The Last...

I was just catching up on my blog reads and came across a cute mini-quiz. I thought it'd be fun to keep the blogging train moving without having to get too deep. It's Friday, I'm tired and, well, I just don't feel like rehashing all the emotions of yesterday. That will have to be for another day.

So - here it goes!

The Last...

Thing I ate: A cherry candy stick from Cracker Barrel. I got them yesterday on a late lunch with my hubby!

Thing I watched: It was probably a murder mystery show on ID channel. Although I was pretty deliriously tired last night, so I can't really remember!

Account I followed on Twitter: Sorry, I don't "tweet"!

Blog I visited: Life Unscripted (Shout out to my homegirl, Beandip!)

Activity I did: Is texting an activity? If not, and aside from work, probably playing "Cookie Jam"

Song I listened to: One and Only by Adele

Time I swore: Like 10 minutes ago... Pretty much all !@#@!@# day.

Product I used: Hand sanitizer. It's pink grapefruit, so it smells pretty good!

Book I read: I keep saying I am going to try to get into reading, but it hasn't happened yet.

Thing that frustrated me: My coworker. She's told the same flippin' story 32 times today... And being that she is so @#$#@^%$ loud, I've heard it every single time --- through my wall and closed door. Le sigh!

Time my husband shocked me: Yesterday, I think. He keeps me on my toes. I just never know what he is going to say or do -- but he keeps life interesting for sure :)

Happy Friday! Excited to celebrate my gal pal's birthday and then some R&R this weekend!

Wordless Wednesday!

Tired... And it's only Tuesday!

I feel like life has been a jumbled mess over the last few weeks. Perhaps, it's just because it has been so darn heat. Heat goes to my brain and turns it to complete mush! BUT, alas, our A/C is fixed for now and things are hopefully getting back to normal.

<pause>

Normal. Pshhh... You see how long that lasted! This week is craziness with stuff going on almost every night. That is SO unlike me. I like my quiet evenings chilling at home with my hubby. But, I like catching up with friends too (some more than others!) I just hate that they all fell on the same darn week! Dinner with a couple of friends tonight, bowling league tomorrow, celebrating Beandip's birthday on Fri night and then lunch with another group of girls on Sat. Makes me tired just thinking of all those places to be!

Another curveball to my week will be a Thursday afternoon visit to see my mother. She sent me a FB message a few weeks ago, from a fake profile, and when I responded, I let her know that she should either contact me as herself or not at all. A week or so passed and then I received another message on Saturday. For once, it seemed she heard me because this message was from her actual account. While I do not believe all of the health issues and memory loss she claims to have, I do think it's time to make peace about the situation, whatever that entails. Regardless of my head saying "What-ever!" and my heart saying "She's hurt me, why bother!?", there is something inside pushing me to just go. She may think it's all about her, but really, a big part of my compliance is for me. If, and that's a big IF, she is in bad health, there are some things that I need to say before something happens to her. With so many things left open, broken and unsaid with my father, I do not want the same thing to happen with my mother. So, reluctantly and fearfully, I will go. I only hope I do not leave the visit in worse condition that when I started.

Lord, it's hot... again...

I feel like I've written this post before... more than once... But the A/C in our condo is broken again. After a fun girls' night, my husband warned me that it was not working properly. I headed home and after toying with it for a bit, it was no use. I promptly called the warranty company the next morning, but wasn't confident in my chances of seeing a repairman before Monday.

I was surprised. The repairman came by Sun afternoon, but I can't say he delivered the best news. After identifying several issues, we talked about the options of what we could do - both to fix the current problem and to not have to go through this every single time it gets hot. He left without fixing anything or resolving the issue. 

On Monday, I called the warranty company to find out if replacement was even an option. By this time, the thing is broken - so the thought of even trying to sell and escape the blasted thing is no longer an option. As it turns out, the cost to totally replace the unit was in the thousands, even with the warranty company covering a big chunk. After much back and forth with the contractor, the warranty company and me, the final verdict is to replace the evaporator/coils. Even that is still almost $500 out of pocket, but it's worth the money if this nightmare HVAC can be fixed once and for all! 

The contractor feels confident this will fix our problem and we will not need to make follow-up calls in the foreseeable future. I cannot say I am convinced though I am hopeful that the days of 90 degrees in our condo are numbered. I am hoping for the best... Lord knows, I HATE to be HOT!! Just ask my poor husband! 

Girl's Night... And Magic Mike!

After a couple of plan changes and reschedules, Friday was finally girl's night. It was girl's night with one mission: Magic Mike! While I saw the first movie at the theater with a different group of girls, I knew this one was going to be even more fun. My hope was that the movie creators figured out where they went wrong in the first one (too much plot, not enough dancing) and the sequel would be bangin'.

We met at O'Charleys for a drink and some dinner before heading to the show. Oh... and the Walgreens to stock up on movie theater candy! (Right... because who wants to spend $5/box at the theater when they are 3 for $3 at the Walgreens!? Holla!!!)

We stocked up on Sno-Caps, Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids and a few others. Sadly, we hardly ate any of it because we were A.) full from dinner and B.) WAY too engrossed in dancing men in the movie! 

So - back to the movie! It was much better than the first one... SO much better... First, there was no greasy Matthew McConaughey (as much as I typically like him, he was so gross in that 1st movie). Then, there was chocolate. Oh lordy, was there chocolate! You KNOW I love some chocolate men and I definitely got my fix! AND, #3, chunky girls were in the spotlight too. Typically in stripper dancer movies, or even real life shows like that, skinny hot chicks get all the attention while the plus sized girls are off in a corner alone, drowning in their beverages. Nu-uh, not this time :)

It was a fun night. Lots of laughing, naughty comments and girl fun. Hmmm... wonder if they'd be game to go see it a second time!? 

Sudden loss triggers thoughts...

After a weekend filled with food, friends and games, we woke up Sunday morning to a text from my mother in law. My husband's uncle passed away suddenly that morning. While he had a scare several months back with a mild heart attack, this was unexpected. Apparently, he passed from double pneumonia. We aren't sure yet if he had been battling with it or if it just overtook him all at once. Either way, the world lost a great man and heaven gained a sweet soul.

Buddy, although quiet, could fill the room with his spirit. He was kind. He was a jokester. And he was the first one to help out his family or friend. My husband said he'd been right there numerous times when his mom needed help. In fact, this past winter, her car battery died and I remember her distinctively saying, "I'm alright. Buddy came over, took me to get a battery and is putting it in now". That's just the kind of person he was... and there will be a big void because he has passed.

I feel for his children. He leaves behind a son and daughter. His son just graduated from college a few months ago. His daughter... well, she just turned 21 last week... on Father's Day... Although Buddy was lucky enough to be here and celebrate many occasions with them, there is still so much he will miss out on. Losing a parent is never easy... but it is even worse when it is sudden and unexpected. So many things left unsaid and no more time to spend with the one you love.

I cannot help but think about his wife. Married over 30 years. Losing him must be like losing her left arm. How in the world will life ever be the same? Once you find your soulmate in this life, it is hard to fathom living a day without them. One day, they're here with you, eating breakfast, grocery shopping, watching a movie with you... and the next day, they're just... gone...

It just terrifies me to think about losing my boo... sudden or expected... because he is my world. With him, my world makes sense. Without him, there is no longer a reason to get up each day or take on the world's battles. I am grateful for each moment we have together, but when things like this happen, it brings my fear of losing him to the forefront. Some days, the fear is almost paralyzing and overwhelms my heart with sadness.

For now, I just have to pray. Pray for my husband's family, especially Buddy's wife and kids. Pray for my husband and me... that our journey will continue and end so tragically or so soon.

Life is short. Hold onto the people you love. You may not get another chance.

A long talk about marriage...

My husband and I had a pretty long talk last night. I am not sure what it started it really. Perhaps it was some of the things we'd each read separately over the past few weeks related to relationships and marriage. It is eyeopening to see what other people think of relationships and, perhaps, even what they perceive ours to be (not that we really care).

The first topic: A Facebook post I read last week that said, "If a couple doesn't fight, they have too many secrets". I immediately thought of us. We rarrrrrely fight. We bicker sometimes, but even that doesn't happen very often. Does that mean we have too many secrets? Then, my brain couldn't transmit the words to my mouth fast enough... HELL NO! My husband and I don't fight because we make a conscious choice not to. Each of us had prior relationships centered on distrust, arguing and drama, so we have no desire to make that the focus of our marriage. Life is too short to bicker and fight all the time. Besides that, we love each other enough to talk things out, even when we don't agree on a particular thing. As my husband says, you can be "right" or you can be happy. It means more to us to be happy together than it does to be right about something trivial. As for secrets, they are harmful to any relationship, especially a marriage. To assume that we have too many simply because we don't fight is... well, ignorant... 

The second topic: My husband was reading a social media site yesterday which offered up the question of whether or not a spouse should be given a second chance if they are caught cheating. My initial instinct was HELL NO! But, if I think about my husband specifically, I don't know that I can definitively say that I would not work through something like that. That would greatly depend on my level of devastation and if I could move past it enough to give him a second chance. Hypothetically speaking, I just cannot say. Because my husband and I have been watching Marriage Boot Camp lately, we began talking about Hank & Kendra from the show. While Hank is accused of cheating while Kendra was pregnant, my husband and I agree that several other things factored into the infidelity and issues in their marriage. Hank doesn't necessarily have a realistic view of himself or his relationship. If he cannot change his perspective and begin to see things through a new lens, there is a high probability that he could cheat again. On the other hand, Kendra does not listen. A wife who does not listen to her husband or even take a personal interest in him is bound to cause issues in the marriage. Although none of this justifies the infidelity, it does show how a breakdown in communication can cause even bigger problems down the road, if not rectified.

The third topic: How can we, as a married couple, protect our relationship and prevent outside forces from jeopardizing what we have? We have witnessed many marriages, even long-term ones, go up in flames after 10, 15, 20 years. Were their relationships just different from ours? Did they not love each other enough to work through their differences? I just think back to my wedding day and the love I felt in my heart. If every bride and groom feels that way, how can it be lost so easily? That's not to say that mismatches and bad marriages don't occur. They totally do... and the couples are better when they eventually end the marriage... But generally speaking, if a couple's biggest problem is communication, quality time or splitting household or kid duties, they should be able to work through those things and keep the relationship strong. Just sayin'! 

Finally, today on Facebook, I read the following post: 

Don't compare your marriage or your spouse with someone else’s. Every marriage and every spouse is uniquely created by God to be different. Give your marriage and your spouse the freedom to be all that God intended them to be. 

I guess that is the answer. We should not compare our marriages to others just as they should not compare theirs to ours. While some couples may need to battle it out for supremacy, we choose a more peaceful, loving approach most of the time. While some couples may feel the need to be right, we just want to be happy. Our marriage is unique and different. It is ours. We make our own rules and, after eight years together and three of it married, we must be doing something right :)