Put a Ring On It {Spin Cycle}

The girls and I were just getting home from the movies on one of those cold, cold days we had last week. It was so cold that school was cancelled, and yet we still went out with our warm, reliable minivan to shop at Target and to see Annie. Ed was already home from work when we pulled into the garage, and he was looking around his car with a flashlight. I carelessly thought he must have lost a glove or his hat as the girls tumbled out of the van shouting their hellos to Daddy. As we walked in the house together, I casually asked, “Did you lose something?”

Ed gave me a stricken look and said, “Yes, my wedding ring.”

Oh.

I tried not to panic as he told me all the places it could be. The cold weather made his fingers shrink, and his ring must have just slipped off. He remembered taking off his gloves and twirling it around with his thumb while he was driving home from work. When he got home, he stopped at the curb to get the mail from the mailbox, and then once inside, he did a load of laundry. We concluded his ring was either in the snowbank or in his laundry hamper.

Ed looked through his hamper and shook out the clothes carefully. I took his laundry out of the washing machine and checked his wet clothes and the inside of the washer. Nothing. Ed traipsed outside several times in the snow to look for his ring, but that was hopeless. Even worse, we were getting 2 more inches of snow that evening.

I hugged Ed and told him the ring didn’t matter; either it would turn up or we would get him another one and either way it would be okay. But that night as I lay in bed and listened to the snow plows go by, I kept imagining that they were pushing his wedding ring farther and farther up the street from our house.

The next day, I checked Ed’s hamper again. I looked carefully on the garage floor to see if it possibly could have ended up there. I carefully shoveled the snow by the mailbox, looking for any glint of metal.

Nothing. Ed sent me an email simply titled, “I Need a Ring.” After work, he went to the gym as usual. When he got home, he joked that all the women were busy checking him out without a ring on his finger. Mmm-hmm. He started quoting the Britney Spears song the gym plays all the time: “All eyes on us. All eyes on us.” Yup, one of the reasons I married him is because he makes me laugh.

That evening, Ed decided he should finish doing his laundry. He had been a little distracted the night before, so it didn’t get finished. When one load was in the washer, I thought I heard a clicking noise and saw a flash against the window of the washing machine door. I opened the door and found…a zipper that was making that racket.

Just as I was thinking we’d never find it, Ed came down the stairs, wearing his wedding ring! He had been pulling laundry out of the hamper for the FOURTH time, and his ring fell out onto the bathroom floor!

We went to the jewelry store last Sunday, and had that ring tightened. I’m glad to say that Ed is still a happily married man.

Have you lost something recently? Have you found it?

Link your Spins here; I can’t wait to read your writing!


Spin Cycle at Second Blooming

In 2015, I’d like to get the Spin Cycle grow. Here are some ways you can help:

  • Write a Spin Cycle post any day this week and link it up here!
  • Copy the code for the Spin Cycle button on my sidebar and paste it in your Spin or include a link back here in your post so that your readers will be able to find more Spins.
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  • Send me a tweet @lemondroppie when your post is up!

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Kicking Off 2015 with 10 Questions {Spin Cycle}

On New Year’s Eve, the girls cheered and clapped and us old folks told each other, “I can’t believe it’s 2015!” as we toasted the old year out and the new year in.

These 10 questions about blogging made me think about where I want to go with my blog in 2015. I’ve been blogging for a long time, and sometimes it feels like I’m repeating myself, or that I don’t have anything new to write about. I remember some writing that was so successful, and wonder if I can ever write like that again. Are there more stories for me to write down? I’ve been thinking about that question, and the answer seems to be that there will always be more stories.

happy_new_year_2015

1. What do you love the most about blogging?

I love writing down my stories and sharing them. Writing can be very therapeutic. Sometimes as I write, I think it’s all crap and go to bed. In the morning, I love to edit and proofread my writing to make it better. Sometimes, my writing evolves even as I’m typing the words, and what comes out of my writing is very satisfying.

Interacting with my readers is another reason why I blog. Sometimes the comments people give add SO MUCH to my writing! I love the conversations that flow around blogging, both on my own blog and on other blogs.

2. How do you find the time to keep up with all the aspects related to blogging (posting, reading, commenting, responding, etc)?

I really don’t manage my blogging time well, and time management is something I struggle with in all aspects of my life! I have times when I do really well, and other times when the most I manage to do is write a post. I do try to return visits to bloggers who comment on my blog, though!

two girls

3. Does your family know about your blog and does this affect what you blog about?

Yes, my family does know about my blog, and it’s beginning to affect how I blog a little more than it used to. When Lily and Emmy were babies, I could write about them all day long without worrying about embarrassing them. Now I’m a little more careful about which stories I share, and I ask them more often if what I write is okay.

4. If you didn’t blog, what would you be doing with that time?

So many things! I should clean my house and do laundry on a more regular basis, but I wouldn’t be doing that! I would be reading more books, learning how to sew better, scrapbooking…I would definitely find something to keep myself occupied.

folding laundry
Lily caught me folding laundry!

 

5. Have you been in a blogging rut and how did you pull yourself out of it?

I have been in a blogging rut before. When I’m in a rut, I’ll try to write for me and not for another linky party or blog hop. I try to write sometimes that really comes from my heart, whether it’s a funny story about the girls or a good memory that I want to share. If I ever do take a short break from blogging, I try to publish a decent post before I start my break.

6. Have you ever considered leaving the blogging world and why? What stopped you?

Not yet! I love blogging! I’ve always thought that if I go back to teaching full time, I will probably not have time for blogging. I can’t imagine giving up my website, but then again, will I still be blogging 20 years from now? I’m sure the internet will evolve in ways we can’t even imagine by then. Either that, or there really will be a zombie apocalypse and there won’t even be electricity, much less the internet.

philosophical zombies

7. Show some blog love: Name another blog that you adore.

There’s too many to choose from! I love you all.

8. What’s your favorite social media outlet for sharing your blog posts?

Facebook is definitely useful, but I wish I could develop more ways to share my posts on Pinterest!

9. What’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself since you started blogging?

When I started my blog in 2008, I never would have called myself a writer. Now I do. Sometimes.

10. Any new blogging plans or ideas for the new year?

I want to keep building up The Spin Cycle. (Hopefully my co-host Gretchen will come back!)

I want to be inspired and inspire others.

Purple coneflowers in my garden this summer
Purple coneflowers in my garden this summer

What are some of your goals for 2015? Did you answer these 10 questions? Link up your blog posts here, and be sure to visit the other Spinners!



Spin Cycle at Second Blooming

Copy and paste the code from my sidebar on the right to add some Spin Cycle bling to your post! Coming up on The Spin Cycle for the week of January 5: Word of the Year: How did you do with last year’s word? What will you choose for this year? Here’s a link to my Word of the Year for 2014, including the linky to some of your Words of the Year. (Linky Tools lost your images, but the links still work!)

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