Fires, New Yankee Workshop, and Family

There are three things I have recently discovered that I like to do.

One is build a good fire. I'm learning that you have to make sure the wood is cured or it won't burn as well. THis means the wood looks gray. I thought gray wood was bad?! Jake informed me: gray wood good for fires, bad for building houses. Oh....!
The fire has to have crackly wood too. I've discovered pine is good for that. Then you need your giant throw pillows and your hound dog and you're set.
Oh, and another tip I've learned - don't use wet wood. Not even semi-wet wood. If you do, get ready to fan the smoke alarms. I'm not going to point fingers, let's just say we learned that one the hard way. Okay, okay, I learned that one the hard way.

Two is the New Yankee Workshop on the do-it-yourself channel. I love Norm! (or Naum as they pronounce it) I love watching Norm create! He takes these boring pieces of wood (that would not be good to burn - not gray) and creates beautiful shelves, cabinets and houses! He makes it look so easy. Jake enjoys it as well so we have a time that we put the girls in bed and we watch this together. I think Jake likes it because I ask so many questions and he usually knows the answer. (I married a smart man!) It makes him feel good and I get my questions answered - we both win!

Last is family. We have been spending our nights with each other starting at supper and then straight to Wheel of Fortune at 7:00 and Jeopardy at 7:30. We pick teams and then try to beat one another. Last week was Teen Jeopardy. I like those weeks, I feel smart because I can acutally answer some of the questions. Whoo Hoo! It's fun to do, we spend time together, and we learn from the questions. What could be better?