The best gift ever

     Go in any store today and you are bombarded with everything pink and red. Flowers, candy, cards, balloons and anything else that can possibly be cute enough for you to say "awwww". All of this for one day out of the year that we set aside to celebrate love. I fall into the trap too. I have already bought my husband, kids, and mom a card. I plan on making a special breakfast and supper tomorrow for my family. I plan on saying "happy valentines day" and maybe go a little overboard on the "I love yous".
     Here's the deal...Flowers die, candy gets eaten, cards either get stuffed away or thrown away, balloons lose their helium , and I am too old for a cutsie stuffed animal. So what do I want for Valentines day? Well, I am a sucker for a sappy card so at least one of those would be nice. I am a stuffer, not a tosser. I am sure that there will come a day when I will drag out all those old cards and re-read all those wonderfully written cards that my loved ones have spent time standing in crowded aisles to pick out for me. I am just not the material kind of gal. I don't need or want more "stuff". I have enough "stuff". I am looking for the best gift ever.
     What is the best gift ever you ask? The best gifts are those that cannot be bought . I want forever with the man that I married. I want him to love me and only me for as long as we live, you know, the death do us part kind of love. I want to be cherished by him. I want to be appreciated. I want to snuggle up to him every night and know that he is mine and I am his. I want my kids to appreciate me and say please and thank you . I want them to tell me that I am the best mommy ever. I don't just want these things on Valentines day but everyday in between. That , my friends, is the best gift ever and its all free. I will not be asking for any of this because I am blessed enough to already have these gifts in my possession. If you don't then my wish for you this Valentines day is that you are on your way to finding it.

I don't make this crap up

     It's been a day and I haven't even made it to work yet. After dropping the kids off at school this morning I drove a friend of mine to Yadkinville for a Dr's appointment . I was back in Mount Airy by 10:30 and thought whoo hoo , I have plenty of time. Back up a little...Ben's homeroom teacher makes soap and I wanted a bar so I went to her the other day with money in hand but she refused to let me pay for it. After I insisted she said if I would provide popcorn for a movie afternoon we would call it even. Thirty five lunch size brown bags with a hot air popper...easy, right?
     My hot air popper can crank out quite a bit of popcorn at a time so I wasn't worried about being in a hurry to have it there by 12:30. After 3 batches, which provided 10 bags , my popper popped it's last. Having plenty of loose corn left I cranked up the stove top and did it the old fashioned way. Six more bags in and I was spending more time picking out burned pieces than I was popping and bagging. My only option was to go the grocery store and buy the microwave stuff. Keep in mind I am supposed to be delivering popcorn at 12:30. I was pulling in my driveway with a 10 pack box of popsecret at 11:55.
    It takes 2 minutes per bag. I was pulling in the driveway of the school at 12:25. Needless to say I popped and bagged like a mad woman to get it there on time. My reward for the craziness? A fresh creamy bar of Lemongrass Day Dream soap made by Mrs Simmons herself. Worth it? Absolutely !