We were having our third Nor’easter in less then two weeks. My husband Steven and I were outside shoveling and clearing off our cars when I noticed a little burst of yellow sticking out of the snow.

“Oh, no!” I called as I dropped my shovel and ran over to what I knew was a daffodil. I leaned down to brush off the heavy snow hoping the weight hadn’t snapped it’s stem. “I think it’s okay!” I called as I checked the stem and could see it was bent but hadn’t snapped.

“That’s great.” Steven called as he was pushing snow off my car with a broom. “I was really worried about the flowers.” he said in a deadpan voice. He grunted with the effort it took to get the snow off the roof of the car.

I began wandering around the front yard looking to dig out any other flowers that were in distress. “I hope they’ve all made it.”

“I hope I don’t throw my back out trying to clear off these cars.” Steven called back.

“I’ll be there to help you in a minute.” I called back. I saw some green leaves sticking out of the snow and began clearing it away, hoping not to find the flowers smashed to the ground. This particular bunch hadn’t bloomed yet and it was just a hint of yellow popping out from the green.

“This bed seems to be fine!” I called back.

“Once again…thrilled!” Steven called back in his deadpan voice.

I’d made my way to the south side of the house and could see the flower bed there hadn’t fared as well. “Oh man…” I got down on my knees and saw that a few of the flowers stems had been snapped. There was nothing else I could do but pick them. Looking at the two bright yellow blooms against the white of the snow made me smile. There was something about daffodils in the snow that just made me happy. Spring was only days away and even though I was shoveling snow I was now holding proof that warmer days were just around the corner.

Walking back around the side of the house I went over to Steven in the driveway and handed him the two flowers. “Thanks for clearing off my car.” I said as I picked up my shovel and began scooping the snow off the sidewalk.

Steven stood holding the flowers and looking at me. “Thanks.” he said leaning the broom against the car.

“Why don’t you go inside and put them in water and I’ll finish up the sidewalk.” I just had a few more feet to finish and we’d both be done.

When I got inside I stomped my boots to knock off the snow and hung my coat on the door knob of the closet to dry. Coming into the kitchen, Steven had put the daffodils in a small vase and had them sitting in the middle of the dining room table. He’d made me a cup of tea and handed me the warm mug. “Hopefully that’s the last snow of the season!” he said as he sat down at the table across from me.

“Right now I don’t care if it snows again.” I gently touched one of the petals that was still cold from the snow. “Because this means spring is already here! That’s all that matters to me!”

I walked into the house stomping my feet to get the snow off my boots. “I’m home!” I called as I brushed off the heavy snow from my coat.

“You’re home early.” Alex said as he came out to meet me.

“They closed the school early.” I hung my coat on the back of the chair to let it dry. “I can’t believe how hard it’s coming down!”

Just then a flash of bright light lit up our front window. “What was that?” Alex and I moved closer to the window when we heard to rumble of thunder. It seemed to go on for a very long time.

We looked at one another. “Have you ever heard of a thunder storm and snow storm at the same time!” Alex asked as we heard another rumble in the distance.

“No!” I shook my head. “But it’s amazing!”

I picked up my phone and went to Google to look it up. “It’s got a name!” I cried. “It’s called Thundersnow.”

Alex laughed. “Wow! They really used their imagination naming it!”

I kept scanning the feed. “It says that it’s a really rare occurrence.” I looked over at Alex and shrugged my shoulder. “Well, that has to be true because I’m old and I’ve never heard it before.”

Another long rumble could be heard in the distance when my husband walked in the room. “I’m glad they let you out early.”

“It’s thundersnowing!” I cried. “You know how much I love a summer thunder storm but thundersnow is really amazing!”

We all looked out the window as the nor’easter blew heavy snow that was coating the trees in a thick blanket of white.

“It’s really is beautiful.” I said.

Alex and Steven both looked at me. “You hate the snow!” Steven said. “You groan every time they mention snow in the forecast!”

I held up my finger to stop him for a moment. “That’s winter snow.” I said. “Everybody hates winter snow. But this is soon to be spring snow.”

Alex shook his head and laughed. “What’s the difference?”

I looked back out the window to see a car slowing making its way past our house. “Winter snow is depressing because it seems to stay forever.” I explained. “But soon to be spring snow, falls and starts to melt right away.” I turned around to look at them both as I clapped my hands together excited at my new discovery. “But now that I know there’s a chance for thundersnow in the spring I’m going to say it’s my new favorite weather event!”

Alex shook his head. “No matter what time of year it comes, you still have to shovel it.”

“Not if it’s sunny and warmer out tomorrow. It’ll just melt!” I cried.

Alex smiled “You heard her!” he looked at his Dad. “No more shoveling for us this winter!” Alex began walking to his room.

“Wait! I said if it was sunny out tomorrow!” I called after him.

“Did I just hear more thunder?” he called back to me before he closed his bedroom door.

“What!” I raced back to the window stopping the listen. “Ahh, man. I missed it.” I looked over at Steven.

Steven shook his head. “You didn’t miss it.” he started to laugh. “Alex was just trying to distract you from the shoveling conversation.”

“Oh, he’s good.” I whispered under my breath.

I’d decided to do some Spring shopping on my computer, when Steven walked into the room.

“What are you up to today?” he asked.

“I’m glad you asked!” I turned my computer screen around for him to see. “What do you think of these for our back porch?” I’d picked out a beautiful set of wind chimes and wanted Steven to see them before I downloaded them into my cart.

Steven began shaking his head. “Nope, no way…not going to happen.”

“No?” I started to laugh. “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?”

He sat down next to me on the couch. “I’m serious. The neighbors will hate us.”

“Oh come on!” I turned the screen back to facing me. “People use them for meditation! Depending on the tone you get, it can be really soothing.”

“Not for me.” He got up and went into the kitchen. “They’re like fingernails on a chalk board.” he called over his shoulders.

I wasn’t ready to be swayed. I started searching for wind chime videos I could play for him. The first one I came to was a higher pitched chime. He came back into the living room and handed me a bottle of water then took a sip from his. “Thanks.” I placed my bottle on the coffee table then turned up the sound. A soft tinkling began to play. “Isn’t that pretty?”

Our son Alex walked into the room. “What’s that sound?”

“Your Mom wants to get wind chimes for the back porch.” Steven looked over at Alex and cringed as my chimes kept playing.

“It sounds like someones searching for something in the silverware drawer.” Alex said cringing at the sound too.

“It does not!” I cried.

Steven tilted his head and listened for a moment. “You’re right.” he looked over at Alex. “That’s exactly what it sounds like.”

“You two are unbelievable.” I began searching for another video. I found one that had long pipes that would give a deeper sound and hit play. As the deep tones filled the room I could see neither of my guys were impressed.

“Sounds like someone’s banging two pipes together.” Steven said as Alex nodded in agreement.

“Oh, come on!” I cried. “To me it sounds a little like the Tibetan singing bowls.”

“The what?” Alex looked confused.

I went to YouTube, pulled up a video and hit play. The sound of the bowls being struck by the mallet filled the room. “Doesn’t that just make you feel like taking a deep breath and relaxing?” I took and deep breath, slowly exhaling and really could feel myself feeling calmer. “See?” I smiled at them.

Steven shook his head. “That would drive me nuts.”

Alex nodded his head in agreement. “Me too! I like silence when I’m trying to relax.”

“Okay fine.” I closed the lid on my laptop and picked up my phone. “But you can’t stop me from playing the YouTube videos of them when I’m out on the porch.”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “That seems fair.”

Alex nodded in agreement. “Hey, the next nice day I’ll even sit out there with you.”

“You will?” I thought maybe I’d finally turned him to my way of thinking.

“Sure!” Alex started to laugh. “As long as you use your ear buds!”

Even I had to laugh at that one.

“Storm’s coming.” I stated as Steven came into the kitchen to help me make dinner.

He pulled up his sleeves and began washing his hands. “Is that what the Weather Channel said?”

I stood next to him and pointed out the window. “Nope, they did.” Dozens of birds were at our feeder jockeying for position. Others were waiting in the nearby trees waiting for the insanity at the feeder to calm down before they made their move. “The only smart ones right now are the Morning Doves.” We watched as two pairs of doves strutted around on the ground, under the feeder, collecting all the seeds that were being dropped from above.

“Did you just fill it?” he asked as he turned off the water and grabbed some paper towels to dry his hands.

I shook my head. “I filled it two days ago.” I pulled the hamburger meat out of the refrigerator and placed it on the counter while Steven pulled out a pan.

“Well the weather station did say we were getting snow tonight.” He put the pan on the stove and opened the package of meat and began making burgers.

“I know but I didn’t think it was going to amount to much.” I peeked out the window again to see that even more birds had come. “But, the way these birds are acting, I’m beginning to second guess how much we’re going to get.” I opened the refrigerator, pulled out the milk and shook the container that only had an inch left. “Maybe I should run out and get some more.” I put it back on it’s shelf and closed the door.

“We’re running low on bread, too.” Steven laughed and he put the burgers in the pan and turned the burner on.

“Are we?” I went to the cabinet to check.

“I was kidding!” he said as he reached past me and grabbed the package of rolls. “Isn’t that what everyone does when there’s going to be a storm?”

I looked over at Steven as he grabbed the spatula and flipped the burgers. “Do you really want to be stuck in here tomorrow morning with no milk for your coffee?” I asked.

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “But the weather forecasters said it was going to turn into rain.

Now it was my turn to laugh. “And the weather forecasters are never wrong?” I looked out the window at our yard filled with crazed birds. “When it comes to making weather predictions I’ll believe the birds before I’ll believe people.”

We both looked out the window again. “They do know when the air pressure changes.” Steven admitted. “I guess they must be feeling a pretty big front coming in to be acting this way.”

I took two plates from the cabinet and placed them next to the stove. Then I got the salad I’d already made from the refrigerator and put it on the table. “So it’s settled.” I said. “After dinner I’m going to run to the store and get some milk.”

Steven brought the plates over to the table. “Maybe that’s a good idea.”

“Can you think of anything else?” I picked up my burger to take a bite.

The windows weren’t even open but the noise the birds were making was starting to get pretty loud.

“Yeah…” Steven had raised his voice to be heard over their squawking and tipped his head towards the back yard as he picked up his own burger. “You might want to put more bird seed on your list.”

My husband, Steven and I were sitting on the couch watching a movie when a commercial came on. I reached over for my bottle of water. “Aren’t the blooms on my African violet spectacular!” I said looking over at him and smiling.

Steven looked completely confused. “What?”

“My African violet.” I pointed to the beautiful plant in the middle of our coffee table.

“Oh…” Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Now I was confused. “How can you not notice it?” I once again pointed to the coffee table, only this time to his slippered foot. “You’re foot is literally two inches away from it!”

Steven moved his foot and looked at the plant. “Oh yeah.” he moved his foot back. “Sure, it’s pretty.”

I shook my head. “It’s been blooming for over a month!” I turned the pot so the deep purple flowers faced him. “Right after Christmas the first bloom came out.” I pinched a speck of dust from one of it’s soft leaves. “Seeing it every morning has certainly helped me with my winter blahs.”

“Really?” Steven looked out the window at the dreary rainy day we were having. “Just looking at that plant has helped you forget all about this time of year?”

Now I had to laugh. “I didn’t say it made me forget all about winter. It’s not a magical plant! I’m just saying at this time of year a few flowers around the house sure helps.” I pointed over to the white orchid on the side table.

Steven looked over to where I was pointing. “When did we get that?”

“Seriously?” I really couldn’t believe it. “You never noticed that either? It’s been here for weeks!”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Nope, never noticed it.”

“It’s two feet tall!” I cried. “I thought the white flower against the gray wall really made it pop!”

Steven nodded. “No, you’re right, it does look pretty against the gray.” Steven looked around the room. “Do you have any more flowers in here?”

“No, just the two. Why?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Just wondering.”

Our son Alex came into the room. “What are you two watching?” he asked as he came up behind us and leaned on the back of the couch where the two of us were sitting.

“A movie.” I said as I patted the couch cushion next to me. “Want to come watch with us? It just started.”

“Sorry, I can’t. I’m in the middle of something.” he leaned over and gave me a kiss on the top of my head.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” I turned to look up at him.

“Sure.”

I pointed to the violet on the coffee table. “Did you notice how many flowers were blooming on this plant?”

Alex looked over at it. “Nope, I never noticed.”

“See!” Steven cried, “It’s not just me!”

“How can you two be so blind?” I cried. “It’s in the middle of the coffee table!”

Alex shrugged. “I might not have noticed the flowers but I can tell you that I’m not so blind that I didn’t notice the brownies on the kitchen counter.”

I had to laugh. “You didn’t noticed them. I just took them out of the oven a few minutes ago. You smelled them.”

“Smelled them…’noticed them’…” He began to walk to the kitchen. “Either way I’m on my way to having one. Anyone else want one?” he called over his shoulder.

“I’ll have one.” Steven called back. He looked over at me. “They do smell good.”

“Hey, I’m just glad one of your senses is working.”

I walked into the kitchen, shopping bags hanging from one arm while my hands were holding a pastry box.

“Guess what I got at the bakery?” I said as I gently laid the box on the counter and dropped the shopping bags on the floor.

“What?” my son Alex asked as he pulled the tape off the lid and peeked inside.

“Cranberry scones!” I looked inside the box with Alex and pointed to the sugar glazed tops of the perfect triangles of deliciousness. “Don’t they look incredible!”

Alex shrugged his shoulders as he picked one up and took a bite. “Yuck…” he cried. “This is awful!” He opened the garbage drawer and spit it out.

“What are you doing!” I cried as I took the scone from him. “What’s wrong with it?” I looked at the scone but couldn’t see what the problem was.

“It tastes terrible.” He reached into the cabinet for a glass, filled it with water and took a drink. “It’s like biting into a brick that falls apart in your mouth and leaves a funny aftertaste.” He took another sip of water. “Why do you have to buy fancy food?”

“Fancy food?” I broke off a little piece and tasted it. “It’s delicious.” I cried. “The only thing that would make it better would be a little clotted cream.” I placed the scone on a napkin and began unpacking the grocery bags.

“Clotted cream!” Alex laughed. “Yeah that’s not fancy.”

“What’s the problem with fancy food?”

“Because it usually tastes terrible!” He pointed to the scone. “Why not just call it a stale biscuit with cranberries in it.”

I had to laugh. “Okay so you don’t like scones, I get it.” I put some apples in a bowl and put them on the counter. “What other fancy foods don’t you like.”

“That’s easy, caviar!” He reached for an apple, rubbed it on his shirt, then took a bite. “Why not just call it disgusting fish eggs on a cracker?”

“Okay, I’m with you on the caviar. I’m not a big fan either.” I leaned back against the counter while he continued his rant.

“Don’t even get me started on escargot!” He cried.

Now I was surprised. “You’ve tried escargot?”

“Are you kidding! No!” His body actually shook and he got a disgusted look on his face. “Once I saw a bunch of snails sitting on the plate I said ‘Pass!’” He shook his head again. “Fancy food just stinks!”

My husband, Steven walked into the room. “What fancy food are you talking about?”

Alex pushed the pastry box over to him. “Mom got scones.”

“Oh,” Steven peeked in the box. “Scones aren’t bad.” He broke off a piece and took a bite. “Yuck, these are terrible!” He grabbed a napkin and spit it out. “Tastes like a brick with cranberries in it!”

“Told you.” Alex said with a laugh.

“You two are ridiculous!’ I said as I reached into another grocery bag and handed Alex a box of Twinkies. “These aren’t fancy. Are they any better?”

Steven took the box from him. “They used to be really good when I was a kid.” He handed the box back to Alex. “Now, not so much.”

Alex took the box and put it in the cabinet. “They’re still better then scones.”

I opened my side of our bedroom closet and a pair of sweatpants tumbled down from my top shelf. I bent over, scooped them up and tossed them back on the shelf.

“Are you serious?” Steven asked as he walked out of the bathroom in time to see me tossing the sweatpants.

“What?” I looked over my shoulder pretending I didn’t know what he was talking about. But I knew.

“Your side of our closet is a disaster!” he went over to his side, opened the door and swept his hand up and down like he was a game show host showing off prizes. “Why can’t your side look more like this?”

I looked at his top shelf where his sweats were neatly folded and stacked practically in color order. All of his shirts were hung facing in the same direction while his pants were in their own section.

“Yours does look better.” I admitted. “But I know where everything is so it really doesn’t matter what my side looks like, does it?”

“Really?” Steven seemed doubtful.

As if on cue the sweatpants, I’d just tossed back up on the shelf, fell down again. I looked at Steven then reached down and scooped them up again. “I consider this organized chaos.” I said as I tossed them back on the shelf where they finally stayed put.

“Organized chaos?” Steven started to laugh. “That’s what you call that?” he pointed to my pile of shoes that were in a jumble on the floor.

“Exactly.” I reached down into the pile and pulled out my sneakers.” “See I knew exactly where they were.”

“So your empty shoe rack is just getting in the way of your organization?”

I nodded. “Now you’re getting it.” I reached into my already opened sock drawer and pulled out a pair of socks. Holding them up for him to see. “I didn’t even have to waste time opening the drawer.”

Steven sat down on the bench at the end of our bed. “I just don’t get it.” he said shaking his head and looking confused.

“What don’t you get?” I sat down next to him and started putting on my socks.

“The whole house is in order. Everything has a place.” He looked around our room. “The bed is made, nothing laying on the floor.”

“So what’s your point?” I was tying my sneakers.

“So how can the entire house look one way but your closet looks like a hoarder lives here.”

“Hey!” I pushed him in his shoulder. “Not a closet of a hoarder…but someone who embraces organized chaos!” I reminded him.

I got up and looked out our bedroom window. “I’m going to take a quick walk before dinner. You want to come?”

“No thanks.” He got up himself still looking at my side of the closet.

“Here, let me help you.” I went over and with one foot pushed the shoes back into their pile so I could close the door. “That’s the reason they invented doors!” I pushed it closed then looked back at Steven. “See all better.” I waved my hand around the room where everything was in it’s place.

“I still know what’s behind the door.” Steven said as he shook his head.

“Oh my gosh! These are so cute!” I came into the kitchen where my husband, Steven was busy making a salad and held up my phone for him to see.

“Fairy doors?” Steven seemed confused as he continued to cut up the romaine.

“I just ordered them!” I looked back at my phone. “They should be here in a few days!” I couldn’t help but smile.

Our son Alex walked into the room. “You sure look happy.” He went over to the refrigerator and looked inside.

“I just ordered these!” I held the phone up for him to see.

“Fairy doors?” he looked over at Steven. “Did you see these?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders as he scraped the romaine off the cutting board and into a bowl. “Hey, if it makes your Mom happy…”

“They’re fun!” I cried as I looked back at Alex. “You know how much I love the one that’s at the little house on the corner!” I looked over at Steven. “Every time I go by that tree, and see that little door, I can’t help thinking, ‘Who lives in there!’”

Alex was moving things around in the refrigerator, clearly not finding what he was looking for. “She doesn’t just think it.” he called over his shoulder. “She actually says it every time we go past that house.”

“Of course I do!” I looked over at Steven who was cutting up cherry tomatoes. “It’s a tiny door at the base of a tree! What’s not to love!” I looked out the front window. “Now I just have to decide which trees to put them on!”

“Wait a minute!” Alex closed the refrigerator door and looked at me. “What do you mean when you say trees?”

I held up my phone again for him to see my order. “They come four to a package.”

“FOUR!” Alex looked over at Steven who just shook his head.

“Well I’m not going to use all four.” I quickly explained. “That really is too many.” I was looking out the front window again. “But I might do two. One in the front yard and one in the back.”

“What if we skip the front yard and just keep them in the back.” Alex looked to Steven for some backup.

“But then no one will be able to drive by our house, see it and say, ‘Who lives in there?’” I looked back at my phone trying to decide which doors I was going to use.

“Exactly!” Alex started to laugh.

“You know, you should be glad I’m just doing the door.” I looked out the back window to see where my new purchase was going to go. “Some people are doing whole fairly gardens!”

Now Alex looked confused. “What’s a fairy garden?”

“Along with the doors you can get little stepping stones that lead to the tree, maybe a sign that you can hang next to the door, they even have the fairies themselves! The accessories are endless!” I cried.

Steven tossed the tomatoes in the bowl. “You’re just sticking with the door right?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Well, yeah. The door is plenty for me.” I looked over at Alex, trying to reassure him. “I think the rest of the stuff might seem a bit much.”

Steven looked over at Alex. “Now aren’t you grateful she only wants the door?”

“I guess.” Alex didn’t seem convinced yet.

Steven pointed to the salad. “You want some?”

“Sure.” Alex sighed as he reached in the cabinet and took out some bowls. “But can we at least agree to keep it in the back yard?”

Steven and Alex both turned to look at me.

I thought about it for a moment. “Okay. Fine. Just the backyard.” I sighed.

“Okay, this is ridiculous!” I cried as I dumped several remote controls on the dining room table.

Steven was sitting at the table returning some e-mails on his phone. “Where did they come from?” He asked, looking at the pile I’d just put in front of him.

“I decided to clean out some drawers today and this is what I found!”

“Okay, so you found some old remotes.” He didn’t seem impressed.

“Oh, I’m not done!” I cried as I went into the front hall and opened the drawer of the foyer table. “There’s more in here!” I brought back several more to add to the pile.

Steven didn’t even look up from his phone.

“I’m still not done.” I called as I headed into our bedroom. Opening the bedside table I pulled out even more then went back to dining room, adding them to the pile. “Why do we have all of these?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “We’ve owned a lot of electronics over the years.”

“That’s your answer?” I was completely baffled. “So when we got rid of the old stuff, why didn’t we throw out the remotes?”

Steven glanced at the pile. “Because I’m not sure which ones we’ve thrown away and what’s up in the attic. It’s just easier to keep them all in case we need one of them some day.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “You do know that’s the mantra of every hoarder in the world.”

“We’re not hoarders!” Steven seemed annoyed by the suggestion.

“Well, clearly we are when it comes to remotes.” I waved my hand over the pile I’d collected.

“Can we worry about this another time?” he asked looking back at his phone. “I really need to return this text.”

While he was busy with his text I was picking through the pile. “I don’t even remember some of these.” I picked up a small one with the word Bose on it. “Did we ever have any Bose equipment?”

“That might have been your Mom’s.” Steven said offhandedly. “I think she had a Bose radio.”

“So how did we wind up with it?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Got me.”

I just shook my head. “So what do you want to do with all of these?”

“I don’t have the time to go through them right now.” Steven put down his phone and looked at the pile I was picking through. “Maybe you could put them back and I’ll check them out when I have more time.”

I had to laugh. “You just finished telling me you haven’t had time in the past thirty years to go though them. I’ve finally cleaned out all the drawer in the house. I don’t want to put them back.”

“Okay, well do you have a box or something you can put them in?”

“How about a garbage bag?” I asked.

“Sure.” Steven went back to his phone while I went and got a garbage bag and began tossing them in.

“Wait!” Steven put his phone down. “You’re not throwing them away, are you?”

“Well, I was.” I admitted.

“I told you I’m not sure which ones we need.”

“Okay, fine.” I sighed. “I’ll put the bag up in the attic.” I went over to the kitchen junk drawer and pulled out a marker and wrote: Dad’s Collection on the bag. I smiled as I held it up for Steven to see. “Just to make sure everyone knows who the remote hoarder is in this house.”

I was laying on the couch, eyes closed, when I heard Steven quietly walk past me. “I’m up.” I said as I stretched and looked out the window. I could see it was already late in the afternoon. “How long have I been napping?” I asked as I tried to see the clock on the side table.

“You’ve been out for at least two hours.” Steven said as he sat next to me on the couch and looked for the television remote.

“Oh, that’s way too long.” I complained. “I’m going to have to work on my napping skills.”

Steven started to laugh. “What kind of skills does it take to nap?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” I folded the afghan and put it back on the arm of the couch. “Power naps are only supposed to be 20 or 30 minutes. Two hours is going to mess up my sleep tonight.” I settled back down on the couch. “So what were you doing while I was napping?” I asked.

Steven plugged in the heating pad and put it on his shoulder. “I cleaned out the gutters and straightened out the shed.”

“Wow! It sounds like you got a lot accomplished too!”

“Too?” Steven looked surprised. “Since when is napping getting something accomplished?”

I put my feet up on the coffee table. “It seems you don’t want to understand the importance of napping.” I cleared my throat, ready to recite all the benefits I’d been reading about. “Universities have done a lot of studies, and not only does it keep my stress hormones down, it also helps with my creativity.” I looked over at him and smiled. “So you see I’m working hard on becoming smarter, saner and healthier all through the art of napping!”

“So now napping is an art?” I could see Steven wasn’t impressed with my napping facts as he adjusted his heating pad.

So, I decided to continue with my facts. “You know, we’re one of the few countries who don’t promote naps.” I was nodding my head hoping Steven would join me in agreeing with these facts. “Did you know Spain, Germany and Japan all believe naps help their citizens to be more productive.”

There was still no reaction from Steven.

I finally just shrugged my shoulders and gave it one last try. “It also helps me keep my weight down.”

Now Steven looked interested. “They have research on that?”

“Well, no.” I admitted. “But I’ve noticed that in the late afternoon when I’m craving a candy bar or a cup of tea, to get me going, a short nap makes the cravings go away!”

Steven shook his head and laughed. “So you’re answer to hunger is to take a nap?” He didn’t sound very impressed.

I pulled the afghan off the arm of the couch. “You seem to be a little cranky right now.” I tucked the afghan around his legs. “I’ve found a nap helps with that too.” I gave him a quick kiss on his forehead. “I’ll come back in 30 minutes to wake you up.”