sometimes you just have to call

My mom emailed me this morning to let me know that someone had passed away. He was the father of high school classmates, and happened to be the son of the woman (Barbara) that my dear friend Connie stayed with as an exchange student.

I knew I had to let Connie know because Barbara lost another son back in the '90's (it sounds weird to say that and know how long ago it really was) and her husband passed away around ten years ago. She still has many grandchildren and even great grandchildren and two (?) lovely daughters. Connie was able to keep in touch with a couple of them through email, but I know how easy it is to lose touch. I wanted to let her know because I know she knew the son and that's just the kind of news you share.

Connie and I haven't been able to talk in a couple of years (honestly, I think it's been two years -that's not too bad considering she lives in Germany, is married and has two children, and I'm not just sitting around doing nothing). We also kept in touch via email, then came facebook.

As another friend put it, "Facebook is what computers were to our generation." If you don't jump on board, you're going to get left behind and stuck in the past.

But I know how difficult it is to talk to someone you haven't talked to in a long time. What do you say? Well, it's easy. There's no need to apologize because life happens. You can apologize if you think it's necessary, but typically the other party understands. We pretty much picked up where we left off. Where are you working? How old are Chiara and Paul? How are your parents and your brother? When you're good friends, it's easy to find things to talk about. You don't have to resort to talking about the weather (but it's okay if you do, because it is, after all almost half way around the world and the weather is mostly the same, it's fun to find that out), you just fill each other in on what's been going on. You can start off with general info and get specific as the conversation continues.

In the end all that matters is that we talked and caught up. It didn't feel as though two years had passed without talking, even though I know so much has changed in our lives. And even though we can't promise we'll ever get to Germany to visit, Bill and I still plan and dream about a day when we can.

face full of dirt

It's Memorial Day and we fly our flags and thank those who have served our country (and are serving right now) and we remember those who have left this life, most of us cook out on the back deck, garden and enjoy the unofficial beginning of summer.

Bill and I are no exception. As mentioned, our friend Heather W. comes to visit and we spend the majority of the weekend working in the garden. Yesterday we got rained out, so this morning after pancakes, we headed out to get some trimming done and the rest of the yard work wrapped up. Heather left after lunch and Bill and I still had a smaller pile of mulch to move. I was working in the back along the property line and he was filling in the spot where the swing goes. As I was filling in with mulch I was also pulling out the maple and red bud trees that have sprouted everywhere. One of the maple trees was more of a sapling than just a sprout so I had to get my trowel to remove it. As I was digging, lifting and pulling the roots came loose and I'm not quite sure what exactly happened because I managed to close my eyes as I got a face full of dirt. I shook it off, and walked over to Bill, laughing and asked if I had any bugs on me. He said no and then helped rinse me off.

I'm sure there are worse things than a face full of dirt, and that our veterans and soldiers experience much worse every day of their service. I hope we remember the hard work they do and remember to say thank you.

Sundays, ice cream, and Star Trek

Bill was working on breakfast when I got home from church. It was fantastic as usual. Once the dishes were washed, Heather and I headed out to the garden behind the garage to sort out the mulch/weeds/flowers/path. It took us about two hours with one lemonade break. The storm was headed our way (for those of you who have sunshine, we are in the midst of a thunder storm) and we finished just as the rain started. We sat on the front porch for a short while. Then Heather and I decided it was time for ice cream. We had perfect timing, open parking a very short line and a place to sit under a covered porch. Once we finished our ice cream we came back home to find Bill watching "Star Trek Nemesis". The storm continues and it's supposed to get stronger. We may have a new risotto for dinner tonight or just popcorn. We haven't taken a consensus yet and it's only 4:15pm. How long is this movie?

holiday weekend checklist

1) house vacuumed - check

2) house dusted - check

3) bathroom cleaned - check

4) laundry - in process

5) slept in - check

6) ready to garden - check

7) typical Michigan weather - check

I am ready for the weekend. I would prefer a bit more sunshine and slightly warmer temps, but they're saying it's going to be in the 90's on Monday. I also heard a high of 85, so I prefer the 85, but won't complain about the damp chill that it in the air today. I'm going to go plant my tomato plants now!

status update

This would have been my facebook status had I not realized how long it was. I decided it would make for a better blog.

It's Friday of a holiday weekend. I have a new car that is fantastic to drive (her name is Rosie btw, for Rosie the Riveter of WWII because she's Steel Blue -that's how my mind works), with a moon roof on a gorgeous, sunny day. I went to the Farmer's Market for the first time this season with Stephanie from the Nashville trip. I bought beautiful flowers that I can't wait to get outside and plant tomorrow when our friend Heather W. comes to visit. I'm working (after I blog this) and listening to the Police Scanner live online (it might be an addiction). It's going to be a great weekend!

See? that would have been an awfully long status. And it gave me something to blog about today. I really do like the way my new car drives (Mom, you should let Dad take you to drive a Ford. I think you could afford the Fusion and you'd like it). I'm also really addicted to the Police Scanner. It's so much fun to listen to. Who knew? (Okay, the people who listen to it knew). Is this dorky/nerdy/weird? If you think it is, try it. Google "police scanner [for your city]" (or nearest city or whatever city you want to listen to). They are entertaining. Here they call in to the hospitals as though making reservations at restaurants, "Party of three for Butterworth". (That's one of our hospitals.) Only, of course, when it's not a real emergency. I have no idea what all the numbers mean, except when it's the time. I've figured out it's code and their assigned numbers. I'm not good with numbers. But how cool would it be to be the dispatcher? That would be an intense job. Much like Air Traffic controllers. Stressful too. I'm sure it makes more sense on their end (dispatchers), but on my end it's controlled chaos. I am enjoying listening to it.

so, it's Thursday; here that means new car day!

Yup. Another new car. The lease was up on Haley, the Mazda 6, in September and so we had started looking around. We needed something with a smaller payment. That means less car. Or does it? Since we've been leasing with Borgman Ford/Mazda (I'll give 'em a free plug, their service dept at Mazda is OUTSTANDING!) they can give us several buy-out/turn-in/re-lease options.

I will be driving a new 2011 Ford Fusion. The payments will be cheaper (the insurance will not *shaking my fist at Michigan Insurance rates*) and while it doesn't have heated leather seats, it has the moon roof package. And while I don't need the moon roof, I have missed it (Lucy, the Protege and the CX7 both had moon roofs). It has a better stereo, it is also more comfortable albeit still loud. But I said to Bill, for the distance I drive I am willing to sacrifice road noise for comfort. Haley has been very uncomfortable. I will miss heated seats for sure, but Bill's car, Grandma Ruby, still has them. I'll just go hop in his car when I feel the need to have my butt warmed.

We have decided leasing is the way to go for us. While we care for our cars (extensively, we're both OCD about keeping them clean) somehow when we purchase one, they almost always start to fail. As Bill has blogged about Grandma Ruby giving us some problems, we feel it is financially smarter for us to lease. Bill likes to get a new car every few years. Do you know how expensive it is to buy one every three years? Yeah. It's a lot. With a lease, you get the warranty, the car, a payment similar to that when you're buying the car and in our case an extra month payment as the money down.

The alternate scenario is that we buy a car. We have to make a bigger down payment to keep the monthly payments low. We make the payments on the car and as the car ages (even though we have taken good care of it) it starts to have problems; transmission troubles, a/c fan breaks, suspension breaks, something goes wrong and it starts to cost us more money. We still have two more years before it's paid off and we've put more money into it than it will be worth. Am I preaching to the choir? People seem to think we're bougie when we say we're leasing. I'm sorry, it's more practical for us. We don't have to pay to put new tires on the car and we turn it back in before it starts to have any major breakdowns.

Maybe this should go in the blah blah blog because I feel like Bill could add some input. At any rate, it's new car day. I have to think of a good name. She's steel blue (which Bill doesn't care for), Haley was easy to name because her color is Comet Gray. Hello? Haley's Comet. Done. Steel Blue... Suggestions?

the graduate

Here are photos of Allison, ready to graduate from high school
(seriously, where did the time go?)Get it? We're holding up 1's for the class of 2011. We're smart!
This is Allison and Megan. In case you aren't aware, they were our flower girls in our wedding. I met them when I worked in the nursery at Trinity UMC in Savannah while I was in college.
Based on my math, Megan was two and Allison was four when I first met them. I have watched them grow up (to an extent since we lived in Savannah for eighteen months after I graduated from SCAD and then moved away again) and I am so glad that we have kept in touch!! They are wonderful young ladies and I'm so happy that I insisted we go down there for the weekend.

picture tour of Savannah

It's probably best to go by day, as quick and short as it was. When we got there on Friday, we went down to River Street and ate at Spanky's. We walked up and down the entire thing looking for the Candle Factory where we bought the candle we used in our wedding only to discover they have gone out of business (apparently). Sad.

Friday

Saturday

It doesn't look that big, so Megan and I stood next to the tree for scale. Now you can see how majestic it truly is...

Wormsloe
dinner

Fried green tomatoes

Fried Pickles

Low country boil

the dock outside the restaurant

the pelican

Sunday

Trinity Church drain

Trinity Church
the fountain at Forsyth

Poetter (aka Preston) Hall, the first building at S.C.A.D.

Andrew Low House

Bonaventure Cemetery (and contenders for more pictures to print and hang in our living room)

dinner

the Globe

Magnolia tree in bloom

close up of the bloom

historic cars outside of the historic Police Station

classic

The photos of the friends we were visiting will be "back published" in the posts I already wrote. Enjoy!

missed one

Yup, I missed another Sunday. This was easy to do since we were pretty busy. We went back to Trinity UMC (the one I worked as Nursery Attendant and we attended when we lived there), we went to lunch and then we left to get out of the way. Bill and I drove around and took pictures (the camera is charging as I type this) and we used every minute of that battery. I can't wait to see the pictures on a big screen.

Then we returned the rental car and waited for the flight home journey.

And now you can try reading our "Blah, Blah, Blog". We have to work on it and we're pretty tired, but it has to be the easiest (or not) way for us to share our adventures. Especially for those of you who read both of our blogs. Now you can read both, but when we do something together, you only have to read one blog.

And I'll get pictures up here asap.

the last day

We started out eating breakfast, Scott made it and I'm sure Bill struggled through that (he's so used to cooking big breakfasts) but it was delicious!! Pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and strawberries. Then we headed out to see some old favorite spots.

We found "Majestic Oak" (pictured below and in this post) and stopped at Wormsloe to take pictures. We even stopped and saw Miss Ima (who's now living in her own apartment at a senior home). Allison was finished with work at noon, so we came back here to wait for her (she actually beat us home). We decided we would have a little snack and had some ribs that Scott smoked the other night. We're headed out to Hilton Head for some shopping and we'll eat an early dinner at the Skull Creek Boathouse.
It's hot here, in the 90's, we're just chillin' inside for awhile. This is a good way to end the world. I'll go back to my regular diet on Monday. Or not. We keep making jokes about the end. Something is on fire (lots of things really, mostly the forests and swamps -it's dry here too) and we finally decided that the end is here and it's slowly burning. Hey, the devil went down to Georgia... maybe it's all going to start (end??) here. Who knows. Stop back tomorrow and there'll be another post.

from "hot-lanta" to "slow-vannah"

We are spending the weekend with friends we haven't seen for almost nine years. I will have plenty of pictures to post on Monday. I may have "borrowed" a brand new Mac to post this. I would have asked permission, but the owner is still at work. I'm sure she'll forgive me (I hope). If so, you won't hear from me until Monday. Otherwise, maybe I'll be able to blog this weekend.

We're thinking of seafood for dinner tonight. We met our sandwich week "quota" by the way (I'm sure all my readers were keeping tabs). I made a "club Em" for our lunch yesterday, I had a grilled cheese sandwich on Wednesday night (when we went out for dinner for Skylar's birthday), and we took salami sandwiches with us today. Yay for sandwich week!

beauty and the beast cakes

I had thought I would post some pictures, that was when I thought I would have time. No, that's not true. I knew I wouldn't have the time. But I do have pictures. You'll just have to wait to see them.

What I will post about is my cake-baking abilities (this links you back to another post about my cake-baking)and lack of decorating. I know this triple layer chocolate raspberry cake I made tastes delicious. Unfortunately, by looking at it, one might not believe that. I cannot decorate, frost, or make a cake look good.

To try and make the cake look good I did the old slice-off-the tops being that it's a triple layer cake it had more potential to be more "domed" on top. I did that. They weren't perfect, but I knew when I stacked them that would make all the difference.

What I didn't count on is that not all 9" pans are the same size. I had to borrow one of my mom's pans for the third layer (yes, I could have used two, but I thought calling it a triple layer cake with only two layers wasn't p.c.). Back to the third pan; only after I had stacked all the cakes with the too-runny ganache did I notice that the middle layer was hanging over on all the sides.

What? Isn't a 9" pan a 9-inch pan? It doesn't matter if it's 9" or 9-inches. Oh but it does. And since I didn't know that, the middle layer is now the widest layer. Hide it with the frosting. Good idea!

Except I didn't make frosting, I made ganache. Which I have never made and it's really more of a glaze than frosting, icing or anything thicker than what it actually is. That could be because it's nice and humid. It could be for any number of reasons the least of which the "Cake Doctor" told me to let it sit for thirty minutes until it could be spread like frosting. Nope. Runny and "poury". Not spreadable at all. So I compromised. I poured it on and let it "set up" in the fridge.

Do you know what happens when you stick a cake with runny ganache in your fridge? The runny ganache runs over the edge of the cake holder and spreads all over the shelf of your fridge. Thankfully we have the no-drip shelves. At least that worked!

I took out the cake and cleaned up the mess. By this point the ganache had started to set up, so I spread it back on the cake, trying desperately to hide the uneven sides. Alas, that did not work, but I did wind up with more ganache on the cake than on the cake holder.

I topped it with raspberries and am praying that they enjoy it. Because while it doesn't look like anything I know it's going to be tasty.

Happy Birthday Skylar!!!

Skylar turns twelve today!! I am going to see them and will return home tomorrow morning. Originally I was going to get to hear her orchestra concert, but unfortunately they had to change the date. So instead of a twofer I will be going down just to celebrate her twelfth birthday (that's okay, I'm glad we live close enough for me to do this). I hope I get to hear her play in the orchestra some day.

This picture is from last summer. I have the camera and plan on taking a couple of pictures today (I'm pretty sure there will be ice cream). Look for those tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Skylar!!!
with love,
Aunt Em, Uncle Bill, Juliette and Atticus

sandwich week, day two or three... who's counting?

Tonight we will be enjoying PLT's. That's prosciutto, lettuce and tomato.

Last night's sandwich had a basil mayo, there's still plenty of that leftover, so our plt's will be dressed with that for added flavor.

Also, last night the pork was grilled, not the bread. Tonight the bread will be grilled (or toasted depending on what I feel like), but the sandwich itself will not.

I'm having fun with Sandwich Week. You should try it.

it's time for sam-wiches!!!

It's National Sandwich Week!!! We are geared up and ready to kick it off right! Last night we had sloppy joes at youth group. Today for lunch we have salami and hard rolls. Tonight we'll be having grilled pork and fontina sandwiches, which are yummy.

And yes, to go with all these sandwiches, I made homemade lemonade. I looked it up online, how difficult can it be? Not very. It's delicious. I'm always buying lemons for my water, now I know how to make fresh squeezed lemonade and I'm excited!

Stay tuned this week for more sandwiches!!

blue-ray h8ta'

It's hata, not hater. That's too harsh. I believe that about the word "hate". However you feel about the word is not the point of my blog. The point is that I'm not a fan of blue-ray players. Their digital quality removes any disbelief that the movie is not shot entirely in front of a green screen. I am disappointed every time I see "how real it looks" because it looks anything but real.

Yesterday, along with the new cable box, Bill bought a new dvd player. Excuse me, a blue-ray player. They are not the same thing. A blue-ray player will play dvd's but a dvd player cannot play a blue-ray disc.

I truly enjoy technology. The advances and comforts we have due to new inventions is immense beyond comprehension. However, I wish "they" could just pick one. And by pick one, I mean let me the consumer decide what I want. Now I have to watch movies that used to look like movies on a player that makes them look digital. Every background looks fake, and everything looks two-dimensional. And no. I will not buy a three-dimensional tv. If I want to see something in three-dimensions I go watch a play. Live, in a theater.

Why? Why can't the consumer decide what we want? Maybe I still want to watch everything in black and white (okay, I really don't but I also do not like to be told what to do). I at least wanted just a dvd player, not a blue-ray. I just don't like how the movies "look".

Maybe I'll start watching stuff on my computer... too bad the sound on it is poor. Maybe it's time to buy a Mac again. Finally.

couch potato or not

Bill is going to exchange our cable box today. He had to call in a couple weeks ago to have them push a button (with their right hand) to get the box in our house to stop showing the updating code and actually show us some cable. It worked, but while they were on the phone this nice Comcast man told Bill that we could upgrade our box. Ooh Shiny! We've cleared off the dvr and I took a minute to write down all the shows that we record, so that we don't miss any season finales.

I wrote down fifteen shows. That adds up to nine hours of tv that we watch every week. On the dvr. This does not include CSI that we watch through On Demand, the episodes of Biggest Loser I watch, the Formula 1 races, series that have started and may now be cancelled or the hour of Wheel and Jeopardy. And yet we still manage to walk 2.6 miles during the week, care for the yard (or something), eat yummy dinners and clean up.

Nine isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. But then I think of all the shows we watch that we don't record, but we just know when they're on. Often times we watch the reruns to catch up. Oie.

This is why I enjoy summer, less tv. I make it a point to not watch new shows, or even turn on the tv. By fall, I'm always ready for the new season, so maybe it all evens out in the end.

Friday the thirteenth friends

I went to Kalamazoo to visit a fellow Quotarian (she's the current the President of the club there). We met at our Annual Conference last year, hosted by the Flint club held in Frankenmuth (which is why as hosts this year we're holding it in Holland). Nancy and I discovered we have a lot in common and agreed to get together. She came to Grand Rapids first. It was June or July and we went to Meijer Gardens and had lunch at Marie Catribs. We had a great time and agreed that I should come visit Kalamazoo soon.

We decided that Friday, the 13th of August was good for both of us and while we mentioned Friday the 13th, neither of us had a problem with that superstition.

She took me to the Museum (it's free!) and we saw the costume exhibit along with an interesting post card exhibit. We ate lunch at a fun local organic restaurant (Food Dance). She showed me the historic houses in Kalamazoo (Yes! There really is such a place). Another good time.

She came back this spring to see the butterflies at Meijer Gardens, this time on April Fools day. She let me know that she had time off that she needed to use this spring. We decided I should go there again to see the permanent Kalamazoo history exhibit at the museum (it was closed last year for renovations). I came home and looked at my calendar and we picked a date.

Only a couple days ago when I pulled up the old email that had directions to her house did I notice the date I visited her last August. And that I was going to visit her today, Friday the 13th.

Of course I told her all of this and we laughed and laughed. Only as I typed this did I realize she came here on April Fools Day. We decided we should get together on every Friday the 13th and if they're too far apart, we'll get together in between too.

Since this is the world of Google and Wikipedia, I just checked and there are a minimum of one a year with as many as three. In 2009 two were in a row (if you guessed February and March, you are correct)! This is going to be fun!!

the Vermont or Vichyssoise

I'm going to make an Italian version of Vichyssoise (a soup typically eaten chilled). I have to finish work first. I'm currently working on a concept house for Cate. She's calling it the "Vermont house". Doesn't that sound glamorous? I've drawn it based off a photo she took. I have no idea where the original house is (possibly Vermont) but it could be built anywhere. Tailored just for you.

I had lunch with a fellow HP Commissioner yesterday. We discussed the originality of house plans and when does it become a knock-off/rip-off?? Then he showed me this App he has on his iPhone. You can buy house plans for $6.99. What? In a world where architects are trying to design the next "Not So Big House", anyone can go online and get an entire set of drawings for less than $10. How is that possible? Who drew them? Do you trust them? You can't change them. Thus creates the cookie cutter neighborhoods.

Dave and I also discussed the extinction (we both crossed our fingers) of the McMansion. Can we please say good riddance to the house that may have caused our housing crisis? For centuries we lived without indoor plumbing, then for barely half a century everyone in the house shared one, sometimes two bathrooms (if they were lucky). Now we want guest wings, a bathroom for each bedroom (or a Jack and Jill bathroom), finished basements, three-car garages and tons and tons of vaulted ceilings. Do you know how many and how quickly cobwebs will fill those spaces? While the cleaning portion can be taken care of by Bill's company why do we need all that space? If you've never heard or read about the Not So Big house, check out the link.

I'm going to make some soup.

Spring finally arrived

Here are some pictures from our Mother's Day. It seems like everyone had good weather across the country. It was no exception here. It was glorious. We decided to play croquet and had a great time.


It was close, in all three games, but Bill beat me two out of three.


I thought these photos captured springtime.

I ate too much

Bill and I have been very good in that we haven't eaten out too much. Last night we made an exception because Tuesday is grocery/Meijer shopping day. We have food (in the freezer) and one of us probably could have whipped something up, but the kitchen was a slight disaster from Saturday. Bill set out to tear out the strip of plastic along the counter top and "back splash" and replace it with caulk (since he's now mastered the caulk). That was fine by me. He did that on Saturday, and got the new caulk down on Sunday. Everything from the counter was still spread throughout the kitchen and dining room. Needless to say, neither of us felt like cleaning it up, only to have to cook and then clean up after dinner. We deserved a break.

While we were walking we discussed where we should go for dinner. Bill said Arnie's and I had been thinking it, so we agreed. Then I remembered the Turkish restaurant where I had met Pat (a Quotarian) for dinner one night. It's out in Ada, but it was delicious. That is where we went (it's called Zeytin, which is apparently the Turkish word for Olive; they want to extend the olive branch to you, and invite you in).

I remembered what I had last time, the lamb shish-kabobs. I wanted to try something different, I had liked it a lot, but knew everything on the menu would be delicious. I ordered the Lamb Hummus (I don't eat lamb very much, so why not?) and Bill had the Special (a little bit of everything). My plate came out and it was covered in shredded lamb in a tomato sauce on hummus. Oh my.

They bring you a basket of pita bread, so of course I took the pita and filled it with my lamb and hummus dish. It was divine. Very similar to Greek food, and the Mediterranean that we love.

I ate the whole plate. I should have stopped and gotten a box. I mean really, the entire plate was covered with lamb. But I didn't. I ate it all. It was too good.

Flashback to the walk when I stated that I didn't want to eat too much...

Later, in the middle of the night when I woke up sweating, and still very full with my stomach making all kinds of weird noises, did I regret my decision. I learned my lesson and from now on I will stop and bring some home. There is nothing wrong with leftovers.

Fairy Godmother

I am the proud Godmother of Genevieve Bryce Hall, Alisha and Brad's newest addition. She joined this world on March 24th at 9:47 pm.

I called Alisha today to catch up and she asked if I would be Genna's Godmother. I am honored and thrilled! I am not the Godparent to anyone else. I only know part of what this means. I think I need to call Alisha back and find out what she and Brad expect from me. Like; do I go there for her baptism? Who's the Godfather (well that has a lot of jokes behind it)?

We hope to see the entire family next year, when we hope to travel to Austin to see the new US Formula 1 race. I hope I get to meet Genna before then.

Yup, I need to call Alisha again soon. (Although she did tell me she reads my blog, so hey 'Lish, can you answer my questions here or would you rather talk on the phone again?)

Pancakes and Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all moms. I tried making a list of family and friends and then feared I might miss someone! So to all the women in my life who have given me guidance, patience, love and have taught me how to be a better person, I wish you the best day!

I also want to write about our breakfast this morning. I found a new pancake recipe that I decided to combine with my other pancake recipe. Yes, I made from-scratch pancakes with homemade syrup (that does not involve tapping a maple tree, it involves dissolving brown sugar in water, pretty simple and my mom always made homemade syrup). It seems that pancakes and Mother's Day go together like chocolate and peanut butter. So even though I'm not a mom, nor had a mom here visiting, we had pancakes. And they were good.

blue jean baby

Bill has a habit (addiction, obsession, ritual) of naming his blog posts after songs. I think he had hoped someone would notice. I'm sure readers have, but no one has actually commented (at least not on his blog) about them.

Sometimes my mind works like that too. We sing a lot of things. Just this morning I sang the newly written, "I will get a new kitchen someday" song. We're still looking for someone to actually write the verses, the music and then produce it, record it and then be the label... it'll makes us millions. Of pennies. Or tears. It's not really that good. We'll stick to writing blogs.

So the title comes into this post (really, I do have a point) in that it is referencing my jeans. I have exactly three pair. Now I know some people will gasp at this fact. My dear husband points out that he only has one pair he can wear out in public. He would have more if he stopped using his "good" jeans to do yard/house/car work in them. He still has more jeans than I do, good or "work". I have two pair for yard/house work and they are both riddled with so many holes that I might as well make them shorts. Literally the bottom half of the legs are falling off. I don't understand how that happens. Why some jeans wear more in the knees than others. I am not on my knees doing anything.

Let's review, the total amount of blue jeans I have are five. Two aren't worthy of the public scene and out of the three good pairs, one is about to become "hole"y.

I ask you, dear bloggers, am I allowed to buy more? Is five enough? Am I being materialistic? How many jeans should a 30-something female American own??? Thank you for your thoughts.