Why Didn't I Do This Sooner?

There are two things I really wanted as a kid, but never got.  Well, there are more than two things, but as far as things my parents had a reasonable level of control over, there are only two.  One is a surprise party.  I still haven't gotten one and it makes me sad.  I'm not even subtle about anymore.  Every year after my birthday, I inform my husband and mother that next year, I want a surprise party.  Then, I wait.  And hope.  And when no one mentions any special plans, I get so excited because I know--I just know--that this is it!  This is the year, and they haven't said anything because they think they're sneaky and later on, everyone will jump out and throw cake at me!  And every year, I am let down, once again.  My birthdays are still great, but they just aren't what they could be.

Fortunately, the second thing was something I could do for myself:  The big box of crayons!  Growing up, my parents just didn't see the need for me to have 48, then 64, then 96 (!) crayons.  Every year, I showed up to the first day of school with the same 24 colors I had the year before.  The other kids would have all the shades they needed, while I had to layer color after color, desperately hoping to achieve the same result.  It was all very disheartening.  I changed that, though.  Yesterday, I went out and bought myself the biggest box of Crayola crayons I could find.  I have 120 colors to choose from, and it looks like all I'm missing are the Metallic FX.  I'll be buying those later this week.

George was irritated that I spent $10 on a box of crayons.  1.  George doesn't get it.  2.  George just bought a new grill, when the less than two year old grill we had was perfectly fine.

George:  Babe!  Look at this!  We should buy it!
Me:  Okay.  Next time we get a grill, we'll get that one.
George:  No, I mean we should buy it now.
Me:  (Confused, as we have a perfectly good grill already) Why?  Is something wrong with our grill?
George:  Not really.  But this one has the capacity for 43 1/2 pound burgers.  Ours is only good for 25.
Me:  Umm... There are only 3 people in our family.  And Pie doesn't even eat burgers.
George:  But then we can have people over!
Me:  You hate having people over.  Besides, we don't know 43 people.  Do we even know 25 people?
George:  You have all those friends on the internet.
Me:  Yeah, because all my friends on the internet are going to come to your delusional fantasy cookout...  Never mind that you think we're all a bunch of weirdos.
George:  Well, you can cook a whole week's worth of dinner in an hour, then I can just reheat it later.
Me:  You don't eat leftovers.

I'm not sure how, but he managed to get me to agree to the grill.  Then, we had the unfortunate task of figuring out how to fit it into our tiny Saturn.  That involved taking all the pieces out of the box and cramming them wherever they would fit.  It took nearly a half hour, in the cold and snow and slush, with people staring at us like we'd lost our minds.  After that, we went home and I got to put the stupid thing together.  It is a really nice grill, though.

So, George can bite me.  Twice.  These crayons are more than just tools to compliment the coloring books I steal from Pie, they are fulfillment of a childhood dream!

They're also surprisingly overwhelming.  It took me two hours to color one page yesterday.  Most of that time was spent hunting down the crayon best suited to match.  No matter, though--that pictured turned out amazing!  It makes me sad that magnets don't stick to the new fridge.  But, they do stick to the bottom half of the grill.