Do you want beer with that macaroni?

The first house I lived in as an adult was in a housing development which was incomplete. There were a few houses that were finished on my street but construction was going on all around us. I moved in to the new house in July and as it always is in July, it was really hot. The construction guys would show up in the neighborhood early in the morning and would work all day until their rides came to get them in the evening.

One day I noticed that the guys were working later than usual. It was almost 8 in the evening and the poor guys were sitting in the yard of a home, just wilted. They looked tired and I felt badly for them. They didn't have anything to eat or drink so I decided to try and help them out. Most of them didn't speak English and I didn't speak Spanish but I managed to find out that they didn't know when their ride would show up. I asked them if they were hungry or thirsty and it was obvious that they were. I didn't have any tea or sodas in the house. All I had was beer and milk. Some of them took beer and some took milk. I didn't really have enough of any one thing to feed them except for macaroni and cheese so I cooked up a huge pot and took it to them.

The guys didn't seem to mind that it was just macaroni and cheese. They gobbled it down like they hadn't eaten for a week. I often wonder if they thought I was crazy bringing them a big pot of macaroni and cheese and beer but it was the best I could do and I felt really sorry for them. I guess they enjoyed it because they ate every bit of it. When my hubby got home, he asked me what I was doing and I explained that the poor guys were wilting on the vine and that they didn't have a ride home. He accepted that I gave them some food and beer but he drew the line at me offering them a ride somewhere.

Those poor guys waited for their ride until about 9:00 but I felt better that at least they weren't starving. I wonder if they referred to me as the crazy macaroni and cheese lady after that day. I never had to feed them again although, I did offer them beer some days while they were waiting for their ride. I don't think my husband ever really understood why I was so insistent on trying to take care of them but I did. I remembered a time when I was a teen and it was the middle of a heat wave and I had to walk home from school. I got overheated and sort of sick and a nice lady gave me a ride home. She saw that I was suffering and she really, really helped me out because I felt like I was going to die right there on the sidewalk. So it was only natural that I paid it forward to those construction guys.

Maybe some day one of those guys will see someone who is wilted and hungry and he'll help out. I don't know if he'll offer beer and macaroni but maybe he'll think of the crazy macaroni lady who helped him. Pay it forward people. It feels good to help.

Hooray, it's over!!!

At last! It's over! Deer season is over. Hallelujah and hooray, I can finally have my hubby back. You see, I've been a deer widow since the beginning of November.

Mr. Wonderful waits all year long for those precious 2 months when he can deer hunt. He absolutely loves hunting. The rest of the year he prepares for deer season, planting and feeding and coddling the little buggers - um, I mean the amazing creatures. I understand that it's the thing that brings him the most joy and I understand that it's a short window of time when he can participate but it doesn't mean that I like it.

Our normal activities at our little house in the woods are temporarily restructured so that it remains quiet lest we scare the deer away. There aren't days where we can go out with the guns and blow the hell out of big game beer cans. We don't even usually mow the yard because the lawn tractor might spook Bambi.

I have gotten used to being alone on the weekends. I have gotten used to spending new years eve alone. I have gotten used to tippy toeing all over the place. But again, it doesn't mean that I like it. I think it must be a man thing to be so obsessed with something. There are lots of things I like to do but I'm not goofy crazy about any one thing like he is.

I've been paying attention to guys that have things they really love. Male musicians play constantly. When they aren't playing, they're tinkering with their instruments. Motorcycle racers spend every weekend riding or working on their bikes. Artists spend all of their free time creating. How do they do it?

Mr. Man has told me that as a guy, he tends to have a one track mind. He can't multi task like I can. When his mind is on something, it's ON that one thing. Conversations usually have to wait because he's pondering whatever it is he's pondering. He can't put it away and focus on something else. Maybe it's because I'm a mom and I have to do 20 things at once. I don't have a choice. Children all over the world would perish if guys had to be their sole caretaker because they couldn't switch their attention off of whatever they're obsessing about. Not us chickies. If women ruled the world, everything would be taken care of within days. There wouldn't be war because we wouldn't have time to stop from cooking and cleaning and caring for others.

I'd like to say that while deer season was happening I accomplished a total home makeover or painted the Sistine chapel but I didn't. I watched lots of cheesy TV and painted my nails. I enjoyed the peace and quite some of the time. But after the 3rd or 4th weekend by myself it started to wear a little thin. I'm so happy that he's back and that we can go out on a date. Not a date where we sit in a cold deer blind for hours but a real live date where I get to wear something besides camo. He's going to be in mourning for a while but I can handle it. I've got lots of ways to cheer him up. Like helping me hang a new light fixture. Or repairing drywall cracks or a thousand other things.

I feel whole again and everyone who has to be around me should be happier too. They don't have to put up with me moping around because I miss him. I'm sure the excitement will wear off in a few weeks but for now, it's like honeymoon time around my house. I can enjoy myself for the next 11 months until deer season rolls around again.