Obsession.

**FYI: This post was published with full permission from my husband who approved the content within. In other words, he understands that I love him with all of his quirks, just like he loves me with all of mine. Right, Scott? Scott? Hey, honey, can you hear me?
I think my husband has a little obsession.

At first I thought it was just part of his need to be an fairly early adopter of new technology.

Example: a couple of years ago he installed a touch screen in our hallway wall to control lights, music, temperature, etc.

Oh look, a Rush album is playing!

He is still disappointed that I have not helped him design a cooler looking user interface.

I think he should just be happy I let him cut a hole in the wall for the thing. I did, however, insist he add a picture frame around it so it looked more like "art."

I have talked about his techno-geekness in the past. You know, how every couple of months we basically have to reboot our house.

Don't get me wrong, I do not necessarily think this is all a bad thing. At least I know exactly how he spends his money and free time as I see the evidence all over our house.

Recently, however, I have realized that his issue is more than an obsession with just technology in general.

His real obsession is television.

I do not mean he is obsessed with watching television, although we both probably do watch too much TV.

I mean he is obsessed with buying televisions.

An early purchase back
in 1992; floor model

As a child, I had two different televisions in our home from the time I was about 3 to 18. And no, I am not so old that technology did not change much over the years. It did. It's just that my father (and he knows this) was veeerrryyyy tight with money and did not see the need to upgrade along the way.

Scott is also a pretty frugal person. When he does buy his gadgets and toys, he does a lot of research on quality and price and uses sales, coupons, or buys floor models at a greatly reduced price.

Our first big screen rear projection, 2002.
Came with a free Yamaha receiver so it was a must buy.
Sits in our dining room/train room and is known as the Wii TV.

However, his frugality in no way keeps him from the almighty upgrade in television products.

In 17 years of marriage I can count at least TEN different television purchases. That is a new television purchase every 1.7 years!

Compare that to how often we have purchased a couch: twice.

Yes, the TVs are for a couple of different rooms and, yes, he always gets a bargain.

Yes, the same television would have cost twice as much had he purchased it when the technology first arrived and, yes, the picture quality improves with each purchase.

Zenith flat screen, 2005. Started out in our bedroom,
but has since moved to the bathroom when we upgraded in 2008.

But, seriously, I find it little too much.

Our family room 52" Sony 1080p LCD flat screen
purchased in 2009 (floor model, of course)

And this week (drum roll please!), he got that crazed look in his eyes after reading the HH Gregg flyer that gave him early access to an amazing deal on a Samsung 50 inch 720p plasma flat screen that he has been wanting to put in...wait for it....the bedroom.

Bedroom 32 inch 720p LCD, 2008.
Off to be mounted on a wall elsewhere.

A 50 inch TV mounted on the wall 13 feet from my headboard.

Scott is all, "Oh well, they say that 13 feet is the right distance. Could even go to a 52 inch for that distance." Uh, huh. Riiiight.

The kids lay at the foot of our bed, about 7 feet from the monstrosity, their eyes glazed over in movie heaven where they can actually see the pores on Anakin Skywalker's nose.

I would like to think that this is the last "upgrade" we will see for a while. However I know better.

The newest addition to the family:

Something tells me that this year we will be watching the Super Bowl in bed.

Trains.

Rainy days call for large scale train construction.

It is for this very reason that we commonly call our dining room the "train room."

Sew & Stuff

Eliza Grace is the craft queen. She loves all kinds of craft kits.

Paint your own sun catcher.
Make your own stepping stone.

Color your own pillow case.

Bead your own necklace.

Paint your own Easter cross.

We have done so many I have lost track.

Last Saturday we bought a couple of Build-A-Bear home kits from Jo-Ann Fabrics. Did you know that September is National Sewing Month? Neither did I.

Anyhoo, the kits were on sale (bonus!) so we got one for both Eliza Grace and her brother and I promised that we would tackle our new projects after church the next day.

Eliza Grace's prayer that night included, "...and Lord Jesus, I cannot wait until after church to make my cute little puppy that Mommy promised that she would help me with." Nice the way she threw in the pseudo-guilt piece to remind me of my commitment.

So after church (I was graciously allowed time to use the bathroom first), we launched into the projects with vigor.

Thankfully the animal heads were pre-sewn otherwise there is no telling how much I would have botched that up. Eyes would have been cattywompus and ears would have likely ended up on the backs of their heads.

Given that I am driven to finish a project but not always driven to read all of the instructions first, I missed the little gem about leaving the (for lack of a better way of saying it) crotch area un-sewn so we could stuff from that area and the whip stitching would be better hidden.

Needless-to-say, Will's bear's arm looks like he has had major surgery after what could have been a shrapnel wound. I call him Franken-Bear. Thankfully, Eliza Grace's looks a little less abused.

Regardless, they both love their own creations very much and we had a great time putting them together.

Will was more into decorating his bear's
visor than actually sewing him up.

Eliza Grace did a great job sewing her puppy.

Will fully embraced the stuffing activity. "The fluff feels all tickle-y!"

Daddy helped stuff, too.

Eliza Grace looks like she is helping her puppy give birth. Perhaps a future as an obstetrician?

Franken-bear lives!

The stuffing makes it look like she is waving. Hi, puppy!

Proud of their own creations.

Music + Art = Camp MusArt

Eliza Grace had lots of fun at Camp MusArt last week. The camp's brochure says it all:

"Imagine a fun filled day exploring your creative potential through music, sign language, silly science experiments, muscle movement, improvisation, creative writing, and fun with languages, arts, crafts and much, much more!"

It was a week designed for a personality like Eliza Grace in mind.

Face painters came in to both paint the kids and teach them techniques.

A rainbow tiger.

A puppy.

Balloon artists did the same.She learned sign language, did yoga and created lots of different art projects, from painting to molding clay animals.

She also had daily lessons on the violin, guitar, piano, cello and recorder. Her favorite instrument was the cello!
On the final day, they had a recital in which the campers performed songs they had learned during the week: Twinkle Twinkle, Mary Had a Little Lamb, etc.

Eliza Grace was particularly excited since her Aunt Dawn and Grandfather also got to attend the performance. I was impressed with what they all learned in just one week. It was a great way to expose the children to a variety of instruments using the Suzuki method for teaching music. Who knows, cello lessons may be in her future!

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'66 + '67 x '88 / '93 = 17 years

December 6, 1966: (Pittsburgh, PA) Jacqueline Marlowe Cavanagh is born.

(So yes, ok, I admit that I was born in PA. However, given that my family moved back to North Carolina when I was two plus the fact that I grew up to attend and graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill essentially negates those first two years rendering me therefore a true North Carolina native...who happens to be a bit of a Steelers fan.)

Me: Blond with naturally curly hair - what happened?
And why did someone allow me to put a death grip on that poor cat?

April 8, 1967: (Lafayette, IN) Stefan Scott Hughes is born.

Apparently Scott has always been a snazzy dresser.

May 18, 1988: (Lake Buena Vista, FL) Jacque Cavanagh arrives on Villa De Costa Drive, knocks on an apartment door and says, "Hi! Holly told me to come here and ask for someone named Scott Hughes to see if I can sleep on the couch in the girl's apartment. Is he here? Oh, he is already at the Magic Kingdom working on the Davey Crockett Explorer Canoes? Ok, well will you tell him that Jacque stopped by and needs to talk to him?"

Scottie doing his spiel entertaining folks while they paddle a 2000 pound free floating canoe around the Rivers of America.

May 23, 1988: (Lake Buena Vista, FL) For the first time, Scott Hughes speaks directly to Jacque Cavanagh (who cranes her neck to see past his sternum) asking her, " You 21 yet?"

September 25, 1993: (Winston-Salem, NC) Scott and Jacque walk down the aisle in a small ceremony attended by close friends and family. At the reception, the new Mrs. Hughes manages to say typically embarrassing things like, "Thank you all for being here. This has been a long time in coming!"

Ah, so young and unwrinkled!

September 25, 2010: (Cary, NC) Scott and Jacque enjoy their 17th wedding anniversary on a quiet Saturday hanging out with their kids and doing household chores.

Not particularly glamorous, but absolutely worth celebrating!

Happy number 17, Scottie!

Favorites.

My Mother and my first born.My favorite tree on Kiawah Island.My handsome little man.
A lovely, marshy view.Wildflowers growing between rocks.

Good Things Come to Those Who Bait

Words I never thought I would hear come out of my husband's mouth: "Fishing is just no fun when we catch them faster than I can bait the next hook."Silly me. I thought the whole point to fishing was to, you know, catch fish! Granted they were little fish, but still, they were fish!

(I love this picture. My photography skills are improving, no?)

Actually, it was kind of funny. I am not exaggerating when I say that as soon as a baited line hit the water a fish would bite and most of the time Eliza Grace would reel one in.Since both baiting and removing fish from hooks is Scott's job (as I was ensuring that a certain 4 year old did not become an alligator snack), he did not really have any time to hang out and just fish.Needless-to-say, the kids loved this kind of fishing. Well, Eliza Grace did. I have started calling her the "fish whisperer."
Will got bored pretty quickly and occupied himself playing Angry Birds on my iPhone.
And we had fun, which was the point.

Here's a quick look at the Hughes fishing expedition.

Eliza Grace does the intro and, yes, I will mention to her that she needs to hold the camera a little further from her nose next time.

Oh, and Will provides some of his own musical styling at the end. I will mention the whole "not so close to your face" thing to him, too.

Enjoy!

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