365 Days of Kissing

There's a book out right now written by Charla Muller, a wife and mother of 2 who writes about the gift she gave her husband for his 40th birthday. The gift was sex everyday for an entire year. The book is called, '365 Nights'. Before I heard about her or her book, I told Jeff that I wanted to kiss him everyday for a year. Kind of pales in comparison to Charla's idea but in our situation it wasn't 'sex that had fallen to the bottom of the to-do list' but just your everyday 'hello 'and 'goodbye' kiss, the 'hi, I'm happy to see you' kiss' or the 'glad you're my best friend and buddy, glad to have you by my side' kiss. It had more or less been forgotten so I wanted to bring it back. It's pretty sad that I had to make it a goal to kiss my husband. It seems that it should just happen willingly and without thought. But no such luck. The daily kiss use to be a family ritual when the kids were little. I remember the second Nick heard the garage door opening he was dropping whatever he was doing and racing to greet his dad with a big hug and kiss. Jeff would take the kids and swing them through his legs and raise them up til they were doing a handstand on his shoulders. To watch this happy interaction was the best part of the day for me so I'd plant one on him, happy to join in the family love fest. Now the kids refuse any kind of affection and no one greets the old man when he hobbles in the door. O.K., he's not quite hobbling but he's getting there, complains about his bad back. So I guess when the kids started slowing down on the affection, I did too. I think my goal to kiss him everyday is paying off because the other day when Jeff walked in the door, he grabbed me, (a little forcefully-kind of liked it) and ran his fingers up the back of my neck into my scalp then gently tugged on my hair so my head fell back into his hands. He gazed at me as though he had never seen anything so beautiful since the last Victoria Secret fashion show. Placing his lips on my forehead, I closed my eyes in anticipation. Grazing my skin with his lips and his warm breath he slowly kissed one eyelid for several seconds, then, as though in slow motion, he turns my head slightly and kisses the other, lingering as though he plans to stay there forever. I melted into him and wanted nothing more at the moment than to be there in his embace. O.K. so I never want to be a writer of romance. That was hard. Yes, you're right, that kiss was only in my imagination. I have this weird idea that it would be so romantic to have your eyelids kissed. Don't ask my why. I know Jeff is going to try it after he reads this and it's going to be nothing like I envision. Anticipation is usually greater than realization. Anyway, we've only been locking lips for 4 months, so I have 8 more to go, then hopefully it will be a happy habit that I will gladly continue. Hasn't changed our life drastically, but I would say it has been nice. And nice is good. Kisses,Michelle

Simple Pleasures

Just got all my families sheets washed so feeling like I deserve to do something I enjoy. Remember that girl who got kidnapped years ago and when news got out that she had been taken from her bed that didn't have sheets on it, people started questioning what type of parents would let their kid sleep in a sheetless bed which then led them to speculate that maybe they had done something to their kid rather than a kidnapper? So I never underestimate the power of a bed with clean sheets. Well, I've been home from Utah for almost two weeks now. I had way too much fun doing nothing. No cooking, no cleaning, no young women church responsibilities, no speaking German, (even Mark Twain said that life is too short to learn german), no spreading my legs for some moron, no being taxi- driver for 3 unappreciative kids. Just did selfish stuff for a good 6 weeks. Since I've been home I've continued the single lifestyle and read delicious books and watched all the movies we missed throughout the year and bought while in the states. A couple of fun movies are: 'Lars and the real girl' with Ryan Gosling, well I guess I've only watched one so far. Watched the 3rd season of 'The Office'. I love Dwight. That show wouldn't be anything without him. He cracks me up with everything he does and says. You all have to read 'The Last Lecture' by Randy Pausch. You can also go on Youtube and watch him give his last lecture. Inspiring. What do you all think about McCain's choice for vp. I'm thinking with a pregnant 17 yr. old daughter and a down syndrome 5 month old, along with 3 other children, that she needs to stay home and be with them. But I guess that is sexist because I would never say that about a man in the same situation. But honestly, her kids need her more than this country needs her. Took my dog for a walk in the forest this week. Her dog pal, took off into the brush obviously chasing something. Lily followed. The doberman came running back a minute later but not Lily. I heard her yelping in the distance then finally spied her running at full speed on the heels of 3 wild boars. Each one of them must have been 5 times her size. We yelled for her to come back but no luck. My friend picked up a stick and I picked up a rock in case they came our way. They can be very dangerous. Lily went out of sight. I could hear her yelping so I wasn't sure if she was being gored or just enjoying the chase. 5 minutes later she came trotting back with no injuries. She is fearless but stupid. I joined a tennis league this week. I will compete with other women at my level every other Mon. You can move up to higher levels as you win. I really had to push myself to go tryout . I make my kids push through the fear when they try out for teams and such so I had to. I was reading an article about what makes thin people thin. One thing is that they don't think about food. It's not something that is on their mind a lot. I've seen heavy people interviewed and they say that right after breakfast they start planning and thinking about lunch, when they will eat, where they will eat, who they will eat with, how they will prepare it, how it will taste etc. I don't have that problem but my symptoms are the same but it's about sleep. When I wake up in the morning I think, 'Oh just let me sleep 10 more minutes' and then after that I bargain in my mind with some unknown power (that is over the sleep realm) what I would give up if I could have 5 more hours of sleep. I usually would give up about anything, my family, my eyesight, my home, my left arm, my right breast (because it's slightly smaller than the left), my religion, so it's good there isn't a sleep god who is listening to my plea. Then after I get up I think about how many hours I have to stay up before I can lay down again. If I get to take a snooze during the day then life is really grand. Arriving early to pick my kids up from their sports is ideal for a quick nap. Just lean that chair back and let the sun beat in on you. I love it when your mind drifts into that no land place where you're just floating away from reality into fantasy. It's my escape from reality; not that my reality is bad but it can be escape from boredom, unfulfilled dreams, regret for not being all you envision yourself to be. Those are my little stresses---like dang, I need to be more. Maybe if you're escaping from an abusive husband or an irate boss you might need something a little stronger than sleep to take you away, but for me, sleep is enough. Jeff doesn't understand me. He gets no satisfaction from sleeping. He only does it because he has to so he can function and get more work done. He sleeps as little as humanly possible and wishes it wasn't a necessity. On another topic, it reminds me of Sarah who doesn't understand the joy of reading. If I have a good book and an hour, I'm in heaven. I bought Sarah, 'Twilight' the #1 book in the U.S. and the #1 teen book for the year but I can't get her to read a paragraph. I have told her I will give her a backrub if she will just read 1 chapter. Hasn't yet. It's interesting how diversified we are in what brings us satisfaction. 'I can't get no, satisfaction'. Which reminds me of something I read in the paper today. An art student who drew the famous "lips" logo inspired by Mick Jagger's mouth was just bought at an auction for 92,500$. The Stones used it on their album after he drew it in 1970 and now it's the most famous rock logo. Cole and John might want to consider drawing Logo's for singing bands, is all I'm saying. So, back to what satisfies us. Jeff can't imagine why I don't enjoy scuba diving. It is his big love right now. He can't fathom that it doesn't do anything for me but bring me nightmares and panic attacks. We're going on another scuba trip with friends, who all love scuba, in Nov. I have already started panicing (that really looks wrong) about it. How far are you suppose to push yourself to do the things you don't like but may enhance your life? I really can look in a big fish tank and get the same thrill I get underwater. I'll even snorkel; I'm fine with that. It's real pressure when your whole group does it. Suck! I've got to go lay down. The sun is shining outside and my patio couch is calling for me. Hope you're all getting some satisfaction, somehow, somewhere.

Love ya,Michelle

I learned how to write on my blog

Today, finally my husband, the great guy that he is, helped me to get onto my blog. This is the beginning of my writing career.