Hiatus

I guess I’ve been on a hiatus of sorts.  I’ve been so busy with my new job and just trying to find a new normal and new routine, that my blog has been largely ignored.

But I’m going to do my best to get back to the original purpose of this blog, which is to be grateful everyday.  So, I’m going to try posting one gratitude every day.

What that means is that my blog entries are going to be shorter, but I should be more frequent.  

So, gratitude for today.  Today, I am thankful for Thanksgiving.  I have many memories of family Thanksgivings and singing and pies and trips to Missouri.  I am thankful for Thanksgiving.  

Hugs,
Melinda

The Super Secret Project

For the past year… well, the past 11 months, I’ve been working on something that I had given the nickname “Super Secret Project.”  It was and is a list of 1000 reasons of why I love my husband Dale.  I started it with this post, if you want to step back and read about the why.  None of the posts are private.  I just didn’t send them to Facebook or Twitter, because I was trying to make certain he didn’t see them before it was time.

There are a couple of things.  One, I didn’t get to 1000 reasons within the year.  I got to 225.  But that doesn’t mean I’m stopping or giving up.  I want each reason to be meaningful, and I felt like trying to force 1000 reasons within a year wouldn’t be the point.  So expect to still see posts on why I love my husband.

But more importantly, two, he LOVED it.  I would like to say it was a complete success!  When I handed it to him at breakfast, he opened it, read the first page and said, “I don’t know what to say.”  And then he proceeded to read the entire thing.

When we were talking about it later, he said that this is what he’s been asking for as a present for years.  He wants me to take the time to do something, make something, spend time focusing on him and to give him that quality time.  And that this was perfect.

The rest of Father’s Day was pretty good, too.  We didn’t have the girls, because they are all at camp this week.  But we had a good day.  We went to a restaurant called Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen, where he got to eat crawfish étouffeé and boudin.  We had beignets for dessert.  Then we went to his new favorite store, Menards, to get some more supplies to stain the deck.  Which we were going to do yesterday, but it was too hot, so we’re going to do it this morning.  We watched Ant-Man, went to bed when we wanted to, and today we are sleeping in (mostly).

Anyway, I’m rambling.  What I want to say is this.

I love my husband.  

And I will continue to love him for the rest of my life.

Hugs,
Melinda

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Reasons I love Dale:

226.  He has never really complained about my not using as much spice in our food as when he was growing up.  He laughs about he can’t handle “spicy” as much as he used to.  But he still likes his food warmer than I do.
227.  His creative solutions and his love of 550 cord.  He helped me put together a chair for my downstairs table.  Only the screw broke.  His solution was to use 550 to hold it together.  It’s working (so far).
228.  He doesn’t tattle.  This one is harder to explain.  Long story short:  there was a situation at work with someone not doing what they were supposed to.  He called the manager, but didn’t tattle on the person.  But the manager got it figured out pretty quickly.
229.  He’s just really cute and funny without trying to be.  Today’s picture is of him trying to eat boudin at Jazz.  They split it open to double check to make sure it’s done.  When they brought it out, he said, “why did they cut it open?  You don’t eat boudin like that!”  This was him demonstrating how to eat it correctly.  

It’s almost time

I’m almost one month away from working on my super secret project for a full year. You know. The one about why I love Dale. (You can find it here.)

This morning, I compiled all of my posts into a Word document. Without any editing, it’s 46 pages. Not as long as I’d hoped but longer than I anticipated.

Regardless, I’m not finished, and I hope I never am.

I can tell it really did change my attitude, this attitude of gratitude for my husband. I hope he can see the changes in me and in our marriage that I’ve tried to make. Because I love him. And he’s worth fighting for.

Reasons I love Dale:

221. He’s generous. I said I needed a hard copy of a study book. He bought me four.

222. He puts family first. We were supposed to go on vacation. My sister asked for help and he didn’t hesitate. So we’re doing a semi vacation instead.

223. He’s forgetful. But I’ve come to understand that it is because he is always thinking of a hundred different things at once and he gets distracted.

I’m going to try to write more, but I’m waiting on a bus.

The bus came. I got on. I got off. It’s eleven billion degrees outside.

224. He’s thoughtful in his own way. The study book he got me not only has a discount code for the test, but it also has practice software. It’s going to be very useful.

225. He likes to grill. Which means I don’t have to cook for like a week.

That’s all I have for today. I’m trying to cool off and get ready for work and study in my new amazing book. Have a good day everyone.

Hugs,

Melinda.

The pictures are of when he first got to meet Avonlea. She’s not too sure of Uncle Dale, but he bought her a teething ring she loved.

He’s cute

Sorry.  I have to fan-girl over my husband.  He’s so cute.  I like him a lot.

He was outside trying to get the dog to do her business.  In the rain.  He’s eyeing this 80 pound ball of fluff and muscle, and staring her down.  She’s very stubborn.  But so is he.

And then I was looking for my “deadline” on when I’m supposed to be finished with this project.  When I stumbled across his picture.

My goodness!  My heart flutters every time I see how gorgeous he is.  Isn’t he pretty?  😀

Okay, back on track.  My deadline is officially July 17.  However, we’re supposed to go on vacation June 16.  I think I’m going to give him the list then.  It’s not going to have 1000 reasons yet.  But I’m not going to put that kind of pressure on myself.  I’m going to keep going until I reach 1000 reasons.  But I don’t have a “deadline” to reach all of them.

That wasn’t the point, anyway.  The point was to redevelop my love for my husband.  To love him more deeply.  And I believe that it’s working.

Reasons I love Dale:

217.  He’s cute.  I love how handsome he is.
218.  He’s smart.  He had an interview on Friday that took two and a half hours, and it was because he was doing so well at answering the technical questions.
218 (bonus) He also helped me get a particularly tricky print driver installed on my computer.
219.  He’s has a high vocabulary.  In other words, he knows a lot of words.
220.  He is a good brother.  He and Tim have had issues before, but they’ve worked them out.  Plus, he lets me be a good sister to Amber.

I really do love him.  He is a good husband.

Hugs,
Melinda

Nerves

So, one of my “new” things this year is that I’m trying to get various certifications for the IT industry.  The first one I’m trying to get is the CompTIA Cloud + certification.  I’m both excited and nervous to say that I’ve scheduled my test for Thursday, April 19th.  I’m not sure I’m ready, but I’m definitely going to try.

I don’t want to admit it, but I’m nervous.  I seem to be doing well in the practice tests.  But I don’t feel like I’ve studied everything I need to.  What if I miss it all?  What if I fail?

And so I know I need to study, but at the same time, I’m concerned that I won’t concentrate like I need to.  I’ve started binge watching a TV show (thanks Netflix), and it’s distracting me.  So, do I postpone my test, and study a little more, or do I keep going with my scheduled test?

And Dale and I are taking our first vacation in years.  So we’re trying to decide where to go.  So that’s occupying part of my thoughts.  We’re thinking we’re going to go North or West for our trip.  Like Colorado.  Or South Dakota.

Which brings me to the real reason for tonight’s post.

Reasons I love Dale:

214.  He is a great encourager.  He has encouraged me from Day 1 to take this test.  He’s keeping me sane while I get ready for it.
215.  He’s actually pretty imaginative.  We play D&D with a group of friends.  He introduced a new character tonight, and he’s pretty excited about it.
216.  He’s very helpful around the house.  If I need help, he does whatever I need.  Today, he did the laundry.

I love my husband.  He’s my best friend.  I’m glad I’m doing this series for him.

Hugs,
Melinda

Photo by Marc Mueller on Unsplash