Gifts Given
Though in a worldly sense, it is nice that I didn't want anything tangible for Christmas, my husband might not agree...because he felt he had to come up with something that still made me smile.
Here are the best smile-getting gifts given:
My brother-in-law helped us re-install our kitchen sink over Thanksgiving break and Moen (thanks to their amazing lifetime warranty) provided the materials. For the first time in years, I don't have a bucket under my kitchen sink! And no corrosion and yuck around the faucet and sink! Simple pleasures...
Can't get too much of a lifetime warranty...so, I called Moen again and told them about the hole in my bathroom faucet and the crack in the handle. So, they sent us a new faucet for one bathroom and new handle for the other one. Shiny and new!
I wanted to call Moen about the shower, too...but it was all fixable. We took the hardware apart and cleaned it. That was the easy part. On Saturday, I spent 7 hours scraping the moldy caulking out of the cracks, then another hour wiping it all down. Then we left it to dry and Monday night, Lee re-caulked the shower. This is the third time in 18 years that we have done that miserable chore. I am hopeful that we did something better this time so we can avoid doing it again anytime soon.
After years of checking out old issues of Cooks Illustrated from the library, my husband surprised me with my own subscription. I love the science and exploration that is behind each recipe. And he loves the results of me reading it. Everyone wins! (Except I am sad to inform you that a subscription does NOT actually entitle you to view the recipes and videos online! That costs an additional $40.)
The biggest surprise was when I opened this:
You know the scenes in "The Hundred Foot Journey" where he pulls the suitcase full of spices off the shelf and looks inside and your mouth starts to water? And you want to become a chef? And mail order your own authentic Indian spices? Well, it had that affect on me, anyway. And apparently Lee...because he did just that. And now we search through the pages of every Cooks Illustrated and every recipe book to find just the right things to add these yummy spices to. Once again, Lee is hoping to benefit from the gift.
Ooohh. I almost forgot about this bad boy. I have been complaining about our dish drainer for years because they don't sell them with a bottom raised enough to drain over the high edge of our sink. I was sure there was a way to rig it so that it would work better and I had faith that my husband could figure something out. I wasn't really impressed, but for lack of another option, this has remained in use since Christmas. It is a hideous beast...do you have a better idea?
Despite my usual worries that the kids wouldn't be happy with their gifts, they all seemed pleased. Lizzie declared it the best Christmas ever. And for the first time in years, we had no where to go and no one to be with. So, we just sat home, enjoyed the falling snow, played in the snow a bit, played games together, watched movies, took pictures of our spices. You know...the usual.
We are richly blessed. And no, Lee. I don't have any more home repairs planned. (He just LOVES that kind of work.)
Here are the best smile-getting gifts given:
My brother-in-law helped us re-install our kitchen sink over Thanksgiving break and Moen (thanks to their amazing lifetime warranty) provided the materials. For the first time in years, I don't have a bucket under my kitchen sink! And no corrosion and yuck around the faucet and sink! Simple pleasures...
Can't get too much of a lifetime warranty...so, I called Moen again and told them about the hole in my bathroom faucet and the crack in the handle. So, they sent us a new faucet for one bathroom and new handle for the other one. Shiny and new!
I wanted to call Moen about the shower, too...but it was all fixable. We took the hardware apart and cleaned it. That was the easy part. On Saturday, I spent 7 hours scraping the moldy caulking out of the cracks, then another hour wiping it all down. Then we left it to dry and Monday night, Lee re-caulked the shower. This is the third time in 18 years that we have done that miserable chore. I am hopeful that we did something better this time so we can avoid doing it again anytime soon.
After years of checking out old issues of Cooks Illustrated from the library, my husband surprised me with my own subscription. I love the science and exploration that is behind each recipe. And he loves the results of me reading it. Everyone wins! (Except I am sad to inform you that a subscription does NOT actually entitle you to view the recipes and videos online! That costs an additional $40.)
The biggest surprise was when I opened this:
You know the scenes in "The Hundred Foot Journey" where he pulls the suitcase full of spices off the shelf and looks inside and your mouth starts to water? And you want to become a chef? And mail order your own authentic Indian spices? Well, it had that affect on me, anyway. And apparently Lee...because he did just that. And now we search through the pages of every Cooks Illustrated and every recipe book to find just the right things to add these yummy spices to. Once again, Lee is hoping to benefit from the gift.
Ooohh. I almost forgot about this bad boy. I have been complaining about our dish drainer for years because they don't sell them with a bottom raised enough to drain over the high edge of our sink. I was sure there was a way to rig it so that it would work better and I had faith that my husband could figure something out. I wasn't really impressed, but for lack of another option, this has remained in use since Christmas. It is a hideous beast...do you have a better idea?
Despite my usual worries that the kids wouldn't be happy with their gifts, they all seemed pleased. Lizzie declared it the best Christmas ever. And for the first time in years, we had no where to go and no one to be with. So, we just sat home, enjoyed the falling snow, played in the snow a bit, played games together, watched movies, took pictures of our spices. You know...the usual.
We are richly blessed. And no, Lee. I don't have any more home repairs planned. (He just LOVES that kind of work.)
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