowling alley or a video arcade.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Weeding


Love* shapes...
Originally uploaded by MR+G.
Every other day my youngest and I go out and weed the yard. There are 5 flower beds and the garden. We are also training the raspberries to grow straight so we check them to see if they need to be tied up. If we are lucky we catch the little snake that lives in the yard and play with it for a few minutes.

Weeding is a chore I used to hate. I would put it off and it would be an all day job or it just wouldn't get done. The kids dreaded it as well. It just seemed impossible to keep up on all the weeding that needed to be done.

What changed? We re-did one of our flowerbeds that was completely overrun. It ended up looking so nice, but then the weeds started coming back. Stupid weeds. We pulled the little weeds and the flowers looked so nice and so happy. Thing was, it took so much less time when the weeds are small than when they get bigger and have a chance to get intertwined with the flowers.

Pulling the weeds consistently when they are small gives two advantages. First, the overall time spent weeding goes way down. Sure I have to weed every other day, but it isn't really a chore anymore. Second, my daughter likes to help so we get a few minutes to talk and have fun together. What was once a dreaded chore is now a pleasant time to work together and get to know each other.

A marriage will also get weeds: misunderstandings, resentments, hurt feelings, missed opportunities. Like weeds in the garden, these weeds will grow and take over if they are not pulled. Waiting until the marriage is full of these weeds will make pulling them out that much more difficult and painful.

Take time regularly to get rid of those little weeds that pop up.

* If you have a misunderstanding, work on listening a little better so both partners feel understood.
* If you harbor a resentment, seek forgiveness
* If you have hurt your sweetheart's feelings, find a way to sincerely say sorry
* For each missed opportunity; recommit, learn and grow.

Just as weeding the garden adds to it's overall beauty and enjoyment, so weeding a marriage regularly adds to the overall enjoyment and satisfaction of each member of the family.