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| Me and my sweetheart... New Orleans 12/17 |
My week with Marvin was a bit different than usual. Softball was postponed so he picked up an extra night hosting trivia on Tuesday night. I was able to go with him and y'all... he does such a great job! It was my first time going with him because it is a lot of sitting for me. I didn't really know what to expect and went alone (well, alone with him but he was on stage and I was sitting at a table by myself). I, of course, had my phone to keep me company and worked on some blogging and other things. I didn't play the game because it was just me and... I'm only so-so and I wasn't sure if it was kosher since I was with the host and... all that... but I did enjoy being there and chatted with a few people who were playing. The food was awesome... the venue was sort of loud and there were a few drunks who were giving my guy a hard time which I did NOT appreciate. He's used to it and just ignored them. Usually Tuesday night date night includes a softball game or two (for him while I watch) and/or dinner. Going to trivia was like softball without the dirt and with food. It was a little rough on my back and I crashed as soon as we got home but... still really glad to go with him. I would totally go again, especially if I could convince a friend or two to tag along with me.
Sidebar: IF YOU ENJOY TRIVIA... I'm playing an online trivia game called HQ. Games are played at 3pm and 9pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday they play at 9pm but don't play the afternoon game. They ask a series of multiple choice questions and you have 10 seconds to pick your answer. If you get all the questions correct you win... the prize is usually $5000 but that pot is divided between all the people who win. Occasionally they do games with a larger prize amount. I think the most they've done is $250,000. Sometimes they play until there's only one winner. It varies. Today they did this thing where you could see your friends' answers - which would have helped me immensely because I only missed one question and it was a sports question so Marvin would have almost certainly known the answer. You can play by downloading the HQ app. Enter my name as your referral and I will get an extra life (it will make sense when you play). My screen name is just my real name - heathergant . Then you can friend me on there and whenever they do the special "friends games" like today, we can help each other out. More often than not, Marvin and I play together so if I'm sharing my answers, I'm sharing HIS answers and he is GOOD with trivia!
Anyways... back to my week. On Wednesday, Marvin usually just hosts trivia in the evening and has the whole day free for us but this week he pulled an extra shift delivering pizzas during the day. Obviously, I was bummed not to have as much time with him but I will still take a day in the cool, quiet of his nest over my noisier, busier nest. It feels like a vacation to be curled up in his bed, even when he's not with me. And the bonus of being here, even when he's working is that he comes home eventually and we get to have some quality time together, even if it's not quantity time together. Here's the thing... I'm never gonna get upset with him for working. He's a hardworking man. That's just who he is. I respect the heck out of his work ethic. We make it work when he has to work, plain and simple. He brought me breakfast in bed before he left for work... He brought me dinner in bed before he left for work in the evening and I had my usual Wednesday night spa night with a nice soak in his big bathtub while he was gone. I feel so spoiled when I'm at his place.
Disclaimer: I joke with him that I'm hesitant to brag on him too much because I don't want to make him look TOO attractive to someone who might want to steal him away from me. I should probably list a few of his faults here so that I don't face any competition... but honestly, whatever shortcomings he may have are just between us and I'm hoping he'll return the favor. He could probably complain that I just lay around in his bed all day while he's working... ha! But I'm also gonna keep the BEST stuff private just in case. *wink*
Another disclaimer: this is why this whole part-time gig is working for us. I'm pretty sure he'd get sick and tired of my broke down self lounging in his bed 24/7 and honestly... the fun of being in his space would get old if it was the only thing I ever did. I like the balance we have ... a little bit of my world with my White County family, my kitty cat and the rotten little dog. I like being a small town girl and I love living on the lake and keeping close tabs on Pop and Austin and Cosy. At the end of the day I'm still an introvert and I have to isolate myself a bit to recharge my batteries. We're old dogs and as much fun as it is to be together, being apart some every week just works for us. We talk every day, several times a day so I feel like we're always in touch. If something happens good or bad, he's the first one I tell. I say all of this just to say I spent a lot of years avoiding any relationship at all because I know that I'm a lot to handle. When one partner has to have mandatory down time just to function, it can really drag you both down. I just never wanted to drag anyone else down. If you're intentionally isolating yourself because you feel like you don't have enough to offer someone else, maybe you just need to think outside the box. I don't know if this will reach a point where it no longer works but I don't let the fear of that possibility steal the joy I have in this season of life. And the bonus for him is... if you're not feeling good or want to have a lazy day, I'm your huckleberry! Nobody excels at resting more than me.
Tuesday night we finished watching Evil Genius on Netflix. It's the story of the pizza deliveryman who had a bomb strapped around his neck when he robbed a bank in 2003 in Erie, Pennsylvania. This show digs into whether the guy was a participant in the crime or a victim. It's really interesting! Then we started watching a show called, Safe, staring Michael C Hall (from Dexter) about his teenage daughter going missing. We had two episodes left when I left his house yesterday and I was going to wait until next week to watch the rest with him but he said I could go ahead and finish it. IT IS SO GOOD! Safe has so many twists and turns your head will spin!
Thursday was my mom's youngest brother, John's funeral. It was held in Okeechobee, Florida, too far of a trip for me and Pop to make although we were certainly with the family in thoughts and prayers. Uncle John was such a character! One of my earliest memories of him was going to the grocery store with him when I was maybe 8 years old. He was an egg farmer. He asked if I knew how to tell if an egg was fresh (obviously, I didn't) and he took one out of the carton and dropped it on the floor letting it do what raw eggs do when you drop them. It was so funny / shocking / crazy... I'm not sure I ever got the point but it was definitely memorable.
He was such a Godly man and devoted so much of his life to helping others. He suffered from the after effects of Agent Orange from his service in Viet Nam and ultimately, that is what cost him his life. Mama always loved John dearly. John had three sons, one of whom I've become closer to over the past few years. I have literally dozens of first cousins... so many first cousins once or twice removed... countless second cousins... and I'm in touch with many through the magic of Social Media. I have several cousins who have lost a parent in the past few years and my heart breaks for them to walk that path of grief, so I am particularly sad for my cousin Jason to go through this. We believe that we will be reunited as a family one day in Heaven and that hope sustains us, of course. You just miss 'em, you know? John's last visit up here... we knew was probably his last visit. Mama was not well either, so we knew it was probably their last time together on this earth. They fished... and had a decent catch... and fried 'em up... and those are memories I will cherish. We will probably catch more fish from our lake and we may even cook them but they won't ever taste the same.
Thursday Marvin slept late and then we went out for brunch at Waffle House. I'm not sure you can consider Waffle House "brunch" but we had breakfast at noon so... there's that. I needed to pick up a few things at Walmart so we shopped together and then went back home to "Netflix and chill" some more. Yes, I know what it means. All too soon it was time for me to head back home. I was really dragging so I sent Austin out to pick up dinner. OH MY GEEEEEE how much do I love that Austin can drive? It's the best thing ever!
This morning I set my alarm for 6:30 so that I could do a food shop before Austin went to work. I'm set for the weekend. I don't HAVE to leave my house again until... well, until next Wednesday when I have a doctor's appointment. My blood pressure was pretty high today so I definitely need to take it easy. They added a new blood pressure med for me a month ago and apparently, it's still not enough.
Today I finished watching Safe, I watched Mamma Mia and I've watched a few random documentaries. I completely forgot to post this blog until just now even though most of it was already written. I hope you had a great week and I hope you have a fun/peaceful/restful holiday weekend (except for Wendy in Oz because... well, it's not a holiday for you but I hope you have a good weekend anyways!) Love and hugs, y'all!
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