Meme

I read this on Dooce's blog, and even though I'm not "married" I thought it would be fun to say a little something about my life with the other half of my person. And for some of those things to be nice. LOL

What are your middle names?
His is Holcomb and Mine is Joan. His middle name came from his mother's maiden name. It's a tad strange because Zach actually looks quite a bit like his Grandfather. I got my middle name from my Great Aunt. Aunt Joan is the youngest of my grandfather's 3 sisters and happens to be born on the same day as my mom. Weird.

How long have you been together?
7 years, 10 months, and 2 days. And counting.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met once through a mutual friend when we all had dinner together about a year and a half before our first date.

Who asked whom out?
I'm not sure. We both kind of wanted to go see a movie at the same time, but it didn't officially become a "date" until he grabbed my hand in the theater and didn't let go until he left. :D So I guess I'll blame this one on him.

How old are each of you?
He is 28 and I'm 26.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Zach's. He has more family and we live in closer proximity to them. We see them like EVERY SINGLE WEEK.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Finding the time and giving the space. We have a constant flux of company and demands. We're extremely busy together and apart. Sometimes that gets in the way of everything that is wonderful about our life together, and sometimes there's a fight. It always eventually get worked out, and really, not such an uncommon thing. We just have to take a break from everything every now and then before it gets out of hand. Not such a bad problem to have.

Did you go to the same school?
Nope, even when I did finally move to Texas, I never went to school in the Bubble that is the Woodlands.

Are you from the same home town?
No - Zach has lived here in the Houston area his entire life. I was born and raised for the first 16 years of my existence in Lawton/Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I used to miss it a lot more than I do now.

Who is smarter?
Each of us has our areas of strength. Zach's probably smarter though because his knowledge is a tad bit more practical than mine. I can form decent sentences, am great at math, and am full of ridiculous trivia. I say Zach is smarter because his brain is more likely to save our lives in danger than mine.

Who is the most sensitive?
Uh. ME. Sometimes Zach is in a place where he's like "Feelings? What are feelings?"

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
We have a ridiculously bad habit of going out to eat. I'm working on that. There's a lot of mexican and asian food in our life.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
My hometown.

Who has the craziest exes?
Umm.. probably me because I have more to pick from.

Who has the worst temper?
Zach's random explosions can be HORRIFYING, but I'm more likely to freak out on a regular basis. His temper is scary, but my fuse is definitely shorter.

Who does the cooking?
ME! But I enjoy it most of the time.

Who is the neat-freak?
We both are - just about different areas.

Who is more stubborn?
Tie.

Who hogs the bed?
I know that I do. I have to have the most pillows. I move around and talk in my sleep and who knows what else. Zach is usually right where he fell asleep every morning. I hog the bed, but sometimes he's a little stingy with the covers.

Who wakes up earlier?
I do. Whether it is on purpose for work during the week or just the natural time clock going off on the weekend, I will wake up first. Zach NEVER wants to get out of bed.

Where was your first date?
Deerbrook Mall AMC 24

Who is more jealous?
I don't know. I guess me.

How long did it take to get serious?
About a month. We fell pretty hard for each other because we hadn't been really looking for each other.

Who eats more?
We're pretty even. The days that I have to be reminded to have lunch he reminds me. And visa versa.

Who does the laundry?
Me.

Who's better with the computer?
I'm better at all the things that aren't very useful. He's good with all the programmy-graphicy-stuff.

Who drives when you are together?
I like to let him drive. I drive way more than he does when we're not together.

Oh the craziness….

I haven’t updated in a long time so I need to get it all out of my head before it just disappears. I’ve been making mad time in trying to clean up and catch up, a constant whirl of activity, as if I didn’t have enough to think and do before this month came along.

I’ve been trying to sort things out and get them all flat in front of me, to inspect the folds and the texture in the paper of what is going on in my life right this moment. I don’t really know where I’m headed. Since the storm, I’ve had to bottle up and pack away that which was “normal” for our daily routine, and I’m just now getting where I can pull each part out. Going piece by piece again to inspect it – trying to tie its value to what is the “present” before tossing it to the burn pile. A whole lot has happened to make me really think about what’s important now. As if the hurricane didn’t scare enough into me.

My little circle lost 2 people in the past couple of weeks.

For some reason other than normal, I was emotionally on edge last, last Tuesday. I blamed it on hormones, but I still couldn’t shake it. I could NOT tolerate getting picked on at work and was easily brought to tears, which just scared the Boys more. LOL As I frantically tried to pull myself together, I got a call. It was Candy. Hysterical. I had to have her repeat her news over and over, although I knew it hurt, just because I couldn’t wrap my head around the words. Our friend Yohan had died.

He was a part of my life many years ago and would briefly flutter in and out throughout the years. Mack introduced me to Yohan and Zach for the first time the same night, back when I was a Senior in high school. I can still remember so much of that night. We goofed around and had Taco Bell for dinner. We went back to my apartment. I baked Chocolate chip cookies. Zach made me laugh so hard I almost peed myself. I ran around in my long yellow t-shirt nightgown, while we made jokes and laughed. Yohan fell asleep in the recliner – where instead of snoring, he kind of moaned.

Yohan, Mack, and I became even better friends after that; I wouldn’t see Zach again really until our first date years later. Yohan was understanding. Yohan was a confidant. He helped me understand so many things about myself that I didn’t quite get. We laughed a lot. He helped me get through my first “It’s not you – it’s me” rejection. I miss him a lot, even though we grew apart over the last few years. I hate that the last time I saw him, we were all so sad. I’ll always remember the Yohan that made me laugh (even if I didn’t care to know why).

There won’t be any memorial or funeral here for Yohan, so I’ll just have to drink an extra drink for him this year and smile an extra smile for my gone friend.

Zach’s great Uncle Charlie also passed that same week. He was 92 years old and had been married to Aunt Frankie for 71 years. He was a bright and shiny kind of person that made you laugh and feel loved. The loss of him to his wife and family is just HEART-BREAKING. I don’t know a lot of Zach’s Mom’s side of the family and getting to meet them and listen to their stories at the viewing and the funeral gave me a chance to see more of Charlie. Although the time I got to know him was a flash in the pan, those stories painted a fuller view of the large heart he had. The full life he lived. The day of the funeral was just the right amount of warm and cool, and it all seemed to fit right together under the massive Oak trees.

So that wiped out the last week of September for me.

October unfortunately has brought its own brand of drama, but I’m just trying to steer clear. There’s just such a hard line in being there for the people you care about and getting used. I’m trying to keep with my policy of letting go and embracing the positive. People have a tendency to go and do what they want, and not always what they have to do. The lies and excuses made for one’s own selfishness are more than I could ever have imagined, and I’ll have to find a way to forgive, forget, or just move on. It will eventually sort itself out. I just hate the way they had to happen and wish (however useless that might be) that things could have been different.

But it’s going to be just fine.

Work has resumed at its normal pace of crazy. I love my job more and more each day for the distraction it brings. It is the perfect love-hate want-need environment that gives me just enough stress to distract, just enough structure to plan the week out, and just enough value to make me feel grounded and needed somewhere.

I got to have a great weekend this past weekend. Friday night Zach and I went to Chessy and Adam’s house. We brought over beer, wine, the PS3, and Iron Man. Since the boys figured out how to play the PS3 on the TV, Chessy and I got a chance to run out on the porch and just hang. Just the TWO of us. It was pretty wonderful. We’ve been super busy lately and I miss her so much when we don’t get to hang or talk as much as we would like. The hurricane total blew our birthday plans for her, and she started work not shortly after that. So we had a great bottle of wine, secret smokes, and even better conversation.

Saturday I had a lazy morning and afternoon with Zach. We’ve really been happy lately. I know I’ve probably jinxed myself now, but the last month has really drawn me closer to him. We’re goofy and complete each other in that “Gag me you 2 are too cute” way. It will be 7.5 years this month. Whoa.

I ended up going to dinner with my Mom Saturday night and then going to visit my girl forEVER, Danielle. It has seriously been more than a YEAR since we got to see each other so I was really excited about going out with her and staying the night like Old Times. After a beer at her place and finishing up her online homework, we hit up Fitz for some music and some drinks. I got to meet a lot of wonderful, beautiful people and listen to some pretty cool music and conversation. Good time all around!!! At some point, we made our way back home and went straight to bed!

Next morning we had Breakfast that turned into brunch at one of our old hang spots, the House of Pies. Yum. Thank you, Acapulco Breakfast. You were the cure to my headache even though you gave me a tummy ache eventually. Then Danni and I rushed to Edward’s and saw “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” which I loved more than I ever expected. I want the soundtrack and Danni wants a nerdy boyfriend with excellent music taste. Where’s FLUFFY?!!!!!! LOL After the movie, I took Danni home and made her go study and made me go home. Zach and I got to go hang with his mom, sister, brother-in-law, and niece. Niki made some AWESOME roast, rice, and gravy. It was not ONLY delicious, but I didn’t have to cook!!! Score. We ended the night with a hearty game of Scrabble. Note: Zach is a sore loser.

Then I had to go through Monday, which wasn’t as bad as I had expected, but still pretty rough. It was all OK once I left because of the following:

A. Talked to Candy and she misses me too. I’ll probably visit tomm or Thursday while Denny’s at work.

B. Visited mom and she gave me a back rub in effort to transfer some of her sunshine energy.

C. Traffic wasn’t that bad and I got to the Woodlands at a decent time.

D. Didn’t have to cook – Zach wanted to meet up for dinner with the Family again at Los Cucos.

E. I got mexican food!!! And a margarita!

F. We all played scrabble again – where I schooled the crew AGAIN and Zach was still a sore loser.

So that’s that, and it took me forever to type this…. And now I have to go fall asleep immediately so I can go back to work tomorrow! SUPER EARLY!

Craving

I don't know what it is lately, but I've had a craving for sweets. Like the lovely gelato pictured to the left. Mmmmm gelato. Like the kind they have at Rao's. Crap!

I have done a good job ignoring it, but damn, this is killing me! I haven't given in or anything, but I'm starting to think that it is only a matter of time. ::shrug:: I don't know if I'm sick for my grandmother or if it's something else.

Whenever I don't talk to Gma or see her in a while, I start to miss the things we do. Last time she was in town, she had a major sweet tooth. We went to Rao's twice while she was here. I wish my aunt had never introduced Gma to that place - she couldn't get "goodies" out of her mind. I really didn't want anything while we were there, but was just happy to oblige. So even though I was just in Oklahoma for the 4th, I guess I'm feeling homesick.

But it's not just home I miss. I'm really missing the "girl time" I used to make such a big part of my life. Luckily I'm going to meet Chessy and probably Stephanie for coffee tomorrow morning/afternoon. That will probably help with this funk. I need to get out more like that. I know I'm not a "mommy" but I still think I need a Mommy's day out.

So maybe it's not just the creamy, sugary goodness of gelato I crave. I need a little "life" back in my life - starting with more girl time, more "date"like stuff for me and the Boy, and maybe some trips, some barhopping, and more than likely - some karaoke.