Filler, Thriller and Spiller

I'm not a good flower arranger. In my own defense, though, I haven't had much practice. This weekend, at Hobby Lobby, they were once again having 50% off on almost everything in the store (man, I love that place). So, I picked up an awesome teal vase and tromped through the fake/dried flowers section trying to make something up that looked nice and fall-like and pretty. Blake and I were there for a half an hour. I picked up and rejected almost every flower in the whole place. I tried every combination, every color scheme. I kind of failed. I was frustrated. I turned to Blake, with a very sad face and said, "why aren't I good at this? What am I doing wrong?" He gave me a very understanding look and said, "you just haven't done it before." He grabbed the vase and said, "you need a filler, a thriller and a spiller." What? "You know," he said. No, Blake, no I do not. According to the guru (my husband), you need a thriller (something eyecatching), a filler (for background and to round out the arrangement) and a spiller (to add drama). So I picked up a big, fall arrangement of leaves. What's this? "A filler." I picked up a pretty stem of dyed-purple feathers. "Filler." A big, blue hydrengea. "Thriller."

Me: How do you know this?
Him: We saw it on the Today show, remember?
Me: No
Him: Hmm.... maybe it was while you were gone.
Me: You were watching flower arranging shows while I was gone?
Him: Yeah... I guess so.

Refreshed

I told Sadie to "make a nice face," but I think she heard, "make a face."

I have a lot to say about my trip home. Let's start with the most prominent change. My nieces and nephews are bigger. Bigger. Well, except Jack, for which I'm grateful because he's already six-two and hasn't even graduated high school yet. He dwarfs everyone. His mother, his father, and his aunt, who barely clears five-one.

My parents met me at the airport and my dad told me I had gotten bigger. I said, "dad, I'm 23, there's only one way I'm growing from here on out and I don't want to hear I'm getting bigger that way." Remember when a grown-up told you that you were getting bigger and you glowed with pride? Those were the days.

It was so refreshing and relaxing to be home with my family. It kind of felt like I was back in college or something and Blake was at his school and I was still at home. I didn't realize how relaxed I was until I came back to Pensacola. Not that I was sullen and moody before, I just felt... different. Better.

I also got my pet fix for awhile. Four dogs and two cats jumping all over you at every available second tends to make you think twice before buying a leash and litter box.

Maybe the highlight of my trip home, though, was the perennial favorite. Brooks's BBQ. I would kill to have a Brooks nearby. Sure, you can buy the sauce and spices from their online store, but it's not like having it all cook slowly over an open pit. Mmmmmm. Man I love that place. Seriously. I'm getting sad just thinking about it.

No, I don't miss Brooks as much as I miss my family.

Not much at least