Let's Make a Deal

Cory had 10 blissful days of summer vacation. Now he's back in classes. 

He works so, so hard on his school work. (And gets the grades to prove it. Who makes 125 on a final exam on Circuits? Who??) 

I guess it's hard for him to find a comfortable position after a few hours at the ol' desk.

Apparently the hours spent at his desk are taking a toll on his neck and upper back, because lately he has been constantly requesting massages.

Turns out, I'm not really a "massagey" person. My fingers are tired after the first 15 seconds of a back rub. Also, it bores me.

But, I have discovered that Cory will do almost anything for a back rub. This discovery has led to a sort of bartering system in our relationship.

We're still working on developing a baseline for what things are worth in the economy of our marriage.

I offered Cory 20 minutes of massage in exchange for coming with me to the grocery store. (That is basically an eternity in massage years.)

He declined.

But he counter offered me one clean kitchen, while I did the grocery trip by myself.

After much inner turmoil, I accepted.

I love to haggle, so I'm pretty excited about this new development.


A few people from our stake went to Georgia this weekend to help with tornado clean up. Cory went with his Dad and brother to help.

It was so weird to have him gone for the weekend. I missed him, and I couldn't sleep without him. The extra seven hours this inability added to my day really upped my productivity. I don't think I've EVER done more in one day than I did yesterday. I hit up a short-lived tennis match, bridal shower festivities, crepetastic girls night out, cleaned/vacuumed the house top to bottom (including laundry!) and finally got around to painting my trashy dresser.

Read the full makeover post on Pile o' Craft, if you want.

 To keep things balanced, today I haven't been productive in the slightest. Nothing but church and bloggin'. And lemon squeezin'.

I got a sweet hookup from my friend Elizabeth this week and got a ton of lemons. Fortune smiles upon me as just last week, I found an awesome jadite juicer at a thrift store.

I felt so, so cool using my strainer.

 I also felt like a huge nerd. The entire time I had quotes of Alice Walker's short story, "Everyday Use" running through my head. I bought the strainer to look pretty on a shelf, "as if that was the only thing you could do with quilts" strainers, but realized I'm definitely "backward enough to put them to everyday use."

Oh Alice.

If you've never read it, you should. Then we can talk about what a wretched punk Dee, excuse me "Wangaro", is, and how the phrase "mossy teeth" makes you wanna throw up.  Click here to read the full text online.