I really have an awesome husband

I have a weakness for Hardee's mushroom and swiss burgers. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you look at it), there is only one Hardees that I know of nearby, and it's quite a drive away. Matt knows of my taste for the burgers and that I can't find a mushroom and swiss anywhere else that comes close (it's all about the sauce). Today, Matt decided to recreate my favorite treat.

He went online, found a recipe that looked close, went out and bought all of the ingredients and whipped it up for dinner. It was spot on! With the exception of the mess, I'm not sure I could have told the difference.

He's always doing awesome stuff like this - yeah, I'm lucky.

When did this happen?

I have never needed much sleep. Once upon a time, I could easily survive on three hours a night and considered five to be a luxury. I worked hard and partied harder, whether it be actually out with friends or staying home and playing video games until the sun came up. Sometime recently, that changed. I now find myself having to get seven or eight hours a night to avoid being crabby and generally uncomfortable. I've somehow set into a very firm routine - meds and Tylenol PM at 10PM (still can't fall asleep on my own) followed by two episodes of King of the Hill and turn off the TV and actually fall asleep somewhere during one of two Family Guy episodes. Even on the weekends, I don't often stay up past two, which I once considered a very early time.

I guess I'm just getting older.

Artists

I wish I could be considered an artist. Matt and I were watching Bob Ross and The Joy of Painting on Monday (and Sam Wyland afterwards) and it's just amazing how they can take a blank canvas and turn it into something that looks real. I often think that I don't have the discipline to be artistic, but I don't think there's much discipline to it - it seems that those that are artistic just are.

I go through creative streaks once in a while, but I wouldn't call it artistic. I can be technically artistic, like I can write music that I hear on paper with proper notation, but I don't think that's art. I can't write new music.

So for you artsy-fartsy folks, I salute you!

Wow. Just wow.

It's hard not to follow politics these days, and it's almost harder to determine what's what in the stream of crap that's coming out of both sides of the media. I do listen to conservative talk radio with the likes of Andrew Wilkow, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. I feel that I'm intelligent enough to listen to their opinions, sort through what's fact and what's opinion and then form my own opinions.

Now, I don't agree with everything that President Obama is trying to do. I was not a fan of bailouts, I don't think the government should be buying stakes in auto (or any) companies, and I don't think that healthcare is a "god-given" right. However, there is an issue that came up this week that has caused such a ridiculous uproar in the conservative community that I have to laugh.

President Obama is going to be making a speech to school kids on Tuesday about working hard and staying in school. Holy crap have the talking heads exploded on this. They are saying that he's trying to "indoctrinate" kids into his liberal agenda. WHAT?!?! They are trying to slant it so it sounds like they have a problem with any president making a speech to children, but I distinctly remember President George Bush (Sr) giving a speech on drugs or something when I was in school. Obviously, I don't know what talking heads were saying then, but I bet they didn't have a problem with it.

And what's worse is the people that call into these shows spouting crap that they're hearing. If I hear the word "indoctrinated" once more by a stay-at-home mom who does nothing but listen to conservative radio, I'm going to scream. I wish people would think for themselves.

Outside projects

I now understand why you were always trying to get us to help you with yardwork, Mom - it's a lot of work. Now that I actually have a yard of my own, I actually find myself outside on sunny days mowing, trimming and other fun projects. Right now my biggest project is getting rid of the vines that have overtaken every plant in the back yard. There's a lot of yanking, cutting and swearing. These things are an evolutionary marvel! They intertwine so well that it makes pulling them away from desirable plants almost impossible without destroying the plants I want.

Matt found a dog house behind our shed under several feet of overgrown stuff. That'll make nice firewood during the winter. We've mended fences and found a large dead tree trunk under another very large group of vines. That will be the future site of my vegetable garden. I'm also planning a fruit garden nearby and a cantelope vine. We do have two orange trees already that look like they're going to provide us with a couple of bushels of oranges. We're also planning a flower bed in front of the house. It's a lot of hard work, but it's ok when you actually feel like you're accomplishing something!