Yes, Mrs. Ditchman made a "Rocket" cake for the Little Ditchman's Big Party last weekend. I was duly impressed. Some things you don't learn about your spouse until well into marriage. Like, for example, that your wife has a knack for making cakes in the shape of rockets. Anyway, it's quite a talent!

The party was a rousing success, with all manner of friends, family and neighbors arriving to indulge in the new sandbox and play in the cooler full of hearty Irish brew I provided. (These Little Ditchman parties always seem to take on the sub-theme of St. Patrick's Day, oddly.) We buried an assortment of goodies in the sandbox and the chillun went manic a'digging for them. And, no, the neighborhood cats did not get around to burying their assortment of goodies in the new sandbox before the party (but if anyone has any pointers on this potential problem, TMST would love to hear them.)

The hellions really made a mess of things, though (as expected.) Garden plants were uprooted, buckets of sand emptied into the pond, and bits of cake and candy crammed into every nook and crack of the playhouse. At one point, a strange kid ran past me carrying my garage utility hammer. There was no explaining it.

Monday and Tuesday were spent trying to catch up on last week's unfinished business, among other, ahem, family duties. It's been a circus around here, but that's how March is for the Ditchmans. It's like a second December. There's all of our birthdays and the anniversary and Easter, which is our holiday, so with every group that leaves the abode, another one is arriving. We enjoy it all, of course, but there's been an unexpected amount of stress this year. Still, there's St. Patrick's Day, which brings with it a certain, shall we say, relief effort.

To the child who gave the Little Ditchman a cold for her birthday: we already have plenty and would like the gift receipt.

The nicest thing about the party time is that since I go full bore on the Spring Cleaning & Planting, when everyone gets around to exiting there's a nice post-party glow to the yard with all the recently planted flowers and mowed lawn. Also, there's all that leftover beer!

We splurged and got a couch cover. This may sound insignificant, but NO! Our old red couch was a stained, rank dismay that gave our living room that found-in-the-alley college frathouse appeal that we do not desire. Target was having a sale, and after a few trips to multiple stores for the matching sizes and styles, and then a good few hours of wrestling the fabric around the things, the home suddenly looked clean. I don't know what possessed us to get a red couch to begin with. The novelty faded out (literally) a few months after the purchase and though the thing is super-comfy, we've been tolerating it ever since. Kids and animals are always cruel to a couch, so we've held off on a replacement. Also, there's the minor detail of the cost, but when you consider how you use the thing EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE, you really can spare no expense. The couch and the TV. The couch and the TV and the car. The day may come when we break down and purchase a new couch. May it come sooner than later.


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