I’m a problem-solver by nature — as soon as I’m confronted by an issue, my brain immediately rounds up the metaphorical troops and puts all available energy into finding a solution. Often this leads to creative solutions or hare-brained inventions, but occasionally I zoom right past the main issue and solve the wrong problem entirely.
Take this weekend, for example:
We had been invited out to a birthday party, where (as usual) I ate far too much and then topped off my excesses with a couple of delicious beers.
Showing superhuman restraint (if I do say so myself) I managed to behave like a polite adult the whole entire time we were in public. (Mark a big star on the calendar for Saturday November 24, 2018: “Diane acted like an adult ALL DAY today!”)
Well, okay, not all day; but most of the day…
Happy and relaxed in the car with Hubby on the way home, I let out a resounding belch and said, “’Scuse me.”
Hubby reacted not at all, neither to the original gross breach of etiquette nor to my subsequent lip service to politeness.
After a couple of beats of silence I turned to him and said, “I guess after belching loudly enough to register on the Richter scale, excusing myself is probably solving the wrong problem, isn’t it?”
He smiled and shrugged.
Thus encouraged, I finished, “…so next time I won’t bother excusing myself.”
And Hubby just laughed. (Have I mentioned lately how much I love him?)
And on another note: Here are some photos that have made me happy lately. They may not solve any problems, but maybe they’ll make you smile, too. (Click the photos to see larger versions.)
It’s hard to believe, but one of our azaleas is still blooming! This is “Bloom-a-thon Lavender”, still putting out flowers at the end of November.
The heather is already in bloom, and the pansies haven’t stopped since I put them in last spring.
The last few leaves of the weigela perch like bright butterflies on the tips of the twigs.
We took a trip out to Ucluelet (on the west coast of Vancouver Island) a couple of weeks ago, on a gorgeous calm sunny day.
Even on a calm day, the ocean never rests. This is the Amphitrite lighthouse in Ucluelet. (The person in the middle isn’t actually close to the waves crashing on the rocks – it’s just that the waves are that big.)
It wouldn’t be the West Coast without some gorgeous greens!
Ahhhhh…
May all your problems be easily solved!
Book 14 update: Despite a busy week, I made it almost to the end of Chapter 34. All the threads are coming together now!
Author Diane Henders 
I was always known to my nieces and nephews as the belching uncle until my wife and I had three girls and realized the anguish my siblings went through with their kids trying to top my belches….I suddenly lost that name…huh! Love your pics and you know I love that part of the planet!!
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Yes, I found it was a terrible strain when my siblings’ kids were young and I had to behave myself. When they finally all turned eighteen I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. 🙂
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It might be bad manners to show those of us with snow falling those gorgeous photos of flowers blooming? WT…. ?excuse my language but really. 🙂
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LOL! Sorry about that – it was unforgivably rude of me. If it makes you feel any better, I think we’re supposed to get hard frost for the next few nights so that should take care of the flowers. 😉
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If you can say the entire alphabet while burping you are a pro. Also this:
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Bahahaha!!! Okay, but if you can fart the alphabet, you’re a star!
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I do that and hubby just says “oh my”. He’s pretty awesome. 🙂
On another note, I’m hearing there was just a big earthquake up in Alaska. Did you feel any tremors from that? Glad to hear the tsunami warnings were just cancelled.
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Nope, didn’t feel a thing. I didn’t know anything had happened until I read it in the news this morning. And that’s just the way I like it… 🙂
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Those pictures show a gorgeous piece of the world, Diane! Utterly beautiful.
I’d send you some snow pics but I think you still remember what that looks like 🙂
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Yep, I do. 🙂 I’ve always said that I didn’t want to live in a place where it never snowed, but I’m finding that snow a couple of times a year that only lasts for a week or two is more than enough. And if I get really nostalgic, I can always go back to Calgary or the prairies for a visit!
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Most members of my family, immediate and extended, are belchers. Drives my mom batty, but the rest of us aren’t bothered at all. In fact most of our humor centers around our juvenile reactions to it. My sister use to be able to be able to belch the word “supercalifragilisticexpeialidocious”(no idea if I spelled that right, lol) . Not bragging on her behalf or anything 😉 , and I probably shouldn’t even be admitting that, but whatever, ~snort.
And I think most problems can be solved by a day at the beach/coast. I miss that here in the middle of b.f.u.s.a. That picture of the lighthouse is post card worthy. I’d send it out as a Christmas card thinking to make my east coast relatives and friends long to join us in the sunshine…. but then they’d probably send me pictures of snowball fights and you just can’t have that kind of fun with sand. 😂.
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Wow, your sister has talent! Modulation is the critical factor there – I spent a great deal of time in my younger days developing the perfect level to ease out a LOOOOONG beer belch just under the frequency range of bar music. But I’m out of practice these days. Sigh.
And now I’m imagining a sandball fight. You’re definitely right – not as much fun as a snowball fight! (And harder to clean up afterward. I’d have sand in places I didn’t even know I had.) 😉
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Daughter-in-law from South Africa on belches: “T’is neither polite nor impolite to belch, either in public or in private. One simply deals with necessities as one must. Suppressing a much-needed belch to the point that even worse activities manifest themselves–now *that’s* impolite! Bad manners of the worst sort, actually.”
Yep, my boy done good, y’all. Gad, she’s a sweetheart! Her parents live in Capetown and will be here after Christmas. We love them, too. Warm, fun people..who did very well with their daughter. Just as your parents did with you, of course. 🙂
Beautiful country where you live. Have I mentioned envy lately? No? Well, consider it mentioned. Everything is brown here and will be for months. Mild weather for a few days, though, which is always welcome.
And it’s official. A tall redhead has made an appearance in Book 3 of WITJ. Some might find a thing or two about her to be somewhat familiar. Further, deponent sayeth not. (thnort!)
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Uh-oh. I don’t know whether to be pleased or worried…
It’s so great to hear about your daughter-in-law and her family! Lucky you (and your son). 🙂
The rainy season is in full swing here. When I lived on the prairies I always thought I wouldn’t want to live on the coast with its cloud and gloomy winter weather; but it turns out I love it! I’m still not much for gloomy days when the clouds just hang there and do nothing, but I love the rain. And I love the fact that the rain and rushing creek are busily raising our water table! No more water worries until next summer, and hopefully by then we’ll have a pond and cistern in place. 🙂
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I’ll gladly e-mail a copy of the bit for your perusal, if you like. And a bit of setup, too, for context and all. Holler, and it’s on the way. If it works for you, great. If not, no pressure and no problem. She’ll suddenly become a blonde; no harm, no foul. Or fowl, for that matter.
Whether she’ll have more fun that way or not, is, of course, problematic. 🙂
Anyway, your call. Say the word, and it’s on the way.
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LOL! Redheads always have more fun. (Or that’s my story anyway – I’ve never been a blonde so I guess I’ll never know.) 😉
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I’m surprised that hubby didn’t get competitive about it and come up with at least an equal belch. At least one of you is polite. On the other hand you probably don’t carry all that extra pressure around.
Still beautiful out there even in this gloomy time of year for many of us. Thanks for the greenery!
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Hubby is much politer than I am. Sometimes I’m surprised he tolerates me.
And I still marvel at how green and beautiful it is here! The weather forecast predicts hard frost for the next couple of nights (-4C) so that will likely be the end of the blooms; but it’s been a treat to have them this long!
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or as a friend of mine is fond of saying, “Not bad manners, just good food.”
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Love it – that’s perfect!
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