A few thoughts...

because there's so many that don't even really have anything to do with each other I'm trying the whole heading thing my life is brilliant did once upon a time. Only hers was a story.

Crazy Month

The month of July has been so crazy that I didn't notice until today, the very last day of July, that my calendar was still on June.

Cuteness of my self-proclaimed
"Zoologist, Zoo Veterinarian, and Animal Rescuer" little guy

When Brando asked Shawners why Batman is his favorite superhero, Shawners replies, "Because... Batman... Because I like animals."

I'm a working woman!

My first assignment was for one day yesterday and it was AWESOME. And they wanted me back today. I helped prepare for their grand opening celebration they hosted this evening by putting together 150 gift bags (complete with wine bottles with personalized labels - totally made me think of the bags they give to celebrities at events like Sundance). Being around professionals and actually working myself reminded me of how much I liked being an advertising representative at a newspaper way back when eight years ago. In fact when I got off work today I called that newspaper to see if anyone I worked with still worked there and could tell future potential bosses how much I rock. There were three still there and they remember me and will totally do it! That was an awesome feeling.

New phone, old plan

We had switched my cell phone plan to Sprint to try and save money but when a $312 bill came in for the first month and it took three and a half hours (which included an hour of hold and an hour of talking to someone explaining my issue only come to find out she couldn't even help me) to get them to knock off $90 plus $30 for texting I was supposed to have free and then waive the cancellation fee. I am happy they did that so I could switch back to Verizon at least, but I am still sad it took the person at the END OF THE LINE to satisfy the customer. Brando went and signed me back up with Verizon this evening (yay IN minutes!) and got me this:


Complete with this pink silicone cover:


LOVE it!! And it takes the BEST pictures. The other phone I had with Sprint was red (okay, but not pink) and took CRAPPY pictures. This one rocks the pictures. And because Brando is with a certain real estate company he gets a 20% discount on our primary line and got this phone free. It was worth the $174 to Sprint just to find that out.

School and tests

Oh, by the way, that test I didn't study for I so still got a 93 on. Go me! Plus the final exam can make up for two of our other scores, so hopefully I rock that like I did the first three with studying and all!

Because I owe you an update

Brando and I are on the mend. Those four days away on my birthday weekend were the best thing I could have ever done - I can't wait until San Diego in August when I go see my cousin!! Back to that weekend, it totally allowed my head to clear and realize I WANT this marriage, and I WANT Brando. The good friend I stayed with called me out on something I REALLY needed to hear. She listened to a message Brando left me the morning after I left and noticed he said, "When you get home could we please respectfully talk about the issues we need to talk about?" She mentioned how important respect is to a guy and told me about a book she read last year called Love & Respect and how it really helped her marriage. She had actually given it to me to read about six months ago but I wasn't ready for it. That weekend I totally noticed how great her marriage is and her hubs was even out of town! He was so sweet on the phone (both our guys are very hard to get to talk on the phone guys), he paid for pedicures for her and I, for our hotel Saturday, and for Brando to send me flowers on my birthday and a standing raincheck to take me out to dinner anytime because we had no money! The book talks about how a guy's deepest need is to be respected, and a girl's deepest need is to feel loved. When I'm being disrespectful to him it's the same as him being unloving to me. So I've been working on it. It's a hard book for me to chew and so far I've only read the chapters pertaining to what is REALLY driving me crazy. I still subscribe to the "well he needs to EARN my respect", but then I think how would I feel if he said I have to earn his love. We're able to have a conversation now without blocking the other person out and not talking at all and ending up going our separate ways. Plus! I'm working! He's totally okay with it AND supportive. It's still hard getting him on board with arranging the babysitting which I told him he needs to be equally responsible for, so we're working on getting him fully on board with that. Especially since HE starts his new job next week!