9 years.....

I am doing something really fruity right now. Really fruity. Fruity as in paste some fried eggs to my chest and I'd be Joe on BB. No, I'm not waxing my back or anything. I'm drinking gin and soda with a handful of marashino cherries in it. You see, when I was a wee lad, knee-high to a grasshopper, my parents and their friends next door, my friend Sue's parents, would relax with gin and soda or gin and tonic, with cherries or lemons for garnish. I'd always get to dig for the cherries. Anyway, since the heat wave hit, I've been salivating for gin and soda, do not ask me why, but I just needed it. So, yesterday, off I went to the liquor store and bought me a big honkin' bottle of gin. Rocky will now be afraid I am an alcoholic. Anyway, it is so refreshing I can't even tell you how great it is. Not just because of nostalgia, either. Because Sue's dad would drink his gin constantly, and even going for groceries or something, he'd have his big-ass tumbler of gin and soda in the car, so we'd always have ample opportunity to drink it, so you may think it's reminding me of an easier time. But no. Well, it does, but the shit sure refreshes when you are sweating like a pig. I spent hours outside tonight. As soon as I came home, I went into the garden next door and did weeding for hours, then I did my front lawn and weed whacked too, and then did the back yard. I think I may have gotten a little burn, as I seem to be addicted to wearing wife beaters now, God help me.
Anyway, today was my last day of work for 2.5 weeks. Yee Haw. Tomorrow evening, we will head up to the lake for a while, since the temps are supposed to be in the 30s all week. Of course, I had a mini panic attack today. Remember me saying I was in dental hell? Well, I finally had my appointment today, and I took my pill late, so that was stressful because it wasn't kicking in, and as soon as I walk in, I knew it was going to be hell, because these two severely retarded people were in there and the one kept doing this Tourette's type of retching noise every 30 seconds or so - I Swear, I thought he was puking up all his lungs. So I am trying to calm myself by reading about Brangelina, and I mean, who gives a fuck about them, so I was getting more freaked out, and then I see this sign saying "no footwear beyond this point" and I am suddenly panicked that they don't want shoes in the exam rooms because, to be honest, I remembered how last time I was there the panic was worse because the air conditioning wasnt working, so I thought I would be smart and took a wife beater to work and changed when I left, and when I walked in I thought "wait a minute, do I have deodorant on?" and got panicky, and then I see the sign, realize I am in my Dawgs (cheaper version of Crocs) and think that if I have to take them off, I will stink these poor people to high heaven. Long story short, if you are sockless, you get to keep the shoes on. So, anyway, I was completely panicky, and it turns out that I have a broken filling, will need a temporary filling with medicine in it, and then they'll see if they can fill it or if they need to root canal it. Sucks to be me. We have to take baby to the doctor late tomorrow, so I am going to ask him for valium or something stronger than ativan.
What else.... oh! Yesterday was our 9th anniversary. We didn't do anything special, other than making time for some sweet romance, because everyday with Rachel is special. Seriously, she's way above my league. I still don't quite get how it happened that I scored her. God love her....
Anyway, we have been married 9 years and I can't believe how much has changed in 9 years - freaky:

-- 9 years ago, we got possession of the first house we bought on July 1st and were still getting settled when we got married.

-- 9 years ago, we were still 2 weeks shy of buying Daisy, our first dog.

-- 9 years ago, we didn't have Molly the cat yet - didn't get her until Novemeber.

-- 9 years ago, it was the first time my dad's 2 brothers and one sister and him had been together all at once, in over 14 years, due to a stupid fued that they all regret now. It was us that brought them together. MY DAD was bouncing off the walls on our wedding day talking about it, and saying "I know it's your wedding, but isn't it great that they are all here?" It still is one of the most precious memories I have. I love my dad so much.

-- 9 years ago my Uncle John was still alive. He was deep into it with the Alzheimers, but was pretty whip sharp at the wedding. He died in 2004.

-- 9 years ago, my cousin Barry was still married to his wife. She was horribly controlling and they had some sort of fight at the wedding because she was jealous of everything. They split up 5 years ago and still arent divorced. I never thought they would split. But he's model good-looking to the nth degree and has a wandering cock, so it's not just her fault, don't let me fool ya.

-- My dad had all his wits about him. he's fading fast I have a gut feeling, but then, he was great, and it was around then that we started having an awesome relationship after having a turbulent past. Wasted time all that bullshit was......

-- My parents close friends, Albert and Bird, who came to our wedding from a small town far away, were alive. they are dead now.

-- I was 45 lbs smaller.

-- I had no goatee or beard or anything. Face was smooth like a baby's arse.

-- I was still in school.

-- Rachel only had one week off work, as she started her job 2 months earlier. She's still there.

-- I still smoked 9 years ago. Quit 5 years ago next week. I smoked Craven M back then. Loved those minty death sticks.

-- Sue, my friend who is the drug addict/thief who looks like she'll be in jail this summer, came to the wedding. She was healthy, had 2 of her 3 kids then, and we had an awesome time. I can't quite believe she lost everything in 9 years. She stayed with us the week before the wedding.

-- My friend Claire hadn't had kidney failure yet, so she was drinking at the wedding. Since then, she had a transplant from her brother, only to reject it a year later from a virus. Ran into her last week at Christopher Lake, where she goes after dialysis on Fridays. Back then, she was healthy.

-- Margo was single, hadn't met the love of her life yet. I was worried about her, if she'd end up being lonely, or end up with some bitch. She's hooked up well. God bless you Rochelle. I had so much fun with Margo at my wedding. Her and Sue, my girlz...... if someone wins a lotto, please send me a couple thousand so I can go out there and find Sue and talk to her before she self destructs..... I need to give her my own intervention.

-- My sister "Libby", who was widowed less than a year before our wedding, did the most awesome toast to us. She now lives across the street from us, still single. And that's just fine.

-- My sister "Leslie" didn't know the whereabouts of her birth daughter. That was a hole in all our hearts.

-- I was still saying I didn't care if I had kids (a far cry from my "ah, who cares if we get pregnant' cries when I try to get out of condom usage.

-- I hadn't broke our washing machine for good because I hadn't washed the buckwheat pillow in it yet.

-- I was just hired for this seasonal, 9 hour a week gig at my current workplace. Now, I am the one running the program. Beyond my dreams.

Anyway, there is a lot more I can say, but this is just a sampling of how things actually change in 9 years. So look at your own lives and marvel in how things change in a given set of years. It will freak you out when you actually think about it. And I know everyone is all on the positive thinking bandwagon, and I want you all to extend prayers to my former coworker Trina, who is going through some rough times with her daughter's illness. I am not sure why I feel so compelled to reach out to her, but I do. So send up a quick prayer, will you? And for Tammy Faye - if we could get her a miracle.... well, let's.
No, none of this is the gin talking......
I'll bring the laptop to the lake, so I can blog and publish when I get home on MOn. or Tues.
xo,
JT