4 Goodly Things

Ahhh...coffee. And quiet.
Even though I have to leave for work in an hour and a half, I am still enjoying a little Saturday morning-ness. Which means just me and my coffee and my thoughts(even the dog goes back to bed). Mr. F and the daughter(and dog) sleep in late on the weekends, so it's usually me being the only one up early.
I have been thinking back on yet another whirlwind week, and some of the things that stood out in a good way.(Oh, I could list all the annoying and irritating things and people I encountered this past week, but won't go there)

Good thing # 1...my sweet and thoughtful husband.
He shoveled off and on for most of the day on Wednesday when we had a winter storm.
Then the next morning, before he left for work, he cleaned all the ice and snow off my car again AND warmed it up for me . So that when it came time for me to get in my car to leave for work an hour later, all I had to do was jump into it, start it up and drive away in a warm and toasty vehicle. I very rarely ever have to clean off my car, come to think of it--he always takes care of that(one day, maybe we'll have a garage and he won't even have to do this)
As I drove to work, I noticed other cars on the road that were still covered with snow. You know--the kind where there is just enough snow hurriedly cleaned off with the driver peeking through a hole on the windshield..? If it weren't for my "knight with gleaming snow shovel and ice scraper", I would BE that person! Yep, I realised how lucky I am and how my husband did not need to get anything for me this Valentine's Day since I felt I had gotten my Valentine already, a few days early.



Off course, when I got to work, I had to do all the shovelling off of the walk and stairs in front and in back of the store. In my 12 years of working there, I have always been the one to do the snow shovelling since I am the one who is there earliest to open the shop. None of the other employees or my boss(who lives closest to the store, actually) has ever come in early to help. Not that big of a deal, really, as I am an able-bodied person and it's never been an insurmountable job for me to do. And, at least I wasn't all tired out(or my back) from shoveling at home since my chivalrous husband at least took care of that. An hour later, when the Thursday morning co-worker showed up, I had everything cleared off but needed to get more ice melt for the walk. So I zipped over to our town's Benny's Store.
Another thing to love and treasure!
As I parked my car in the lot, I had to smile when I saw the big signs near the door announcing that they had "sleds" and "snow shovels" and "ice melt". They always have everything I need, and it isn't one of those faceless, too brightly lit(and chemical smelling) Wal-Marts.
This is an old-school chain of tire and auto supply stores(founded in 1924, it's a 30-store chain with stores in the 3 southern New England states where you can buy tools, sporting goods, automotive, toys, home decor, and lawn and garden) that still has the traditional aisles and that wonderful rubber tire smell and people who actually offer to help you inside.
As I was lifting up the 5 lb. bag of ice melt(conveniently placed right there at the front of the store), I heard one of the store employees say, "Do you want any help with that, Miss?"
Of course, inside my brain, I was thinking--"hey, I just finished shovelling and scraping ice off the sidewalks in front of a store and shovelling out paths through snowbanks--I think picking up
a little 5 lb. bag is a piece of cake after that!".
But it was nice to hear that all the same--but that is just typical of Benny's. And, can I say, "bonus points" for being called "Miss" and not "Ma'am" (which has happened to me all of two times since I turned 40 and it is one of the worst things I have heard said to me!)

Please, please...never go out of business, Benny's Tire and Auto Stores!!!


Okay...good thing # 3...
Back at home, one of the things that all three of us like to do in the evening after homework and supper and kitchen clean-up is out of the way,
is to all flop down on the couch to watch a taped episode of Malcolm In The Middle. I LOVE this show!
Malcolm In The Middle ran from 2000 to 2006 on FOX and I didn't pay much attention to it then, thinking it was yet another typical TV sitcom.
Luckily, it's still shown on TV, and R has the DVR recording system on our TV set so we always have a back load of Malcolm episodes to watch. (note that I said my daughter has the show recorded because I have never figured out how to do it, myself)
This show has me loudly guffawing from the the first minute and all the way through. All the characters (and the actors who play them) are priceless(gotta love that Lois, especially) and the writing so good --it's not the typical family sitcom.
It's become our little family-of-three bonding moment--our sitting down together to watch another *slightly* dysfunctional family.
So..if you get a chance, give MITM a try (if you aren't already a fan)



And # 4...
...I was having a Carlos Santana day yesterday.
I have the perfume(which is kind of strange that I own this one--out of all the celebrity perfumes out there--and there are a lot!) and decided to spray on some of it's unsweetened coco-nutty and slightly spicy goodness on me before I left for work. Then, as I am driving along, "Black Magic Woman" comes on the car radio! Which made me think, why didn't Carlos use that name for his perfume? It might have sold better, with a name like that, instead of boring "Carlos Santana for Women".
Then, at the end of the day, when I was driving my daughter back to the school at 7:30 at night(because she forgot the tickets for the hockey game in her locker!!!!!--but luckily she was able to get into the school because of the boy's basketball game going on), I heard "Oye Como Va" on the car's radio.