back to the grindstone

Not much time to update, I’m on a quick lunch break at home. My morning sickness still makes me feel like I’m trying to read in a car-

If said car was careening down a mountain side with no one driving it. It’s actually not bad in the morning at all. It kicks in around lunch time and lingers all day. Then it goes away for a bit but comes right back around bedtime. Very strong at bedtime. I’m laying there trying to sleep and if Arnie even moves the tiniest bit, I’m very queasy. I haven’t thrown up yet, though. No dry-heaving either, unless I brush too far back on my tongue.

I couldn’t be happier though. I know that having morning sickness doesn’t guarantee that everything will be perfect but since I didn’t have any last time….In my mind, this logically means that something different is happening inside. Gotta run, I’m already late!

Going back after a three-day weekend SUCKS, by the way.

Arnie says “thanks a freakin’ lot!”, grown-up kevin arnold.

Damn. I had such good intentions last night.

I had big plans to seduce the husband and rock his world with my crazy mad ho blowjob skillz, yo.

I couldn’t even stay awake the three minutes that he was in the shower. It’s not my fault, though. I was watching a tivo’d episode of the Wonder Years, Kevin’s grown-up narrative voice was so smooth. And so soothing. And I was so tired. And my pillow was so soft.

ten random things

I’ve been tagged by canape, thanks! I’ve been meaning to do this for a few days now but I’ve had zero enthusiasm for doing anything that requires the tiniest bit of energy. So, here we go..ten random things about me. I hope you still love me in the morning.

1. I write out Christmas cards to my deceased grandparents. I’m not silly enough to mail them but it makes me feel better to imagine that I’m letting them know what’s going on in my life. They never got to see me in love and they’re never going to see my future children. Not having them here is a huge, huge void in my life and doing this fills it up just a little.

2. I have to blow in my shoes before I put them on. I saw a show on the Discovery Channel once about spiders liking to build nests in shoes. So, now I’ve convinced myself that if I blow in my shoes, it will loosen the spider. Then I tap on them and hope I tap the pissed of spider out before I put my feet in there. I know this is dumb. But hey, I’m going on almost 29-years of being spider bite free!

3. I’m a bit terrified of clowns. Okay, so maybe it’s a crippling fear. When I was a kid, there was a small amusement park here called Fair Park. They had this gigantic animatronics clown set up in front of the Ghost House. Her name was Laughing Sally. She’d rock back and forth and laugh. And laugh and laugh. God, she was horrible.

4. I always put my left shoe on first. I don’t know why this is.

5. I find school supplies exciting. The smell of new paper and pencils and a pretty new box to put them in? This probably part of the reason why I want kids. I simply can’t wait to take them back to school shopping.

6. I have reoccurring dreams about the devil. I had one particular dream about him a few years ago that still gives me chills when I think about it. I dreamt I was at a big party and there was this beautiful man walking around. He was bare-chested and had waist-long, flaming red hair. I knew he was the devil but everyone else was treating him like he was the most popular guy there. I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t see that he was evil. I finally walked up to him and asked, “Why am I the only one that knows you’re the devil?” and he just said, “Because you’re special.”

7. I was very close to my Grandma. My most treasured possession is a letter from her. She wrote it to me about five years before she died and kept it with her will and other important papers. It just said that she loved me and was thankful for all the years she had with me. I keep it in my jewelry box and I think about her every single day. I was also sitting by her side when she died. I held her hand and brushed her hair back from her face. Until my children are born, this will be the most precious moment of my life. Her maiden name was Dragon, so I have a tattoo of one for her on my hip.

8. My favorite food in the entire world is something called Slumgullion. It’s canned corned beef, stewed tomatoes and peas; mixed together and served over white rice. It sounds horrible but it’s so delicious. This was something they served my Grandpa in the Navy, so it always felt like a special meal to me, like he was sharing a part of his history. My husband would divorce me if he knew I had an evil plot to make my children like this dish as much as I do.

9. I am obsessed with the movie Labyrinth. Jareth, you  make me feel things in loins that as a married woman, I should be ashamed to feel.

10. I was a virgin until I met Arnie. I’m not religious, so I wasn’t saving myself for any noble cause. I just hadn’t met the right person yet. And since I gave it up on our second date, it certainly wasn’t because I had such great morals.

 I tag anyone who doesn’t have their own blog and just wants to write their answers in the comments!

maybe it’s just work sickness

: )

I’m actually feeling quite ill this afternoon. It’s either morning sickness or the cream of chicken soup and banana that I had for lunch. It’s still nothing bad. I guess I was expecting morning sickness with massive amounts of projectile vomit.

Instead, I just feel like I do when I try to read in the car.

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I had a lovely post written yesterday but my computer decided to download an update and restart itself without giving me an option to save what I was working on. Drat. I guess that’s what I get for trying to do that while I was at work. I’m just hanging out here, just trying to kill time until June 19th. Still low on the symptom front, which is freaking me the fuck out. I know it’s normal, I know, I know, I know. Knowing that doesn’t necessarily make me feel any better.

-Boobs are still tender. Nothing major, still just feels like before a period. Sometimes one of the cats will jump on my chest when I’m lying down and it’s like “yow!” if they hit just the right spot.

-Still no morning/evening/anytime sickness. Sometimes I think I might be getting queasy and I stop to think about it but before I can decide, it’s gone.

-Want to eat everything. I’m trying to keep this one in check but I’m definitely hungry a lot. Tomatoes. I want tomatoes. Fresh, ripe tomatoes.

-I’m pretty tired alot. I took three naps on Sunday. Everytime I sat down for something, I was out.

-Inability to resist watching The Terminator, The Terminator II or the Terminator III if it comes on the movie channel. I don’t care how many times I’ve seen it that day. If it’s on, I’m watching it. Or sleeping through it, to be honest..but it’s on. Anyone else have this symptom? No? Just me? Gotcha.

-Mild cramps, low in my belly. Sometimes it’s a grinding kind of cramp, other times it’s like a real quick zolt of electricity feeling that just lasts for a second. Nothing bad at all and definitely not painful. Just there.

And that’s about it, I think. It’s time for me to get ready for work and I really need a shower.

forever and a day

I am not doing so well with the waiting. I think about this maybe pregnancy and whether it’s actually progressing, almost every single second of the day. I am trying to be positive. I tell myself that there’s no reason for me to think that I’m going to miscarry this time. I imagine little cells dividing and growing and picking their nose and whatever else they do.

It seems like I’ve been waiting forever already and I’ve only known I was pregnant for a week. I took my first test last Friday evening, so not even quite a full week yet. I called around to some places around here and no one will give me a trans-vaginal ultrasound without a doctors referral. That makes no sense to me. I’m willing to pay for the whole thing. It’s my womb. It’s my vagina. Why can’t I pay someone to shove something up there and look aroundif I want to? I was trying to avoid calling my doctor because I really don’t want him to think I’m a nutjob who gets off on being melodramatic. I don’t want there to be anything wrong..I don’t think there is, I just kind of need to know.

I’m calling Dr. B on Monday and telling him that I’m not sleeping well and there’s no way I can wait until the 19th. And I’m really not sleeping well. It takes me forever to get wound down and then I’m up and down all night. Get up to pee, feel my boobs and then go back to bed. I don’t even have to pee that much, it’s just something to do when I wake up. If I wait until I’m seven weeks, I should for sure be able to see  a heartbeat by then, right?

Let’s see..what else can I talk about instead of working? Oh, symptoms. I have almost none.

-My boobs are fairly tender but no more than before my period.

-I get a little hint of nausea every now and then but I get that pretty frequently because of my gastric bypass anyway. I’m so used to being slight nauseous after I eat, I don’t know what’s new or what’s normal.

-I’m tired but I’m always tired.

And that’s it. So, although I KNOW that’s normal, too..it still worries me. And since I’ve never gotten very far with a growing embryo, I may never be the kind to get morning sickness, for all I know. My mom only had it with one of her pregnancies, so maybe I inherited her strong stomach. I almost never throw up normally, so maybe I’m just not the kind to do that. But I want it now. I want some reassurance that things are okay inside.

beta schmeta says my doctor

No beta for me. Damn sensible doctors, they really do piss me off. Dr. B said that he didn’t want to do a beta because the blighted ovum that I had last time wouldn’t have been something that a hcg draw could have detected. Apparently they rise and double appropriately most of the time. It’s a shame I like him so much or I’d be angry. He’s the best doctor that I’ve ever had. At one pap-smear, while elbow deep in my lady business, he kept talking and talking blahblahniceweatherblahblah and I finally said, “Dr. B..no offense. But I’d rather just stare at the ceiling and pretend I’m at the dentist’s office.” He laughed and asked for the name of my dentist because if he was that thorough during a cleaning, I must have the cleanest teeth in town. You’ve got to love a man who looks at vaginas all day and still has a sense of humor.

 So…I have no news. Sorry for the big ass letdown. Ultrasound set in five weeks (June 19th), 9:00 am. Thank you all so much for your kind words and well wishes. I definitely appreciate having people to wait with me.

He said it was a good sign that I tested positive so early. And then he said that he’d already done the full work-up on me in February, so there was no need for me to be wearing the fashionable paper gown with the tiny plastic belt.

I rather wish he’d mentioned that to the nurse first, as having a conversation with Dr. B while wearing charming blue tissue paper is not on my list of Favorite Things To Do On A Tuesday Afternoon.

Now, if you’ll excuse me..I’m going to go blankly stare at the TV for five weeks.

eleven steps left

I didn’t pee on anything this morning.

Yet.

no time to say hello goodbye i’m late i’m late i’m late

Not much time this morning, headed out on my way to work. This last test confused the flaming fuck out of me. It looks darker on top but lighter on the bottom? This does not bode well.

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Edited: Doctor’s appointment for beta, tomorrow afternoon at 2:45. That’s a long time away. And then I have to wait for results? Waiting sucks! How do y’all do this?

three

Here’s all three tests. Sunday on top, Saturday and then Friday. Sunday and Saturday look the same to me. Does Sunday look lighter? Dammit. It looks lighter now.

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lazy sunday for me

I took another test this morning, same brand as the previous two. Still darker than Friday, same as Saturday’s test. I’ll upload another picture later when I get a chance. I’m a touch discouraged that the line wasn’t any darker today, honestly. I know I told myself that I wouldn’t get my hopes up but that was a completely dumb thing of me to even pretend to do, lol. Why would I not get my hopes up? I want a baby. Me not saying that out loud for a few days doesn’t make it something that I want less.

If the line gets lighter and lighter and somehow I get my period on time? I am going to feel like a real ass.

Arnie was very sweet last night. And he’s not usually a “sweet” kind of guy. Over a year of marriage and he still wrinkles up his nose and pouts when I snuggle up to him in bed at night to say goodnight. Except, I think he secretly likes it. On the nights where I don’t do it right away, he makes a point of saying, “Thank GOD you don’t want to snuggle tonight.” He had to work a concert yesterday and last night, so I didn’t see him all day. He called me after midnight to let me know he was okay and as we were hanging up, he said “Happy Mother’s Day, I hope.” As someone who is not super affectionate and definitely not a huggy-feely-let’s talk about our emotions kind of guy, for him to aknowledge that today might mean something to me..it meant a lot.

I celebrated Mother’s Day with  my mom yesterday. I went over to my parent’s house and had steak, baked potatoes and Texas toast. Oh, and grilled portabello mushrooms. It was delicious. I only had a bite or two of the steak but everything else was so good. You gotta love a mom and dad who like to cook. I think they were trying to butter me up, though. I told them I’d come feed and water their two dogs while they’re in Florida. Yeah, that means that I’m not getting to go. Arnie and I thought we could swing it but he’s got too many people at his work that are taking off. And if this pee stick thing does progress, I will need the time saved.

 I’m off now. I washed laundry yesterday but didn’t fold any of it yet. Will post picture later.

huh?

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This could be nothing. It could be a chemical, could be the universe just completely fucking with me. I will be peeing on everything for the next few days. Maybe I’ve been doing it all wrong. Maybe not having sex is what will get me pregnant.

 Seriously, I didn’t even really mean to take this test. I had to go wal-mart last night for groceries. And I conveniently had to go down this aisle for lotion. Which I just now realized that I completely forgot about. I picked these up on a whim. Other than a sore chest and the barest hint of blechiness, I’ve had no symptoms. I was planning on going out on a drinking binge last night and I just thought, “Why not?” I kept thinking about how mad I would be if I did somehow end up pregnant and I had this night of drinking and then something went wrong. Not that I even know if this is anything. Like I said, it could be chemical. It could be anything. But for right now, all I know is that it’s something. I don’t know what my game plan is yet. I’m calling my doctor asap this week and seeing if I can get in a beta or two. I have to know something. Anything. I need to know if things aren’t doubling. I just need to know. Edited: I forgot to mention: The bottom test is from Friday afternoon, about 6:30. Top is from Saturday morning.

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Edited Again:I’m obsessing. And I said I wouldn’t think about this at all today. Haha! You called it, Vanessa. Anyway, here’s another picture. I finally figured out how to shut off the bright flash, so hopefully this is a better shot. And I completely forgot that I had taken a pregnancy test before my last beta and it was negative..so this doesn’t seem to be some residual from that pregnancy. Arrrgghh. I’m so antsy, I don’t know what to do with myself.

she wore the dress and I stayed home

I know I am not pregnant. I know without a shadow of a doubt. There’s no way. We didn’t have sex at the right times and I know that. But it’s that time of the month where I start to question every little twinge. I was a little nauseated yesterday and then again this morning. So I think, “Maybe?” Both times, it was after I ate something sweet. and that happens to me ANYtime. But that damn Wanttobepregnant Amnesia kicks in and I forget all about that. Today, my boobs are a little sore. Once again, this happens to me about a week before my period starts..just like it does every other month. I was feeling a little crampy this morning, so I think, “Could this be implantation?” But, no, lol. That also happens every month before my period starts. Stupid womb, aren’t you tired of being empty?

And I’m totally not buying a pregnancy test at any point this month, even if I’m late for some reason. I’ve cured myself of that addiction. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be actually in the process of squeezing a kid out of my lady business before I feel confident enough to do that again. And I will never be cutesy and show it to Arnie. Especially since he was so grossed out the last time, lol. “Did you pee on that? And you’re showing it to me? I never pee on things and shove them in your face.” I’m going to remind him of that next time he wants a blowjob, by the way.

Even though I know I will not be pregnant, I’m not depressed. I’m just pissed off about having to wait so many weeks until I can even try again.

I’m thinking about telling one of my sisters about this blog. She recently moved away to Missouri and this would be a nice way for us to keep in touch. I’d have to swear her to secrecy, though. I like that I can say anything I want without having to worry about what people I know think. I have another sister but I’m not ever going to tell her about it. I love her just as much as the other one but I think she’d try to analyze everything I say. And she’d tell people. She’d tell myDad…and ugh. I don’t even want to think about him reading how raunchy I am. I don’t want him to know that I have sex either. Can you imagine the horror? Brandie wouldn’t tell anyone, I know that. She wouldn’t try to analyze me either. She’d just read what I had to say and not try to fix it. She would just understand. Plus, I like to talk shit about the other sister and she’d be pissed at me, lol.

I really miss my sister. She’s three and a half years older than me and we’re very close. Growing up, she was close enough in age that we had a lot of common interests but far enough apart that we weren’t up each others butt all the time. The only serious fight we had was when I would get home from school before her. I was supposed to watch Santa Barbara, so I could tell her what had happened that day. I’d watch the first half and then switch over to He-Man. It’d piss her off cause I could never finish telling her what happened with Cruise and Eden.

Once, when I was about five or six, she did something for me that I will never forget. I had a treasured Pound Puppy stuffed dog. He was gray and his name was Smoky and I loved him. Man, did I love him. One of our dogs got a hold of him and completely dismembered poor, darling Smoky beyond repair. She helped me lay him to rest in a perfect place in the back yard. We even had a funeral, with a headstone and everything. The same bastard dug dug up Smoky and chewed him to pieces even more. She helped me bury the bits of stuffing and gray polyester that used to be Smoky atleast three more times and never once tried to just throw him away. A sister who will traipse around an acre or two of back yard, picking up pieces of a stuffed animal is a keeper, I think.

She also agrees with my Snowfall Guidelines. Once snow has fallen, you’re never allowed to walk in the front yard and mess it up with footprints. The front yard is for looking and the backyard is for playing and snowman-making. There was nothing worse than seeing a front yard with big tracks from where you tried to roll a snowman. Not many people understand this but she does. Especially since we grew up in Arkansas. Snow is so rare here and we wanted the pretty, pretty snow to last as long as possible. Now that she lives in the frozen tundra of northern Missouri, she might have changed her philosophy.

She also played Bartender with me. We’d sit on opposite sits of the kitchen bar and she’d serve me shot-glasses full of water, dyed with food coloring. I just now realized what that probably did to my innards. Thanks, Brandie. Good idea. My kidneys are probably permanently stained Green No. 3. Explain that to the coroner when I die, please. Oh, also..thanks for nurturing my love of alcohol at such a young age. I think other kids might have played hopscotch or something, though. Talk about boring. I bet no one else could slide a full glass down a bar with as much accuracy as we could. Hey, I want that accomplishment etched on my tombstone, if you’re keeping notes.

Damn. Now that I wrote all this sappy stuff, I have to tell her about it. So, welcome Brandie. I love you and I miss you and not a word to anyone about this. I know many things about you. And what I don’t know, I’ll make up.

a glutton for punishment?

She’s exactly one day ahead of where I should have been.

Why do I torture myself?

I check her blog daily. And yet I’ve never commented. I can’t make myself do it. I look at her ultrasound pictures. I see that black and white image on the page and I see that it looks like an actual real, live baby now. It’s so hard to read about the things she’s going through. But it’s like I have to do it. I don’t have a choice. My fingers type in the website that I know by heart. I yearn for a new post and yet I cringe every-time I see some new milestone that she’s passed. It’s like she’s me, only living in an alternate universe. One where things are working out and everything hasn’t gone all pear-shaped.

I know her baby isn’t mine. But once a day, I can look at her blog and pretend for just one tiny second. Every-time I look, I think “This is the last time I do this, I swear.” But everyday, I’m right back.

Does that make me sick and twisted? Sad and pathetic? Or just in major denial? This is something that I can’t discuss with Arnie, this inability to let go of what is not going to be. He just wouldn’t understand. He wouldn’t like to see me in pain, especially since it’s basically something that I am doing to myself. Self-inflicted cuts and bruises to my heart. Will I ever be able to stop? Will it stop when she has the baby? Or when I manage to get pregnant again?

I doubt he wants them back, really

I’m feeling much better today. My weird headache finally went away sometime this morning. All is well in the noggin, I think.

So, we had sex last night. So maybe we have a chance this month after all? All Arnie’s sperm have to do is fertilize an egg now. Oh, and travel through space and time. No biggie, right?

My own little Hiro sperm.

Well, not mine but you know what I mean. Actually, they’re now in my womb, so if possession is 9/10ths of the law then I guess they are mine. Cool, I have sperm.

I’m trying real hard to not be depressed today. I just found out that my cousin is pregnant. She’s only 21, maybe 22. She’s been trying since she got married, a year and a half. I’m very happy for her but bitter all the same. Her husband isn’t very cute so I’m hoping for an ugly (but healthy!) baby for her. I really do think an ugly baby will make me feel better.

I know I’m going to hell. I’m already packed.

Heard that you were feeling ill! Headache, fever and a chill!

I think I have what Arnie has. I’m not pukey but my head feels like it’s vibrating.

I heart Heart

This month is apparently going to be a complete wash. Arnie is sick, throwing up and woozy and doesn’t look like he’s going to be feeling too much better in the next day or so, during ovulation time. Is it wrong to joke about hitting the bars and looking for someone that has similar coloring to my husband? “I said please, please understand! I’m in looooove with another man. And what he couldn’t give…wooooaahh…was the one little thing that you caaaa-aaaaaaa-aaaan!” I haven’t heard that song in ages.

I’m surprisingly okay. It’s so soon after the miscarriage, even though the doctor said it was fine to try after one cycle. It just kills me that I won’t even have that tiny, minuscule glimmer of hope in two weeks. The good news is, I won’t be feeling myself up to check for boob soreness for the next fourteen days. My co-workers will be happy with that.

Good news on the vacation front. I talked to my husband last night and we’re going to try to go to Florida with the rest of my family this month. I’ll be almost out of vacation hours but since I’m very unlikely to get pregnant anytime soon, I’m sure to have plenty of time to accrue more. This means no princess hat pictures, lol..but it does mean that I get to bury my toes in the sand for the first time in almost two years. I can’t wait to take Arnie there and show him the things I love. I can’t wait to make him spend an entire week with my family.

He’s going to want to claw his own eyeballs out. 

C’mon. Six more. Feel the burn. Five more.

I used to be really heavy. I weighed in at a glorious 250 pounds, measuring only 5′4. Try not to be jealous. I have been overweight my entire life. And when I wasn’t fat, I thought I was. I remember being in the first grade and thinking about how fat I was and would the other kids hate me? That led to a lot of years with me thinking, “I’m already overweight, what harm is this candy bar going to do?” That sad thing is, when I look back on those elementary school pictures, I wasn’t heavier than any other kid. I had round chipmunk cheeks but most kids do. I really wish I hadn’t been so hard on myself, I think it would have saved me years and years of suffering and self-hate. I don’t even know where I got the idea that I was so fat and that people wouldn’t like me because of it. I don’t remember hearing anything negative from my parents and my brothers and sisters didn’t tease me about that kind of stuff.

 And I only have one single memory of anyone saying anything mean to me. ONE single kid, some dumbass punk. I can’t believe I let something he said affect my life like it did. Something to stupid and so minor. He probably never gave it a second thought after the words left his mouth.

I was in the sixth grade and it was my very first day there. New pencils, paper, erasers. Pencil boxes. God, I loved (um, still love obviously, lol) school supplies. I was a transfer during the second nine weeks, so I was already feeling like an outcast. I had just gotten one of those 3-ring binders, with the clear plastic cover. Remember when those first came out? I had decorated the cover of the binder with pictures of my family and NKOTB stickers. I had a picture of my two sisters, front and center. I always thought they were so beautiful in that picture and I was so so proud. Anyway, the teacher had welcomed me to the class, I’d found my seat and she was letting the class come around and say hi. Kids were walking by and commenting on my binder. Finally, Ronald (name NOT protected to protect his identity. I hope he reads this and feels bad, bad, bad) walked by and introduced himself. He seemed so nice and automatically, I was thinking first boyfriend potential. Please. He was twelve and he looked like Joey McIntyre. That’s all I needed to cement our love. He looked at my notebook and said, “Oh, who’s that?” I smiled coquettishly and said, “Those are my sisters. Aren’t they pretty?” He smiled and nodded. Then he said, “Yeah. They are. What happened to you?”

Ouch.

Stupid, rat-ass, monkey-fucking bastard.

I hated him so much. That entire year was ruined, saved only by the best teacher I ever had. She put me in with the geeks and praised me for being an advanced reader. I joined the writing club, the science club, the nature club and the reading club that year. I amde friends. All in all, it should have been a good year. But one comment from one kid ruined the entire thing for me. I will never get that year back.

I wasn’t pretty, sure. But I was twelve. I had a small head and big teeth. I wore glasses and I’m pretty sure I had bad hair. And I never let myself enjoy anything that year. How could I, when everyone obviously thought I was hideous? I’m not sure how one boy turned into “everyone” but it happened.

 I actually didn’t start getting pudgy until the eighth grade. That was my very first year to home school. Great decision, Mom and Dad! I basically spent five years playing Nintendo and watching Days of Our Lives. I can’t do math to save my life but I can seriously kick your ass in any Super Mario Bros or Zelda game. That doesn’t look so good on your resume, though. College education? No. Hand/Eye coordination? A+!

 I had a gastric bypass in September of 2004. It wasn’t something that I just decided to do on a whim. I spent a lot of time researching and a lot of time saving money. I had spent years trying to lose weight and it would always come right back on. I exercised. I ate right. I honestly worked very hard to lose weight. But I was tired. Tired of being fat; tired of thinking I was ugly. I was fairly young to have the surgery but I did not want to spend twenty more years battling pudge, only to end up having the surgery later in life when I would have more lose and it would be harder for me to recover. I ended up losing about ninety pounds in all. I still actually need to lose about forty more, so having a gastric bypass certainly wasn’t a miracle cure. But it’s the best and wisest thing I ever did for myself. I’ve recently started exercising again and I’m gradually trying to improve the things I eat. I like my treadmill time and I love Pilates. I don’t eat a lot in quantity but the quality has been so-so lately. I haven’t been getting in nearly enough protein and vegetables. My husband is so damn picky and it’s expensive and frustrating to buy separate groceries for each of us. But I’m slowly trying to change out his macaroni and cheese for something green every now and then, when he’s too tired to notice. If only I didn’t love the stuff as much as he does. But I’m working on it and I’m exercising. I’m cutting way back on alcohol. I’m getting healthier: mentally and physically. I’ve got a long way to go but I’m looking forward to see what I can do.

 So, this post is dedicated to Ronald.

Fuck off.