Today I Met the Boy I'm Gonna Marry

They say your first year of marriage is in many ways the hardest. As I look back on ours I think that it was in some respects, but in others it was easier. One year ago today I remember a small, family-only wedding and feeling scared, excited, happy and the whole thing surreal. For that short time, it kind of felt like we were floating, and it was great. While I feel regretful at times by the way we got married (no friends and no reception), I know deep down that it was good as I remember that floating feeling.

During that break in Joe's training for Christmas exodus, I'd seen him one other time since August. In some ways it was as if I was marrying a stranger, what with his new haircut, figure, and long absence. He left town again just under a week after we got married, and I did not see him again until the weekend before Valentine's Day. After that it was the end of May when I saw him for two weeks, and then after a two week intermission, another three weeks. After parting again in July, I didn't see him again until late September when his training was complete, and since then I've pretty well clung to his side.

Missing him was not easy. I'd say that was the hardest part about our first year "together," but appreciating what we have and loving each other with a ferocity that only physical distance can provoke, well, I think that made it easier. What was important to each was the other, and that's what got us through the separation. However, while that's not always at the forefront of our thoughts in heated moments, we do always return to that place. Earlier in the day we had some of the worst miscommunications in a while, but it all melted away. And as we left the theater amidst the other crowds of folks filing out at the movie's end, I walked behind Joe, holding his hand so as to not lose him. It was there in a moment that I got that floating feeling again, looking at Joe and holding his hand, thinking to myself "I could not have picked a better husband." With that I poked him in the butt with my holding hand, to which he turned around smiling and said somewhat daringly, "Watch it."

Tell me what is my life
Without your love.
Tell me who am I
Without you
By my side.
- George Harrison

Gather 'Round, Children

As I was leaving the always crowded Publix parking lot a few days before Christmas, I decided to let a car out in front of me. Just before I motioned for the woman in the big black SUV to pull out, with gritted teeth, I mumbled something to myself about "Christmas spirit," which I'd been struggling with. It took her a minute to realize I was waving her into my lane of traffic, and when she finally saw my hand, she pulled in, not giving me so much as a second glance much less the appropriate "thank you" wave. With this I held tight to my composure and tried to remember the spirit in which I had acted. This, even though everything inside of me wanted to get out of my car and pull her out of hers by her hair in order to beat the hell out of her with my tiny balled fists in front of everyone else in the parking lot. No, that just wouldn't be Christmasy.

Christmas can be pretty stressful - spending a ton of money on everyone you have to buy for, getting everything mailed out on time, grocery shopping for whatever meal you're planning to make, and actually cooking the meal etc, and amidst all of that finding the time to actually spend with your loved ones. At least these are the things I struggled with this year. I felt bad for getting caught up in it all, yet, it was hard to come out of it. I should have probably taken more time to just think quietly about what's really important, and while I guess I never really did, the message did finally come through in a card I got from (Ma) Nancy Lowrey. The first part was actually the card itself: "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. -From A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens" Then there was the part of the family letter that said "Please remember those less fortunate and our service members and families wherever they may be." It shouldn't be hard to think of those less fortunate, but sometimes it just doesn't click until someone reminds you.

In the end, Joe and I had a very nice Christmas. It was very chill and relaxed. We did what we wanted, didn't have to drive all over creation, or even change out of our pajamas. But above all, I think we were both very grateful to be here with each other (and Dex). It was nice. We did get some very nice gifts, and I cooked a good meal - gotta be foody and tell you it was a curry dish with wild shrimp and bay scallops. I roased a red pepper, pealed it, sliced it thinly added it along with some brocoli and bamboo shoots. I'd never roasted a pepper before, but it did make a difference in flavor. Very good (and it was fairly quick, so I didn't spend half the day away from Joe). To top off the night, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights and then had wine, cheese, and sausage as we watched the Family Stone. The first Christmas was a good time.

And now we're trying to get the house ready for company. Joe hurt his back earlier in the week, which severely compromised our efforts. I ended up scraping almost all of the wallpaper off the guest bathroom by myself, and since the damn stuff was a two-part deal, I peeled the whole thing twice. The second time was immensely more fun as I used a damn clothing steamer, since it was the only way to get the "base" paper off. Worked well - just tedious. I finally finished today, and since Joe's back is better, he's currently in there priming - door closed and no fan. Ah yes, and he did this professionally. I'd better go check on him. That, and Shooter's on, on an HD channel, so I can see Marky Mark really f'ing clearly. Oh yes.

It's the Hap-Happiest Season of All

Accused burglar shot by relative

Fort Benning soldier arrested in slaying

Two slayings push total to 27

Yeah, those are just a few of our recent headlines. Merry fucking Christmas, right? Well, the 27 total slayings for 2008 was before the burglar was shot by a relative. It's actually at 28 now, though who knows what happened last night that hasn't surfaced yet. We've had five murders in a week. It's crazy. I guess I'm getting used to it, although I got pretty rattled by the Wednesday murder that occurred less than a mile from our house (we heard the sirens heading to the scene while we were walking the dog that evening). It didn't happen in our neighborhood, but you could hear it down the main road. I think this subdivision is pretty safe, actually, and I'm pretty sure a couple of soldiers are moving in across the street - I think I saw them signing the lease yesterday in the driveway with the homeowner. There are several other soldiers in the neighborhood, which makes me feel better, though with the above headline, maybe it shouldn't. Oh well. Our ADT system is getting turned on tomorrow, and we bought the HK USP 45 last night. Freaking costing us an arm and a leg for home security, but what can you do?

I'll tell you what else is costing an arm and a leg - Christmas. Holy crap. Trying to be "adults" and buy for everyone has killed us, and then of course mailing everything. We spend at least $75 in shipping on everything. And then having our anniversary right after Christmas, geeeeeeez. We almost decided not to do anything. But what the fuck? We figured we gotta do something for us - celebrate us. Joe's got something planned, but I don't know what. I guess I'd be more excited if I wasn't completely stressed about money. Oh well. Time to get a job. Then I can work full time and do everything here and take care of the dog. I can't wait!

Even though I'm pretty well ready for Christmas to be over, I am excited to see if people like what we got them. I'm also excited for Joe to be home for a few days. Further, I'm very excited for Cody and Carla to come visit. That's pretty much the highlight of the season! Having guests coming is also helping Joe and I get the house more settled. We're tearing off the wallpaper in the guest bathroom (we got permission), so we're preparing that to paint. I've also started working on refinishing another old dresser to go in their guest room. Woohoo.

That's pretty much the scoop. I missed out on writing about some cool stuff. One thing in particular was going to a Ranger School graduation. I didn't know anyone graduating, but I tagged along with some friends anyway just to check it out. It was AMAZING. There was a "Rangers In Action" segment which showed demonstrations in repelling, zip-lining (or whatever they call that in the military), hand-to-hand combat, fast-roping down and an execution of an LRRP extraction from a blackhawk (yes, dude, a blackhawk flew in), and of course several explosives. The demonstration portion ended with a guy zip-lining down into victory pond, and immediately after he hit the water, a line of explosives went off the beside him. It was really amazing. Sounds cheesy, but it made me feel really proud to be an American. And as they say, RANGERS LEAD THE WAY. ALL THE WAY.

Whoa-Oh Black Boogers Ramba Lamba

A little bit ago I was trying to figure out why my boogers were black. I hadn't been around any extreme dust or dirt, nor had I been near a fire or cut the grass. No, but I had been shooting.

Going to the indoor range in town and renting guns to shoot would have been fun all on its own, and we'd talked about doing it. However, what sparked our desire to do so in this particular instance was a discussion we had last night in which Joe relayed a couple stories about a few of the guys he worked with. He'd apparently heard the stories several days before, but until I read a few police reports out of the paper involving break ins and robberies, he chose not to worry me. As it turns out a couple guys in his unit have had unwanted visitors on or near their properties. One guy had his house cased and robbed while he was at work and his wife was out of town. The guy ranks above lieutenant, so his house wasn't a shit hole by any means. The details of the break-in/burglary indicated that it was a professional hit. Another guy Joe works with came upon a gentleman rummaging around in his shed. He called to the guy, who then began to run, and told him to stop. The man did not stop, and the soldier shot him in the back. Yeah, that's a little gray, but apparently there's no legal issue with it currently. Police took his gun and ran ballistics on it to determine it had not been used in any crimes and then returned it. The final story Joe told me is pretty hardcore in my opinion. Some thugs decided to just drive through a neighborhood (regular residential, not the projects), and open fire, shooting into houses and apartments. Well, they shot in the direction of an infantryman's apartment, so he took action. He told his wife to get into the bathroom and call the cops, and as she did that, he took his pistol and shotgun out on his balcony, leaving the AK inside because he "didn't want to kill anyone." Instead, he used his pistol and opened fire into the vehicle. Again, police processed the gun and returned it, only asking that the guy help pick up his brass off the street.

And so, after hearing that people are ballsy enough to fuck with these dudes, we talked and decided it was time to go look at guns. Now, if you're thinking of lecturing me, don't. Guns are last resort. But yes, I could shoot someone, realizing the possibility of killing them. From what I read in the newspaper, see on the news, and hear from others who have experienced it, this town requires you to meet force with force at times, and if necessary kill or be killed I suppose. We're taking all safety precautions: installed flood lights, keep the doors locked, bought a dog (who does alert), have the ADT system already in the house turned back on, and I'm even considering digging up the holly bushes in the front and centering them in front of the front windows. With all of that if someone still wants to come in, fuck 'em.

That said, we went to an indoor range today and rented two guns to shoot. The first was a .40 caliber Glock 23 (left above). It was okay. I didn't have much of a frame of reference, as it's been a while since I shot Dad's pistol. It was okay - the recoil wasn't bad, but it didn't feel like I could grip it as well. Then we shot with the .45 caliber HK USP 45 acp (right above). Dude, as soon as I put my hand on the grip I could feel the difference, and even though it was a .45, it didn't kick any worse than the .40. All else aside, it was a lot of fun to shoot. I'm not sure how well I like indoor ranges, as it was a lot of people were there, and we just seemed too close. Still, the experience really jazzed Joe and me. It's nice that he has a knowledge of guns, and he was showing me the proper ways of holding and standing, etc, as well as the mechanics of the gun. I was proud to be there with him. I was proud of myself too - a small blonde chick shooting those guns. And, with my small girl hands, I can load a clip faster than Joe can. :-)

In other news, while Joe lay on the floor earlier, Dex got a wild hair and started doing his laps aorund the house. He used Joe's head as a spring board about three times before Joe finally got up. It was hilarious. Also, little Dex graduated from beginning puppy education today. Oma would have turned 75 today, and I feel like we all honored her - Dex with his graduation, and Joe and I shooting a fine German (the HK) handgun. Yes, I think she'd approve. Happy Oma's Birthday, everyone!

Final thought: In Georgia, you can buy a gun on Sunday but not booze.

Breaking the Girl

So this is week two of Joe working late. Out of his late days last week, two included midnight return homes, and he worked on Saturday. This week isn't as bad, but he works again this Saturday and "possibly some on Sunday." I guess he's supposed to get Monday off, but I won't believe it until he's home with me sipping coffee on the couch while we watch The View. This working late shit is starting to get old. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I could get in touch with him during the day when I want/need to. Like ten minutes on a lunch break is all I'm asking. Or so I can at least clarify what he discussed with the bug man. I'm fulling capable of making executive decisions, but DAMN. Instead I get nothing or a hurried two or three minutes. It's infuriating, and tonight I cried. I dunno...if you're gone like 15 hours a day, when you get home to your wife, be affectionate. Be overly affectionate. Maybe apologize too, even though it's not your fault. Blah blah blah. Thank God for Dexter. I might have started talking to the Christmas tree if it wasn't for him.

Speaking of, we do have our Christmas stuff out and up. Most of you have probably seen the pics either in an e-mail or facebook, or if you're Arielle, in both places. It's tempting to go out and buy an ass of Christmas stuff, but I'm pacing myself. We can slowly acquire things. I do wish we had our own stockings, though. *Cough. Mom. Cough.* Dexter would need one too. :-)

Anyway. We're having some whacky weather. It rained all day yesterday. Like, never stopped until night. Of course I had to go out Christmas shopping in it. As I was drenched and dropping bank all over town, I had the thought - why don't we just send out our bank acct and routing #s instead. Wouldn't that be easier? Or, tell everyone not to buy for us. Take the money they'd spend on us, and get themselves something fabulous. And we'll do the same. I guess that doesn't comply with the spirit of giving. But neither does all the crazy gift-buying. I'll tell you what does, though. Hold on. Let me put my halo on and angel wings. Alright. Got 'em. So when I walked up to the mall entrance yesterday, this tiny old lady came out. As I was closing my umbrella, she said something to the effect of "Oh my" and then something about the weather. I asked her if she had an umbrella, and she said no - instead, she had one of those old lady plastic caps. (Where do they even get those??) Anyhow. I offered to walk her to her car, and she accepted. I was almost a head taller than her (which says a lot about how short she is), so I was practically falling over her trying to keep my umbrella over her. At first she couldn't remember where she parked, and then we finally found it - her nice, big, newish Lincoln Town Car parked across two spaces. Ha. Since she was heading back in the mall, I waited for her to put her stuff in her car. As we headed back in, she asked my name, which I told her, and then I asked for hers. She said her name was (I think) Martha West, after which she cracked a joke about writing the dictionary. Um. Maybe I'm not up to speed on my dictionary trivia, but I didn't get it. I laughed along with her, though, and then changed the subject back to the weather. After we got inside she thanked me and called me by my name, shaking my hand. During the walk when she commented on me getting wet helping her, I'd told her that I would want someone to do it for me, but really, I was thinking more that I'd have wanted someone to do it for my oma. :-)

The shopping trip and on into the evening were fairly uneventful, for which I'm grateful. Joe of course didn't get home until around 8 last night. He left at 5am and returned at 8pm. In the early evening, I had a bug guy come out and spray. We have to have a contract with someone reputable, per our lease (hey, who wants to have their property infested with roaches because of gross tenants?). Plus, we're having an ant problem, which I found to be a city-wide issue currently. Anyhow. This morning there were more ants. I dunno if it takes a day or two to kill them or what, but I'm tired of it and have taken to spraying ant poison in the kitchen. I'm sure we'll all turn up sick.

Oh I forgot to write about our Christmas gift, although I think everyone already knows. I consented, and we got the TV. Shit, we even got a blu ray player, for which we managed to get a deal. I must say - the blu ray player is so freaking clear that it actually made me a bit dizzy. It's like you're there it's so clear. Now all we need next is a sound system. I want a good one so I can get revenge on all my bassy neighbors. One day I drove past a neighbor playing Metallica (good music and the right amount of bass) as he worked in his garage, and I wanted to get out and hug him. Ah well.

Today I need to pack a few boxes to send out, and perhaps look more intently for a job. My rooms here are more or less straightened out, but I do need to find the proper home for everything. Also, we have an appropriate guest bedroom now, as we finally got our king-sized bed into our room, thus freeing up our queen for guests. The king is NICE. Love love love it! Definitely no buyer's remorse there. Next furniture piece: some sort of curio/china/hutch cabinet. Yes, yes.

Anyhow. Joe isn't coming home until around nine tonight, so I have the next ten hours to myself. Before I start out on everything I have to do, I want to share three final thoughts:

1. If you care enough to recycle, care enough to put the different types of materials in the proper recyclying bins. I watched a chick on base the other day dump a ton of tin cans into the aluminum slot. I almost came out of my skin, and it continued to bother me on the way home.

2. When I see this on a license plate: IMSTNIC, I apparently have a more cynical view of it's meaning, as I shouted "Oh my god; it says 'I'm satanic'." To which Joe replied, "No, I think it says, 'I'm St. Nic'." Guess you could say the holiday spirit goes a bit over my head.

3. When I see this on a license plate: SK8NNGA, I laugh. And so should you!

Isn't She a Beaut?

And on the third day, the Maxima had power again. And I was the one that gave it to her. Yeah, Monday we tried jumping the battery. On Tuesday, I disconnected everything and cleaned the terminals (that red crap on them in the picture is protective stuff). By Wednesday, I was told my seven year old battery was done, as I'd removed it myself and taken it to the auto store. In turn, I bought and installed a new battery. Without help. Or explosion.

Okay. Like half an hour has passed since I wrote that above because Joe got home. Dex heard him pull in the driveway and immediately began alerting. I love that he barks when he hears that sort of thing. Even though he's only 4 months and 30lbs, it does make me feel safer.

So yeah. I always think about a million things to blog about, but here I am. Can't really remember any of them.

I spent Monday and Tuesday not having a car, so I've been a home a lot this week, except for Wednesday when I had Joe's car until getting my own running again. Sheets for our new bed arrived today, and they're magical 500 TC Egyptian cotton. They feel really nice, and I'm excited to wash and use them. I know they'll be even softer after a wash. Also, a couple of Christmas gifts I ordered came in today. Walmart doesn't fuck around with mailing stuff. So yeah. Other than that, I've been experiencing a lot of mental illness about the rest of the bedding for our new bed. I want a down alternative comforter, but I want it with a good amount of overhang (so we're not playing tug of war with the covers) and not too warm that I sweat. I've been researching and researching and researching. Today I even went to the mall to do a recon mission. PS. Macy's has Barely There bras on sale for $12.99. That's more than half off. But anyway. And don't even get me started on duvet covers. I can't make up my mind on anything. Oh, and of course I'm trying to find the best deal with it all. I'm insane, and I just needed to share that here with all of you. Whew.

In other news, Dex indeed has a sandbox now. I think all of you have probably seen a pic by now. It's awesome. Also, it rained today, and I think he likes it even better now that the sand is wet. Better for digging, I'm sure. I love that dog. At first I thought we'd made a horrible mistake, but I LOVE HIM. He's been great this week while Joe's been working all odd hours. Speaking of Joe, time to pause again since he's out of the shower and wanting to show me all of his wounds for the day.

Well, it's Friday morning now. I just read the rest of my blog. After the part about the car battery it really goes downhill. Sorry. I gotta tell ya - it's probably not going to get much better. I just ate breakfast, and Dex literally just tossed his hoof into the base of the floor lamp. He managed to hit me in the head with one of his softer toys while I surfed the internet earlier in the week. Crazy as hell. Also this morning, I've been playing detective. The kitchen trash is full, like almost overflowing full. For some reason, it is usually me that empties it into the big trash, and it has literally been me all but one time to haul the trash and recycling to the curb for pick up. Anyway. This morning, I found a couple of oatmeal packets stuffed in the super full trash, and evidence on the stove that that's what Joe had for breakfast. Damn him. He saw how full it was and did nothing. Take two minutes to take it out. Pisses me off. Then I sat down to turn on the TV, and it's on the xbox 360 setting. Of course, one of his controllers was left out too. So if you have time to play xbox, by all means, play it because I know you need to unwind, but for the the love of god, help your wife out first by taking the trash out.

Also, I'm experiencing some [other] mental illness in the kitchen. See, I unpacked some china for Thanksgiving - we used them, and I washed them and set them in the drying rack. They're still there because I don't know what to do with them. I have no where to put them except for back in their storage bins. And that's just not what I want to do. Still, I have five pots/pans on the stove right now that need washed and set in the drying rack. Life is so hard.

Dex just had his head in the fire place.

Wow. Chippendales really are hot. But the dancing they do is really not. I'll bet they'd be a lot hotter if they were taking the trash out for their partners.

Oh my god. The back door is to be revolving today for Dex. In and out and in and out. I think I'm going nuts this morning.

So Joe has worked late the last three nights, and while he should be home on time today or even early, he has training all day tomorrow and next Saturday. Frick. Still, though, I think we really are going to get our Christmas tree tonight. We keep almost getting it, but tonight should be the night. We'll go ahead and pull out the other few decorations we have as well. It'll be fun. Just need to find some antlers to strap to Dexter. That reminds me of a comment Dad made about his mother during deer season. Anyway. Also, Joe wants to decorate the outside of the house with colored lights, which I am a-ok with. But. We don't own a ladder, and they're kind of expensive. Maybe he'll do some of his Army shit and fast rope down the front of the house while he strings the lights up. Although I guess he'd still need to get up there some how. What the hell am I talking about.

Katie Gots Things TO DO

Put this on the list of things I may not be able to do today: (see picture of me driving the Maxima)

Luckily, the awkward chewing of the gum shouldn't be a problem. Whew.

The story is this: When I tried to leave the house yesterday, I found my car battery to be dead due to an interior light left on in the car. I thought about calling USAA for roadside assistance, but then I figured I could just wait for Joe to come home, as it was my errands weren't really dire. I chilled at home, and after Joe came home and we ate dinner, we attempted to jump the car. I've jumped my car about a zillion times, but Joe hasn't. Nor has he seen me do it too often I guess. At one point out there, he was asking me if I'd ever done it before. I just stared at him and reminded him that while he was gone for a year I took care of this sort of thing by myself. Still, he pointed out all that I was doing wrong and questioned me excessively. So that sucked. Then the car wouldn't take charge. Like at all. Because the cable connection sucked. Finally after readjusting, all the lights came on, and the alarm went off. Yeah, and it was like after nine, and we'd already been out there yelling at each other. I couldn't get the alarm to shut off, but then the charge wouldn't take any other way. We tried it several times. That lead us to our next step of removing the anti-theft fuse. Extra steps suck in 30 degree sunless weather, especially when you don't know much about your fuses. Like where they all are and how to pop them out because the fuse remover is in a different location than your anti-theft fuse. Uggh. So anyway. We removed it, and then resumed the good charge. Everything worked this time (radio, lights, power windows and locks), except the car still wouldn't turn over. This happened over the summer at BGTM, but luckily for me, one of the handymen there had a tool to properly clean my battery connectors. After he worked his magic, the Max started right up. Um. But I don't have that tool. Instead, I dumped coca cola on it and scraped the crud off with a screwdriver. Still no dice. By that time, Joe became fully escalated and was tossing the f' word around like he was naming parts of the car. Lucky for our neighbor, some of this was going on when she was taking her trash to the curb. I think, especially after Dex's non-walking episodes in which I would drag him, that this car incident pretty much leaves us being the freaks of the neighborhood. Oh well I guess.

So last night ended with my car not starting, which means my car still won't start this morning. Joe works until 1 or 2 in the morning tonight (he left the house at 5:30 this morning), so he's not going to be of help, nor can I just use his car. I don't know any handymen here, or even a mechanic. I don't want to have to tow it to a mechanic anyway, when it seems likely they'll tell me it's my alternator. I want to go get one of those cleaner tools first or even a new battery before I get major work done. And that means I'm going to have to call Sarah and ask her to participate in driving Miss Katie. If nothing else, I need to drop my rent check off.

All of this makes me miss Rolla. When shit would go down with my car, my dad was always available to help - drive my car in or pick me up or whatever. He could be flexible with his work, and pretty well leave when he wanted/needed to. Not so much with Joe since they own him and have him on a shorter leash than even I do. Also, my mechanic in Rolla was pretty swell. He'd get me squared away with my car, give me a ride if I needed one, and one day even helped me figure out a tire warranty with Wal-Mart amidst me crying, etc. Dude. I miss home.

Well, I Feel Better. How 'Bout You?

I feel a lot better after yesterday's blog post. I wish I had written two separate posts, as it was my Christmas ramble overshadowed everything else, but oh well. Maybe it's weird to post personal stuff, but I've found that my blog is a way to work things out - to open up and let my friends weigh in on it and help see me through. It is my way of moving forward and getting on with my life. That's what writing the Christmas ramble was for me. I spent a long time writing it, trying to pick the right words with which to explain myself most tactfully and honestly, not trying to dump guilt and blame on my parents. I do still have some anger about things, especially now that I am married and settling. It seems until now I've been looking to start a new life and do my own things as an adult and with a partner. Since there's no more looking, and instead now having, it's given some time for unresolved issues to creep up. It's like I was running away from it all to start my adult life, and now that I have it, I'm not running anymore. And shit's catching up, you see?

However, the fact that I'm still working on stuff shouldn't negate the fact that I have experienced a lot and learned a great deal about life. And I'm definitely still learning. Aren't we all? Take the good with the bad. Keep your chin up when you can and when you can't, work it out the best way you know how. 'Nuff said.

And so what's today looking like? Pretty good, actually. The rain finally stopped; we have clear blue skies and cooler temps. It finally feels like holiday time. Woohoo. I need to continue to prep the house more for...well, everything: more Christmas decorations, actually setting up the two guest rooms, etc. Plus, since Joe went back to work (boo), I'm back to being home alone with tardo, so we'll have to go for a walk at some point. Also, though I'm a bit embarrassed, I have to tell you (or have I already?) that we bought Dex a small doggie pool and play sand. Yeah. He's digging up the damn yard, so I had the idea for a sandbox for him. I think I may put it together for him today and laugh at my own insanity. Maybe I'll make a cocktail while I sit out back and watch him [hopefully] go to town.

Tonight, if Joe gets home on time, we may go buy our tree It's pretty exciting, but we're gonna have to rearrange the hell out of our living room in order to fit the tree in here. Damn. I just remembered; our bed may be arriving today. Shit, and I gotta pay rent. I should probably end this and actually start doing stuff. And by doing stuff, I mean, make a coffee and continue to sit some more until I have such terrible caffeine jitters, that I just twitch right off the couch. Cheers!