Erratic sleep night. This happened because I was rather wired after staying up later than usual tending to some potential blog problems which turned out to be non-problems. But all of that kept me in front of the computer screen right before I went to bed, which was and is a no-no. I did  finally sleep, so I’m hanging in there.

So, imagine my surprised delight when I stumbled down the stairs on my way to make coffee and glanced out the window of the kitchen door and saw this:

Whoo hoo! I finished filling the kettle, set it on the stove, grabbed my camera and was out the door in a flash. Or what stands in for a flash when you’re barely awake.

Oh, lordy, I love morning glories! Isn’t she a beauty?

And, not to be outdone, other plants in the Memorial Garden were calling for my attention:

The roses are blooming again.

Starting the day with a smile on my face is the perfect prescription for a restless night.

Goodness it’s hot here! Yesterday it ‘felt like’ 100 degrees. Today, more of the same. I was out running errands. Don, poor guy, was in Manhattan  for several hours. When he got home, he headed straight for the shower. And yes! I cooked dinner for him! (You can pat me on the back now.)

Actually, I had a surprise up my sleeve yesterday. Don, being the most generous guy I have ever known, has always sacrificed for me; he always thinks of me first. When I needed my first laptop in 2008, he said I should use some money he had just earned to get it. When I needed another one in 2012, you guessed it, he insisted I use our money to get one, saying things like “You absolutely need it for your blog.” “This is your work, of course you must get one.”

And he took my old laptop, a white Macbook circa 2008, which in the land of tech, is positively ancient. It still has all my crap on it, plus some of his and it doesn’t work well. But he insists he can get by. He also drives our old 2001 Honda; insists on it, actually. (We just had some work done on it and it passed the annual inspection! Huzzah!)

He takes the used, giving me the new.

Recently, I’ve been having a few problems with my laptop (Do you see a pattern here? Every four years.) and I had discussed getting a new MacBook Pro with a 15 inch screen instead of the 13 inch screen I have now, which would make blogging much easier. Don’s response: “You should do it. I’ll take your old one – see if you can get it fixed and I’ll  use it.”

But, why should my dear one use something that is fast getting past its prime? That I have used every day for years? Why should he always get ‘used’ – and in this case, really used? So, after much thought, I used the opportunity presented when he was away for the day and went to the Apple Store in Connecticut. With some of my inheritance, I bought him a new Macbook Pro. I came home and was riding high, so excited to surprise him with it! I wrapped it in the only paper we had, Paw Patrol wrapping paper, and wrote a message on a card and plopped it on the coffee table in front of his chair.

He deserves better, you see, and we rarely have the money to do that, but this time I did have some money and I wanted to do something for my sweetheart. After “What’s this? It’s not my birthday…why do you have a present for me?” he opened the card, got pretty emotional, then opened the box.

And he was stunned. He couldn’t believe it! He is so excited, which tells me that all his “I’m fine with a used laptop, I don’t really need it, I can get by” comments were just Don being Don, sacrificing his needs for the ones he deemed more urgent at the time – mine. I love that about him, of course, and I’ve done my share of it, too – that’s what happens in a partnership.

But, oh, what a joy to do this for him!. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.

Now you see why I was wired, and why all the blog stuff, coupled with the surprise, kept me up late. It was hard to calm down!

One more picture:

A glorious morning, morning glory!

Happy Friday.