Genius or Ridiculous? You Decide.

I love my husband soooooooooo much. And he loves me too, most of the time.

[Side note: Hubby is currently suffering from the poison ivy rash he got two weeks ago when I asked him to help me rescue a heron that was stuck in a tree over a creek. In addition to standing on the shore (in poison ivy), Hubby also ended up getting in a boat and then, ultimately, in the muddy creek itself to help save the bird.]

Recently, I got the itch (sorry, poor choice of words) to start decorating for Halloween. Because I enjoy the holiday so much, a lot of people assume I’m the type who starts putting pumpkins on my porch in August, but that’s not the case. I love Halloween, but there’s a time and place for it. To me, summer specters just look sad. I wait for the ghosts and goblins to call to me, and they usually begin sending messages sometime in mid-September, or on a day when a cool breeze brings our first small taste of fall.

A couple of days ago, I got the itch, and it started with the Halloween mugs. (It always starts with the mugs.) So I asked my itchy husband to help me switch out the regular coffee mugs for the Halloween coffee mugs because he’s tall and they are stored so high up that even he needs the step stool to reach them. Of course, it’s not just the mugs. It’s also the plates and bowls and saucers and coasters and hand towels and tablecloths.

[Side note #2: Our house has a good amount of storage space, especially in the kitchen with all the high and very high cabinets. Plus, there are closets and attics and a garage and various drawers in various places. When we first moved in, I had trouble deciding where to keep my holiday decorations and ended up being unable to find some of them later. This is relevant.]

As Hubby was handing me Halloween mugs from the high shelf where they live between November and September, I suddenly remembered something. “I think that mug you’re about to hand me has a note inside,” I said. Hubby looked at me strangely, looked in the mug, then rolled his eyes and burst out laughing in a way that I could tell was at me rather than with me, because there was indeed a note that read, The Halloween towels are in the cabinet over the glasses.

I asked Hubby why he was laughing since this was obvious proof that I’m a genius, but he shook his head and said, “It’s not like there are that many places to look,” to which I replied, “Yes, there are.” (Also, if I’d made him move the step stool six times to look in all the high cabinets, he would have been annoyed, and that is the truth.) So he got the rest of the dishes down and moved the step stool (just once) to get the towels from the correct cabinet.

[Side Note #3: Because my birthday is on Halloween, friends and family often give me Halloween-themed gifts. (Thanks, everyone! I love them!) Since I get them so close to the actual holiday, I don’t get to enjoy them very long before packing them up again. Sometimes I forget about new items until the following year, so unpacking my Halloween decorations usually comes with a few pleasant surprises.]

When Hubby opened the cabinet with the hand towels, he also found the tablecloths (check) and the wash cloths (oh yeah) and two more coffee mugs that apparently didn’t fit with the others (oops) and… a brand-new-still-in-the-package Halloween shower curtain! (Whoa!) I had completely forgotten about this new and exciting item that I got on clearance last November and was very happy to discover it.

Naturally, I asked Hubby to help me hang it in the bathroom because he can just stand on the floor and reach the shower curtain rod rather than balancing precariously on the edge of the tub like I would try to do. So he helped me hang the curtain, and it was much more trouble and took much longer than anticipated and there was much sighing on his part, but it looks awesome.

At this point, Hubby retreated to his computer and I went to the kitchen to organize my mugs. That’s when I looked inside one of the ones that had been in the cabinet with the towels and found… another note. This one read, The Halloween tray is above the microwave! Halloween tray?! Oh my gosh, I had totally forgotten about the cool tray my friend sent me last year! The cabinet above the microwave is very high, so I fetched Hubby again.

“There was another note,” I said.

“You’re ridiculous,” he said.

I shook my head. “Genius,” I whispered.

After sighing a bit, he got out the step stool (again) and got the tray. As he handed it to me, he repeated, “You’re ridiculous.”

There were no more notes, so I believe I have now found everything that was stored in the kitchen. That means I’m done asking Hubby to help me reach stuff… until I’m ready to get the outdoor decorations out of the garage.

Reader, you have heard my tale. I now ask you: Am I genius? Or ridiculous?

I would like to reiterate that I love my husband soooooooooo much. And he loves me, even though he refuses to recognize my genius.

(I also love Halloween stuff.)

(And there will definitely be more notes next year.)