Friday Favorites – 7/15/22

My husband, I love him to death, but he drives me nuts. Once he gets something in his head he just goes for it, there’s not talking him out of it or changing his mind in any way. This is often and usually a good thing. He has good ideas, he’s a smart and compassionate man, and he loves to spoil me. Just last week, in my Friday Favorites post, I told you about my little blow up pool situation. I also told you that we hope to get a hot tub some day soon. Well, although it’s not our permanent fix, we got a hot tub.

While our long term plan is to add a big patio area with a walk out from my office into the backyard, that takes a lot of money and time. That is where we hope to have a nice hot tub, over to the side. My husband got it in his head to get me one of the inflatable, cheaper versions of a hot tub to tide us over. There are days that I am virtually non-functioning due to health issues and, to his way of thinking, if it’s going to give me even a small measure of relief it’ll be worth the cost. Because, although much less expensive than a traditional hot tub, an inflatable hot tub is still not cheap. (Plus, my brain that does not do well with spending money can’t help but think about the electric bill!)

Of course, I love it. Because we haven’t done the updates to the area right outside the house yet, we have it sitting at the back or our yard by the garage, out of the way. He set it up on Tuesday and we did go in that night to test it out even though it wasn’t up to hot tub temps yet. It’s summer in Michigan, I don’t need it to be 100 degrees. I hate cold water, so I do need it over 80. And it was over 80 and it was just as relaxing as I’d hoped. (Minus the fact that I need a booster pad because I’m short. That’s on order now.)

While we were out there a question mark butterfly was hanging out with us. Seriously, when we were first uncovering the hot tub it landed on my head! Then it was back and forth for a while, hanging out on the lid to the hot tub. When we went to close it back up it kept landing on my back and head. My mother-in-law loved butterflies. This year we didn’t do a vegetable garden like usual but decided to use one of the gardens, the one back by the hot tub, to plant giant sunflowers (which she also adored) and a butterfly garden. We have a gazing ball that was hers in middle of that garden, too. I was very close with my MIL and it felt like a special moment. I spent years helping her with her health issues and was her caregiver at the end. Now, I’m having health issues of my own that are frustrating and disheartening. It warmed my heart to imagine my mother-in-law was sending me a sign that things will get better.

butterfly on the lid of our hot tub

I know this hot tub is not a cure-all for my woes. In fact, here in Michigan it will not be able to be used for quite a few months since it isn’t supposed to be used in weather under 39 degrees. Regardless, I will get some measure of relief for the next few months and I can’t complain about that.