Someone Pinch Me

Holy cow, the last week has been ... odd.

But in a totally good way.

I went back to work on Monday and was told by the big boss that once I got settled in he needed to talk to me.  Now, we've had some "re-arranging" of the campus, so I was a bit worried.  He laughed and told me it wasn't a bad thing.  And it wasn't.  It wasn't excellent, like a promotion or a big fat raise, but it wasn't bad.

We're finally going to be able to start being in charge of our own advertising, instead of being told how to do it, and my boss wanted me to do a videotaped interview about our upcoming Family 9Health Fair.  I was up for it.  And then he told me it would be the next day.  Wow.  That was fast.  Good thing I'm passionate about the 9HealthFair.  On Tuesday, I met the interviewer and the camera man and we pulled off the interview in one take.  We had five minutes allotted for time and our one-take interview was 5:02.  'Bout as good as you can get.

The next day (Wednesday), I got a Facebook message from someone I'd met at a blogger roundtable, asking if I would be interested in doing a presentation on guns at the upcoming Great Outdoors Show.  No brainer.  Of course I was interested.  I contacted her and we set up a time for me to do a radio interview on Thursday to run on Friday.

The interview was fun and was conducted by a D.J. who is also a shooter, which put me at ease right away.  I think we spent more time talking "off the record" than we did on.  I also found out today that I'll be taking the stage on Saturday right before RJ and Jay Paul from The Swamp People.  How crazy is that?

I'll have a ton of people in the audience for my talk, but I know they'll be saving their seats for RJ and Jay Paul.  It's all good, though, because they're gonna have to hear what I have to say about shooting.  So it's really a win-win for me.

On top of it all, I got a phone call from Estes' Other Mother and the mares are already at CSU.  The baby horse planting will happen tomorrow.

And ON TOP OF THAT, I'm still working on my book and hope to have it out by the middle of August.  Whew. 

AAAAANNNNNDDDDDD...my non-Parrothead husband bought me tickets to go see Jimmy Buffett in October.  I can't tell you how much that means to me.  It's a hell of a culture shock for a non-Parrothead to attend a Buffett concert.

When did I step into the Twilight Zone?

Braggin'

Jay's been working on a children's book for a while now.  He started his illustrations on paper and it took him days to complete just one panel.

A year or so ago, he changed from paper to computer and began "drawing" his illustrations on the computer.

Today, he finished his book.  Completely.  All illustrations and text are complete.  The cover is complete.  It's beautiful.

Now, the hard work begins...to shop it around and find a publisher.

I'm super proud of him; this wasn't an easy task to complete.

Fleeting Glimpses

Finally, same place, same time.

When Jay and I started dating, we realized that we had been in the same place at the same time quite frequently throughout our adult lives.

Northern Colorado isn't that big, I get it.  But still...we're talking pretty much all of our adult lives, we've been just missing each other.

For instance, Reba hasn't played in this area often.  In the early 90's, she played Big Mac in Denver (which doesn't even exist any more).  We were both there.

Stinktown Stampede concerts, both there.

CFD concerts, both there.

Recently - as in two days ago - we were talking and realized that he and his friend participated in a Poker Run that I worked for a couple of years.  Since I was working one of the stops, I clearly had to have interacted with him and his friend.

Okay, okay, those aren't such crazy coincidences. We lived in the same area, of course it was going to happen. That's not so outstanding.

However, there is Italy.

Yes, Italy.

We were both there the same year, the same two weeks.  And get this...essentially the same route, just backward.  My friends and I started in Rome and ended in Venice.  Jay and his family started in Venice and ended in Rome.

Got goosebumps yet?

I wonder how it is we've shared essentially the same space in time for most of our adult lives, but didn't meet?  Took a temper tantrum five years ago for us to finally meet.

Date Night

Last night was the 3rd Annual Saucy Affair, a fundraiser for my beloved 9HealthFair.  I've wanted to take RCC since they began doing this as their primary fundraiser.  This year, they offered a raffle for volunteers - if your name was drawn you got a free ticket when you purchased a regular ticket.  I threw my name in the raffle and got lucky enough to be one of the winners.  At $65.00 a person, it was pretty much the only way I'd get to take RCC.

Fifteen or so of Denver's restaurants competed for the "People's Choice" title; each restaurant served small plates for the participants to choose from, each plate had to have a sauce (it was, after all, a "saucy" challenge).  I knew that there would be a huge chance that most of the restaurants would serve seafood, which is disgusting as far as I'm concerned.  But I also knew that whatever I didn't eat, RCC would.




I did something I rarely do - I got all girled up: hair, makeup, jewelry, dress and heels.  I drew the line at hose; the etiquette people will just have to get over my bare legs.  It felt good to slip into my black dress and not feel like I was going to bust out the seams.  And, don't anyone repeat this, it was kinda fun to be a girly-girl for a little bit.  Approximately 20 minutes, anyway.  That's all it took for my feet to start hurting and my knees to rebel.

In the meantime, RCC and I drank "free" wine and ate ourselves sick.  The restaurant that got my "People's Choice" vote was Texas de Brazil - they served garlic mashed potatoes and flank steak with chimichurri.  They actually won my vote with the garlic mashed, but then I tasted the flank steak and about fell out it was so good.  RCC voted for Avenue Grill, which served a shrimp with a soy-ginger sauce.  Texas de Brazil won, pretty much hands-down.  It was truly the garlic mashed that won it for them - everyone was talking about it.

I was excited to see a handful of people that I work with during the planning stages of the 9HealthFair.  In fact, I told RCC that I felt a little like a celebrity there for a bit.  My phlebotomy classes for the medical assisting and nursing students in the Northern Council are garnering a fair bit of attention at the corporate level.  Seeing people who were genuinely happy to see RCC and me was a bonus.  I went not expecting to run into anyone we know.


The evening was topped off with cupcakes on the way out the door from one of Denver's favorite cupcake vendors, the Denver Cupcake Truck.

As much fun as I had, I couldn't wait to get my dang heels off and get ice on my knees, which swelled more and more by the minute.  I don't know how other women can wear heels to work, as part of their grown up clothes.  I think I'll stick with wearing scrubs and tennis shoes.

You know you've got a good husband when...

...he tells you your ass is better than half of the college girls' asses he sees every day.

I think I'll keep him.

Ripley Gets More Presents

The surprises just keep coming in from RCC.

First was the absolutely kick-ass 3rd brake light...

Then, a week later, a custom-made gear shift boot...

And then, yesterday while I was at the 9HealthFair, he installed an SSD Strut Tower Brace...

Now, you may or may not know that I'm kind of a car girl.  Not a true gear-head, though I married one.  More of the breed of car girl that truly enjoys driving - really driving - and understands basic mechanical stuff.  I've always had an appreciation for classic American Muscle (totally Mom's fault, BTW).  And by appreciation, I mean they make me all hot and bothered.  What I would give for an old school GTO. *sigh*

Anyway, Ripley is not even close to being American Muscle.  Heck, she's not even close to being Korean Muscle (is there such a thing?).  But she is a blast to drive and I've been known to run the canyon to the Lodge at, oh, I don't know, thirty over or so.  While I enjoy the hell out of running the canyon, Monster has complained more than once about the amount of body roll on the curves.  Apparently, going up the canyon at 70 mph or so around the curves isn't as much fun for my passengers as it is for me.

The SSD Strut Tower Brace has tightened up the steering and significantly reduced the sway.  Ripley hugs those curves now like she was made for it.  As much as I loved running the canyon before, I can't believe how much more I enjoy it now.  In fact, I had such a good time test-running the curves around Horsetooth that RCC and I made an impromtu trip to the Lodge last night.

I'm still on a driver's high from the run up and down the canyon.

RCC Wins Husband of the Year!

I knew RockCrawlinChef was up to something, but I had no idea what it was.  He's been cagey for the last couple of days, but I had no idea why.

Tonight, he wandered outside for a few minutes and then told me to come out to see what he was working on.

I was perplexed when he told me to stand about five feet behind Ripley.  He reached in the car and put his hand on the brake pedal.  This is what I saw...

Is that the coolest brake light ever?  It's even better than personalized plates (and costs a whole heap less!).

He found out about them here at SoulHamsters.com in their 3rd brake light decals.  Cool, huh?

You Know What?

I'm awfully damn lucky.

I've been fairly cranky for the last couple of weeks.  Same old story - overworked and underpaid.  Or too much to do and not enough time to do it.  Sometimes it's easy to fall into the "woe is me" mentality and it takes a smack to the head something to break the cycle.

My eye-opener occurred the other day when I was in the shower.  I was mentally reviewing a series of emails I had with Lee Lofland, the brains behind Writers' Police Academy and started mentally writing the post for The GunDivas about WPA, when it dawned on me...I'm awfully damn lucky. 

I've got an amazing husband who doesn't mind that I'm planning on running down to North Carolina in September to attend WPA.  I didn't even ask if it was okay; I said, "hey, Honey, I'm going to WPA again this year."  Would it have been more polite to ask instead of tell him I was going?  Yes.  But he truly doesn't mind if I go.

I asked him last year if he minded that I had trips planned without him and he told me that he managed to live without me for thirty-some years, he wasn't going to shrivel up and die over a few days.  I know of several couples who have been married for a long time who can't stand for one or the other to be gone.  I don't know if it's co-dependency or lack of trust, but I've seen some pretty nasty fights and I'm glad that it's not a problem for us.

And then there's how he supports my job.  It sucks (I love it, but the hours suck).  I work fifty-plus hours a week most weeks, and I'm trying to add in work-outs at least three days a week.  Now that it's Health Fair season, I'm also teaching on Saturdays, so one of the few days that we have together is shot.  Today, he catered lunch for my students, making a fajita bar for their lunch so I wouldn't have to order pizza.  He'll do the same thing for my class next Saturday.

It's not like he's got a ton of free time himself; he's working two jobs and going to school full-time, yet is fully supportive of anything that I want to do.

I am awfully damn lucky.

I just hope that he feels the same way, and that I can support him in his interests and work as much as he supports me.

Anti-Valentine's Day

RockCrawlinChef and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day.

I know that shocks a lot of people.  For years, I both dreaded and anticipated Valentine's Day.  I dreaded it because I *hated* all of the hype and the "you're nothing unless someone's head over heels in love with you and draping you in diamonds" bullshit that goes along with it.  I anticipated it because it finally meant that the season of torture was over.  In case you hadn't noticed (and if you're single, I'll bet you've noticed), single people are tormented from mid-October all the way through Valentine's Day.  Everything's love this, family that.  If you're single, every damn commercial is a slap in the face. 

Bah!

After RCC and I became "us", and our first Valentine's Day together approached, we decided we weren't going to celebrate it.  And we haven't.  Instead, we celebrate our Anti-Valentine's Day (also known as our "Eye Contact" Anniversary) on February 16.  This year will be our third.  Because we're both working that day, we sort of celebrated last night by buying a new TV, as ours is mostly dead.

I think it still makes him a little nervous that I tell him I don't want to celebrate Valentine's Day.  I mean, men are conditioned that they have to remember it, even if their woman says not to.  I actually mean it.  I'm not doing anything for him for the over-priced Hallmark Holiday and I don't want him to do anything for me.

Instead, we'll spend the evening after work enjoying our new TV.

Just another perfect day(te)

The Denver Zoo welcomed quadruplet tiger cubs earlier this year and released them from the nursery on August 31.  As soon as RCC saw that he decided we needed to go see the babies at the zoo.  We made a date to go.

I got off of work early Thursday evening (meaning I'd only worked 9.5 hours) and we decided to go out to dinner and then a movie at the three dollar theater (boy do we know how to live large!).  Lucky me, our date started a whole twelve hours early.

I cancelled my standing shooting date with Tara for Friday and off we went to the zoo to see the babies.  We were pretty much lazy bums and didn't get to the zoo until early afternoon where we got a pleasant surprise - because the zoo had a fundraiser that evening and would be closing early, we got in for half price!

We saw Lions....

...and tigers...

...and bears...

...and the cutest darn ocelots on the planet...

...and the coolest upside-down reflection ever...

...and then we went back and saw more tigers...

I could have stood and watched those cubs all day.  Only six weeks old and already larger than some dogs.  Finally, being jostled by all the little kids who wanted to see the babies got old and we decided to continue our date at Casa Bonita.

Now before y'all get excited about us going to some romantic place, go check out the link for Casa Bonita. 

It's okay, I'll wait.

You get the gist?  It's as romantic as you can make it with all the kids running around (blessedly few since we were there so early), but it is perhaps the most fun restaurant anyone can go to and is a Denver landmark (even though it's technically in Lakewood).

Of course, our date wouldn't have been complete without a cheesy picture at the fountain in front of Casa Bonita.

Just for you South Park fans, here's a little video of Casa Bonita for you (no, it's not us in the video).



What do you think HCRers - should we build a trip to Casa Bonita into our schedule?

Introducing Eloise

You may remember from my last TST that I'm a loser who didn't get her husband an anniversary gift.

However, I LOVE the gift he got me, so I got over being a loser pretty quickly.  He brought Eloise into my life and I lurve her very much. 

I swore I would never give up "real" books - and I won't.  In fact, I've got another on the way that I promised to review in June.  So, no, real books are safe in my house, but they may become a little...neglected.

I initially coveted the Kindle (c) (<---I don't know how to make the little copywrite sign) and kept telling RCC and the kids that I wanted one for traveling.  It doesn't matter how many books I pack to travel with, I always finish my book with twenty minutes before boarding and then I have to run to the airport bookstore and pay bookstore prices.  I hate that!

I'd not heard much about the nook(c) and had no clue what it could do.  RCC initially went into B&N to get me a book for our anniversary, but started talking to the nook guy and ended up buying me Eloise.  I really, really lurve her.  He done good.  She's super easy to read and buying books is even easier (as long as you have a B&N account).  What I really love is that I can prop her up in bed (I'm a stomach reader), plop my chin down on my hands and read away.  When I need to turn the page, I just swipe my finger across the touch screen and voila! the page turns.

I can also sideload music from my iTunes(c) library, so I can listen to music as I read.  There are also more than 900K free books to choose from.  This takes some patience, as some of the books are self-pubbed crap, but there are also some excellent books in the "free" store.

My only two complaints about Eloise: 1) her battery life and 2) she's kinda nekkid and exposed without protection.  I could solve complaint #2 and did.  I bought her some nice red leather clothes, which she looks stunning in.

Now, complaint #1:  "...an avid reader should be able to read 7 - 10 days on a single charge".  I've had Eloise in my life for two weeks now and have had to fully charge her three times.  It seems that "avid" reader is a few steps below my "voracious" level.  The best I've gotten out of Eloise is about four days.  That doesn't really worry me, but it is an inconvenience.  RCC said that the guy at B&N did tell him that there were ways to increase the battery life, so I'll be stopping in there sometime soon.

One more thing I love about Eloise - there are B&N stores everywhere, so if anything goes wrong, I can just take her into the store. 

And the store...they're doing a 5-week promo, where I can download a book a week from a bestselling author.  I just have to go into the store, show them Eloise and pick up my coupon.  Actually, any one can participate, whether they've got a nook or not.  You can go to Barnes and Noble's website and download their free e-reader, which then qualifies you for the ebook promo.  And, no, I'm not being paid for this - I just love it so much, I had to share it with everyone (including the ER nurse while RCC was dying from epiploic appendagitis).

BUT...RCC's not the only one who can buy good gifts.  Check out what I got him for his birthday (they were back-ordered and took forever to come in)...

No, it's not the Jeep, but the new tube doors and mirrors. He's pretty excited about them, but hasn't been able to drive his Lil' Blue Box due the the narcotic pain meds he's on, so he's had to admire them from the couch. We have to go to the store later, so maybe he'll get to ride in Lil' Blue Box with her sexy new doors while I drive.

A Bill-esque Post

Tired.  As a result, you'll get a very Bill-esque post (short, sweet and to the point) from me.

Friday
Went to Yellowstone after RCC surprised me with the Nook.  It was a long drive.  Went in the Northeast Gate.  Saw bison.  Lots of bison.

Saw black bears.  Sow and two cubs...

Arrived at Yellowstone Suites, checked in, found a place to eat.  Ate.  Went to bed.  Mother Nature laughed at us.  Happy Anniversary.

Saturday

Went for horseback ride at Hell's A-Roarin' Outfitters.  Big horses, good ride.  Forgot sunscreen (who needs it when it's snowing in Colorado?), got sunburned.

Drove around the park for hours.  Saw lots and lots o' stuff.

Sunday

Head home.  Took us three hours to drive fifty miles out of the park...lots of cool stuff to see and do.

Drove for hours.  And hours.

Stopped in Casper, WY to have dinner with one of RCC's childhood friends.  Was a good time.

Finally made it home and to bed.

It was an excellent trip; certainly much better than my first trip to Yellowstone.  A better post will be forthcoming, I promise.

True Story Tuesday: A Shocking Story

As always, thank you to Rachel and Mr. Daddy for hosting this little weekly fun fest.

A month or so after RockCrawlinChef and I got engaged we were still twitterpated and all kissy-face all the time.  It didn't matter where we were, we were always sneaking kisses.  It was pretty disgusting.  Good God, we'd become one of "those" couples. 

*Gag*

We were in the grocery store and it was a really dry day; like negative humidity, the kind that just breeds static.  We'd both been shocked repeatedly from the cart alone.  It was to the point of being ridiculous - I don't recall ever building up so much static just pushing a darn shopping cart.  I got shocked one last time and decided that I wasn't going to let go of the cart; RCC would have to put whatever we wanted into it and I was going to keep both hands on the cart so I wouldn't get shocked anymore.

Well, it seemed like a good idea.

We were walking down the paper goods aisle, which was deserted, and decided to sneak a little smooch.

RCC leaned in, I tilted my head up. And BAM!  We didn't even make contact, but I'd built up so much static electricity pushing the cart that the electricity arced from my nose to his.  We jumped apart like we'd both been hit with a cattle prod.  I felt that shock all the way through my nose and into my upper lip.  My eyes welled up with tears and when I looked at him rubbing his nose, I saw that it had the same effect on him. 

I'm sure the other shoppers wondered what happened over in the toilet paper aisle to cause all of the loud cursing and laughing.  When we stopped cursing and laughing and wiped the tears from our eyes, we took a look at each other's nose.  Sure enough, we both had a red burn on the tips of our noses that lasted for days.

We've since learned to ground ourselves before getting too kissy-face and the paper goods aisle holds no interest for us at all anymore.

Two Year Meetiversary

I pulled into the parking lot of Barnes and Noble a ten minutes before we'd agreed to meet.

And stayed in the car, staring at the entrance.

What if he doesn't show up?  He's the one who suggested this place.  But what if what's going on with Monster was enough to scare him off?  I should just go home.  I'm a mess, I have no business here.

I stared at the front entrance some more.  Then stared at the clock in my dashboard.  Then stared at the entrance.  I may have thrown up a little bit too.  My hand reached for the door and then dropped back into my lap.

What are you thinking?  Get moving!  I can't.  What if he's an asshole?  What if he's a really great guy, but he hates me?  Get moving!  Am I insane?  Damn, should have worked harder on losing some weight.

I stared at the front entrance some more, watching people go in and out.  There was no one pacing on the sidewalk, looking as nervous as I felt.

What if he stands me up?

I watched some more people go in and out of the entrance.  My hand crept toward the door again.  I actually managed to touch the door handle before my hand fell into my lap.

How am I going to recognize him?  I've only seen pictures and I'm lousy about faces.  Shit!  I hadn't thought of that.  How will I know it's him?

Oh, for Christ's Sake, girl, put your big girl panties on and Let's Do This!

I took a deep breath, grabbed the door handle, threw the door open and got out of the car before my mind could figure out what my body was doing.  I closed the door, leaned against it and maybe threw up a little again.

Now what?  Stop stalling and just go!

Once my body was freed from the confines of the car, it seemed to know what to do.  One foot in front of the other across the parking lot and up onto the sidewalk.  A quick glance in the window.

Oh my God!  There he is!

All I could see was his back, but I knew it was him.  I gained confidence as I entered the doors and turned to my left.  There he was, walking toward me with a long-stemmed red rose in his hand.  We hugged forever and I felt him shaking like a leaf.

Poor guy, he's in worse shape than I am.

When he spoke, even his voice shook.  We found a table near the coffee shop and started talking.  I couldn't take my eyes off of his; the shirt he was wearing made his green eyes look blue, and his eyelashes were unbelievably long.  I was jealous of those eyelashes.  I even noticed his nose - people pay a lot of money to have a nose like his.  Who notices stuff like that?  Someone who's head-over-heels for a guy she'd only ever "spoken to" via email.

He shook for an hour.  We talked about everything under the sun.  I fantasized about curling up on a couch with him.  He was a cuddle bug, I could tell just by looking.

Four hours later, we both agreed that it was time to part.

An hour after that, we actually left the store.  He said he had something for me in his truck, so I went out the back way with him.  He checked out my ass.  He denies it; I felt it.  At his truck, he reached in and handed me a picture he had drawn of me and Meeker.

He leaned in for the kiss, chickened out, and gave me a goodbye hug instead.

Back in my car, I felt something I hadn't in a long time.  Hope.  Despite having "hope" tattoo'd on my ankle, it was hard to hold onto.

~~~

Hard to believe that was March 22, 2008, two years ago today.  Seems like we've spent our whole lives together.

I love you, Sexy Man.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tomorrow's the big Two-Oh-Oh! 

Come join in the fun and maybe you'll win one of my favorite things!

~~~~~~~~~~
Head on over to Jack Sh*t, Gettin' Fit for some funny weight loss stories -
One of them is mine!

Voyeurism Via Email

Gotcha!

Now that I've got your attention, I'm guest posting today over at T!nK's place, This Is How It Feels.  He's taking a little bloggy vacation and asked some of his blogging buddies to contribute a love story of their own.

My contribution isn't exactly a love story, but it is the story of the first time I met the RockCrawlinChef in real life; it's an email that I sent to my friends after our first meeting.  I'm pretty sure after six weeks of emailing multiple times a day and our initial meeting, I was head-over-heels in love with the Chef, but couldn't admit it to myself. 

Hop on over to T!nK's if you're just dying to see how screwed-up, mixed-up, I-don't-know-which-end-is-up I was over meeting him for the first time.

True Story Tuesday

Thanks to Rachel and Mr. Daddy over at Once Upon A Miracle for giving me a platform to share this.  Be sure to hop on over to their blog and link up to play along.

This is the sign that greeted us when I hauled RockCrawlinChef's banged up and bruised cookies into Urgent Care on Sunday...

I've been in medicine a long time and I've never come across "Fly Symptoms", unless they look something like this...

Nor do I know what "Sinus Symptons" are.  D'ya s'pose sinus symptons are 2,000 sinus symptoms?

Nor have I ever come across "Upper Respitory Symptoms", and believe me, as a mom of boys, I'm pretty sure that if there was such a thing as a spit symptom (actually, spit would be a sign, but we've already been down that route) I'd've heard about it.

We're not even going to talk about the exuberant use of exclamation points or the missing apostrophes (or the incomplete sentences).

RockCrawlinChef took one look at the sign, looked at me and asked, "And I'm supposed to trust these people?"  I assured him that the physician probably didn't write it, 'cause if he/she did, it would be illegible.

The Rest Of The Story

I made RockCrawlinChef go to Urgent Care, as I said in my earlier post, and he's fine (which I knew) and they gave him Flexeril (I didn't even have to threaten them for it).  No Vicodin, though, and I'm okay with that.  He seems to be managing his pain well with just 800mg ibuprofen.

Turns out, the accident wasn't exactly a rollover (Thank God), but more of a tip-over.

He and Partner were on the highway, which thanks to Mother Nature, was an ice skating rink.  They were only doing about 45mph and as they crested a hill, Partner saw brake lights, so he lightly tapped his brakes, hoping to slow down before they got to the cars at the bottom of the hill.  When he tapped his brakes, the backend of the truck started to slide out from behind them.  They ended up sliding sideways into the median, tearing it up pretty good.  The truck came to a stop sideways in the median, but the momentum carried the top of the truck right on over and they ended up on the driver's side.  They managed to miss everything: mile markers, guard rails, and median dividers.

A state patrolman was northbound on the other side of the highway and saw the whole thing happen.  RCC says that the patrolman was standing in front of the truck looking through the windshield almost before they'd come to a complete stop.  Partner immediately got out of his seatbelt and stood up, but RCC's seatbelt was locked up with his weight, so he was stuck in his seat on his left side.  Partner was able to get his shoulder up under RCC's hip and lift him enough that they could release the seatbelt and RCC could scramble up to standing.

Now, the thing is, armored trucks are made so that no one can get into them.  Which means that no one can get into them if there's an accident and they need help.  Luckily, RCC and Partner weren't that hurt.  But the doors on the trucks are heavy and they weren't really in a good position to get them open.  You know, one door was under them and the other was over their heads.  The driver has control over the doors, so it took RCC crawling up under the door, throwing the combat latch and heaving it open while Partner released the other lock.  Apparently, RCC had to stand on the side of the seat, put his back to the door and use his legs and back to lift it up and hold it open while Partner climbed up and out of the cab.  Partner then held the door so that RCC could get out.

RockCrawlinChef escaped with nothing more than bumps and bruises and Partner ended up with a small (less than 1") laceration from falling items in the cab.  I can honestly say that all's well that ends well, for that seems to be true.

Side note to Partner: the rubber side is supposed to be down!

Oh. My. God.

I had planned a cute litte post about the additions to our zoo, but before I could get there, I noticed that I'd missed a couple of phone calls from RockCrawlinChef, who had to work today.  My Chef doesn't currently work in a restaurant, though he's got the itch to go back.  No, he's an Armed Service Tech, aka Armed Courier, who works for a national armored car company, picking up and distributing money between banks and businesses. 

The fact that I'd missed three phone calls didn't bode well and I called him back, expecting news like "It took us forever on the shuttle, so I won't be home until late" or possibly good news, "We're making good time, so I'll be home early."

What I got instead, stopped my heart.

"Hey Babe, just wanted to let you know I'm okay."

"Uh..." I'm okay just means that something went wrong.  Of course, I know that his job comes with risks, but he's armed and good with his gun, but still...

"We were in a..." Please God don't say robbery.  Don't say it, don't say it. "Rollover."

Is it wrong to be relieved that it was *only* a rollover?  People are killed in rollovers, but I was immediately relieved.  If he was okay enough to call me three times, he was really okay.

He and his partner are both okay, though Partner's got a laceraction from flying debris in the cab of the truck.  RockCrawlinChef's back is sore and he was checked out by the paramedics at the scene, but I'm making him go to Urgent Care as soon as he gets home.  If his back is sore already, he's going to need some Flexeril (and honestly, I hate to admit it, probably some Vicodin) to get throught the night, 'cause once those back spasms hit in full force when the adrenaline's gone from his body, he's going to be in agony.

If thing's can go right in an accident, they did in this one.  They were on their way to pick up money, so the truck was empty.  Since the truck was empty, Chef was riding up front with Partner, rather than in the back in the messenger seat.  The messenger seat is the most dangerous seat in the vehicle because none of the "liability" is secured, so in an accident, the messenger is subjected to flying debris that basically becomes shrapnel.  Oh, sure, the messenger seat is surrounded by a "cage", but the cage doesn't stop all of the coin, it just scatters it like a shotgun into the messenger.

Also, because they didn't have any liability aboard, they were able to take care of themselves after the accident, rather than having to guard the liability.

To be continued...

Odd Realization

Just saw a picture of my ex-boyfriend on a friend's Facebook and I realized, "Wow, that wasn't painful at all."  What surfaced were old, fond, fun memories, not the hurtful, hateful, you've-ripped-my-heart-out,-threw-it-in-a-Waring-blender-and-set-it-on-frappe memories.  For the first time since we broke up, when I saw his picture, I thought, "we could maybe be friends."  Odd realization.  I never thought I'd get to that place.

I wasted a good number of years (yes, years, as my girls will attest to) wishing I could have what I lost.  Only now, looking back, that relationship wasn't right for me.  He did a lot of good things for me, but perhaps the single most important thing he did was introduce me to the girls.  I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for them.  For that, I say, "Thank You, Brian, with all my heart." 

Know what else I realized?  He wasn't the right man for me.  Actually, I realized that years ago, but it took finding the right man, my true soulmate, to drive the point home.  Brian was good for me, yes, but he was not right for me. 

RCC is.  RCC is the perfect man for me.  We complement each other's weaknesses and strengthen each other with unwavering support and I love him more than I thought it was possible to love another human being.  I had given up on finding a relationship and sure the hell didn't believe in a soulmate.  I thought romance writers were a bunch of loonies with their Happily Ever Afters. 

Bah!  No such thing.
 
Until I met RCC and got my own HEA.

My Perfect Husband

Well, he may not be perfect perfect, but he's perfect for me. He called me from work this morning, out of the blue, and asked if I wanted to go out to dinner. Like a date, without the kids and everything. I was surprised that he'd want to go out after working six days in a row; his job's not like mine, he actually does real work, while I more and more shuffle papers.

I looked forward to our date all day. We'd planned on going to Chimney Park Bistro, but after looking at their menu online, we decided on Jay's Bistro in Old Town. We were a little concerned about parking since New West Fest is going on downtown, but we needn't have worried.

I had the most amazing dinner that I couldn't pronounce - thank God RCC knows how to pronounce all those high-flalutin' words - some five pepper crusted filet in a green peppercorn sauce over garlic mashed. It was absolutely delicious - I ate every bite and would have eaten more except the plate was empty.

Dessert was even better. A few years ago my friend Glenna had introduced me to Godiva's Dark Chocolate with Raspberry filling, which is my all time favorite candy bar. Dessert was like my favorite candy bar, but supersized! It was a flourless chocolate cake with chocolate ganache with raspberry sauce. Heaven in my mouth!

What a great idea RCC had and I love him for it even more!