Rapunzel, Rumplestiltskin and Romeo

Sigh.....sorry folks, it's been a couple of days I know since you heard from me. I think I must be catching what the bear has or some energy sucking germ, because I have been absolutely EXHAUSTED the past couple of days...today as well actually. Without further ado, let me catch you up on the latest.

Wednesday I worked the early shift which is always a blessing since it means I get out of work at 2:15. Still a full days work, but doesn't feel like it. So after work I went to visit Rachel, aka Rapunzel for the next few weeks. She and Allan have become so close to us that they have also been relegated to that status of family. Only a few more weeks till their little sprout is welcomed into the world and I can't wait. Their close proximity to us will enable me to lavish on the little one all the extra hugs and kisses I have stored up for Beth and Sean's new little sprout since they are so far away, can't let them got to waist. LOL  I am absolutely ecstatic about being asked to be in charge of her baby shower too so Wednesday was our first planning session. We got a lot accomplished, I was concerned she would feel like we hadn't done enough, but to my surprise she said it was more than she had expected, so that was good.  Afterwards I was so tired when I got home that writing a blog entry that night was simply out of the question.

So Thursday was a nice quiet day for the most part. Ben stayed home sick that day, which for him, means he's REALLY sick, which he was, he has been fighting it all week actually. Poor thing was just feeling horrible, to the point that I considered staying home to take care of him, but opted to go in and just let him sleep all day. It was Devon's last day at work. She is going to pursue college and eventually wants to go into a career with helping children. I think she'll be perfect for it. I was able to get out of work a little early and as I drove home I was suddenly overcome with exhaustion, so I had the plan to get home, check on Ben then lay down for a nap till it was time to make dinner. Well, those plans got altered a bit because after I got home I needed to go pick up a prescription for the bear and get a new humidifier since our old one decided to finally give up the ghost. I'll be honest, I was exhausted...I really didn't want to go back out. I quickly reminded myself though of how much Ben does for me when I'm sick and never complains. Well, I ran those errands and grabbed a Chinese soup for myself then came home. After I knew Ben had everything he needed to rest comfortably and the fuzzboy was fed and watered, I ate my soup started to write my blog entry for the night. I still felt a little tired though and it was still early, only 7 or so, so I decided to lay down for a little while and take a quick cat nap. Well, when I was finally woken up from my nap, it was over 4 hours later...it was after 11! I couldn't believe I had slept that long...and I couldn't believe Ben hadn't woken me up. He said he knew I was tired though and needed it so he let me sleep. I considered sitting up and writing my blog entry then, but I was still feeling pretty zonked, so I decided to just go to bed for the night. Sorry all you daily readers.....sleep trumped typing.

Which brings us to Friday, not just any Friday mind you, no I'm happily bringing back MHR Fridays!
(for those of you still unfamiliar with the MHR circle of bloggers please click the title of today's blog entry to be taken to Katy Lin's blog explaining it and feel free to join in the fun.) So this morning Ben woke me up with a kiss on the cheek and whispered in my ear that he had breakfast ready for me. My first response was, "Why are you up? Why aren't you in bed?" Apparently that one prescription and the humidifier were what he needed to get him back on his feet. Thank you God!! I was very thankful to hear that because honestly I worry about him when he's sick. Anyway, a little while later when I finally emerged from the bedroom to come into the kitchen where I heard him rattling around he proudly walked over to me and hugged me. "Look, I made you breakfast! I wanted to take care of you since you took care of me so much this week." (Insert warm fuzzy encrusted AWWWWWWW here) Suddenly I flashed back to yesterday when I was internally grumping about having to go back out because I was so tired and thinking how glad I was that I had kept my mouth shut. He does so much for me all the time in big and small ways, from the basics of working hard to make sure we always have a roof over our heads and food on our table, to doing things like making me a thank you breakfast, it's really a small thing to be able to give back to him when he needs it. So my husband rocks because he never fails to make me feel cherished.
I love you bear, XOXOXOXO
Night all,

My Husband Rocks Friday - The Cheerleader

So today is also MHR Friday.....and quite frankly after the emotion drain I had from writing that last entry....I NEED to focus on the happy. (If you aren't yet familiar with MHR Fridays please click the title of this blog entry to be taken to Katy Lin's main MHR Friday page and feel free to join in!)
So why does my husband rock today? He rocks because of his unwaivering support of me.
Like I said in a previous post this week, I am going to be making a career change in a few days. when I told him I got he job he was so happy for me that he excitedly grinned and hugged me, and joyfully celebrated with me. Now since then he has remained fully supportive, but the realization that we won't be working side by side any longer is starting to sink in for both of us. He can't talk about me leaving for my new job without tearing up, and yet, he smiles and says how happy he is for me. **sigh** He asked me for more pictures of myself and us together to keep on his desk so even if he can't see me in person all day he can at least look at my picture.
I don't know how many couples get to work together, and I don't know how many of them are close enough friends that to do so is healthy, but I can say that for 9 years I have been so blessed by my husband's support, encouragement, love and affection for me both at home and in the workplace that I can honestly say I am a stronger and better person because of him.
So THAT is just one more reason why my husband rocks.

It's "My Husband Rocks" Friday!

So this is my first official “My Husband Rocks- Friday” blog entry (thanks sooooo much Katy Lin at the blog The Great Adventure for creating this weekly tribute! If you click the title of this entry you can be taken to Katy Lin's blog page to learn more.) …..YEAH!!! I started to post one last week, but time got away from me.

So, I was trying to decide what to put in my first MHR post and decided to go with something he did last Saturday. Ben and I usually spend our Saturdays preparing for and then going to feed the homeless and low-income people in our town as part of a ministry called Isaiah 58 Outreach. Last weekend I had a bit of an emotional meltdown (you can read my post “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want To” if you want the full details.) and decided I needed to stay home, so I gave him a bag of women’s clothes somebody had donated to us and he went without me. While he was out there, he and some of the other volunteers met a young woman who was obviously down on her luck. She lost her place to live and was afraid to sleep on the streets in our city (completely understandable if you knew our city), she hadn’t eaten anything in a few days, had no car and only the clothes on her back, her children had been taken away, and she was trying to find a rehab. Attempting to find a shelter that will admit people on a Saturday is not an easy task where we live. Most of them only take new people on weekdays between certain hours. So anyway, after he and our friends made sure she had eaten a good meal Ben let her look at the bag of clothes I had sent with him. Miraculously, they were her size, so she now had fresh clothes to wear too. Finally, he and a friend decided that since she needed rehab also, they would take her to a shelter that they knew of two towns away. So without a thought, and with total shock from the woman that somebody would actually offer to help her, they took her to this place.

Now, there’s one thing you must know about Ben, if you don’t already. That is that he is the type of guy that defines the phrase, “Knight in Shining Armor”…he always looks for a person in need and rarely turns away. I’m thoroughly convinced he should have a cape and tights….well….maybe not the tights…lol. Once as he was returning from picking up an elderly man to bring to church they saw a car on fire on the freeway. Ben pulled his car over, grabbed his fire extinguisher from the trunk, ran across three lanes of traffic, jumped a jersey barrier, ran across three more lanes of traffic, and proceeded to put the fire out….all while looking dapper dressed in his suit. Then when the fire was out and he knew everything would be ok, he said goodbye to the driver, raced back across the three lanes, the jersey barrier, the other three lanes, popped the extinguisher back into the trunk, hopped into the car and still made it to church on time. LOL. Another time he met a woman and her family who had just moved out of a homeless shelter into an apartment and literally had NOTHING….so he decided that this was not suitable. So he began calling connections and little by little we were able to furnish their entire apartment from top to bottom. Then in his spare time (lol…those of you that know us know the humor in using that term), he mentors male prisoners as a pen-pal to encourage them, help turn their lives around, teach them the value of accountability and give them hope for a better life when they get out. He’s just amazing like that…..he’s my hero….and THAT’S why my husband rocks!!