How to Shop for Your Husband

While Your Husband's with You and You're Trying to Keep It a Secret for Pete's Sake!

So after being cooped up in the house for 2 days with a sick wife, by Black Friday Coach was ready to break free. Problem was, I had two specific things I wanted to go out and buy him for Christmas gifts. We do as many surprise gifts for each other as possible. I'm just not into the whole pick-it-out-myself-then-pretend-to-be-surprised-later gig. Originally my dad was going to take Nick out so Mom and I could hit the stores and accomplish the mission. Note that I said originally. Dad changed his mind and wasn't moving fast enough, Nick was not being left behind at the house, so all four of us head out together. Wonderful.

I cornered my dad and told him he had to get Nick pulled away some so I could get things purchased. Dad says "sure, no problem!" Well I don't know where he got the idea, but my normally best-secret-keeping-ever father was giving me like 2-minute windows of opportunity. After ditching this particular sweater on the floor 3 different times at Macy's I gave up. Time to move on.

So then of course, we're wandering around the not giant mall that's in SEMO and I'm constantly trying to figure in my head how to ditch the hubs and go back to get the sweater. It's not working. I'm at my breaking point and finally just declare to my husband "You won't get ANY presents for Christmas if you don't leave me alone to shop!" He got the picture then, though part of the surprise was still ruined in my opinion. So I manage to get back to Macy's, purchase the sweater, and only glare at the men once or twice for ruining my Christmas shenanigans.

Time for part 2. I needed to buy some tools at Sears. They had a drill set on sale for Black Friday, I had a $100 gift card from our refrigerator fiasco, it was meant to be. Coach hadn't even thought to ask for a new drill but a couple of off-hand comments by him let me know he would be delighted to get one. Here's how I planned to pull this off: The Sears parking lot is connected to TJ Maxx's lot. The men drop off the women at TJ Maxx then go off on their own to a more manly store. Like the hardware store across the street. Mom and I hike over to Sears, get the drill set, then hike back to TJ Maxx where we make a dumb purchase but ask for their biggest bag so we can hide that we went to Sears. Perfect plan right?!?

Sure, until Dad decides he wants to go to TJ Maxx too. Insert groans of frustration here. So now we're wandering around TJ Maxx buying pointless stuff because Mom and I have to act like we really wanted to go there. (And I'm being rude, I really did get some nice new Christmas decorations for our house plus Mom got me a new pair of fleece-lined leggings). We get back to the car and I finally just say, OK- I need to go to Sears. For the first time all day Dad got helpful and said he needed more jerky seasoning and how about he and Nick run up to SAM's Club to get some. Score! Mom and I hustle inside of Sears, get the drill and have the clerk triple bag it so you can just barely make out the yellow DeWalt box inside. At this point though I'm convinced Nick knows he's getting at least tools and that he'll see the darn yellow box at some point in the travel process. Not to mention that I have never once shopped for anything for myself at Sears in the entirety of our relationship so he surely knows I'm buying him tools. So I'm still not really happy about the situation but oh well.

By then I was tired, we went home, I napped again before dinner, and we ended the day at our favorite local hibachi restaurant. Love me some Shogun!!

(Just so you know, Coach claims to have been completely surprised by the drills and had no idea. He might still be bluffing but I'll take it since he was so happy to receive them).

Feeding the Coaches

In case you all didn't know, my sweet hubby is the head football coach for the school at which we both work. It's a lot of fun, a lot exhausting, and completely rewarding. Some of the things football season brings I would be happy to do without. And with the regular season finished up (we're 5-4 heading into districts!), I'm most looking forward to simply having time with my husband again.

BUT there is one thing I think I might miss, and that's the Friday night dinners. Every Friday, after every game, win or lose, home or away, the coaches come back to our house to have dinner and recap the game. This was a tradition started by the former coach and it was one Coach and I chose to continue. Typically I feed anywhere from 8 to 12 hungry men every Friday. For this FCS teacher it was still a challenge. I didn't want every meal to be a casserole or crockpot dish- those get old fast in my opinion. And in honest truth, I only have about 3 casserole recipes. So I focused on dishes I could prep before and would cook in about an hour. That way I could race home after the games and have hot food ready by the time the coaches arrived. I also try to have an appetizer out so the first arrivals have something to snack on  till the whole group's ready to eat.

So what did I make? Well here's the list:

1. Baked ham, hashbrown casserole, green beans, dinner rolls, and birthday cupcakes (since the first game was also on my birthday!)
2. Frogmore stew, biscuits, and brownies (also called low-country or shrimp boil depending on from where you hail)
3. Home-made supreme pizza, ranch salad, mozzarella sticks, blonde brownies
4. Taco bar (beef, shredded chicken, chips, tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, sour cream), queso and guacamole dips, assorted cookies
5. Spaghetti and meatballs, Italian salad, garlic bread, mozzarella sticks, assorted cookies
6. Breakfast casserole, biscuits, cinnamon rolls
7. BBQ beef chili, hotdogs, cheese sauce, biscuits, chips, and crackers, cheesecake
8. Sloppy joes, French fries, tater tots, green beans, cinnamon crisps
9. Kettle beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, dinner rolls, stuffed mushrooms, brownies

Delicious right?! It's been a lot of work but since I love to cook it's not so bad. It's actually pretty rewarding to have the chance to make food that's well appreciated. I also get to use all my fun new appliances and serving ware that we got for our wedding. Eventually I get all these recipes posted so you can make them yourself but in the meantime you can probably find something good on Pinterest!

Living with a Boy

I didn't have the roommate to separate from- I did that earlier in my life. Living with a boy is still a tough transition. Keep in mind that I've lived with all girls or myself and nothing else. Boys are......different.

I love my husband, truly. But there's just some observations I've made:

1. Boys scratch. Like all the time. Their head, belly, you-know-whats. Once I noticed my dear husband having the habit, I noticed it in other men. Especially at work. Men must be very itchy.
2. Boys shed too! I've known my whole life that girls shed. One summer on vacuum duty in a house with 3 sisters will teach you how much hair actually comes off the female body. And we even spend time purposely removing hair from our body. Why didn't it cross my mind that boys shed? 
3. The belief that boys don't have as many clothes is a lie. We both had to do some serious closet cleaning to make our belongs fit together but I really didn't anticipate how much he would have. And he's not even a fashion-forward kind of guy. He dresses well and stylishly but almost grudgingly. So the fact that he had as many clothes as many was kind of surprising.
4. There are different definitions of clean. Enough said.
5. He who holds the remote reigns supreme.
6. Shopping doesn't count as work. Um, what? Excuse me??
7. Candles aren't romantic, in fact they're often ignored or forgotten. Best not to light them or you'll just set the house on fire.
8. Ill-conceived ideas that don't end well are going to be mocked. Always. With love, but always.
9. Home decorating will go unnoticed but if you point it out, you'll get the praise you want. :)
10. A well-cooked, or ill-cooked for that matter, dinner is always appreciated and will always get praise even if you think it doesn't deserve it.