Birthday Blues? Not Me.

Lately, I've been in what my mom would call a blue funk. Three weeks ago today we buried my sweet cousin, Sarah. She was 20 and had been fighting cancer for 8 years. And I'm just so angry at God. So angry. Maybe I've been struggling with it because she was so young.... Kids just shouldn't have to go through what this girl went through for so long. And then last week, Tom's cousin, Rusty, died. Cancer as well. Diagnosed just three weeks ago. Three weeks from the time he went to the Dr. for what he thought was an ulcer. Can you imagine? When Tom called to tell me when the funeral was, I thought "Great - just how I want to spend my birthday". Selfish? Yes. I know. And I was very sad that this great man is no longer in our lives. He was like a brother to my man, so of course I love him! But to spend my entire birthday at a funeral - ugh. We got to that part of the funeral where the pastor asks if anyone wants to stand up and say something. (BTW - I hate that part. I always WANT to say something, but then I worry about looking stupid and end up regretting that I don't go up.) Anyways, Tom stood up. Tom is not one who does a lot of talking in front of people, so this was a really big deal for him. He told a story about Rusty and talked about how important family is. I was so, so proud on my man for standing up in front of all of those people and celebrating the life of his cousin. And, all of a sudden, it hit me. This is EXACTLY how I wanted to sepnd my birthday. With my soon-to-be husband and his family. A sad family, but a family full of love. So by the time we got home, Tommy offered to pick up dinner while I took a bubble bath. What a man, huh? So now I'm happily snuggled in pjs waiting for PF Changs. A perfect end to my birthday....and I seemed to have snapped out of my blue funk.

Cohabitation

The first full week of Tom and I cohabitating has come to a close. Let me first say that I never thought that I'd be living with someone before marriage. But, we're now 32 days away from the wedding. Seeing how I just mailed the final checks to the baker/photographer/DJ/florist, I figure that this is pretty much a sure thing. And I'm really glad that we have this moving stuff over with, because the next 30 days will be a whirlwind With that said, I have learned a few things about living with someone:

1) Living with someone is a lot different than them just being at your house all the time. Very. Different.
2) I didn't know that it was possible for someone to watch football from noon-midnight and not be completely sick of it. And....along the same lines.....
3) It is possible for someone to watch sports at the same time on two tvs. In two separate rooms.
4) Having another person in the house triples your laundry. I know that my friends with kids have ABSOLUTELY NO sympathy for me on this one. And, to be fair, Tom really doesn't have that much laundry. It just seems that way.
5) Tom is a morning person. Seriously. There's no middle ground. If he's awake, he's wide awake, happy and talkative. Me, not so much.
6) Choose your battles.
7) If you want a man to do something, you need to flat out tell him! There is no need to say,"Gee..I wish that someone would (start a load of laundry / take me out for dinner / whatever miscellaneous thing you want him to do)...."! You need to ask. Men don't get hints. And they also don't respond well when you say, "Well, I shouldn't have HAD to ask".
And, I would be remiss if I didn't add this one:
8) I am happier than I've ever been in my life.