A few nights ago at dinner, I mentioned to Wizard that I was nearly out of Italian seasoning.

Wizard asked, “What’s that”?

I was surprised as I thought he knew, but I answered, “Dried herbs traditionally used in Italian cooking like oregano and basil mixed together in a bottle.”

He still looked blank with his fork suspended half way between his plate and mouth, so I added, “It’s one of the spices in my spice drawer by the stove. I use it for of pasta sauces, and some chicken and shrimp dishes.”

He nodded, then looked at me seriously, “Witch.”

“What?” I asked.

“Don’t die.” Then he resumed eating.

I cracked up. We are pretty codependent like that. I mean I put gas in a car maybe once a year and that’s just an example. I don’t think Wizard has turned on the oven in this house, although he has run the dishwasher and often does some laundry like the towels he uses to wash the cars. He’s capable of cooking, and he BBQs all the time, but I usually prep the food he grills. On the other hand, he cleans regularly the BBQ and I never have done it myself. We just tend to divide and conquer all life’s tasks and in the decades of marriage, pretty much becoming codependent.

I’m sure some folks would consider that unhealthy. And I fully understand that point of view. I lived the reality of that when I was 13 and witnessed how my own mother struggled when my dad suddenly passed away. However my mom figured it out because that’s what smart, resilient people do. Still, I was determined in the first years of our marriage NOT to become complacent and depend on Wizard too much.

The the years and decades passed. We got busy with real life and kids, and found a way that worked for us that included a method of dividing and conquering life’s tasks.

So sure, sometimes I worry about being so codependent. But most days I’m very grateful I don’t have to put gas in the car

What about you? If you’re in a relationship, are you independent or codependent?

We had a nice Easter celebration at home with just the two of us and Maggie, and that was perfect. We’ve been running around a lot, and it was nice to take a break.

Friday, we took Maggie out to see Wizard’s mom. Although we weren’t there that long, it took most of the day. Saturday we went out to see a friend, and met her adorable grand daughters. They were so cute. And she had dogs! Dogs always bring me so much happiness.

Sunday, I didn’t sleep so I was tired, but determined not to let that ruin our day. We went to breakfast, and then I planted my little herb garden. I hope it does okay, the herbs didn’t look that great, but the selection was slim. I also made some chocolate covered strawberries just to make the day a little more special. Oh and Maggie got to go to Home Depot with me to get my plants. Two car trips in one weekend is pretty exciting for Maggie :-). In fact, one day a week or so ago, I loaded her up in the back seat of the car for another plant buying trip when a neighbor needed to talk Wizard and me for a couple minutes. I opened the back door to make sure Maggie had air, and she must have thought I was going to call her out. She immediately curled up on the farthest corner and pretended she didn’t see me. I just laughed, then assured her we were still going and she didn’t have to get out of the car. She’s so ridiculous sometimes, LOL.

As boring as my description sounds, we did have a really nice weekend. Now I’d love to hear yours!

TGIF! Let’s get right to sharing five random things about our week:

1. This week, I hit the ground running and it hasn’t let up! Of course it’s mostly Wizards fault for daring to have a birthday He seemed to have a really good one though, and he loved the mini cheesecake topped with raspberry sauce and fresh whipped cream. I took one bite, and it was good. Overall making two small mini cheesecakes worked out really well, and I’ll do it again if the need arises. And an added note: I wasn’t deprived, I bought a dairy free, dark chocolate bar for myself and was very happy.
2. I did a fairly dramatic hair cut for me. I have a pic with it after I blow dried it and did a bunch of errands, but it’s not officially styled. I love the cut, and I’m growing the bags so that they will eventually do a side swoop. The darker color was a shock, but I knew it would be. We may adjust it a little, but I wanted to live with it for a few weeks to see what I like over time. I was so tired of my hair that this is a fun change and easy for me to blow dry and go.
3. We got the big back planters done! Wizard did all the drip lines and dug all the holes. He planted about half the plants too when I wasn’t home, and I did the rest. We are really happy with that! Here’s two late afternoon pics after the work was done, but you get the idea:
4. I finally made Maggie’s appointment to get her teeth cleaned and the small lipoma on her belly removed. It’s really overdo and that bothers me a lot. I’m not worried about the lipoma, we are reasonably sure that’s not a problem but it should be easy to remove since she’ll already be under sedation. But small dogs can get really ugly problems with their teeth. So while her appointment isn’t until June 8th, I feel better just having the cleaning arranged.
5. Today we plan to go see Wizard’s mom. Then I’ll come home and bake easy cookies to take to our friend’s house tomorrow. I had to change that plan from cupcakes I was excited to make due to a time crunch. Life does that sometimes

That’s my five and now I’d really love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

You all know I love to bake.

But I really don’t eat much that I bake anymore. My diet restrictions are generally boring so I won’t recount them all here, but I will say I’m a huge believer in not expecting others to conform to my issues. So while I do bake some items tailored to my needs occassionally for me and Wizard, I don’t force these items on others.

So what do I do? Well, yesterday we had a friend over to see our house, then this weekend we’re going to her place to see her house. She offered to serve lunch, and I begged to bring cookies or cupcakes — that I know I can’t and won’t eat. Which kind of makes me feel bad because I’m so focused on eating healthy, unprocessed foods, but I want to tempt others with junk food so I can get my baking fix.

I’ve officially become a sugar pusher But I’m doing it for fun, not profit, so…maybe that doesn’t make me quite so bad?

Happy Wednesday!

It was a good weekend, which I appreciate.

Saturday was a lot of running around and chores, but in that, Wizard and put together my new planter. I think it’s going to be perfect! I can’t wait to go get my herbs later this week and get them planted (I ran out of time over the weekend to do that). I’m thinking that even though I could put then directly in the planter, I’d rather keep them divided into pots or bags.

Sunday, Wizard went to his race, and I headed out to see Turbo and Special K. I got to see oldest too but it’s tax season so he stayed home and worked while we had fun. Anyway, we took Turbo to the Easter Egg Hunt that we thought would be a small casual thing, LOLOL! There had to be close to 50 kids there! But it was a blast. This is just a little community even that a mom organized and I’m impressed! Turbo had fun! He took his collection of plastic eggs with us to lunch and had so much fun looking through his eggs to discover small candies, toys like stickers and a few coins. These were small treats but to him they were little treasures that he enjoyed it immensely. I love that we can still do community things that are just simple fun.  I also love spending time with my daughter-in-law. She’s smart, caring, and very easy to be around.

I also took Turbo a chocolate Easter bunny because I can And his parents are pretty chill about this stuff (although I check with them first because they are the parents). Turbo, in turn, sent a few pieces of his candy from the Easter hunt home for Grandpa. That was so sweet!

That was my weekend, how was yours?

P.S. Hope everyone was safe from the T-storms and Tornados hitting parts of the country!