Gifting...Zacman style Part Deux

I have written before about my foe.  It is a chocolate cake that I mess up everytime I try to make it.  That's just the way it seems to be for me and that darn cake.  But alas, I have more than one foe.  The second I has some similarities with the first.  I find them to both be delicious.  I would love to have both of them often.  They both occassionally make me cry.  What, oh what, could this second foe be?

Onions.

Yep.  Onion.  I don't just cry as I slice and dice.  For hours after my eyes burn.  They turn red.  I look like I've just spent twenty minutes in the back of Cheech and Chongs fun bus.  It's odd.  Really.  I have no other sensitivities.  No seasonal or food allergies.  But onion just destroys me and makes my eyes hurt.  So now you are probably asking yourself "what in the world does onions have to do with birthday presents?  Has Zac given Abbie the gift of never having to cook again?!"  No, that's not it at all.  What the Zacman gave me to slay the evil onion is......ONION GOGGLES!  Who's jealous?

Aren't they ha-larious!  I laughed hard and immediately had to model them.  Zac bought them off of Amazon.  Apparently the reviews were phenomenal.  He couldn't resist....and I don't blame him.  It's hard to find a present so functional that makes the recipient look SO GOOD and prepares her for both cooking and extreme downhill skiing. 

So now surely you are curious as to how these babies perform before you finish punching in all your credit card number to get a set yourself.  And the survey says.....excellent!

I put those onions right next to my face.  I smelled them, but not even an inkling of burn.  Not a twinge, not a hard blink, not even a squint was necessary.  Holy guacamole!  I tell you, I am in love!  Not just with my onion goggles, but even more with my husband.  Jewelry and goggles, he really did put some thought into my presents this year.  How could a girl go wrong with a birthday present line-up like that!  The part that made me happiest....he gave them to me and said, " I got you green ones cause green is your favorite color.  And they have an anti-fog lense!"  Thank goodness for that anti-fog lense.  Ya know how I usually get all hot and bothered when cutting up vegetables.  Oh the impressive features of onion goggles. He is just a doll I tell ya! 

 If you are pumped about onion goggles, you can find them here.  And, don't tell Zac, but the are pink are FABULOUS and I may even love them more...

Ps. If you ever find yourself with five pounds of onion to dice for a chili supper, you know who to call. 

A good birthday day

I know you are all dying to know what I did on my birthday.  Well, sit down, strap in, and try not to hold pass out from shear amazement.  First and foremost....I slept in!  It was great.  I love a good long sleep.  After that Zac and I pretty much had the day to do whatever.  We were sick of it by 10:30.  Ya see, we usually get up, hurry to get ready, and leave for church.  We are not usually home until about 1-ish.  Sometimes we stop and hang with the family and love on the kiddos....so our day was terribly open.  

We dillied.  We dallied.  Then we went to Wal-Mart.  It's exactly what you would've done too.  I got spray paint, and prettied up my flower pots.  I have big plans for them this year.  These three will hold tomatoes, peppers, and probably more tomatoes.  

And these will hold lots of herbs....LOTS!  I also swirrled all their dirt around and got everything ready to roll for when there is "no threat of frost." 

Whenever that will be....

(and yes...i also think the owl flower pot should have chives in him so he's got big crazy hair)

I took my sweet time doing this.  Then surfed the internet.  Then got so sick of listening as Zacman watched the Masters that I told him we should just go play a round.  So we did.  This is Big Z gettin his stretch on before playing some serious golf.  Well, not exactly serious as I find most things hard to take seriously.  Lets say it was a good stretch before playing some light-heared mediocre golf.  

( i just realized how terrible the grass looks at the tee...i swear the rest of the course didn't look like this)

Just look at that form.  He is the master of getting himself psyched up.  I have to give it to Zac.  He plays with me without trying to coach too much.  Which is good, since I'm not always grateful for help.  And when I say not always, I mean I will mostly tell him to leave me alone and stop bossing.  

We only played 9 holes.  I guess I only really played 8, but I laughed a lot at Zac's crazy antics, his Indy 500 driving, and his multiple failed attempts at picking up a stray ball while driving as fast as he could and leaning out of the cart.  And don't worry, when he missed the ball he'd just continue to drive in circles around it until he either snagged it, or caused two intense cases of vertigo.  This is a picture of us coming off of the course.  Zac has senstive eyes, and no organization skills, so he frequently wears my sunglasses as his are missing.  Case in point.....

After this we ran home, changed our clothes and headed to a nice dinner with most of the family.  Then we went to church, came home, and crashed hard.  It was a great day.  I'm hoping this Sunday will go just as well.  

Ps...what I learned on Sunday night really changed the way I think about creation and i'm really looking forward to sharing as soon as I write up a decent blog about it....

Pps...Zac gave me a second great present so stay tuned for details!

Happy Birthday!

I would like to wish very Happy Birthday to my dear sweet momjohns!  (Hop on over to her blog and you can do the same, Janie Fox Talks)

You are simply the best mom and I could not love you more.  Not one bit.  I am a lucky girl.  Lucky that you will go out of your way for me.  Lucky that you love to decorate, chit-chat, and laugh.  Lucky that you taught me to cook and clean well.  Lucky that you are almost my size, you tire of your clothes, and hand them down to me.  Lucky that you love Zac like your own.  Lucky that you set an excellent example with Dad.  It's no wonder I love you so bad! (Did ya catch that?  It's rhyme time)

While I'm at it, Happy Birthday to Aunt Jackie!  Thank goodness you and mom are twins, otherwise your birhday would be such a lonely affair!

Also Happy Birthday to Aunt Jennifer.  I tried like the dickens to find a picture of you but each one I grabbed off of Facebook turned into a blurry mess.  Wish you were here and I'd snap a new one...then hug you tight and kiss your face!

And last but not least...Happy Birthday me! That's a lot of April 10th birthdays huh!  I know.  Try to wipe that shock and awe off of your faces! 

 I plan on spending the day with the Zacman,

My mom...who birthed me this day 26 years ago.  Hahahaha...birthed me, gross.  

And the rest of the hooligans I call family.

Hope you all have a fab day too!

Gifting...Zacman style

My husband, historically speaking, is a bad present giver.  Well I guess not bad necessarily, but it's obvious by his gift giving that he work for Best Buy.  Over the years he has given me a camera, a laptop, and a wine fridge.  Yep, wine fridge.  When I got said wine fridge I desperately wanted to pull a Wayne Campbell and say something along the lines of "wine fridge, I don't even have A bottle of wine, let alone many bottles which would necessitate an entire fridge" (tell me ya'll remember the gun rack scene from Wayne's World).  I didn't.  I said thank you, we plugged it in and three weeks later the motor burned up.  We replaced it, it happened again, and finally the wine fridge was outta my apartment.  I guess I am partly to blame for Zac's odd gifts.  I was trying to be nice instead of honest.  This past Christmas I couldn't take it anymore.  

I am a good gift giver.  You mention once, in passing, that you like/want something and I mentally store it away to shock you later on with it.  This has always been how Zac has awesome birthday/Christmas/anniversary presents.  I had Zac's stuff all wrapped and ready to go weeks in advance.  He is a last minute guy (which is part of the reason I get electronics) but had told me a few days before the holiday that he "tried really hard this year."  I was excited about it.  Zac had to work on Christmas Eve so when he got home that night he said "I didn't get you any stocking stuff cause I was in a hurry to get home."  To which I replied, "It's ok.  I know you tried hard on the other stuff.  It's no big deal."  Turns out, I was wrong.  

We got home from grandma's, I give Zac his presents and stocking stuff, then I was up.  Zac put one of my presents in my stocking....a set of make-up brushes.  I knew they came from the supply house, Maggie had the set and I liked them, so I knew she'd mentioned it to him, and picked them up for me.  Next present....a purse.  Again, saw it with Maggie, she called Zac, she bought it, wrapped it, then handed it over to Zac.  Third present, a folded up $100 bill.  That was my Christmas.  The "tried hard" presents.  I was mad.  I didn't say anything, instead I let myself get quite mad....then I had a fit on our way home from his parent's house.  It went a little something like... "you said you tried hard Zac and both presents were from Maggie.  It is not her responsibility to take care of my Christmas.  You gave me a freakin' $100 bill.  Do you know how impersonal that is?!  I'm your wife.  We've been together 5 years and you still can't figure out what I like?!  I even emailed you links to things I wanted!  It's not what you got that bothers me, it's that you said you tried hard and I expected that you had and my presents would be even remotely meaningful!"  Zac felt bad, I felt, well, like an ungrateful bitch considering it was more than what some people get, and in Zac's defense, I told him I didn't want much because I'd used a lot of my Christmas money to do Angel Tree for a few kids.  But seriously, it was not even a "tried hard" group of presents. He got the point.  

My birthday is this Sunday.  Zac has already gotten me two presents. I joked with him that I couldn't imagine what he picked up for me from the gas station.  He said he was excited about them, that he knew now why I always wanted to give him his presents early.  Last night he gave me "the big one."  This is what he got me.....

Isn't it beautiful?  I've been asking for a wedding band every holiday/birthday since we got married.  I am a Chiropractor, and my solitaire sets up high, so it would always get caught on the table or in someones hair or rip the face paper, etc.  I was expecting a plain gold band so needless to say I was shocked...to tears.  This is what my wedding set looks like..

so I can actually remove my solitaire from the wrap and drop in my new band, or wear the band alone and wear my wedding set on my right hand.  I am just shocked.  Really.  From wine fridge to diamond ring.  My husband has really stepped up his game!