Thursday, April 30, 2009

But Be, As You Have Been, My Happiness...

Bob Newhart once said: "Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on." How true it is. Unfortunately, for my lovely wife, I have a hard time laughing in instances where I should. Instead, I get angry, argumentative, and have to win the battle of the ego's. This troublesome habit is what broke us up when we were dating, and though we overcame it then, it seems to have come back to once again smite me with discontentment.

I know learning to live with someone is difficult. I did it for 2 years on the mission. But it seems to me it's still just a matter of communication. Whether it's doing things differently or pet peeves that need to be found, any of these, as I see it, can be solved by talking, and then demonstrating the desire to change.

Yet again, this is where my stupid ego-driven self comes in. Whenever something happens, I get so locked in the idea, that I am right, and she needs to see WHY I'm right...that I don't stop, sit back, laugh, and then work through it. No, instead I seem to be a master at peaking arguments and leaving each other angry until we both come back and work it out. Yes, problems get solved, but what I don't like is being angry at someone--especially my wife. We sit away from each other or sit close but don't talk, just do something else...until we both calm down enough to approach the matter more sensibly. I HATE the time we waste while we're angry. Time we get to spend with each other right now is limited as it is, so to be arguing amidst that time seems to be trivial.

My wife is amazing. I couldn't have done better for myself. I guess this is just part of the troubleshooting phase. I just hope she continues to be the patient, understanding woman she is to me, until I can get over myself. I love you Jillian.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

If You Scatter Thorns, Don't Go Barefoot.

Evidently our stockroom at the not so eco-friendly Hollister is short of a few babies, cribs, and other younglings. Every week I receive shipments of clothes to process. Amongst these boxes of shipment are sometimes hundreds of individually wrapped shirts, shorts, and other assorted items. Apart from taking more of my time to get them out of the plastic wrap, I couldn't help but notice the huge warning label on the wrapper; making sure I know, that I should not leave it lying around for babies to play with, put in cribs, or in some other way leave these wrappers around for children to suffocate themselves. Upon reading this, I chuckled and glanced around the stockroom, and much to my surprise...there were babies everywhere!!! Obviously this is a farce. But apart from the fact that Hollister would most definitely have a problem with babies roaming free around the stockroom, I really see no point in them wasting time and money not only to individually wrap these shirts, but prevent me from causing unwanted baby deaths.



Since my last post, much has transpired. For one: I am now a married man. I survived the wedding day and made it to the honeymoon, where I indeed, was as lazy as possible, and spent all the time I could with my precious wife. We ventured to lake Tahoe for our honeymoon, where we spent the week in Aunt Vickie's(sp?) cabin which they so graciously let us use. It was a beautiful place, unfortunately...or fortunately, it snowed. And there isn't much to do there when it's cold, besides of course, the usual honeymoon activities. Toward the end of the week we made our exodus further into California, where we spent a night with her (and my new) Grandparents. We also had the pleasure of participating in what seemed like a family reunion at the Village Buffet (awesome place). I had a delightful time talking to all my new relatives and getting to know them. I was also happy to find that my family was not the only crazy bunch, and perhaps it won't be quite a shock for Jillian when she meets my family. All family matters aside, California is a beautiful state, and I would not mind going back.

Now life is back in it's normal boring state. Aside from the occasional accidental call to 911 while at work, everything is very monotonous. Hopefully I'll soon be able to do my freelancing Graphic Design full-time with the help of some new found friends in the business at our ward. Sitting at home doing something I enjoy for 40 hours a week, I can hardly call a job. But it will do more then pay the bills if I'm able to do so. Jillian would be able to quit one of her jobs, affording her more time at home =D, and we'd be able to put a rather large amount of money into savings, for school and anything else the future might hold for us. Who knows, maybe Jillian will even let me have a baby sometime. I'll just have to stop bringing home Hollister shirt wrappers and leaving them lying around the house.