4 years

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It’s late, and I am tired after that ROUSING game of Star Trek Monopoly I played with Vance and my brother (I lost.) I’m down to the wire, and I’m not sure I have it in me to write out that touching retrospective I was talking about in yesterday’s post. Oh well, I guess I’ll just talk about what we did.

My brother came over to watch the child, and we went out for a late-ish dinner (After 7, when we usually eat around 5.) I was STARVING. Our first pick was Chuy’s, and of course, this being Round Rock, this late in the week NO ONE wants to eat in their own homes. The wait for a table was 35-45 min. I wanted to cry. I didn’t have a second pick lined up. Luckily, I remembered my second favorite Mexican restaurant, which was considerably less busy. We stuffed ourselves on chips and queso, and I was able to eat 2 bites of each item on my combination platter. My brother ate the rest when we brought it home. I was looking forward to those leftovers, but oh well. I remember it being delicious.

(Tonight was a win for my brother. He won at Monopoly, and he got to eat our delicious Mexican leftovers.)

On the way to the restaurant, Vance and I talked about how when we started dating over 5 years ago, we never imagined we’d be here. I don’t imagine many couples begin any differently, but even 6 months in we had a hard time picturing ourselves this bound together for this long. At first it was all fun and games, with no commitment, but with few distractions keeping us apart, (neither of us were seeing other people) we ended up not wanting to be with anyone else. Before we got married, we had times of tumult, where frustrations and insecurities from past relationships came out and caused insane fights. We clashed (and still do) because we are very alike, both stubborn and really enjoy the feeling of between the one in control.

But here we are! I wish I knew of some secret to our “success” (if you want to call 4 years successful) but I don’t think there is one. I think I’ll just list the things that make us awesome.

1. No one is the bitch in this relationship. As I said before, we both love power, and neither of us are ever really willing to back down for much of anything. It keeps things fair and balanced.

2. Weird gifts. We’re both nerds with stupid interests, and neither of us are very romantic. We show our love not with expensive jewelry and lavish dinners, but with showing appreciation for one another’s weirdness. This year, I got him a Firefly keychain (Serenity), and he got me the aforementioned Star Trek Monopoly game and a crystal growing set. Things we can both giggle over and have fun with. We don’t judge one another.

3. When things get scary, we support one another. I can definitely say that for him. When I am terrified and about to lose it, he is has been right there holding himself together just for my sake. I can only hope I am capable of doing that for him.

These last 4 years have been awesome, and I look forward to the future, which will include a larger family, and success that we could only achieve together.  I have said it before, but as hard as it is sometimes, I can’t imagine doing any of these things without Vance by my side.

 

I am so tired, and I can’t squeeze out another coherent thought. I need to hit the hay, as I have 2 appointments tomorrow, and I have work. It’s going to be rough. Night all.

 

 

 

6 weeks

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Th crib is set up. The changing table is stocked. The clothes and blankies are all washed and put away. I’d say we are ready to have a baby.

I’m 34 weeks today. This pregnancy has flown by so quickly. It literally feels like I announced my pregnancy a month ago, and now it’s almost over. There really are very few things that are left to do, and that could arguably be done once the baby gets here, like sanitizing the bottles and binkies, and cleaning the breast pump. I plan on nursing exclusively for the first month, meaning I won’t be pumping or letting the baby have a binkie until I am sure we have this boob thing down, so I’m not in a huge rush to clean the bottles.

The pump, on the other hand, I am just outright avoiding dealing with. The day we bought that stupid thing, we were offered a $30 “insurance” plan on the pump, to ensure we could get our money back if the thing decided not to work. We agonized over that decision for several minutes while standing in that checkout line, and at the end of it all, we passed on it. And then you know what happened? A few weeks later, Medela announced a huge recall of the exact model of pump we purchased, only it was on pumps sold during the first 6 months of 2010, which means it’s likely our pump is fine. STILL! That means there is potential for costly malfunctions! Of course, once the box is opened, the store won’t take it back, so we could be out $300. Chances are in our favor that the pump is fine, but I am still terrified to open that thing, even though there are parts in there that likely need cleaning and sanitizing before I can use them.

The one thing that I probably shouldn’t be dancing around is packing my bag.  I haven’t yet, because I likely still have the full six weeks, and I don’t have enough clothes to be able to even stash away an outfit. I do my laundry twice a week because, if I don’t, I won’t have clothes to wear. I haven’t picked out the baby’s going home outfit yet, which I need to start thinking about. I am so indecisive about these things! He already has tons of cute onesies, with hats and socks, and I don’t want to pack an outfit, only to hate it, regret not choosing a different one, and then spiral into a deep, dark depression. These things tend to happen to me.

So, I will probably single out a few options for baby outfits, and then make a list of things I will need to keep in the bag. I can finally start packing the bag at week 38, or I can just use the list and pack my bag the day I go into labor. I don’t want to pack my entire house, since we won’t even be there as long as we were last time. Gah, I don’t even remember what all we ended up using last time.

Anyone have any suggestions?

In other news, tomorrow is our 4 year anniversary! We got a sitter lined up, and Vance and I are planning on going out for a nice dinner at a rowdy Mexican restaurant.  I plan on posting a sweet and gushy retrospective post about the last four years, about how we have changed each other’s lives, and how we can’t fathom doing any of this with anyone else, and blah, blah, blah. I’m saving all of that for tomorrow. Night everyone.

 

 

the root of all stabbing ass pains

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The financial easy streak we were on for several months appears to have ended. My hours have been cut, and all of that extra money we kept falling into has run out. We never figure these things out the easy way!

I went grocery shopping today to get a few essentials, like, bread and cheese and whatnot, and I get a text from an hour after I get home: “Do NOT spend any more money!” After rent goes through, we will be down to less than $20. That means that until I get my next paycheck, we can’t do so much as buy gas for our vehicles. Luckily, I get paid Friday. It may not be more than $120, but it’s better than the nothing that was staring us in the face for most of the day. I decided I had to cancel my Wednesday therapy session because there is no way I can afford the $15 copay. I was able to reschedule it for Friday morning, since we will have some money that day.

Things took a positive turn when I went and checked the mail. I rarely check the mail this early in the week, but for some reason, it was beckoning me. Amongst the bills and fliers was a card from Vance’s grandparents. Our anniversary is on Thursday, and we were planning on going out to eat that evening to celebrate, but those plans were temporarily on hold. Inside the card wishing us a happy 4 years was a check for $200! Hurray! We were drowning one minute and thrown a life raft the next when we had yet to even send out a distress signal.

If we keep this shit up, we will never reach the level of responsibility required to own a home. We don’t have any debt in the form of credit cards or car payments, we just suck at saving. The second we get money in our hands, we start to think of all the random crap we can try to stuff in the few empty nook and crannies of our home.

It’s time to grow up.