Another Birthday Trip

      It’s my wife’s birthday today! We’re heading to Laughlin later this evening with my parents. It should be pretty fun. I’m not really into gambling that much, but I do like the excitement of being there. It’s fun to be in a different place, doing different things. I’m trying to knock this out quickly so I can get to all the little things I need to do before we leave. She packed last night, maybe I should have as well. But it takes me so long just to figure out what I’m going to wear. That’s not actually true, it’s a line from a song, that I’m too embarrassed to admit popped into my head at that very moment. But hey, we’re just going with the flow here. I’m kind of excited about our trip. Probably not as much as she is, but still, I’m looking forward to it. Lots of people love her. Her phone started going off with birthday messages starting around 6 am! She was thrilled. I heard her weeping a little. I was barely waking up, and asked if she was okay. She was just so touched by all the love that was being sent her way. It made her quite emotional. I’m glad she appreciates it. It really means a lot to her. One of the best things about her is how grateful she is. It’s easy to please her, that’s priceless. And it’s been that way since the beginning. When I first met her, it was like no one had ever been nice to her before, she was so appreciative of every little gesture. It hasn’t stopped. That is a blessing. It’s easier to be nice to someone who’s easy to please. It’s also a lot more fun to be nice to someone who truly appreciates it. I look forward to doing nice things for her. I hope that never ends. Which, I have to believe, probably won’t. It’s already been 21 years, that would be a long time to keep up an act, especially when the act is appreciation.

     I am happy to report that last week’s babysitting event went well. I was surprised how well it went. He only got fussy twice, and neither time was all that bad. While he was playing with a toy, we kind of made a curtain of bodies so he didn’t see his mom leave. He didn’t even seem to notice, or care that she was gone. Didn’t look around for her at all. That was a nice surprise. But still, a surprise. He was perfectly content, sitting there on the floor, playing with his building blocks. I had never seen him just sit and play. Usually there’s so much commotion going on, maybe it makes it tough to sit and play. Maybe he’d never been in a calm situation. His mom was thrilled to get the good report. She was gone 6 hours, and he had never been babysat before. I don’t think I was aware of that, but I knew it was possible, considering how much concern there already was. Pleasantly surprised. He went to bed around 8, and apparently made it all the way until 6 the next morning. According to his mother, he never sleeps that long. We must have the magic touch. It was kind of interesting too, our daughter decided to take the night off work to hang out with us and her cousin. At first I thought it was odd. Weekends are her money-making days. Plus, the only reason I was going over was to help my wife if she needed it. I decided to stay. I was already there. It was nice to hang out with my family. I went for pizza. It wasn’t that good. Which was a bit of a disappointment. I went to a place we had seen on DDD. It looked so good on the show. I was not impressed. That place is popular! I do not know why. Oh well, different strokes.

     This brings me to the topic I have been mulling over for the past week. Well, it’s come up before, but it’s been in my mind a lot more recently. I keep struggling with the idea of sharing too much personal information on this format. This is my life. This is what I’m going through, how I feel about it, and hopefully what I gain from it. Like, for example, what I just wrote about last weekend: since it’s a nice report, I don’t really feel bad about writing it. I’m happy to give the good news. But, after last week’s post, I kept having the feeling that I may have said too much. Perhaps airing someone else’s business. Part of this process, to me, is getting used to writing things that I wouldn’t care if people read. I intentionally don’t use people’s names, or anything, but still, if you know who I am, then you’d know who I’m telling you about. Sometimes I have the same issue when I write about band stuff. I have concern sometimes that if they did read what I had written, there’d be a problem. But, I honestly don’t think I’m writing anything bad, so I don’t know where the other feeling stems from. I’m allowed to have these feelings. I guess I don’t need to air them, but the whole point is to go over what I’m going through. I don’t know how I can explain what I’m going through without mentioning the things that are happening. And that’s what I kind of stick to when these thoughts arise. I’m not being mean to anyone. I’m not saying anything I think is untrue. And I don’t think I’m saying anything “bad” about anyone. However, we live in a world where everything is open to interpretation, and I am highly aware that for most people, perception is reality. In those cases, what I meant, is not necessarily as important to them as how it made them feel. So I’m stuck between trying to be authentic, and not hurting anyone’s feelings. Good luck.