Whoopee.

(This has nothing to do with the post really, but how adorable is that?!?!)

So about three weeks ago C played a game and came home complaining about his ribs.  Seriously, these boys get more bumps and bruises than anyone I know.  The trainers told him it was just cartilage bruising and that it would just heal over time.  His defensive coach told him that if he needed to, he could take a week off and take a break.  Coach knows the guys are just getting beat up and they haven’t had a break.

Two weeks ago C played another game and was hit in the same spot. With the amount of pain he was in, he knew it wasn’t just cartilage. You couldn’t even brush the spot without him yelping.  Going over bumps or turning corners in the car were terrible. So, he demanded an x-ray.  I’m glad he did.  He had a rib that was broken into three pieces.

After finding that out, he told me he wasn’t going to play the following weekend (this past weekend), which I thought was awesome. He needed the break so bad. He continued to go to practice to support the guys, but didn’t really participate. 

That is, until he came home 2 days later and told me that the trainers had some sort of metal contraption they called a flak jacket for him to wear during games. If you know sports, Michael Vick of the Eagles wore one of these last year. It’s a big metal piece that hooks to his shoulder pads and goes all around his torso creating a space barrier so his ribs won’t be hit. Ugh.

He used the flak jacket during practice one day and was pretty confident in it so he decided to play last weekend. He told me that he wasn’t going to play much and only if they really needed him.

Now, here is something to note.  This weekend the team is playing in Philadelphia. C’s family lives in southern Maryland, so they are all making the 2ish hour drive to come see him play, about 40 people in total.  I have yet to meet his family, so back in March I bought a $400 *non-refundable* plane ticket to Philly so I could see him play and meet his family.  My brother, who is in the Navy and living in upstate New York, had plans to drive down as well.

Any clue on what happens yet?

C played in the game last weekend.  The whole game. As in EVERY. SINGLE. DOWN. No breaks what-so-ever. In case you were wondering, the team was up 42-6 at half time, so obviously they didn’t need him. He just did it because he is a guy and he is invincible right? I sat there in the stands getting increasingly frustrated.

Guess what?

He’s NOT invincible.  In the beginning of the 4^th quarter….he BROKE  his wrist. Um yeah. Well, the bones aren’t technically broken, but a bone on the side of his wrist was sticking out and they had to dislocate his wrist to get it back into place. Lovely.

C has been going to doctors and MRI’s all week and yesterday we were told he has surgery scheduled for Friday afternoon. He has two torn tendons that need to be re-attached and the bone that was sticking out will need to be screwed into place so it stays put.

Needless to say the whole trip is cancelled. I don’t get to see my brother. He doesn’t get to see his family.  I don’t get to meet his family. I wasted $400. He is out for 3+ weeks (which really, isn’t bad considering).

I don’t know whether to scream or cry.  

I told him repeatedly that he has so much riding on this game.  There’s just no convincing these sports guys!

Thankfully I have this Friday and Monday off.  I’m just not doing anything close to what I had planned. Instead of vacationing and seeing family and meeting new friends, I will be playing nurse.

Whoopee.

Fail

You guys, I tried really hard but I clearly failed at the whole blog every day in May thing. 

I am just not cut out for blogging EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

After a while it just felt like it was a chore.  I felt like I wasn’t writing anything that was quality, I was just writing to say I did it.

I think I did a really good job though.  I posted 23 times in May! Compare that to six times in April, four times in March, four in February and three in January and I’d say I kicked butt!!

Last weekend things got a little hectic and they keep gaining momentum (I’ll write soon about it), so I just decided I was going to stop.

Maybe I’ll pick up the post topics I missed some day and write about them….or maybe then again I won’t J

In Her Grip

Day 25: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad)

My ex-best friend, who I wrote about here and here, would always say horrible things to me.  She would tell me that I am selfish, that I think I am better than others, that I’m mean, that I only think of myself, that I’m rude….I mean I could go on and on about the terrible things she told me.  And you know what, for a while, I believed her. I would constantly question myself.  I would ask other friends if they thought this way about me. I would get so hurt.

But the more I thought about it, I knew she was just saying those things to get to me. They were her way of fighting. Yes, I’m selfish sometimes. Every human being on the planet is!  But that is not a major character trait of mine. I am not a perpetually selfish person.  I know that I’m not rude or mean.  I know that I think of others.

I sometimes still question myself, but after being caught in her grip for so long.  After a year and a half, it makes me so sad that I still do.  But I'm getting better. 

Just because one person says terrible things about you doesn't mean they are true.

Cupcakes, Calories and Other Things

Day 23: Things you've learned that school won't teach you

(Of course they always do this after you eat said cupcakes)

Don't Wake the Baby

This will make more sense if you keep reading!

Day 22: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel

Ok, how hard is it to be quiet when your significant other is sleeping and you have to get up early or you get in late? Apparently for C it’s impossible. I just don’t get it. 

Whenever he has days off and I still work, I get out of bed quietly (ok he does hear my alarm), trudge to the bathroom and shut the door quietly.  I do not slam it. Once I am finished getting ready, I turn the light off, open the bedroom door (quietly) and head to the closet.  I GO IN the closet and shut the door, then turn on the light and pick out my clothes for the day. Once I am all ready, I kiss him goodbye and I leave.

When C leaves before me?  He turns on all the lights, shuts the bathroom door loudly, slams his dresser drawers, you name it.  It’s so frustrating!  Sometimes he has to leave at 4 in the morning for away games!

Don’t even get me started about when he comes home from hanging out with the guys on nights he has the next day off (but I don’t).  He comes in tipsy (ok maybe more than that) making a ton of noise. He almost ALWAYS has to cook a feast at some ungodly hour after drinking. He slams all the kitchen cabinets in the process and sometimes even starts the washing machine, dryer or dishwasher. Our place is a tiny one bedroom at this point. You can hear those things in every part of the house!

The other day after we had spent some time BBQ-ing with the guys at the complex, I had to go home since I had work the next morning. C didn’t, so he stayed out with the guys. Like a gentleman he walked me home and knowing he’d had a few drinks I thought we’d play a game.  I said let’s pretend we have a two month old baby and if you are loud, you wake him up and you have to take care of him all night. He went with it.  We slowly and quietly opened the doors, we whispered, and we tip-toed around the apartment.  Then he got the genius (read: drunken) idea that I should write “Don’t wake the baby!” on his hands. He grabbed a permanent marker and handed to me.  Obviously I had to comply with his request! I wrote it on both hands, facing different ways on each hand.  Then I sent him on his way to hang out with his friends some more.

 

You know what? 

IT WORKED!!!!

 

Looking Back

Day 21: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives

Hmmm I like this topic!  But....I haven't been writing that long so I don't have a ton to choose from :)

Who Need's Pinterest? - I am so proud of this headboard I made, without any help!

The Box Under My Bed - No explaination needed! 

Happiness Is - A big long list of my happy things!

Explaining the Sleepy - The post expains the "sleepy" part of my blog name!

Cautiously Optimistic - The first post I wrote about C :)
Eight Letters - About the first time C told me he loved me

Jumping Hurdles - This one is deep. It shares a big, uncomfortable life event for C and I.

Dealing With It - A follow up to Jumping Hurdles. I'd love your advice....



Real Talk

Day 20: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.

Patience. I am definitely struggling with patience. And jealousy.

(This is probably not going to make me sound like a nice person at all, but its how I feel)

So as I have written, C and I have talked a lot about getting married (for almost a year now). He’s been telling me he wants to propose almost just as long. But obviously, he hasn’t, or you would definitely know about it.  We’ve been ring shopping, but it didn’t go any further than that. We’ve talked about getting married before the end of the year and certainly before his season starts again next year in March.  Clearly we can’t do that if he doesn’t propose.

I am trying my best to be patient.  I know these things take time and rings aren’t a fly by the seat of your pants kind of purchase.  I understand all that.  By why keep telling me you are going to do it, then not following through?

One of C’s teammates got engaged this weekend.  They found out they were pregnant about a month ago (unplanned).  I can tell you with about 99% certainty that they were not thinking of getting married before they found out that little bit of news. She hadn’t even decided if she was going to move here full time yet.  I’m sorry, but I am totally jealous.  I have been waiting for months and they have an oops and now she get what I’ve so desperately wanted? Green-Eyed monster over here.   Funny, took him less than a month to decide on marriage and purchase a ring.

Wow. I know I sound terrible.  For some reason though, I just can’t help it.  I want to spend forever with C. I want to start our life together. I want to start a family together. From what he says, he wants that too. But it just isn’t going to happen with empty promises. I know when he does propose it will be amazing and I will forget I ever felt this way. For now though, I am running thin on patience and getting super jealous of everyone who “goes before.”

How do I calm down and just let it happen?  How do I tame the green-eyed monster?!?

Going Out to Play

Day 18: Tell a story from your childhood.

When I as a kid I was a big sleepwalker. Of course, I don't remember it at all, but that's what my parents say. I do remember waking up in super strange positions though. 

Once, I fell asleep on the toilet.  I remember my mom waking me up. Um? Embarrassing!

Once I fell asleep only half on my bed.  You see, I had a pretty tall bed. To get onto it as a child, I had to do sort of a climb.  It must have been exhausting that night after a trip back from the bathroom (I’m assuming) because I fell asleep with one leg bent up on the bed, one leg standing on the ground, and my body hunched up over the side of the bed. Comfy? Must have been!

Once I fell asleep standing up in the middle of my bed with my arm outstretched over my head. Apparently I was trying to be a rock star.  Or possibly trying to pull the string to turn off my fan. Either way, it was just too much for me so I fell asleep right in the middle of whatever action I was doing!

My favorite story as a kid though is a sleepwalking story.  I was 5, which is probably why I don’t remember it.  Thankfully, when I was younger, my parents had an alarm on the house.  One night around 2am it went off.  My parents rushed out to see me cheerfully walking out the door (albeit completely asleep).  They freak out and say “Justine, what are you doing?”  My reply???

“Bye mom, I’m going out to play!”

Happy Saturday!

My Modeling Days

Day 17: A favorite photo of yourself and why

I just thought I'd show you a few pictures from back in my modeling days. It's so cool to get your hair and makeup done and become someone else for a little while.  I did a lot of bridal modeling, I guess I just had the look for it.  Sweet, innocent, girl next door.  It was awesome to be able to put all sorts of wedding dressed on! I had several fake husbands over the years.  One I even had for multiple shoots! Modeling was something I just did for fun. I never planned to be the next Heidi Klum, I just loved the whole process of it :) Maybe if I show C some of these pictures he will get excited to see me in a wedding dress?

Life in General

Day 16: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

I kept looking at this topic, thinking about what to write.  I can honestly say that I don't think I've had anything difficult to overcome in my life.  I mean yes, I've lost loved ones, but not any very close to me. I've struggled with things, like money, but that was my own darn fault.  I've had my heart broken, but so has every one else. I've had a pretty great life so far and I am happy that I can say that.

Creature of Habit

Day 15: A Day in the life

All right people here it is....my life is so interesting!

6:40am...................C’s alarm goes off and gets out of bed, I go back to sleep

6:50 am..................My alarm goes off, I hit snooze and go back to sleep

7:00am...................C leaves and kisses me goodbye, I go back to sleep

7:10 – 7:40am........My alarm goes off every ten minute, I hit snooze and go back to sleep

7:50am...................I finally get out of bed

7:50 – 8:20am........I get ready for work, my cat October spends majority of the time on the bathroom counter with me

8:45ish – 5:30ish...Work, drink iced tea, play around on the internet, work, eat, work, blog, work, play around on the internet, work

6:00pm...................Depending on the day C and I do different things, Mondays we work out and then make dinner together, Tuesdays are 60 cent Wing Nights at Buffalo Wild Wings (he gets a free meal there so it’s super cheap for us to eat!), Wednesdays are grocery shopping and ordering a Papa John’s pizza (again, he gets a free one each week), Thursdays for the next 8 weeks are filled with peddling sodas), Fridays either he is traveling for an away game or we do a date night.

9:00pm..................We cuddle in bed watching TV and or movies.  We are currently making our way through the True Blood series.

10:30ish.................I ask C to mute the TV, he puts his head phones on and I put my eye mask on and I roll over and pass out.

This is 5 days a week. We are definitely creatures of habit!

Happies

Day 14: Ten things that make you really happy

The beach, right where the water and the sand meet.

Disneyland.

A park swing.

The dancing water fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

Nose and forehead kisses.

Cookie Dough. 

Stargazer lily’s.

Dryer’s mocha almond fudge ice cream.

Sleeping in.

Bacon.

The first four are my ultimate "happy places."  They have been for years. You will never find me in one of those places without a huge smile on my face.  I could spend hours upon hours at all of them. I have gone to the first three with C, one left to visit!

Dear Gym, I'm Sorry but.....

I HATE YOU.


(Day 13: Issue a public apology.)

Yeah that's right.  I b,ig bold, capital letters, just plain don't like you. 

I can't even explain why, I just know that my hatred for you is strong. It could be that I don't like to sweat and you make that happen.  It could be that I don't like going to you alone and majority of the time I have to.  I could even be that seeing the bright blue pool from inside your windows just makes me angry.

That being said, I'm sorry.  I'm sorry that I hate you so much. I'm sorry that I don't ever want to come visit you.  I'm sorry that I make every excuse in the book to not have to see you.

I will try harder.  I want this to work, I really do. Maybe we could compromise? Somehow?

For You, Not Them

Day 12: What do you miss?

You know what I miss?

Bubble Tape!

 The title is one of their marketing slogans from the 90's :)

A full 6 feet of yummy bubble goodness all for me?!

But I don't miss just any Bubble Tape, I miss the kind that they had way back in the day in the flat can where you can just take the lid off. I wish I could find a picture of that one!

Is it weird that I miss gum?  Maybe it’s because that specific kind reminds me of my childhood.

You know what else is weird?  I really miss the grape flavored one.  I don’t like grape ANYTHING, but man, that grape Bubble Tape was tasty!

What childhood candy do you miss??

P.S. I still have one of those old Bubble Tape cans.  I put hair pins in it.  It's great for traveling!



Ten Words

Day 11: Sell yourself in 10 words or less

Creative.

Frugal.

Loving.

Dependable.

Crafty.

Listener.

Supportive.

Giver.

Cuddler.

Planner.



Locker Rooms

Day 10: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill. 

Gosh, its hard to think of a really embarrassing moment!!  I guess that is a good thing right? 

The only one that comes to mind happened in high school.

I was walking to gym class and went into the building where the locker rooms were to change into my “uniform”.  I was minding my own business (probably playing that snake game on my awesome Nokia phone that was so popular in 1998) and walked into the girls locker room.  Now, there was a set of double doors that lead into a long hallway and then another set of double doors that actually go into the locker room itself.  I guess maybe it’s to keep intruders out? I walk down the hall and open the second set of double doors…..

And lo and behold I am in the men's locker room.  FULL. OF. MEN. CHANGING. I freaked out and turned so quickly that I don’t think I saw anything, I was just too embarrassed to even notice.  I ran back down that hallway so darn fast and into the safe haven of the girls locker room praying that no one saw me. 

I still wonder to this day if anyone did. Eek.

P.S. Isn’t this just the epitome of high school embarrassing stories!?!

P.P.S. I'm sure I have some stories that are even more embarrassing, but I honestly can't think of any. I mean, I have to right? This could not be the worst.  But maybe at the time it was and so it has stuck with me all of my life. I swear I am not holding out on you guys with a better, more embarrassing story!

Do You Call it Soda or Pop?

Day 9: A moment in your day

Ok so technically I missed yesterdays post.....but I had a good reason! I actually got off of work early and went straight to meet C.  Then we headed off to do this:

Yep,  that is a truck full of 1500 sodas. Yeah, I call it soda :)

For many years I have done promotional jobs on the side.  It's usually great pay and pretty easy work, so when I find the time, I do them.  I got C invloved with this one too.  For the next 8 weeks, every thursday, we are tasked with driving around the city handing out complimentary samples of Sunkist TEN, 7UP TEN, A&W TEN, and Canada Dry TEN (the TEN means they have just ten calories).

It's easy work, good pay and we basically just get to hang out together and drive a truck for 6 hours!

Opposite Sleeping Habits?

Day 8: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

Do you live with your significant other? Share a room with a sibling? Shack up with your hubby? 

Let me ask you something, are your TV watching and sleeping habits the same?  My guess is they aren’t!

For C and I, he can’t fall asleep WITHOUT the tv on (he loves the background noise) and I can’t fall asleep WITH it on (I need absolute quiet).  This is a big problem right?  Not so much after I figured out a solution!

My advice….go out and buy a pair of wireless headphones! 

They are seriously my favorite purchase of 2012. For $40 from Radio Shack, they are simply amazing.  C can keep the TV on all night long and stay up as late as he wants with those darn things on his head.  As for me, I can go to sleep as early as I want and get some peace and quiet! I can’t say enough about how awesome these things are. 

Aisles

Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of

Ok, let’s get real for a second.  My father has cancer. Actually, he has two different kinds of cancer.  He has skin cancer (but not the bad kind, phew) and prostate cancer.  In the past year and a half he has been through a lot, including 9 weeks of radiation while still working a full time job. It seems as if radiation has done its job, but it’s a long process to make sure. You have to wait months and months after the actual treatment to be sure. That’s where we are….just waiting.

When I first found out, besides being worried about the obvious, I thought about how much it meant to me that my father be able to walk me down the aisle when I got married someday.  One of my biggest fears is that he won’t be around to walk me down the aisle.

We found out about his cancer sometime in 2011, so my fears have subsided a bit.  He is doing great after treatment and walking down the aisle is something that I actually see in my near future now that I have C in my life. I am praying that he continues to stay healthy and that soon this won’t be a worry in my life at all, because he will be healed!

Television addict?

Day 6: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?

Well isn’t this an interesting question!  I don’t even know where to start.  Sadly, I think the top thing on that list would be “I watch TV.”  I spend A LOT of time watching TV and movies.  I think it is just my way of unwinding.  I can come home from work, pull up a few favorite shows on the DVR and just veg.  C and I spend a lot of time watching TV together. Most evenings, we make dinner (or sometimes order in – he gets a free Papa John’s pizza every week!) and we pull out the TV trays and sit in front of the TV.  After we eat, we clean everything up and lay down on the bed for some cuddle time and TV watching. I usually end up going to sleep while he watches more TV!  We also have a full queue of Netflix movies and TV shows and usually rent a redbox movie or two each week.

Hmmm….maybe I should take a look at my TV habits???

Dreams and Colour

Day 5: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. 

Recently I signed up for the Bigs and Littles blogging network through Wifessionals, Newlywed Moments, Northern Belle Diaries and From California to Kansas. 

After my first partner backed out (after emailing me once, she must not have liked me much!) I was paired up with the lovely Melissa of Dreams and Colour. I am so glad that I was! 

I really wasn't sure how it was supposed to work, but I have to say we've had a great time so far! We sent numerous emails and spent an hour chatting on Skype yesterday. I had a blast! I can't wait to build our friendship and help each other build our blogs! 

Go check her out! 

Lightning

Day 4 : Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it

I decided to go a little different way with this and tell you my favorite Bible verse. It's quoting the inspired word of God, I think those are the best kinds of quotes!

My all time favorite Bible verse is Phillipians 3:13. Which says "No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead"

It's definitely not the standard right? Well God spoke to me one night and this verse coincides with it. I dated my high school boyfriend for 3 years and we had recently broken up. He was a pastors kid and I really loved the church, so I stayed there. Obviously being a young teen, that's wasn't my only reason. I was hoping it wasn't really the end for us. But this is beside the point. One night after church, I was sitting out behind the church alone on the swing set watching a lightning storm. There was a beautiful "show" going on in front of me and even lightning happening behind me. I kept trying to catch it all, but I quickly began noticing that every time I turned around to watch the lighting behind me, I would miss something even more spectacular that was happening in front of me. I know that God was teaching me something. All I could focus on at that point in my life was my past and what had happened. But God was showing me that while I was doing that, he was trying to show me even better things right in front of me. All I needed to do was let go and stop worrying about the past and focus ony future.

After that, I was led to this verse. I can't quite remember how, but it always reminds me of that day. It was the day that I decided that I was going to quit focusing on my past and what I couldn't change and start focusing on all the amazing things that God had planned for me in my future.

I just checked my Bible....amidst all the highlighting around the verse, I had written "lightening in front and behind 08/04." Guess this happened in 2004!

(I had written this yesterday, but totally forgot to post! Sorry!)