Hayes

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Mary, Mary Quite Contrary...

...how does your garden grow?
It's planting season in my household...My husband never gets excited about housework, but just ask him about our basil plant and he'll light up! He loves our little herb garden more than I do...This year he's planted rosemary, leeks, basil and mint! It's actually quite convenient and cost-effective to have plenty of herbs at my disposal--I highly recommend it to friends. I wish I had a green thumb to plant tomatoes and garlic so I could make bruchetta in a heartbeat but I don't trust myself with anything live! My husband's in charge of everything outdoors...one of the reasons I love the spring/summer seasons so much is that I get to put my husband to work--mowing the lawn, gardening, grilling dinner! It's quite the turn on to see Jeff being so industrious!

Happiness = Being an Aunt

You know you love being an aunt when...
Your niece asks you to take her to the "potty" and it's the highlight of your night.
You've got a mean headache but you can't stop twirling your toddler niece because she wants to dance!
You've got adult company to talk to...but you really just want to give the teddy bears tea.

I'm blessed to have the two sweetest nieces in the world (and the most darling baby nephew) and they're the loves of my life. One of my nieces kept calling me her "big sister" tonight...I reminded her that I'm her aunt (even though I may be young enough to be her sister...ha!) and what a glorious role I get to play in her life! I think being an aunt is kind of like being a grandparent. You get to lavish the little ones with love and enjoy a special bond with them...without any disciplinary demands of parenthood! I LOVE IT! On this Mother's Day weekend I'm especially thankful for my sisters-in-law who are raising the most delightful young ladies I know. And I will be calling on them quite frequently in the future to factor in some critical quality aunt-niece time. I think American Girl is calling my name...what do you say, girls?

28 years and counting...

THANK YOU to all my friends & family who blessed my b-day with off-key singing, treats, a flood of emails & Facebook posts, and your sweet, smiling faces! I've been celebrating all week. My husband insists I'm not the Queen of All Things but you could've fooled me! :)
My mother-in-law dished up the most delicious scallops & sauteed mushrooms dinner that defies anything you could order at Jonah's...my most delightful writer's group graced me with the best melt-in-your-mouth molten chocolate mini cakes and a much-needed Starbucks card...my fabulous co-host, Scott Wheeler, blessed me with a pedometer so I can track my mileage and my own pint of pink bubble-gum ice cream!...but my husband would claim he made the biggest sacrifice of all--sitting through an entire Amy Grant concert. Truth be told, I think he snoozed through half of it...but it was one of the highlights of my life!
I'm so grateful for good friends and family...in Ms. Amy's words, "The best is yet to be..."

The Best 30 Seconds of My Life...

If a mack truck slammed into me tonight, I'd die a happy girl.
When Amy Grant hula-hooped onstage into her sound check this afternoon (YES--HULA HOOPED!), about a hundred or so "Grant-heads" (as she affectionately calls her fans) leaped to their feet to cheer on this rockin', middle-aged mama who out-sings and out-gives just about every woman on the planet. Not wearing a stitch of make-up, nearing 50 and looking so stinkin' cute, you just want to throw your arms around her, Amy Grant graciously took pictures and signed autographs for her fans. (Yeah, I know I look like a corpse with this awful flash photography but isn't Amy darling)?
Amy's got this gift of making you feel like the only person in the room. She's fully present and engaged. Her tour manager made it clear she was in a rush to go but she signed "Happy Birthday, Catherine!" on my book and I told her I didn't fear aging as much because she aged so beautifully. She said, "Catherine, it's an honor to hear you say that because that's exactly how I felt about my great grandmother, Mimi. She removed the fear of aging for me. I really believe the best is yet to be." We chatted about music and life a little...her manager was just rolling his eyes, wanting to get her going. But she was awfully sweet and ever gracious. And I was so grateful. Her concert was incredible. Even Jeff thought it was pretty good and was surprised by her humor and grace. The video is taking forever to post so I'll get to it later tomorrow.

The perfect little man

Max will be the world's best husband someday.
"Can I sweep the kitchen floor?" he asked after dinner (when he finished his second helping of green beans instead of chicken). Sure! "I want to cook for my wife when I grow up," he tells me. "I told my teacher you do all the cooking and cleaning. And you work, too." Jeff protested, "I help!" Max said, "No, you just lie on the couch." He knows it! Such a sweet boy...I ran three miles today and did aerobics for an hour at the gym. I bemoaned that I'm out of shape and not fitting in my summer attire. Max says, "I think you're in shape!" Oh goodness. I'm helping to raise the perfect little man.

Before dinner we took a trip to the Build-a-Bear workshop at Northwoods Mall. Delaney had some b-day money to burn through and all she wanted to do was stuff, stitch and dress a build-a-bear. Cute place. Way over-priced. It was between that or mini fish-like frogs they sell at Hallmark. I'm so grateful she chose a stuffed animal over those little amphibians.
They wanted to sing her Happy Birthday when we walked in but she said, "No--PLEASE DON'T!" They were pretty persistent but she's a girl who knows what she wants.

A night of firsts

"Will you sign my shoe?"
Come again?
"My shoe. Can you sign your name here?"
Well, that's a first. I felt like a rock star, ruining Matt's Converse high tops!
It was also my first time going to Winter Jam, the only place on earth you'll find over 9,000 screaming teens belting out lyrics to the the latest Christian songs. I'm still deaf--but the Newsboys made a new fan outta me. What do you think the odds are that Michael Tait would hire me to be his gopher? I'm submitting my resume this morning. I will fetch his water, make him the best coffee ever, and empty his trash cans. The highlight of the concert for me was hands-down Michael belting out "Shine" followed by "Play That Funky Music!"
Thanks so much to all of you who stopped by the 91.5 WCIC booth to chat with me and Scott. You made our night with your encouraging words, hugs, and some of you had some off-the-wall things to say, too--and that's ok, we still love you!
It's one of those nights where I feel blessed to have such an awesome job! Rock on, everyone!