Now I lay me down to sleep...

Every night is a rush to be the first one comfortably lying in bed. It's a game really, one that my husband and I play every night. He was the first one lying down comfortably, having left the bathroom light on. I studiously ignored both facts and hopped into bed right next to him. This game is sort of like the "you're closer so you turn it off" "NO, you're the last one in bed so YOU turn it off" game that many couples play. You guys don't??? Huh...Anyways. While lying down next to him, there was that pause where both of us are contemplating who would be the first one to comment on it. I decided to comment on something else, to see if my lovingly sweet husband would be the man that I married and get out of bed first.

"Honey, I need pain meds and my pill." I thought for sure he'd just hop right out of bed and get those for me. Here is what he replies.

"I need antacids and a movie to be put on..." Yeah, we're THAT old! It seemed to happen over night. We both heartily laughed about those facts, then I hopped out of bed to get pain meds for my headache,  my pill, and also his antacids. While I was in the bathroom getting the products, he says nonchalantly...

"I don't really need antacids, I was just kidding." Har D Har Har. You got me honey. So I got the meds for myself alone, silently grumbling, and I turned the light off, and put a movie on, but then I noticed my water bottle was gone from the side of the bed!!! HA! I was to have the last laugh.

"Honey, I can't take my pill."

"Why  not?"

"My water is in the living room and it needs to be refilled (sigh and pout) I guess I'll go...." (pause, pouting even harder) He sighs, then shifts into the man I fell in love with.

"I'll go get it" he says. What a good man. I climb into bed, just a tiny bit smug, and wait for the most amazing man to join me. I win. :)

That was a bit...Awkward

Don't you love awkward moments? Don't you love awkward moments even more when you don't realize it's an awkward moment til it gets even more awkward? Don't you love the way awkward is spelled? (Can you tell I love the word awkward? Yeah? Ok, just making sure)

Well, I hate to admit it, but I am a pro at awkward moments. Not the cool pro that breezes over it, smoothes it over, makes it fun, and moves on. No no no, I'm definitely not that kind of pro. I'm more the pro at being completely ignorant of an awkward moment, and only when I analyze the moment later do I realize what it was and smack myself in the head and grunt. Yeah, I'm that pro.

Well recently, I went with my friend to McDonalds to eat, completely forgetting how much she said she hated the specific McD's that I chose. In my defense I chose it because of its closeness to our proximity. She is the type of person that will drive fifteen minutes out of her way to go to a different place for its better service, and I'm the lazy bloke that just chooses by ease of use and time efficiency. In this place, I'm a dying breed, also known as lower class. But I digress.

The kids were playing together in the McD's (not in a playplace, mind you, for the powers that be have decided that no McD's in our location should have playplaces anymore, lest the children want to run around and burn off the fryer grease and fat, heaven forbid!!), being loud and obnoxious as kids are want to do. I was not minding it, because they were getting along and for the most part behaving. I did not notice that my compadre was starting to clam up and become annoyed. I continued to chat with her, and make small talk, noticing that she was quieter than usual, but not thinking anything of it. Perhaps I shrugged it off as hunger, since the men in my life certainly get cranky when they are hungry. I may have thought her tight lipped expression was because the kids were being loud, and she continually had to shush them and make them sit down. When I made a joke about the McD's toys and her snappy one word answer was all I received, I started to get clued in that something was not right. When she had to go get ketchup because her daughter refused to eat her fries without it and had to wait in line for ten minutes, and came storming back to her table, I began to understand that maybe this was not a good idea having lunch here. Yes, I know, I'm slow.

She didn't say anything to me for the rest of the time, and I began to feel that itch of uncomfortableness sitting on my shoulders, like a metaphorical parrot saying the same thing over and over again "awwwwkwwwward." It became really apparent when her son asked if G and I could go over to her house afterwards, and she told him they had to go to the store, instead of an answer. She became even more stiff when he kept persisting that we go over after the store, and she didn't answer. It was all I needed to understand that our time of hanging out together was done. I told him sorry that we too had things to do, and we all left after saying our goodbyes.

I know, I know, that's not such a bad awkward experience, but its one of the most recent ones. Trust me, they are abundant in my life. Thankfully, despite my awkwardness in social settings, and my inability to respond in a smooth manner to things life throws at me, I still am able to plunder on and make friends. Those that know me, don't mind this part of me. In fact, they seem to like me even more, and that makes me less awkward. I believe those that surround me somehow make me a better version of myself, and I appreciate them all for it.

Hello...is it me you're looking for?

So I've been thinking, and it seems to me that Mike and I have not been on a date in many many months, and we haven't had a vacation where it was just the two of us since B.C. (before child). How had we let this happen? How did we not notice that we have never once been alone together for longer than a few hours, or a night at the most? I blame our everyday lives. His life is consumed with work, his commute to/from work, and video games. (Okay, Okay, I'll admit it, I too play the games). My life is consumed with a cranky 6 year old, house work that NEVER seems to stay done (vicious evil cycle), and working out to try and get my arse back into shape (which kind of reminds me of the house work...huh). But since we've been apart these past few weeks, and we've had a bit of a tough time with it, I'm thinking perhaps we need some just us time. What the heck will we talk about if its just us and no little guy following us? What will we do? Where will we go? I'm not really sure, but I can tell you, I'll be glad to find out.

Oh to be a pie...

So I keep calling places and making appointmentss. One for G's dentist, another for my yearly (ugh, TMI, i know), another to get lead test results, and lastly looking up one concerning a H1N1 vaccine. Then I have to go to the store, return the wrong toilet bowl cleaners i purchased yesterday, and get the right ones, then off to an automotive shop to recycle my old car battery. All this with my 5 year old in tow! Today is no school, for teacher's meetings and what not...wonder what they do all day? Perhaps they need a day off from kids as well. ;)

So I'm busy today. Going to get all my writing done, going to work on running (if G will let me), and have to have all my household activities accomplished well before Mike arrives home. Same stuff, different day, with added chores. Bah.

So what is the randomness of me today? Beer. I'm looking forward to beer tonight. It's my way of celebrating surviving another week in order to enjoy one more weekend. This weekend looks forward to possible snow, freezing weather, and still no heat. So I must bake, bake, bake, to keep the house warm. This weekend's recipe: Apple Tart. I have no idea what the difference is between a tart and a pie, but I think its that tarts have chunks of apples and slices of apples wrapped in a crust, where as a pie sits on top of the crust, with another layer on top...I'll look it up...let's see what the world wide web says it is: AHHH, i see (says the blind man to his deaf dog)...very interesting. Here, I'll post the link so you can read it too, if you'd like http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/best-pie-bakeoff-2008/pie-vs-tart-whats-the-difference-068710.

Anywho, off to be productive! Maybe I'll find a million dollar lottery ticket on the floor today! Or at the very least, and 5 dollar bill on the ground somehwere. That would make for a nice day!

Another quacky metaphor...

Ugh, it's such a bummer to try so hard to make friends. You'd think it would just occur and be easy. Lots of people I know make it look like nothin, then I go and try it and it just seems to fail. Oh well, perhaps I smell funny and no one wants to tell me. Or maybe it's because I expect something to happen right away. Maybe some friendships are like flowers and bloom slowly depending on the season of life, and others are like Falling stars, they happen quickly and overnight and stay with you for a lifetime. I like the falling stars best. Some of my very best friends are falling stars. But sad to say, my garden is quite bare.

Married Woman seeking...FRIENDS

An intelligent and beautiful friend of mine once pointed out that making new friends is similar to dating...and ugh, it really is like dating all over again...except you're not looking for a partner, you're looking for friends! haha

I've been putting myself out on these websites around this area hoping to meet people I can connect with, and I finally got the proverbial "bite." Turns out, I've seen her everday since G's school started, but we've never spoken til she recognized me from the forums we both frequent. So I try to dress casual, like I'm NOT trying to make an impression, but I really am, and I try to think of things to talk about. It's really nerve racking with all these thoughts running through my head, like "What should I say? What do I talk about? Should I ask for her number? Should I see if she ever wants to hang out, outside of picking our kids up?" So I just go with the flow. She was nice. She's lived here her whole life, so she doesn't have the same background I have. We have a nice time talking, but already there is so much different between us. She owns a house here, she's on the upper middle class (we're lower middle), she was born and raised here so all of her family and friends are from here...but despite all this I'm still going to try. I may not fit in, being the military spouse who moves a lot on a limited income, but I won't let that deter me from trying to make friends...At this point, at least I have an acquaintance for now. We'll see what happens in this "friendship dating."

Commercials to save the...(insert fundraiser)

You know the ones...they show you something horribly attrocious, squeeze tears out of your eyeballs, then give you hope, ONLY if you help by sending (name the price) each month! YOU CAN BE SOMEONE'S HERO!!!

Then the guilt sets in when you realize you should help, but you're not going to for whatever reason (i.e. tight income, lazy, broke, busy, etc, etc). But still, that guilt eats at you, especially when you see the crying child, or the starving dog, or the sad music with the american flag and/or the coffin...I'm happy to know that someone is out there fighting for whatever cause this is, but I whole heartedly agree with Dane Cook, we need people to kick our "*sses" into gear. Have that one guy in a biker jacket come out yelling at us, calling us lazy, telling us it's only "ten cents a day, a *&%#ing dime!" That guy would probably convince us to help more often than the sad music and depressed looking animals. Or maybe it wouldn't. Either way, now I need to go scrounge around and dump all my change into a "save the universe" fund somewhere. Or maybe I'll buy a bum a cheeseburger. Anything to satisfy this guilt...until the next commercial that makes me cry.