Love

A postcard that made me literally howl

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There I was this past Sunday, reading this week’s PostSecrets, when I came across a postcard in the collection that after literally howling, I created this card and put it in the U.S. mail to Bob.

Backstory:

Whenever we stay in hotels, Bob loves to get to know the people who service our room, although most times, we turn down daily service, because it’s so wasteful and we use very little. We definitely don’t want our sheets or towels changed, especially if we’re spending only one night.

We usually do use the coffee packets/pouches/k-cups, though, and since he knows they won’t come in for service and replace them, he keeps an eye out for one of their unattended carts in the hallway to grab some replacements for the next day.

We also each like 3 pillows, and if we forget to ask for the extra ones, he’ll look for hallway closets where the extra linen might be stored, and I can’t even describe the excitement if he finds one and it’s unlocked.

It cracks me up. Which is why, when I saw this postcard: 1) I immediately thought it was one that he would submit to PostSecret, and 2) it made me guffaw.

The banana that “doesn’t brown” is hitting the shelves.

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From ZME Science: The First New Commercial Banana In 75 Years Is Coming To The Market Next Year

“When a banana is bruised, cut, or peeled, enzymes trigger a chemical cascade that ends in melanin, the same pigment that colors human hair. Those brown patches are technically harmless, but they’re responsible for throwing away nearly one-third of all bananas grown worldwide — roughly 5 billion bananas in the U.S. alone every year.” Read the entire article.

On the surface this seems like good news, but I rely on those black spots to inform me about how tasty a banana is. And when it comes to that, I’m a “13 kind of guy.” My husband is a “7 or 8 kind of guy.” What about you?

And I can’t think of that without remembering February 21, 2016, when I was still working and my husband made my lunch every day.

He knows how I like my bananas, but we didn’t have any ripe ones so he DIYed one up and put it in my lunch bag. Imagine my surprise when I opened it:

Yes he did make a banana ripe with a:

Sharpie

“Celebrities” at the Pelagic block party

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Pelagic Beer & Wine is a bottle shop on the edge of our neighborhood, and they have a run club whose runners run by our house every Monday between 6:15 and 6:30.

We’ve been cheering them on with a happy hour in our front yard for just a little over a year now, and our crowd of neighbors and friends has grown exponentially — from 4 or 5 people at the beginning, to over 40 last week. I’ve blogged about some of the more recent ones.

This past weekend (on 10/11/25) Pelagic had a block party, and I had these shirts made, which we wore to the party.

“We own the red house!”

It was so much fun watching people glance at our shirts and see their faces light up when they realized what it was.

We met and chatted with many of the runners attending the party, and everyone was so appreciative. It was an incredibly affirming afternoon.

“Being there”

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My friend’s sister died on Thursday, and on Saturday I made the 600-mile drive from Raleigh, NC to Conneautville, PA to attend her funeral on Sunday.

It was a 9.5-hour drive, and I decided to stop every 2 to 2.5 hours for a break, since I was driving alone and wanted to keep alert. My first stop was about 2.5 hours into the trip — at the first rest area in Virginia — and I assessed the snacks and lunch my husband had packed for me, which included 2 homemade sausage biscuits that were fantastic.

I arrived at the Quality Inn I’d reserved the day before, ate a quick Fish and Chips meal (would you look at the size of that fish, and those 2 paltry hush puppies, which I paired with the two free cheddar biscuits) at Red Lobster, and hit the sack early.

The visitation and short funeral mass — both at the funeral home — were the next day, and after lunch at my friend’s family’s house I drove 3 hours of the return trip before just walking into a Hampton Inn in Fairmont, WV and asking if they had any rooms available. I’m pretty sure this is the first time in my life I’ve ever gotten a hotel room without having a reservation. That’s out of my comfort zone.

I left at 9 the next morning and got home at around 3.

That should tide me over

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On Saturday morning, I set out on an 8-day drive. Oh sorry, did I say 8-day? I meant 8-hour.

After about 2 hours, making my first stop — at the Welcome to Virginia rest stop — I took a minute to lay out the “snacks and lunch” my husband packed for me, which included two most delicious homemade sausage biscuits.

A Valentine’s Day tradition: heart-shaped cuisine made with love

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It’s the 10-year anniversary of Bob making some kind of heart-shaped food on Valentine’s Day each year. He might have done it before 2015, but that’s the year I came into the picture and started documenting them.

Ta-da! The 2025 masterpieces: a Ghirardelli Caramel Walnut Turtle brownie cake and some Cherry Jell-O!

Creations over the years:

Happy Valentine’s Day to my thoughtful and talented husband! ❤

There’s nothing fishy about it… he’s a keeper

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I don’t like salmon, and Bob only cooks it when I’m not home—usually when I’m away for a few days or so—so he doesn’t have to listen to my whining about how “the place smells like fish.”

But he had a hankering for some salmon patties today, and he cooked them in spite of my being here. When I didn’t smell anything after several minutes, I jokingly asked if he took our (over-the-stove, built-in) microwave out to the porch, to which he said, “Nope.”

I went outside to find it was actually the air fryer, and not on the porch, which is right outside our kitchen door, but out onto the deck and as far away from the house as possible.

I do get that he really is more than I deserve.