Murphy’s Law

This law applies to firefighter’s wives when their husbands are on shift.  If anything can happen, it will.  When he’s home nothing goes wrong.

Things that have happened while hubby was on shift:

• Cat breaks leg
• Car gets flat tire
• Outlet leaks water
• Lightswitch leaks water
• Cat eats toy(s), diagnosed with PICA, eventually throws up said toys four days later
• Cat goes into shock after annual shots
• Sprinkler explodes, flooding front of house (interior)
• Undefined light comes on in dashboard in car
• Signatures for refinance are required
• I get sick

And there are many others.

I am so grateful that he is in a profession where he helps others, and it feeds his adrenaline junkie nature.  And I would by lying if I didn’t admit that I wish people would just stop setting things on fire and having heart attacks when shit happens at our house and I need him.

Ah, well.  C’est la vie.

Project: Leaky Lightswitch



Yep.  Lots of rain this week due to tropical storm, and we have water penetration.  There was a pre-existing condition that we thought was fixed.

I guess we didn’t fix it.

Life.

Today I went to lunch with a coworker who has become a friend.  We were engaged in great conversation and enjoying lunch.  By the time we left the restaurant, I realized I was taking life for granted.

Near the end of our lunch, the fire department came in with a gurney and as the restaurant fell silent everyone wondered what happened (as humans do).  It is truly amazing to see a room of people fall silent and then become concerned for another human being in unison.  It improves the perception of the human condition, for sure.

Hubby being a fire fighter, I texted him to ask if he knew what was going on.  When he texted back few moments later, I learned that there was a 70 year old man having a heart attack.  The fire department medics were working a code in that restaurant.  (We could not see what was going on because it was in a different part of the restaurant.)  For some reason this hit me like a ton of bricks.  This guy was out having lunch and was hit with a heart attack.  Whammo.

We left to get back to the office.  We both left with this man and his situation weighing heavily on us.  We hoped he was ok.  We hoped the people he was having lunch with are ok.

I assured my coworker that I knew he was in good hands because the fire department is well-equipped and I felt sure that man was in good hands.  And, that’s with my bias aside because my husband works for the department.  I know they’re good at what they do.  I trust that they did everything they could to help that man.

I don’t know for sure what the outcome of his situation will be.  I do know that I was taking life for granted today.  If everything happens for a reason, then that may be what I was supposed to learn from this man’s situation.

I don’t know who he is or even what he looks like, but he will remain in my thoughts.  Life is precious.

 

Our First Anniversary: Trip to Jamaica

This gallery contains 20 photos.

Originally, we were thinking we would take a cruise to the Caribbean to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.  A cruise was appealing because we could see several places and that all but drinks, excursions, and souvenirs would be included (of course we would fill our itinerary with excursions!).  While hubby was chatting about our plans […]

Update on the violets

I brought them to my mother for rescuing.  Her green thumbs have somehow missed me, as she has a fantastic way with plants.  She has revived orchids from the brink of death!

Immediately upon seeing them she told me I had over watered them.  Apparently the leaves were rotting?  Bah, whatever.

I hope she enjoys them.  🙂

My Roaring Twenties

A week ago, on May 26, I turned 30.  As this milestone birthday approached, I was initially a little frightened of it.  I didn’t want to have to say I was thirty…and later thirty-something.  I watched as many of my friends turned 30, and I was inspired by many who pledged to rock their thirties.  Then, I decided to do the same.  In fact, I realized after much introspection that I am 100% happy to have my twenties behind me.

I have taken some time to reflect on that decade of my life.

For starters, turning 20 was just “eh.”  I was beyond my teen years, but still not of a “respectable” age.  Meh.  Indifference.  Basically still a teen in college.

My 21st birthday was one of my more memorable ones.  My parents took me to Vegas, where I gambled and we saw shows.  I also went to Red Rock Canyon for the first time, which I believe changed me forever.  During this trip, even the last 20 minutes before going to the airport were memorable.  Here’s a brief summary:

Mom: Help me get rid of some of these dollar tokens.  (back in the day when they had tokens instead of tickets…I’m old, I know)
Me: No, I’m tired, just cash them out.
[Mom shoves the tokens into my hand and says “play” with that “mom” look in her eyes.]

I didn’t play dollar slot machines.  Pennies and nickles were my speed.  I was just learning.  Walked over to a machine and sunk in three coins (max bet).  clunk, clunk, clunk  I hit for $7 and thought that was pretty good…so I cashed out.  Still ready to go I looked over at my mom who signaled me to just play.  To the next machine.  I sunk in another max bet, and played for awhile actually hoping to just lose the money I had.  I sat there in a dumbfounded stupor (which isn’t hard to do after 10 days in Vegas) pressing the Max Bet button repeatedly.  The good news is the machine was letting me play…which is good. 

The next thing I knew, the Max Bet button stopped working.  I banged on it some more and nothing.  My mom looked over at me gasping.

Me: I broke it!!  Malfunction voids all play!  I lost all that money! [as my mother approaches my machine, I thought she was going to be upset]
Mom: No, hunny, you WON!!!  [as she laughs in excitement, shaking me]

We examined the payout thing at the top.  Yep, I won $2000 just before our cab pulled up.  All of the attendants and many of the staff came over to congratulate me, as they had become familiar with me during our stay. 

It’s an experience I’ll never forget.

At 22, I had a quarter-life crisis.  I’m not sure many folks know, but I had a near breakdown and a full on crisis.  I had too much going on, and learned in this year of my life that I truly, most certainly, cannot control everything.  I was working two jobs, graduating college, trying to get into grad school (what was I to do with a BS in Psychology), and going through a major breakup after four years, dealing with a PSYCHOTIC roommate who threatened to kill me resulting in anxiety attacks and charges filed for assault.  To top it off, my Nana died.  That crushed me.  In a nutshell, things were exactly opposite of how I had envisioned they would be at that age.  I thought I would be getting married…starting a life…and certainly believed my Nana would be there to see my college graduation AND my wedding.  I am what I call a recovering control freak since this year of my life.  Still wishing I could control things, but content in knowing some things are just beyond me.

At 25, I struggled with knowing I was a whole quarter-century old.  That was mind blowing to me.  Seems silly now…but it freaked me out.

After 25, things seemed to turn around.  I just let go and decided to “just do me.”  I didn’t need anyone.  Family was my foundation and that was all I needed.  I became independent, perhaps to a fault, as I worked to pay bills and make something of myself…and for no one but me.  I dated around.  I met lots of people, and learned many lessons.

At 27, I met the man who would become my husband.  He is the calm in my storm and I have no idea where I would be without him.  My family loves him and, despite saying he didn’t like cats, my cat has taken to him as the alpha male.  Yes, he stole my heart and my cat!  No worries – we got another one who is my shadow…an annoyance.  🙂  I asked for it.

Since then, wedding planning and buying a house have been our major milestones together.  Two levels of hell I wish to never experience again.  =)  I also made some conscious decisions to eliminate a few people from my life.  I determined that they were cancerous to me and that my friendships with them were very one-sided (meaning I was the only one putting in any effort and I was the one who could be relied on through thick and thin).  That’s ok.  It had to be done.

So…I’m actually really looking forward to my thirties and I am happy to see my twenties in my rear-view mirror.

Here’s to rockin’ my thirties!