The Progression of Marriage

Wow! It's been a month of Sundays since I last posted! Things have been so busy around here lately. I've had my birthday--29 years but who's counting???; Annsley had her 6th birthday earlier this month and my grandmother passed away--the second one in 3 months. She had dementia; it and Alzheimer's are such horrible diseases. I know that she had no idea who I was the last couple of years, and of course, she never "knew" Annsely and Kennedi, but I will tell you that whenever my girls were around her, she would smile and perk up like nobody's business. The power of children!

Now I'm getting ready for our "We're Adopting from Russia--Come Spend Some Money and Help Us Buy a Visa or Two" garage sale this weekend. If I haven't been using it or needing it for the last year, it's got a price tag on it. Doug and I told ourselves last year when we moved all our "stuff" that was it. This poverty mindset and pack rat mentality had to go. We were still holding on to stuff we had accumulated from our first year of marriage 20 years ago--storing it in closets or the attic--and it has never been used! And I keep hauling it across country. Is there a lunacy scale rating for that? I had kitchen gadgets from my wedding that I have been packing and unpacking for 20 years, and have yet to use them--in 20 years, but I have kept them "ready" for that special dish that I'm gonna make one of these days that will require the use of that Swiss made potato slicer--the one I can't even figure out how to put together. So, it's going--it's all going. Come and get it!

Five years ago, I thoroughly cleaned out my closet, more or less. I actually had jeans from high school gathering dust in my closet. Yes, I had plans to get my hiney into those size 7 junior denims. Can you believe the audacity? Our closet is quite a bit smaller in this new house. Actually, we are having to share a closet for the FIRST time in 12 years. Do you remember the episode in the Brady Brunch where Carol and Mike are splitting the closet after they've gotten married? The shoe starts off in the middle of the closet, but every time Mike goes to open the door, Carol has moved the shoe to give herself more than her fair share of the closet space. Well, that's my husband. Granted, I don't need as much space as he does since my daily attire consists mainly of sweats and shorts (I keep looking over my shoulder when I go to Wal-Mart wrapped in fear that cameras are going to sweep in and catch me in my initial reaction when they tell me someone has nominated me for a Mommy Make-Over), but really People, how much room does a guy need? I donated a slew of clothes again with this move--most of these were my "professional" teaching attire that I hadn't worn since Annsley was born. My sister took a look at my closet, rolled her eyes, and told me I needed to get rid of my 90s jean skirts and clogs. So they went. Doug was a bit more clingy with his clothing, but I did convince him to get rid of those Rush Limbaugh ties and teal green Dockers with the matchy matchy shirt. Back to my story...(I'm tired, I'm hot, and I want to finish reading Ronald Reagan's autobiography tonight--a good read by the way--so you're just going to have to roll with me on this post.) We split the closet 50/50. I have WAY more room on my side because I've given away WAY more clothes. I kid you not, every time I go into that closet, his sport coats are taking up more and more of my area. It does no good to push them back. They are like hair stuck in the back of your throat. They will be back there tomorrow. So he wins. It is nothing like our early years of marriage. "Oh, you need more room for your 50 thousand dresses and skirts, Dear? Here, just cram my shirts tighter together, and I bet you can get 10 or 20 on my side of the closet. Don't worry about the wrinkles; love will iron them out." Those were the days...