Never saw it coming...

I few weeks ago my sweet friend Whitney and I were catching up... I absolutely treasure these talks. She always has her hand in something cool or stylish or yummy. Everyone needs a Whitney... or two... or four! Well anyway, her husband's birthday was coming up and I was on pins and needles to hear what fabulous things she had planned. Much to my surprise, she said it was going to be a low key thing because Ty wasn't a big birthday person and was really jonesing for this cooler. A cooler... um OK? Like the thing you put beer and fish in? (I don't even slightly pretend to understand the mind of a man). Well, that's sounds good. She said, "well it's not just a cooler, it's a a YETI". A "Yeti", right, I think I know what that is? Well tell Ty we love him and Happy Birthday!

MAYBE, a week later... We were so blessed to be able to spend the 4th with some dear friends in Clay's home town. In prep for the big weekend we had food, drinks, etc. Whoops! We threw out the cooler after the last fishing trip, nothing to transport all this stuff. In retrospect this is the part of the story I should have gone to Wal-mart and picked up a nice $20 IGLOO cooler. But no, I send my charming husband out on the task. He was so thoughtful to bring home a huge, expensive, bear proof cooler that will keep ice solid for a week. Seriously?!?!? I would have loved to get really steamed but I haven't seen him that excited since he got his new truck almost four years ago! He actually read the entire instruction manual and spent an hour on the YETI website. It was really cute. And even though I lost my shopping budget for July, I have a freezer for ice and there are no bears in West Texas, I am really glad he splurged on himself. But I will say this... that cooler is staying in our house no matter how ridiculous it looks. If it gets stolen, it is NOT getting replaced!

Love you Claybear

If you need a gift idea for the men in your life.. check them out here.

Dialysis and Bragging Rights

So I am a nurse. Three days work, four days play- enough said. But anyway, I was pulled into a co-worker's room last night to learn a new kind of dialysis. I almost couldn't contain myself when I saw one the key components to this life-saving treatment was a.... FISH SCALE- an awesome, top-of-the-line, fish scale. Really?!?

The first year we were married I was last minute Christmas shopping for Clay (one of the best things about being married to an outdoorsy guy- there is never a shortage of things he wants, I just go into Academy or Cabela's and done!) Well this particular time I veered into one of the many fishing aisles and got a fish scale at the bargain price of $5. A scale is a scale is a scale, right? He will never know...

WRONG! DISCLAIMER: If you learn one thing from reading this- fishing is ALL about bragging rights! You never hear about a fishing trip without hearing who caught the most fish, the biggest fish, the most rare fish, etc.

Well the particular fishing trip after Clay accumulated this lovely Christmas scale, he caught a big fish, huge 'apparently'. When he went to hang it on his new, shiny scale and bask in the glory of his catch in front of his crew- the scale broke, wire snapped, no back-up. I still hear about this illustrious catch that got away, un-weighed (aka un-braggable) and his almost infamy among his fishing buddies. Upon arriving to home sweet home, he inquired about his xmas gift and was oh-so-kind to educate me in fish scale importance and consumerism. Just in case you have a 'Fishin' Frank' in your life here's what I learned:

• There are 2 types of scales- spring and digital
• Spring is a hook attached to a lever- the weight of fish pulls down on hook to measure weight
• Digital is same principal but calculates weight for you
• Digital scales are often more expensive but not any better. In fact, some digital scales are not waterproof and may require batteries. A "dead" fish scale is no different than not having one at all. Remember- all about the bragging rights!
• Better to get one with a handle so if the fish is flopping your scale doesn't go flying
• Unless we are taking about deep sea fishing, you probably don't want a scale that will weigh fish greater than 50 lbs, they get less accurate the more potential weight they can measure
• The reason spring scales vary in cost is the length of time the lever will stay accurate and strength of wire (ex. the more times the lever/wire is pulled may not retract fully and weight not accurate or as evidenced above- may snap)
• Make sure you purchase a scale with rust resistant aluminum
• Most importantly- don't shave a few bucks here!

Ironically, after the whole 'spring scale is better thing' Clay ended up with the above Rapala Scale- digital. About $30. He is adorably obsessed with all that is Rapala...