The nights are getting longer, and afternoons are feeling warmer. Spring is officially among us. We were so lucky this year; it really was a mild winter. Coming from someone who loves snow, I feel robbed, though. We didn’t get much of that beautiful white stuff. But, working for a fueling company and seeing oil prices this season, I won’t complain this year. I can’t imagine if it would have been a hard cold winter for months on end for families who heat with the higher cost of heating fuels.
The wind this season was nuts though! Whenever we turned around, our hot tub cover would fly off, or constant trees dropping in our woods. (Big thanks to my dad, who goes out and cuts them up right away, so the kids have their paths opened back up to ride.) The best one was when our pop-up garage that stores our boat for the winter months blew off and ended up down at my dad and stepmom’s. This puppy isn’t small and took a ride that day. The boat took up too much space in our big garage, so we put up this carport tent just to store it for the season. It worked great until early February, when the wind just wouldn’t give up. These were those few days where the wind was so bad that it felt like negative temps. It was bitter outside! We set it all back up with the help of friends and family, and the following weekend it blew off again, and one of the legs broke. Chris said go figure! It can blow clear down to Dad’s and not rip or break, but the following weekend blew a couple of feet and broke. So now our boat is wrapped in tarps that aren’t going anywhere.
Last week I decided I was going to hang our sheets out on the line. It was a decent day out, but I didn’t realize it was so windy. As I walked out with oversized blankets, I started hanging the smaller ones first. There was a fight with the wind, but I won the battle with eight clothespins. Now, you would think that would have been my first sign of, “Maybe you shouldn’t be hanging the sheets out on the line today?” BUT, when you have it in your head about crawling into sheets that have been hung on the line all day, you don’t back down in the battle.
Next up was the big boy. The big mama jama. Our big blue cozy fleece oversized blanket that is pretty much our full-time sheet. (Ugh, who likes that thin sheet anyways?) We always ended up kicking it to the bottom of the bed, so we got rid of it a long time ago.
The wind got so quiet that it was time to pounce. I had my clothes pins ready and started flipping that big honker over the clotheslines next to the other blanket. Mother nature was ready for a battle. Out of nowhere, it’s like a hurricane hit. Off the blanket flew. I caught half of it, but one corner landed on the ground. UGH. I picked it up, shook it out, and tried again. As I went to flip it over the line, the wind kept blowing it off. Also, let me note that it was colder than I thought when hanging these out. Round two, I got it over the line, but the blanket is so big and light that each time I pulled an end, the opposite end would blow off! So it was like a see-saw of action going on. Meanwhile, I knew my husband was inside, and I was tempted to ask him for help, but it was so cold with the wind, and I was in a t-shirt. I just wanted to get it done and over with. It was like I was fighting a medium-sized animal who was fighting for its life.
After this battle, I think I won’t need to go up and get my cardio in on my Peloton that day. My heart rate and blood pressure at this point were probably through the roof because I was really starting to get ticked off. (Ba-hahaha! If ONLY this were all recorded, I would have won $10,000 on AFV.) It had been minutes of this fight between me, the wind, and the blanket. I could feel myself boiling and was about to pop my lid. The wind was so cold that the blanket at this point was starting to get hard because it was freezing!
Jumping to round five and now battling the fight with a now stiff blanket, I lost my cool and yelled something to Mother Nature that wasn’t very Christian-like. (Sorry, Jesus.) We live in the holler, and I knew my voice carried. I’m thinking, “If my dad is outside right now and just heard me, he’s probably wondering what his daughter is all fired up about and questioning my language!”
I finally got that little sucker on the line, but it wasn’t perfect. I think that puppy had about a dozen clothespins on ‘er. As long as it dried and stayed put, that’s all that mattered. I walked inside and told my husband about my battle and what I yelled at the top of my lungs. He was cracking up and very surprised because I really don’t lose my cool that often. I did end up telling my dad about it, and actually, my momma too. They both got a kick out of it, even though I wasn’t raised to talk like that. (Again, sorry, Jesus and Dad and Momma!) *Enter cheesy smile*
That night, those sheets smelled extra good even though the second load I just threw in the dryer. I was not up for another battle of cardio sheet wrestling that day. The crispness of the air filled our soft blue blanket that night, and I slept like a baby. It was worth the battle I had won.
Simple Sheet Pan Green Beans & Potatoes
Spread fresh greens beans and diced potatoes to cover a sheet pan.
Drizzle with olive oil. (A few tablespoons at most.)
1 Tbsp. fresh garlic
2 Tbsp. chopped onion
Sprinkle on seasoning salt
Toss with tongs and bake at 400° for 30 minutes stirring every ten minutes.
*Feel free to use your favorite veggies in this recipe.*
