Hubby's Hobbies

Although this happened many months ago, I saved the story just for when I needed a post and could not think of anything good to write. Some of you have already heard the story, but most of you have not. Please enjoy:

One random Friday night, my husband went out with a buddy to a race track... while he was gone, we lost power in the neighborhood... not good when you have a 450 gallon saltwater fish tank that needs a functioning pump to survive. Luckily, the power came back on soon enough as to not do any damage.

A few hours later, as I am about to step into the shower, I hear water running even though I haven't turned it on yet. I decided to investigate. To my horror, I discovered the source of the sound was a waterfall splattering onto the living room floor... The tank was overflowing!!!!

I quickly sent my husband a text message (since he couldn't hear me at the races) to tell him what was happening while I frantically searched for the outlet to unplug the malfunctioning pump and stop the deluge... said outlet is hidden behind the wall the tank is built into. There are 4 power strips behind the wall with about 4 or 5 plugs in each so I started flipping switches until I heard the water stop... all the while water was pouring out of the tank (and all over me) and I just prayed that I didn't get electricuted...

Meanwhile, I get a text from my husband that says "Unplug it from the wall"... hmm, didn't think of that :-{

After all was said and done, I had a pool of water that stretched from the tank to under the living room furniture... about 100 square feet... thank God for tile floors.

So every dry towel in the house later (except the one I saved for the shower I still hadn't made it into) I realize that all the blinds in the living room were still open... the lights inside were on... it was dark outside... and since I was about to step into the shower when the fiasco began, I was still in nothing but underwear and flip-flops...

I hope the neighbors enjoyed the show...

Fairy Tale

I mentioned a few posts ago that although I knew my husband from high school, we had never dated. Today I will tell the story.

I was a sophomore. It was fall and I had just ended a year long relationship with a boy who emotionally abused me. I was one of the smart kids who clung to the fringes of the "in" crowd by my fingernails. Although I was not a part of it, I had a friend or two who were part of that longed-for clique.

Shortly after the school year began, I crossed paths with the dreamiest boy I had ever seen in real life. Blonde, blue eyes, and a crooked, mischievous smile that could melt even the coolest of hearts. He was a senior, on the football team, and he was a part of the "in" crowd.

I asked around and learned he was dating a girl I had despised since 6th grade (very stuck up without the looks to back her up) and I could not believe it. She was the younger sister of one of the boys in the "in" crowd although she herself was on the fringes with me. I never in a million years would have believed I had a chance with the popular guy so I just admired him from afar.

Early that winter, I found out he was going to play baseball on our high school team. The team was in need of a score keeper so I jumped at the chance to be close to him even if he didn't know I existed.

That spring during one of the games, I started chatting with a guy who was more my league and we ended up dating of and on for the next 3 years. He knew I had a crush on the other guy but he, like myself, never thought anything would come of it.

Early that summer, I got a job at a local pizza place as a hostess. And to my surprise, my crush was working in the kitchen! So I found reasons to talk to him when ever I could. Still never believing anything would ever happen between us. We became the "co-worker" friends who speak and get along well on the job but never speak outside of work. Eventually, he moved on and so did I.

Over the next 7 years, we ran into each other twice. Both times, he was with a girl, but both times he said "hi" and we made small talk for a few minutes before moving on.

Then, in late 2001, I ran into him again. It was the Saturday before Christmas. I had been out dancing the night before and had stayed with a friend because I had too much to drink. When I woke up and was headed home the next morning, my friend called me and begged me to bring her some food. She was working at a jewelery store at a mall on that side of town and they were too busy for her to take a lunch. So my hair plastered to my skull (due to the cowboy hat I wore and sweated profusely in the night before), raccoon eyes, glittery club shirt and all I headed to her rescue. Although I very clearly had not made it home from the night before, I was on the other side of town and did not think I would run into anyone I knew.

I was not 10 steps into the mall when I noticed my high school crush walking toward me. I knew I looked like hell but there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to say "hi". He was polite and friendly and walked with me to the place my friend was working. He was just as dreamy then as he had been when we were in school.

We walked back to the entrance chatting and then he walked me to my car. I gave him my number, never thinking I would hear from him again. We said our "good-byes" and I left.

He called the next day. We went to a movie and then to dinner. We talked about all kinds of stuff and had a really good time. Our second date was the Christmas Eve service at my parents' church. As we walked in, he confessed, "I haven't been to church in a long time. I hope the building doesn't fall down."

Two months later we were looking at rings. Two months after that, we were engaged. A year later, 4 days after my oral exam for my Master's Degree, we were married.

That was 5 1/2 years ago. This Christmas we will have been together 7 years... we will be married 6 years in May.

He still doesn't believe that I had a crush on him. A few years ago, we were tailgating at a college football game with my mom and baby brother (BB). BB asked how we got together so I told him the story. My mom overheard. Shocked, she said to my husband, "You were why she joined the baseball team? I knew there was a boy involved but I never knew who!"

Quality Time

With all the hours I've been putting in lately, it has been really hard to find time to hang with my husband and Bailey. My hasband and I did have dinner together twice last week though and we even went to the movies. That was really nice.

But poor Bailey has really been neglected. We used to go to the dog park 2-3 times a week. Now we are lucky if we get there once a week. Although my husband has been home a lot more than me, he is not a dog park kinda guy. Now don't get me wrong, he plays with her a lot. She bounds around the yard while he mows or fiddles in the garage and when they play with each other, they really wear each other out. But time with Mom has been scarce.

So last night, we played. I left work early so there would be enough daylight to spend an hour at the dog park and she had a blast. You could tell how excited she was when we turned down the street. I thought she was gonna wiggle right out of her skin.

After she played, we came home and she got her first bath in what seemed like forever but was really probably 6 weeks or so (a really long time considering she used to get a bath once a week.) Then we cuddled on the couch and watched Finding Nemo together. No there are no kiddos in the house, I just like the movie and Monday's suck as far as TV is concerned.

Quality time with Mom rocks!!!

Responsibility

Now I am not the most politically informed person but I am adamant about exercising my right to vote in every election and on every issue. Too many people sacrificed too much for that right for me not to take advantage of the privilege.

I can honestly say, though, that I have no idea which presidential candidate I will cast my vote for. I am totally torn. When I weigh all the issues, it comes up as a draw... I hate all the negative ads and the phone calls. I hate having to choose between the lesser of 2 evils.

I wish there was a decent Independent candidate who could shake this country up. When I was in college, I used to think that eventually, enough people would decide they had had enough and vote for the Independent. Then the US could get a complete overhaul. But now I am realistic enough to see that if I voted that way, I was just tossing my vote away.

So still no solution. I know it is my responsibility to educate myself so that I can make an informed decision. But I just don't have the time or the desire to do so. My husband is a talk-radio addict so he is pretty informed. Since we've been married, I have been deferring to him. He explains the issues so that I can see how they will effect us personally. I typically ask him how he thinks I should vote and then follow through with his suggestions.

But this time I am not sure.

Please remember to vote today no matter what or who for.

Our "Little" Girl

Bailey and I paid a visit to the place where we did all her training yesterday. I had been there to purchase food a couple of times since Bailey's advanced class graduation in August, but she had not been.

Everyone was so happy to see her. She had pretty good manners considering we hadn't been to the dog park first to run off some energy. And we hit a milestone: we purchased her first bag of adult formula dog food.

Since we hadn't been there together since August, she had not been weighed since then. She was 73+ pounds the last time she was weighed. I knew she had grown some since then but I had no idea how much. She won't be a year until November 12th so I was sure she still had some growing left to do. When she got on the scale, I could not believe what it read. Our "little" girl weighed in at 79.3 pounds!!!

And my husband swore he didn't think she would hit 80 pounds...

Play Time

I spent Saturday afternoon at the funnest birthday party I have attended in a long time.

The husband of a friend of mine from church turned 30 on 10/30 so they had a party for him Saturday afternoon. The thing is that he is the very definition of the phrase "a kid at heart" so they had a party that was suitable for a 10 year old.

They had a cook-out, cake, presents meant for a ten-year-old, a neighborhood scavenger hunt that we did in teams (girls against boys, of course), and a pinata. I have not had that much fun since I can remember. When my husband turned 30 four years ago, I planned a surprise party for him. I was fun, but nothing like this.

It got me thinking about some of the fun things we used to do as kids that we only do sparingly as adults, like going to amusement parks, miniature golf, bowling, and going to the zoo. Why don't we do these thing more often? And I am talking about doing this stuff as a couple or on a date, not with kiddos in tow.

We work so hard that when we finally get a day off, we spend it working on the house or just relaxing on the couch. But I think it's important to work a little "play" into our lives, too.

I think I am going to make a real effort to "play" more often. I hope my husband is up for the fun...

The Family Dynamic

I tend to talk a lot about my family so I thought I would give those of you who don't know me a little background.

I have been married for about 5 1/2 years. Although I knew my husband when we were in high school, we never dated. But that's a story for another post so I'll just say that we are 2 years apart in age and were married when we were 26 and 28 years old.

For those of you who do not know, my baby brother (BB) is 22 and is a Marine serving in Iraq. I will refer to him as my BB for the duration of this blog due to the fact that I also have a little brother (LB) who is between us in age. He is married and he and his wife are expecting their first child in March. They live in a city about an hour away from the home we grew up in, and where our parents still live.

Growing up, we had a charmed existence. Dad worked, Mom stayed home, and Nani (our paternal grandmother) lived with us. So we were a 2 income family in a 3 parent home. Nani worked at a restaurant in the evenings so my parents had time to themselves after dinner before us kiddos came along.

We recently lost Nani. She passed away on Mother's Day this year. That's also a story for another post.

My folks still live in the house we grew up in. Mom is slowly going through things, though. She is preparing for the day when they do decide to put the house on the market, which I can foresee happening in the next few years.

My husband's family also lives fairly close. His grandmother lives pretty close to my parents. His mom and step dad live about halfway between us and my parents. It's really nice having everyone so close. We are very lucky.

I sometimes wonder what I did to deserve such a great family. My folks, although we have our differences, are very supportive and sacrificed a lot for me. My in-laws are almost too good to be true. I enjoy the holidays with my side of the family playing cards and board games together. And I am content hanging out with my MIL doing a puzzle or just watching the dogs play.

I may not know why I have been so blessed but I make sure I thank God for these blessings every time I pray.