On February 4th, 2021, I will be one year older.

This year in August, I will be married for twenty-five years to my husband. After almost 25 years of living with the same person, you get to know them very well. You know what makes them happy, sad, and angry. How hard they try at life and how much they do care about family.

There are pros and cons to being married. The older we both get, the more in love we become. After almost 25 years, you realize that when shit hits the fan for one of us, the other person stepped up and helps you through.

You learn to rely on each other. Over the years, we have also learned to always thank one another for the simple day-to-day tasks we each do. It might sound silly to thank your spouse for taking the garbage out. Yet, even your spouse needs to feel like they matter as a person and are not unappreciated.

When it comes to presents, my husband tries hard to get me something he knows I would like. For five years in a row, my son and he brought me candles for Christmas and my birthday. I do love candles. Five years of candles was a bit much. After the fifth year, I suggested that maybe next year they could look for another gift type.

Each Christmas, I now get warm items of clothing. Mostly socks. Every other year I will get a warm fuzzy onesie. A candle still shows up from time to time too. 😸

This year I decided to take my birthday presents into my own hands. I have been having a lot of fun drawing, painting, and coloring in adult coloring books when my brain is mush.

Mushrooms and more Mushrooms!

One of the problems with sound quality color pencils is the price. I decided to do a bit of research on colored pencils. I found a brand called "Black Widow wax coloured pencils". They are a waxed based pencil, just like one of the top brands.

The Black Widow pencils are said to hold a point for longer. They are also cheaper, come in six different sets containing unique colors. If you buy two different sets of pencils, you do not have to worry about getting doubles of a color you already own. I liked that about the brand too.

I ordered myself all of the Black Widow colored pencil sets. I also ordered a large pencil case to put them all in. This way, I will not have to open six tins to find a color that I want to use. To top off all the years of candles and socks, I threw in the adult coloring book Worlds within Worlds by Kerby Rosanes.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Once ordered, I walked out into the living room and told my husband that he just bought me the best birthday presents ever! He saw how happy I was. He smiled at me, shook his head, and we both had a good chuckle. He is aware of his lack of gift buying skills.

Half of the order came in two days ago. The rest of the order came today, on Sunday. I spent the last two days following a swatch chart made by a YouTuber called Coloring Bliss and putting all the pencils in order by color. That was a labor-intensive job!