Hold that thought....

The love of my life @harlot-k turns another year older today and for the second year in a row, work has me traveling and not able to spend it with her . But while I can’t physically be there to celebrate today, there isn’t any single day that I don’t cherish her being my wife. She is my biggest supporter as well as my teammate, my nurse when I’m not feeling well, and my pillar of strength when I have self-doubt. She routinely tackles the burdens of me being away frequently on work travel without complaint, when she has every right to. She is the best bonus mom anyone can ask for, and her capacity of understanding emotions and feelings not only helps the kids but also helps me be a better parent. She’s not just my wife but truly my best friend who I couldn’t imagine living without.

Since I was tagged by @harlot-k for a selfie on Friday, I guess I’ll participate! (I’m slow to trends, ya know?) Plus it’s Sunday so here’s sixx:

- the boy started his caddying job for the summer. Luckily he turns 16 in less than a month, because waking up at 5:30am on weekends to drive him to the course sucks ass.

- since the only places open at that hour are grocery stores and hardware stores (and Dunkin’ that you Jeebus), we did groceries yesterday morning and hardware store today.

- see the screen door behind me? That was this morning’s purchase and what we did all day. Our old one didn’t have a screen, nor a latch. Over time our dumbfuck dog learned that he can just open it with his head, so this new door was a long time coming, and ooooh the breeze feels nice! I also had to replace wood in the door jambs due to rotting.

- since I had to relocate the doorbell, we decided to get a blink doorbell to go with the cameras we have. Welcome to 2010!

- Traveling to Wisconsin for work and fun this week, then come home Saturday afternoon, meet up with friends we haven’t seen in a while; and then I have a 7am flight out for our twice a year construction summit. There until Wednesday then off to Michigan for work. I don’t talk much about it, but if you follow my boy @nice-bright-colors then you know the joys of work travel in construction. I just don’t drink at the airport as much.

@harlot-k and I have stayed free of illness for the last two fucking years. No covid, no colds, nothing. Mostly because we’ve been adhering to masks and mandates and we’re cool with masks. Hell, I fly all over the place and haven’t caught anything from flying since pre-pandemic.

But we finally get together with friends for a super bowl party and BAM! I was at a jobsite on Wednesday up near Green Bay, and during the three hour drive back, I started sneezing and suddenly felt head congestion. I dial up the wifey, and sure enough she felt the same.

A doctor had told me in the past that you get cold symptoms 72 hours after you actually catch it. Not sure how true that is, but it always calculated in the past when I got a cold, 3 days before I was in a plane or traveling (pre-covid). So I feel it is solid logic.

Waiting until boarding my flight home…fifth flight this week and ninth in the last two weeks. I’ve been all over the place except for home. Phoenix, Rhode Island, Cleveland, Omaha. I don’t mind traveling but these ass-crack-of-not-even-dawn flights are taxing. I’ve been up before 4am every day this week. My body hates me for it.

I will be very happy to see the wife again today, and to sleep in our bed tonight. And to know I’m not flying anywhere for the next two weeks. This stretch was an anomaly due to my brother in law’s wedding in between work travel, and so I typically see home more than a day during a two week stretch. And I’m thankful for having an understanding wife who has had to take care of every single thing at home while I was away. I am SOOOOO looking forward to our pillows. And her pillows (if ya know what I mean!! Wakka wakka wakka). I’m picky when it comes to pillows and the only way I’ve been sleeping on these crappy hotel pillows is by pure exhaustion.

Anyhow, one store is done and ready to merchandise, with 22 to go for the next year. 8 or 9 of them only require me driving to the site, which will be helpful when I have 4 or 5 stores getting ready to open at the same time. I’m rambling, I know. I have no point to this. Just trying to do something other than work until they announce boarding.

Currently reading: “The First 21” by Nikki Sixx. It’s a biography of Frank Ferrana and how his childhood and youth created the Nikki Sixx persona he has become.

Last Song: Queen of the Rodeo by Orville Peck. If you’re not a fan of gay cowboys, you’re not a fan of mine.

Last Series: as @harlot-k mentioned, we just caught up on Letterkenny in suspense of season 10 later this month. I also oddly keep up with Curse of Oak Island. 10 fucking years of finding nothing but wood and every season I’m like the fucking Goonies thinking “this year they’ll find the treasure!”

Last Movie: I watched “Angels and Demons” with Tom Hanks on an airplane last month. And as I typed that I remember that we watched “Forrest Gump” at the in-laws last week. I’m sensing a theme there…

Last podcast: well, that’s easy, as I had to drive 7 hours round trip to Green Bay today. I caught up on the “Crime Junkies” podcast. True crime crazy ass stories. Love it. I also suggest, if you’re interested in John Wayne Gacy (hey, it happened when I was a kid and fairly local to me), I highly recommend “Defense Diaries” by Bob Motta. Love listening to podcasts on planes…

Currently working on: for work, as a construction manager of a National retailer, I’m working on opening a few new stores in the next couple of months, and 24 new stores throughout the Midwest during 2022. I’m still fairly new to the job, so I’m trying to keep the work life balance as I get up to speed. Christmas is only a few weeks away and one kid still doesn’t have any presents. And I need to get something for my mom. And my schedule is booked until the 17th (I’ll be home for a day and a half in the next two weeks).

I only did this because @harlot-k tagged me. I will tag @nice-bright-colors if he hasn’t done this already. If you have, buddy, then you can just call me an idiot.

Same dog as my tagger. As you can tell, he’s a real hyper pupper: