Brilliant Inventions

This past weekend, my cousin Blake got married to his sweetheart, and consequently, his family came in from Kansas for the happy nuptials. They got in on Thursday, and Jefferson and I were there right after work and class to visit and catch up, but we could only spend a couple hours and I wanted to really catch up! I mean, these are cousins I used to see only once a year in the first place, but now that I'm married, the annual trip to Missouri to see family is going to be less and less likely (a) because the trip is expensive and time consuming (all that driving, you know) and (b) because we want to start our own traditions and vacations, too. Needless to say, to have these rarely seen relations be so close and not visit would be a crime!

Another crime: hanging out and not having our traditional tea party! So I packed up the tea set that Angie (Jefferson's mom) gave me a couple months ago, and took some Belgian Dark Chocolate Cocoa, mini marshmallows, and vanilla flavored coffee creamer. Oh my goodness! Hot chocolate will never be the same again! Whoever invented the stuff was pure brilliance!

This whole chilly season (starting in October up to the present) we've only turned our central heating on once when it got so cold I couldn't stand it! Why have we kept it off? To keep our gas bill down, of course! (If you want to know the truth, we spend less than $20.00 a month on gas. Who gets that?) Anyway, another inspired idea that I am so grateful for: the plug-in heaters! We keep one in our room and it'll heat up the entire space in less than thirty minutes! It makes it so hard to get up in the morning and face the freezing temperatures just beyond the bedroom door! And the thought of taking a shower is so disheartening that I just snuggle deeper into the blankets and Jefferson has to literally push me out of bed!

Another thing I'm grateful for: long weekends! Jefferson had to work this past weekend, and the weekend after Thanksgiving he'll be working, too. It's a total bummer on our weekends, but it leaves me with plenty of crafting time! I'll soon be posting pictures of projects, but I am so grateful for the modern sewing machine! Not only is it an enjoyable hobby, but it's so convenient, too!

And hot glue guns? Who came up with those? I wonder, because they are so handy (unless you're not used to them and burn yourself...a lot...like I did when I first figured out how to use one!)!

Anyway, there are so many neat things that we have today that I am so grateful for because, not only do they make life more convenient, but they're just plain brilliant!