Funny Things My Husband Mentions

I took my first personal leave day of the whole school year this last Tuesday. Yep, I did all the work to prepare for a substitute and then graciously allowed the district to dock my paycheck to help pay for that substitute so that I could have a day off with my beloved because we have NO days off together. We had to do our taxes. We had to balance our last bank statement. We had to shore up our finances on Quicken. We had to set up for the dinner at the Church. K made a casserole for the dinner--such a MAN I married! We did laundry. We did dishes. We got passports (no, no real plans to travel, just creating opportunities for the future...or preparing to accept an opportunity should one come our way). And...drum roll please...we had LUNCH together! And we did a Costco run.

We parked the car in front of our dwelling and K leaned over to kiss me. It's one of our oldest traditions. It doesn't matter which one of us is driving. When the ignition is turned off, we just lean toward each other and kiss. I'm not sure when it started or even when I noticed we had a tradition, but I hope it never stops. And then he says, off-handedly, "By the way, Sweetie, we should be receiving a check in the mail from Chicago."

Really. Chicago? Long dramatic pause.

I asked, "In what sorts of clandestine activities have you involved yourself?"

And then he explained. "There's a guy in Chicago who wants me to get some sand in a baby food jar from the Spiral Jetty."

Oh. That explains everything.

Turns out it's legit. K rounded up a baby food jar from Ranger Dave after being told by the Superintendent that if he wanted to do this favor for this stranger, he could, as long, of course, as it was on his own time. The Spiral Jetty is a mere 16 miles of dirt road from Golden Spike, so there's a bit of gas money involved. Mr. Chicago collects sand from all over the world and he just had to have this sand.

K snapped a few photos, but as you can see, the Jetty is under water this year. We went a couple of years ago and I walked from the shore all the way to the very end of the spiral because it was above water. I wonder how long it will be until it's visible once again.

The Jar.

K took pictures to prove to the man that he really did go all the way to the Jetty to collect the sand. He also printed one out and hung it on the bulletin board at the VC. I was there all day yesterday and I heard The Ranger tell many-a-visitor that he had just been to the Jetty less than 48 hours ago and THAT'S what it looked like. People said, "I can't see it." The Ranger said, "Exactly."