He Has His Moments

Last weekend, Butch and I drove to St. Louis for a trivia night that my nieces, Bridget and Sara, put together to raise funds for their school. They did a beautiful job---made their "fund-raising" aunt proud!

I put together a table with my family. We had such a good time and had the best food too. In fact, later in the evening, some guy came by to trade a cream cheese roll-up for one of our meat and cheese skewers that Janet made. We didn't touch his roll-up, but sent him away with a heaping plate of skewers.

Along with the trivia, there was a raffle with lots of fun items. I purchased $50.00 worth of $1.00 tickets. You went around and put your tickets in the bag of the item you hoped to win. Then I bought $10.00 worth of $1.00 grab bags. Butch was about to have a conniption fit. He was really giving me a hard time. I was completely baffled. It wasn't like I was spending a fortune.

The item I wanted to win the most---I did. I put about $25.00 worth of tickets in the bag. It was at the end of the table and for whatever reason, I don't think anyone noticed it there---lucky for me. But when I won, all of a sudden, Butch started acting like I was crazy for wanting this:

I'm planning to re-do my sunroom, so this table made out of an old window is exactly perfect!!! I love it and would have easily paid $100 for it. Anyway, Butch started, "how are we going to get this home." As if we didn't just get a huge, new vehicle. He kept it up and I was starting to get really mad. Finally, in his way to try to smooth it over he said that he wasn't trying to "hold me back" but that I was being too "FLASHY"! What the .... yeah, I was really flashy throwing around those $1.00 raffle tickets!

He's never been the most romantic sort of guy, but he has had several key moments over the years that mean the most to me---sometimes at the most important times.

Our first trip to New Orleans---mid 1980's, I was walking near our hotel and noticed this in the window of a jewelry store.

I stepped inside to inquire about it and it was way above my budget. Everywhere we went, we seemed to be passing by this shop. I pointed it out to Butch. One day, as we went by, it was gone. Even though I knew I couldn't afford it, I was so disappointed that it was gone. Butch suggested that we go in and see if they had another. I was happy and sad all at the same time---knowing that he would let me buy it and then knowing it was already gone. We stopped in and I asked the man behind the counter if they had another. He said, "sorry, that was the last one." My heart sank. Then he said, "as a matter of fact, we sold it to this man, here" and pointed to Butch. I couldn't believe it. What a nice, romantic surprise. This porcelain magnolia is one of my most cherished possessions.

I guess the moral of this story is---it's okay to be "flashy" in private. I'll take it.