Six months have come and gone since our wedding. A full half of one year, if you will pardon the oxymoron. Those six months have brought many things into our lives, both good and bad. They've been amazing and they've been hard. We have laughed and we (well, really just I) have cried, and the sun has risen and set, and life goes on. I guess it's just another day, and life continues as usual, much as it did before we were married (excepting the whole Texas thing), and it's really not anything to make a big deal over, but I like milestones. They make me happy, and they give me an excuse to buy some new perfume and have a nice dinner with my husband. So I bought steak and sparkling grape juice and lit a candle, and had even cleared the flashlights, pieces of the upstairs bathroom plumbing, video game magazines, hunting regulations, and little pots of tiny herbs off the table in honor of the occasion. I did overcook the steak a tiny bit, but it's only my second time. I'm still learning the art. Like I'm learning that Jesse doesn't like marinated steak, but he does like marinated chicken, and he loves ice cream, but not chocolate ice cream. Speaking of...the only ice cream I had was the chocolate kind that he doesn't like, and I failed to buy more for the occasion, which caused an outburst on my dear, wronged husband's part.
"No ice cream?? Six months of marriage, and you don't even KNOW me!"
Poor, mistreated man.
Remarkably, I did not take any pictures of dinner. I thought about it, and shocked myself by refraining. It was difficult, I assure you, but it didn't seem to go along with the elegant setting I was attempting to create. As elegant as you can get with horns hanging on a tin wall, that is.
Anyway, there isn't much else going on right now. Jesse's playing assassins creed, and I'm reading The Mystery of Edwin Drood while waiting for the lasagna to come out of the oven. Business as usual. I ought to be wrapping Keaton's birthday present, but I'll get around to that later. We're going out to Strawn again this Friday so that we can go to the zoo on Saturday for his birthday. It's going to be another long weekend, but we haven't been out that way since new year's day, so it's about time.
I've been feeling lately like the longer we are here, the more it sets in that this is going to be home. That we aren't just visiting for a while, or taking a break. I won't be going back to dance team, or hanging out in Gail's office, or running errands with Rae, or getting the girls dressed for church, or taking them to the park. Not that those things will never happen again (goodness, I'm going on as if everyone has died!), but they aren't part if my everyday life anymore, and they never will be again. And that's been hard to keep my brain wrapped around the past few days. I know that this will become home eventually. I know that I will make friends and find those people that will be a part of my everyday life, but right now the closest thing I have are the ladies at the library. They now not only know me by name, but notice when I do my hair differently than normal. Well, gotta be a regular somewhere, and there are no coffee shops to fill that purpose for me. The library is probably cheaper and better for my health, anyway.
While I'm on the subject of coffee shops...I may as well mention in closing that I have been doing a little bit of looking into and thinking about the possibilities of actually doing what everyone tells me to do and opening a coffee based business of some sort. Now whether it's a coffee shop, or a little drive through, or an espresso machine in some other's place of business, I don't know. In fact, to be quite clear, I'm not convinced that it is something I am willing to undertake at all, but Jesse has convinced me that it is worth looking into. And besides, if I ever am going to do something of that nature, now would be the time to do it, while we have cheap rent and no children to worry about. But we've been saying that about everything...
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
#hashtag
On Friday I subbed in second grade, and I was lucky. I got an awesome class. #winning In the class is a boy who is obsessed with hashtags. Like, the first thing out of his mouth was to ask me if I have seen the Justin Timberlake video about hashtags in real life. Well, I have, and it's funny, although not something you would expect a second grader to be watching...#whatisthisworldcomingto
If you have ever spent anytime communicating with me via social media, you will know that I don't do the whole hashtag thing. I will occasionally use one, usually as a joke, but I think they're pretty dumb, and I don't understand the fascination. However, he and I spent the whole day communicating with hashtags. "Hashtag spelling test, hashtag freaking out! Hashtag did you sharpen your pencil? Hashtag worst way to start the day, hashtag sit down, hashtag are we ready to do this?"
It was a good day. It's not often that I walk into a classroom on a Friday, give a spelling test, and have the entire class laughing and actually enjoying it. I felt pretty accomplished. #Ilovemyjob #secondgradeisthebest #iamthebestsubever
Honestly, though, I was really just lucky to have a such great group of kids. There were two boys who were pretty chatty ("hashtag sit down and be quiet. Hashtag turn around and face your desk. Hashtag I'm not kidding. Hashtag why on earth does she let you sit together?"), but when reminded to sit still and get their work done every two minutes, they really weren't bad. I didn't have anyone run out of the room and take off down the hallway, no one got seriously injured, I didn't have to use any disciplinary measures other than separating the two talkers once, it was good. It was a fantastic day, in fact. Except for the fact that I locked myself out of the classroom during lunch and had to go to the office to have them call someone to come unlock it for me, and then go stand in front of it like a dumbo, until someone told me that my key would open it. #Einsteinmoment I didn't even try the keys, because the last time I subbed there they didn't work, and someone told me that I wasn't given a key to the classroom. I guess it must've just been that building. Oh well, lunches are always too long anyway.
So I got through the day without any major hiccups, and went to pick up Jesse. When we both work we usually take one car, since I work like, a mile away from him at basically the same time. #fueleconomist But by the time I got there, Jason had already taken Jesse home sick, and that's when our weekend started to go downhill.
By the time I got home, Jesse was curled up in the fetal position on the bed and he didn't move for a long time. Now here's the big bummer, I had started to make feta bacon stuffed chicken breasts for dinner on Thursday, and I had been looking forward to them for days. But then Jesse said he'd be getting in late, and would probably eat dinner on the way home from the airport, so I baked a potato and saved it for Friday. Then Jesse got home and it turned out he hadn't eaten, so I ended up heating up some spaghetti o's and kicking myself for not just making the chicken. On Friday, I asked sick Jesse if he would want dinner, and he moaned a bit and nodded, so I went ahead and cooked the chicken that I was so excited about, the first time I had cooked since he left, and just the smell of it promptly made him throw up. So much for all my grand plans. I still ate it, and it was still fantastic, and the rest of it is still sitting in my refrigerator, because every time Jesse smells it he pukes. So I doubt I'll ever be cooking that again. #ihateconditionedresponses
Is it wrong of me to have my husband sick in bed, miserable, and all I'm worried about is my chicken? Probably.
Anyway, Saturday Jesse pretty much lived on saltines and Gatorade, but he did make it out of bed (as far as the couch) and was feeling better, so I was beginning to hope it was food poisoning, and that we would still make it to lunch with Jimmy and Anna and Debbie, the nurse from north, and her husband Woody. But it was not to be. Saturday night it came back with a vengeance, and to help things along, my nose stuffed up and I started coughing.
Well, Sunday morning came, and Jesse refused to get out of bed, so I went to church without him, and went and had lunch with everyone, and it was a lovely time. They're good people, and I enjoy their company, I'm glad I went.
However, it is now almost 4am, and I am still up, because I started feeling sicker, and can't sleep because I'm having back pain, and coughing more, and getting hot and cold...yaaaay me! So I wouldn't be surprised if I come down with it sometime here shortly. But I am praying I don't. There is nothing I hate more than throwing up. Literally. Worst. Feeling. Ever.
If you have ever spent anytime communicating with me via social media, you will know that I don't do the whole hashtag thing. I will occasionally use one, usually as a joke, but I think they're pretty dumb, and I don't understand the fascination. However, he and I spent the whole day communicating with hashtags. "Hashtag spelling test, hashtag freaking out! Hashtag did you sharpen your pencil? Hashtag worst way to start the day, hashtag sit down, hashtag are we ready to do this?"
It was a good day. It's not often that I walk into a classroom on a Friday, give a spelling test, and have the entire class laughing and actually enjoying it. I felt pretty accomplished. #Ilovemyjob #secondgradeisthebest #iamthebestsubever
Honestly, though, I was really just lucky to have a such great group of kids. There were two boys who were pretty chatty ("hashtag sit down and be quiet. Hashtag turn around and face your desk. Hashtag I'm not kidding. Hashtag why on earth does she let you sit together?"), but when reminded to sit still and get their work done every two minutes, they really weren't bad. I didn't have anyone run out of the room and take off down the hallway, no one got seriously injured, I didn't have to use any disciplinary measures other than separating the two talkers once, it was good. It was a fantastic day, in fact. Except for the fact that I locked myself out of the classroom during lunch and had to go to the office to have them call someone to come unlock it for me, and then go stand in front of it like a dumbo, until someone told me that my key would open it. #Einsteinmoment I didn't even try the keys, because the last time I subbed there they didn't work, and someone told me that I wasn't given a key to the classroom. I guess it must've just been that building. Oh well, lunches are always too long anyway.
So I got through the day without any major hiccups, and went to pick up Jesse. When we both work we usually take one car, since I work like, a mile away from him at basically the same time. #fueleconomist But by the time I got there, Jason had already taken Jesse home sick, and that's when our weekend started to go downhill.
By the time I got home, Jesse was curled up in the fetal position on the bed and he didn't move for a long time. Now here's the big bummer, I had started to make feta bacon stuffed chicken breasts for dinner on Thursday, and I had been looking forward to them for days. But then Jesse said he'd be getting in late, and would probably eat dinner on the way home from the airport, so I baked a potato and saved it for Friday. Then Jesse got home and it turned out he hadn't eaten, so I ended up heating up some spaghetti o's and kicking myself for not just making the chicken. On Friday, I asked sick Jesse if he would want dinner, and he moaned a bit and nodded, so I went ahead and cooked the chicken that I was so excited about, the first time I had cooked since he left, and just the smell of it promptly made him throw up. So much for all my grand plans. I still ate it, and it was still fantastic, and the rest of it is still sitting in my refrigerator, because every time Jesse smells it he pukes. So I doubt I'll ever be cooking that again. #ihateconditionedresponses
Is it wrong of me to have my husband sick in bed, miserable, and all I'm worried about is my chicken? Probably.
Anyway, Saturday Jesse pretty much lived on saltines and Gatorade, but he did make it out of bed (as far as the couch) and was feeling better, so I was beginning to hope it was food poisoning, and that we would still make it to lunch with Jimmy and Anna and Debbie, the nurse from north, and her husband Woody. But it was not to be. Saturday night it came back with a vengeance, and to help things along, my nose stuffed up and I started coughing.
Well, Sunday morning came, and Jesse refused to get out of bed, so I went to church without him, and went and had lunch with everyone, and it was a lovely time. They're good people, and I enjoy their company, I'm glad I went.
However, it is now almost 4am, and I am still up, because I started feeling sicker, and can't sleep because I'm having back pain, and coughing more, and getting hot and cold...yaaaay me! So I wouldn't be surprised if I come down with it sometime here shortly. But I am praying I don't. There is nothing I hate more than throwing up. Literally. Worst. Feeling. Ever.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Chronologically reversed
I do not currently have the brain power to be sure of what has happened since I last took it upon myself to preserve an electronic chronicle of my life, so I'm going to start with what I am sure of and work backwards from there.
I am currently in bed, enjoying the scent of a delicious candle I got for Christmas. I was playing minion rush, trying to kill time until it is acceptable to go to sleep, and also stay awake until Jesse's plane lands so that I can text him and say "yay, I'm glad you made it safely!", but then I decided I should probably write something. It's a little more conducive to.....live brain cells.
Today it was sunny and 75. I am so lucky to live in Texas! And, being all alone with nothing better to do, I reorganized, polished, mopped, and swept the living room (in reverse order, of course). My back hurts. I knew it was going to be a bit of an undertaking, which is why I put it first on my list. What list? Oh, the My-Husband-Is-Gone-For-Most-Of-A-Week-And-I-Might-Go-Crazy-If-I-Have-Nothing-To-Do/Spring Cleaning list, of course. For those of you who don't know, I am going to back up a little bit. Just till this morning. I can only do so much reverse order crap.
Jesse left this morning for Las Vegas, Nevada with Kent, Annie, and Dave to go to the shot show. He was pretty super excited about it. He spent three days packing, got his slacks dry cleaned, asked advice on how to fold his polo shirts, and even shaved. It's a pretty big deal, I guess.
So I left him with his three bags and his buddies and went to WalMart to buy cleaning supplies. The cashier told me that everyone was buying cleaning supplies today. I guess spring cleaning comes early to Texas. I also ended up buying a little $0.98 (plus tax) basil growing kit, and a bag of sweet onion bulbs. I've been wanting a little herb garden for a while, and have never actually done it. I thought about growing some rosemary at the cabin, but it likes lots of sunlight, which is pretty scarce at the little cabin in Colton, so that was out. I wanted little window boxes of herbs at the apartment in Oregon City, but we only lived there for a month before moving all of our earthly possessions 2000 miles to Texas, so it's probably a good idea that I didn't.
And then lately it's been cold enough that the only room I can keep warm is the bathroom (yes, I have been known to hang out in there and read. Don't judge.), so planting anything, or even going outside, was not top of my list of things to do.
Today, however, was such a beautiful, blustery day, I couldn't resist the urge to at least try it out. I grabbed a hoe, mixed up the dirt in the flower bed next to the side door, removed all the cigarette butts, shotgun shells, and other non-organic material that I happened to find, and stuck some onions in the ground.
I only planted six, figuring that if it's still too early and they don't turn out, I still have 34 bulbs to try my luck with, so I should be ok. I also planted a garlic clove that started sprouting, and set aside a potato to plant when it starts to sprout. I did read that potatoes will only survive to about 90 degrees, so you should start them early. I'm hoping January is early enough. I assume it will be. It should be at least a couple months before we have temperatures that high. Besides, how can you go wrong with potatoes? The basil, on the other hand, has already been a failure. Remember when I said it was a "blustery day"? Yeah, by that I meant the table and chairs on the porch were being blown around and there was a high wind advisory. I initially put the little pot of basil seeds on the table in the living room, but when I started moving all the furniture around to do the floor, I put it on the porch. In the sunshine. A while later I found the empty pot on the other side of the house. Oops. I'll pick up another one tomorrow, I guess.
Anyway. Behold, the fruits of my labor! Shiny floors! I also broke a bowl, which made me very sad...But, moving on. Or backwards, rather. Reverse!
Yesterday was also a nice day, and less windy, which prompted Mr. Wilcox, affectionately referred to as "Little Davie", to bring out his latest toy. I didn't get a good picture of it, for which I apologize; I have failed
as a documentator. It's a Can-Am side by side. That meant nothing to me when Jesse told me, so for those as ignorant as I, it's basically a really fancy, really fast, go cart like thing with a big roll cage and nets to keep you in and such when you roll it. Which Dave did after putting about 12 miles on it. That was a while ago, though. Everyone is perfectly safe, and the side by side got a new front bumper thing out of the deal. Also, everyone now wears helmets while riding in it.
It was a good day. Jesse had a blast tearing around in it, and Dave got his fix in, he said. I also finished writing the story that I was working on for Laney for her birthday while Jesse killed water bottles with blow darts. It was nice and sunny, we had chicken nuggets and sweet tea, and bought two hammocks on Amazon with a gift card that we got for Christmas. My sisters truly spoil me.
Ah...so many more days to cover, and it's getting late! I will hurry on back.
Last Tuesday, that would be 1/7, I noticed a small drip coming from the ceiling in the dining room.
A while ago, when our pipes froze last, we turned
off the water to the sinks in the upstairs bathroom because they were leaking, so I knew it wasn't them, and assumed it was the toilet. Jesse was at work, and I figured that I could figure it out. After all, I had managed to thaw out the frozen kitchen sink the day before.
was met with a completely unexpected downpour. I called Jesse, had a short lapse of capability to do anything, ran the 1/4 mile out to the road, tried to shut off the water, couldn't figure it out, called Jesse again, had to go back to the house, find a different wrench, go back out to the road, fight with the water main, get frustrated, beat on it for a while, and finally get it shut off after it had managed to fill a bucket, half the ice chest, and leave three rooms with standing water. It was an adventure. Jesse came home from work two hours early, and he and a couple guys that Kent called spent nearly two hours fixing multiple leaks in the pipes upstairs. Gotta love primitive Texas living. But it is good. At the end of the day, we survived. I learned how to shut off the water, I mopped behind the couch in the dining room which definitely needed to happen, and we can pay our bills because we have really cheap rent.
Taking another few steps backward...I will make this short and sweet and mostly pictures. We went back to the shoot house a while ago and Jesse got to play with his new AR pistol. I managed to shoot multiple times and have both shots hit within a foot of each other, so I consider that progress. Also, Annie gave me a pair of pink browning safety glasses that don't hit my cheeks when I smile. Score!
I am currently in bed, enjoying the scent of a delicious candle I got for Christmas. I was playing minion rush, trying to kill time until it is acceptable to go to sleep, and also stay awake until Jesse's plane lands so that I can text him and say "yay, I'm glad you made it safely!", but then I decided I should probably write something. It's a little more conducive to.....live brain cells.
Today it was sunny and 75. I am so lucky to live in Texas! And, being all alone with nothing better to do, I reorganized, polished, mopped, and swept the living room (in reverse order, of course). My back hurts. I knew it was going to be a bit of an undertaking, which is why I put it first on my list. What list? Oh, the My-Husband-Is-Gone-For-Most-Of-A-Week-And-I-Might-Go-Crazy-If-I-Have-Nothing-To-Do/Spring Cleaning list, of course. For those of you who don't know, I am going to back up a little bit. Just till this morning. I can only do so much reverse order crap.
Jesse left this morning for Las Vegas, Nevada with Kent, Annie, and Dave to go to the shot show. He was pretty super excited about it. He spent three days packing, got his slacks dry cleaned, asked advice on how to fold his polo shirts, and even shaved. It's a pretty big deal, I guess.
So I left him with his three bags and his buddies and went to WalMart to buy cleaning supplies. The cashier told me that everyone was buying cleaning supplies today. I guess spring cleaning comes early to Texas. I also ended up buying a little $0.98 (plus tax) basil growing kit, and a bag of sweet onion bulbs. I've been wanting a little herb garden for a while, and have never actually done it. I thought about growing some rosemary at the cabin, but it likes lots of sunlight, which is pretty scarce at the little cabin in Colton, so that was out. I wanted little window boxes of herbs at the apartment in Oregon City, but we only lived there for a month before moving all of our earthly possessions 2000 miles to Texas, so it's probably a good idea that I didn't.
And then lately it's been cold enough that the only room I can keep warm is the bathroom (yes, I have been known to hang out in there and read. Don't judge.), so planting anything, or even going outside, was not top of my list of things to do. Today, however, was such a beautiful, blustery day, I couldn't resist the urge to at least try it out. I grabbed a hoe, mixed up the dirt in the flower bed next to the side door, removed all the cigarette butts, shotgun shells, and other non-organic material that I happened to find, and stuck some onions in the ground.
I only planted six, figuring that if it's still too early and they don't turn out, I still have 34 bulbs to try my luck with, so I should be ok. I also planted a garlic clove that started sprouting, and set aside a potato to plant when it starts to sprout. I did read that potatoes will only survive to about 90 degrees, so you should start them early. I'm hoping January is early enough. I assume it will be. It should be at least a couple months before we have temperatures that high. Besides, how can you go wrong with potatoes? The basil, on the other hand, has already been a failure. Remember when I said it was a "blustery day"? Yeah, by that I meant the table and chairs on the porch were being blown around and there was a high wind advisory. I initially put the little pot of basil seeds on the table in the living room, but when I started moving all the furniture around to do the floor, I put it on the porch. In the sunshine. A while later I found the empty pot on the other side of the house. Oops. I'll pick up another one tomorrow, I guess.
Anyway. Behold, the fruits of my labor! Shiny floors! I also broke a bowl, which made me very sad...But, moving on. Or backwards, rather. Reverse!
Yesterday was also a nice day, and less windy, which prompted Mr. Wilcox, affectionately referred to as "Little Davie", to bring out his latest toy. I didn't get a good picture of it, for which I apologize; I have failed
as a documentator. It's a Can-Am side by side. That meant nothing to me when Jesse told me, so for those as ignorant as I, it's basically a really fancy, really fast, go cart like thing with a big roll cage and nets to keep you in and such when you roll it. Which Dave did after putting about 12 miles on it. That was a while ago, though. Everyone is perfectly safe, and the side by side got a new front bumper thing out of the deal. Also, everyone now wears helmets while riding in it.
It was a good day. Jesse had a blast tearing around in it, and Dave got his fix in, he said. I also finished writing the story that I was working on for Laney for her birthday while Jesse killed water bottles with blow darts. It was nice and sunny, we had chicken nuggets and sweet tea, and bought two hammocks on Amazon with a gift card that we got for Christmas. My sisters truly spoil me.
Ah...so many more days to cover, and it's getting late! I will hurry on back.
Last Tuesday, that would be 1/7, I noticed a small drip coming from the ceiling in the dining room.
A while ago, when our pipes froze last, we turned off the water to the sinks in the upstairs bathroom because they were leaking, so I knew it wasn't them, and assumed it was the toilet. Jesse was at work, and I figured that I could figure it out. After all, I had managed to thaw out the frozen kitchen sink the day before.
Side note, I also took apart the sink and fixed it when the trap was clogged so it wasn't draining. I'm practically a master plumber. In the process I found a nasty drowned rat in the bucket that catches the water that leaks from the right hand sink, and then when I went to show Jesse, it had disappeared. We probably will have an outbreak of zombie rodents here shortly.So, full of self confidence, I shut off the valve looking thing behind the toilet, and went downstairs...where I
Taking another few steps backward...I will make this short and sweet and mostly pictures. We went back to the shoot house a while ago and Jesse got to play with his new AR pistol. I managed to shoot multiple times and have both shots hit within a foot of each other, so I consider that progress. Also, Annie gave me a pair of pink browning safety glasses that don't hit my cheeks when I smile. Score!
Well, a picture speaks a thousand words, so this is quickly becoming a 170000 word project, and that's 28 pages, single spaced. So I will end this now. Hopefully you feel all caught up!
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