It's TUESDAY!!!

Yayy! It is about thirty minutes past midnight which means its June 22 my husband’s 26th birthday! We stayed up late just so that we could celebrate. I am so proud of him and realize how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband. He takes care of me whether I’m happy or insanely angry; he is always there for me. Vince will swing by my work and drop off a nice homemade lunch if I forgot mine, and always seems to know when I’m craving chocolate. I can’t tell you how many bars of chocolate we have hidden around room ha ha, I think it’s the German in him that causes him to make sure there is chocolate available at all times. He is also excellent at repairing and fixing things that I break, and he just made an awesome chicken wire blockade to keep t he birds away from our strawberries. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we hadn’t met. After all the likelihood of us ever meeting was pretty slim. I lived in California and he had moved to Arizona from Washington back in high school. Eventually he attended a very very rural community college in Thatcher AZ where I was talked into attending by my cousins. I was only there for 4 months and only really spoke to Vince on the LAST night I was in town before I flew back home, and he had girlfriend the entire time I was there. Anyways, I guess I’m just glad we were able to hit it off the last night before I left, otherwise I would have barely missed meeting my soul mate.

No More Back Breaking For My Husband

My husband has been laid off from his work for going on 7 months. Work picks up every summer until the fall but for some reason the work's just not there this year. He's worked there for 2 years, and on average his days are 12+ hours plus, but it involves back breaking work, and he often comes home with bloody hands from digging holes with steel bars for 15 hours. He was starting to lose interest, let's put it that way. After waiting and waiting and being told "next week" a thousand times, he decided he doesn't want to do it anymore, and applied at Starbucks. I looked into the benefits of Starbucks, and I can't believe how well they treat their employees!

Find one other company as involved in charities, and global outreach programs. . . and gives their PART TIME employees BENEFITS!!!!! It blows my mind. I really hope he gets the job, he's had one interview thus far, and has a follow up tomorrow, so I'm really pulling for him. He works at TMCC in the Microbiology Lab during the year and also tutors, but having this job will definitely give us benefits (after 120 days)that we need. I know that I've written about my dilemma about wanting to have a baby and whatnot, and now that I've wavered back and forth, Vince has taken a position against the idea. . . . for now haha. I'm just excited that maybe once we have insurance we can for once rest a little easier. Although he's athletic, he suffers from asthma, and has had two surgeries on his ankle. Insurance would definitely be peace of mind.

Anyways, for any of you reading this, wish him luck tomorrow for his interview!!!

Fly Fishing is an Art

So my husband's friend decided to take him out fly-fishing, and the first time he came back and was "skunked". . . meaning he hadn't caught any fish. He's been fishing since he could stand so I found it hard to believe, but after my first time fly fishing not only am I exhausted, but it's tough work!

First you've got to get the timing down without snagging anyone near you, the back cast is just as important as the forward cast. When casting you must also be aware of the slack you're supposed to be feeding, in order to have a distant cast. The toughest part by far was not getting tangled. I was fishing near the two others so it was tough to focus on fishing and not snagging them! I was told later that typically they get a ton of space between them, but Vince's friend wanted to monitor us, as we're amateurs, and he could get us out of a bind if need be.

Overall, we caught 4 trout and had a blast. I didn't catch one, neither did Vince. . . but it was a ton of fun either way. The best part of the day was seeing two bears on the way home. We stopped to take pictures of them, and Vince's friend actually got out of the truck to take a picture!

I can't wait to go again, maybe next time we'll catch enough fish to feed the family!

Friday Rodeo

Last night I went with my friend Ciara and my husband to the rodeo. I couldn’t believe how expensive the tickets were, $17!!! For some reason I just expected maybe $10-$12. It was a lot of fun but unfortunately EXTREMELY windy which made it harder to enjoy. I just can't believe how much those riders get whipped around when they're clinging on to those bucking horses with one hand. I can only imagine what that does to their back and neck. At on point I was walking on the bottom bleacher level to find some friends and was able to see some black Clydesdales up close pulling a carriage. I think there was six of them and they were soooo impressive. I mean I couldn't believe that size, apparently they weigh between 1600-2400lb. I was also impressed by the man with reins, I can't imagine training and steering 6 massive animals. I know nothing about the rodeo but sometimes I kind of feel bad for the calves that they tackle down by the neck or rope up by the neck and feet. They're pretty rough on them, at least from what I can see. I understand it's a sport and everything but sometimes their necks really get twisted pretty hard, especially when they're roped and don't know and continue to run. Anyways that was my Friday and those were some of my random thoughts.

does anyone like painting?

"Let's paint the bathroom, it's small, should be easy". Uggghhh! Whenever someone claims something is easy keep calm but walk swiftly in the other direction and pretend the conversation never took place.

Unfortunately, I did not take my own advice and got suckered into painting. I never have enjoyed painting. There is so much preparation, washing the walls, taping the woodwork and windows, pulling off switch plates etc. You realize during the process of taping that there are small areas that will be difficult to squeeze a paint brush in to but you continue on.

Now it is time to begin painting...the primer. That's right you want the paint job to look good and last so you start with primer. This is going to take forever! You pull the lid off stir the paint then pour it into the paint tray, tip the paint can back and now it begins. Paint drips down the side of the paint can all over your hand. You swear loudly but you are alone and get no sympathy. You dive in and begin painting, first the ceiling then the walls. Oh crap, I can't tell where I've painted, the primer is white and so is the current wall and ceiling. You stand back to inspect and see some missed areas, not realizing you are stepping into a small unnoticed pool of paint. The phone rings, nice time for a break so you run to catch the phone. After a 3 min conversation with your sister you decide you better get back to painting. As you walk back down the hallway you eye catches smudges of paint on the floor. Nooooooo! You then discover the paint on the soles of your old shoes! You finish off painting the primer and decide to let it dry over night. Maybe my husband will finish it for me but of course this a delusion because he hates painting too and it was part of the bargain you would do the painting and he would do put up the crown molding.

I still haven’t finished painting I don’t think I even like the paint color any more.

.....continued

So I realize that having a child right before I start the program which I've been working my ass off to get into, wouldn't be right. I have worked for my A's and someday I want to share this work ethic with my children. I know I have one of the best moms in the world but she only took a few college classes and then stopped going to school, and when my parent got married neither of them had a degree. Eventually they moved in with my dads parents while he attended Heald college to get a degree. My mom also became pregnant with me during that same time period. After thinking about this I've realized that in a way, I'm repeating exactly what my mom did. Both in our mid 20's living with our husbands parents and going to school. My parents always told me how wonderful it was to be a parent but at the same time emphasized how much stress it added. My dad constantly tells me "All I want you to focus on is getting that degree". I can't ignore my dads advice, after all he knows what it's like to live with parents, while going to school, and having a newborn. In a way my situation would be even more complicated because both Vince and I would also be going to school, where as my mom worked so at least there was someone bringing in a steady income. But my mom tells me that she really regrets not being able to be around as much as she would have like when I was a baby. I really don't want to repeat this, I want to prepare so that I can enjoy every moment. Overall I really want to set myself up so that when I have my first child I wont have to worry about making ends meet. I just wish I was more patient and time would fly by a little faster.

Have Some Class

I went to watch my husband play softball tonight, and we arrived a little bit early to the sports complex. Being early and not having any other teammates there just yet, we decided to watch the game ahead of ours, with two teams that he (my husband) had played in previous weeks. One team, we'll call them Team A, was all class. Their opponent however, Team B was drunk, and completely out of control. What's worse is the fact that not only did the team take part, but their fans as well!

The pitcher from Team A is a competitor, but doesn't do so without great sportsmanship. He's always at the top of his game, but never talked trash, and always seemed to have a good time (according to Vince, my husband). During this game however, he missed what would normally be a routine fly ball, and the opponents on Team B started cursing at him telling him how much he sucked. Now, the dropped fly ball was to team B's advantage, and yet they still felt the need to rub in in on this guy and for some reason try to get a rise out of him.

Next, Team B is still up to bat, and a lady strikes out. . . . Team B complains saying that she had only 1 strike, and deserved another chance. . . and the umpire AGREED after he had already previously called her out. The pitcher from Team A asks if the umpire remembered each pitch, he even reminded him of the foul ball on the first pitch which would equate to 2 strikes on the hitter. Finally the umpire stays with his original call and decides that she's out. All hell breaks loose. Now the fans are involved, cursing, throwing garbage at the fence (they couldn't throw it over, apparently being drunk was to the umpire's advantage).

There's a time and place for competitiveness, but with class. I don't understand how these people can go home and be happy with how they behaved after being so ridiculous. This type of behavior is frowned upon when children do it, but apparently the babysitter wasn't watching these 20-30-40 year olds, as they were definitely out of control.

I guess what I'm saying is, have some class, wherever you go. . . . oh, and Vince's team won.