having irate husband issues.

having irate husband issues. Always about this time of year with the lessening sunlight, he's pissy anyway.
That on everything else, led to us "having words" last night - all while booking our room in St. Martin to celebrate our 10 year anniversary next year - ha. 

he jokes asking if we're gonna make it to the milestone
still...seriously he makes me crazy sometimes

Mom and Ed coming into town this weekend - kinda surprised they took me up on it.
Starting to organize Thanksgiving and Christmas - oy I'm just not ready for this...nobody tells you the older you get and the more stressed out you are the faster time goes...seriously this is nuts...

Tried - Grace Burrowes' Tremaine - and couldn't get passed the a few chapters
Finished - Bella Andre - Sullivan's #4 - I'll likely read the others as fillers for in-between times.

I'm back re-reading on my trusted Kristan Higgins...I only have $93 left on my amazon account to last me through the year and it's frozen me on deciding which books to buy with it....first world problems I know...still this is a big deal for me.

It's cliche I know but seems apropos..

I woke up in a good mood and I'm not letting anybody ruin it. Today's going to be a good day.

Not sure what we're doing this weekend - maybe nothing - the next few weekends look jam packed.

I finished planning our Asheville Thanksgiving trip - I'm super excited, never been to that part of the country and I've always wanted to see the smokies - mountains are the best.

Finished Emma Chase's first Royal book - totally love the historical aspects merged with modern. The gal faded a little by the end, wanted a little more of the sass back but good though!
Almost finished Julia Quinn's Hyacinth's Bridgerton book - could totally see me in this gal. The (my) last and it'll make me sad to finish a great series.

Maybe I'll convince Jamie to see Max tomorrow...

"Let's just forget, leave it behind and carry on"

can't recall how many times I've heard "Hopefully, things will settle when the election is over...." lately.

yep.

we had dinner with one of jamie's old co-workers. Fun, smart, pretty gal about my age. She's tried match.com and other dating sites, dated a lot but can't find anyone in Phoenix.

I think she's getting frustrated.
It's surprising, cause most of the girls I know that are single are either
a) not really trying to find someone...or
b) there's something that's obvious (to me) why men might shy away - they're desperate, obsessive, condescending, high maintenance, needy...in several cases it might be because they have children)

But in this case it's none of the above - well as much as I can estimate, from my point of view, since I'm not a guy.

I wonder if it's because she's looking for (the impossible) "perfect guy" -  sabotaging herself?
I think a lot of people do that...and they say romance readers are unrealistic...read most any romance - the parts where the characters aren't perfect make the story! ugh

speaking of imperfect - apparently i shaved only one leg again this morning...why do I do that?!

Finished Susanna Ives - Wicked, my - i finished it. had potential. immature-ish. skipped. Stopping there.
Bout half way with the new Emma Chase - good so far!...we'll see. I still haven't bought the new Christina Lauren nor NSingh's new one nor Ward's Beast...- $4.99 just seems so much more do-able...

Diggin the new Norah Jones
And after all's been said and done
Who said it best, were you the one?
Let's just forget, leave it behind
And carry on

If you should find the time to speak
Then speak to me, I'd never keep
You from your final destiny
So carry on

Into the quiet I am bound
What you have lost, I've never found
I lost my nerve, yet peace surrounds
So carry on

Into the quiet I am bound
What you have lost, I've never found
I lost my nerve, yet peace surrounds
So carry on

And now that all's been said and done
Who said it best, were you the one?
Let's just forget, leave it behind
And carry on
Let's just forget, leave it behind
And carry on

girls gotta be bitches sometimes

I learned things this week!

1) the better business bureau is rad. These B's got things done!

2)don't buy fair coupons online - people in lines, to redeem, were pissed!

3) unfortunately most all women have stories in dealing with men who cross a line...
- The guy that'd touch your ass as you walk by in a bar/club
- The married man who propositioned you
- The guy who'd buy you a drink, then get irate when you wouldn't go home with him.
I think men have stories in dealing with women who've crossed lines too.

I'm not a man, (nor experienced life as one) but in my experiences I don't think I'm naive when I think that:
Most men might want to touch your ass but have the self-command to refrain.
Most men might find other women attractive but won't cheat on their wives.
Most men might buy you a drink with the hope you'd go home with him eventually, but don't expect it, and certainly wouldn't pressure you.

Personally (since I can really only speak for myself). I don't put up with bullshit....
- That guy who'd touch my ass as I'd walk by in a bar/club? Might end up with an elbow in his stomach - mostly though there are so many ways that insecure "men" like these can be brought down with just words.
- The married men who propositioned me? I'd engage in conversation but really only to tell them to maybe try talking to their wife 'cause I bet she's just as unhappy (if not more) as they were. "Maybe you're just boring and make life boring for her...did you think about that?"
- The guy that wanted to buy me a drink? I usually passed...cause it's a tricky tricky game. If I liked him I'd buy his drink...why? cause I'm the home team, girls gotta be smart. And if things get bad, girls gotta be bitches sometimes.

Finished tame a highlander - barely...sooo predictable.
Also tried Rachel Gibson novella - Blue by You - thanks but no thanks. not my style.
Got one of the last two Bridgerton books lined up....so glad it's Friday

so tell me who am I talking to?

So Jamie went on an interview and they told him that they really liked him but that he seemed too nice and they needed someone to "play the bad guy."
Seriously who says that?! and why would a company condone that?

and speaking of bad company practice - I submitted my awful customer service experience with lighting.com to the Better Business Bureau (with very low expectations) and they surprisingly got a response in 1 day. Again though...why did they force me to resort to do that? Don't freaking ignore my calls and emails! when did that become ok?

eh whatever - started reading KMM's To Tame a Highland Warrior - whew slow start...
Going to Bluegrass fest this weekend, and casino night, maybe meet up for a bday party, maybe go see Charley Crockett....I think he'd be good show...

For now though my mini was in a reckless mood today so we reckless -
So, tell me who am I talking to
Everything seems fine for the moment
But, I never know what I’m getting into
And, you make your lies seem true
You come and steal my heart with your wild eyes shining
Then you smile as you break it in two
What did you do with the girl I knew

funny and not so funny

It's interesting that a 10ish+ years married couple (middle-aged white man from Dallas and an almost middle aged El Paso, Texas/slightly Canada gal) still have so many differences in what they can relate to.

case in point -
watched the new HBO show "insecure" last night - I laughed. The whole open mic night skit --- ha!

Jamie was just "eh" on it - he watched it...just not a lot to relate to there I guess.

He did say though that "locker room" talk (as in Trump's case) is,"like that." when watching the debate.

Am i pissed that Jamie sometimes surrounds himself with men that talk about women like that? slightly ...but I can't do anything about how other people act or what they say.
I can do something about how I allow people to speak to/treat me,
more importantly.. how I allow my husband to speak to and treat me..

..the basic of allowing a man to talk to you or treat you a certain way? - that's on the woman.
Sexual & physical abuse/assault is a whole other story -   Long story short though...it's never ok and I wouldn't be opposed to strong, swift, severe punishment....

(back to a less extreme deep thoughts) - I think its an innate human characteristic to see how far we can go with boundaries -  sometimes it can be as simple as boredom and  pushing buttons to get a reaction out of someone (in my case yes definitely.)

I think more so with men in general though - lets just say the story of me and Jamie - is in small part -  one of checking/correcting/drawing a line (basically me not letting him get away with inconsiderate and sometimes just plain ignorant shit he says and does.) They're fewer and far between now-a-days but a lot of "those" times he doesn't even know he's being offensive! And he's probably the most gentlemanly, thoughtful man I know....
Again now-a-days I'm not (as much of) a bitch about how I go about letting him know but yep I learned early on...we work better if I call him out almost immediately on things that he says or does that bother me.

Moving on - weekend dinner with the old neighbors, football watching at friends, state fair was good. Definitely glad I did not buy tickets online to redeem at the fair - the lines were insane. 

Finished reading #8 of SEPhillips Chicago Stars - again a winner - on my radar to read 1-6.
Tried Jay Crownover's - Built - wasn't terrible, just not my style I guess, skimmed.

but you wrote over our name...with your name?

alright I take it back a little. New neighbors did respond to our welcome note...oddly they tore the upper half of our personalized stationary card off, wrote their info over our embossed names, and returned it to us.

Do people not have a notepad nowadays? post it note? print paper maybe? 
Isn't that a little odd? I think so...ha...oh well

Full weekend: Dinner tonight with the old neighbors. Football party with the pies. Fair on Sunday.

Almost finished with Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Match me.... I like it! goofy lead gal meets workaholic with walls. I'll read more of hers.

back to work....killer rfp season (after what seems like a brutal hunting season on marketing/advertising people across the board) i can't get feedback/responses for shit in NY. ugh...

I think I'm gonna go out and observe more....

So the new neighbors moved in -  Jamie briefly met him, and I briefly met her, at different times.
Neither seemed very friendly.

We wrote a welcome note with our contact info and left it on their door since we figured they wouldn't appreciate us just stopping by...

*crickets* 

Not that I'm expecting to be best friends or anything but seriously...it's a little colorless....meaning boring and a little rude to not bother to acknowledge (which seems more and more the case lately for people around our age) Bummer.

I cut my hair last week -like 7 inches -  I don't miss it in that it was dry and I feel like I lost 6 pounds - I definitely feel a little un-sexy now though. Why is that I wonder? 

Watched the Revenant - didn't do much for me.... Acting -  great. The scenery -  beautiful (I told Jamie Alberta was beautiful!). Couldn't hear much (of what little they said) because of the music.

West World - a little iffy but I'm intrigued! we'll see.

Lastly - speaking of rude -  (and not to be a debbie downer 'cause I love Dallas)
...in an effort to force myself to leave my work bubble for lunch lately, I decided to sit somewhere on "restaurant row" for lunch today.
It's a little crazy how rude "business" people have gotten during the lunch hour.
They look so well put together, with their ties and heels and cell phones....
Does it  make them feel better to be rude? if yes, it really makes me wonder about their personal lives...
I think I'm gonna go out and observe more. Maybe even talk to some! Just to see! 
If nothing else, it's good people watching.  ...

Really though, more and more I'm wanting to move out of this big city. There's something really wrong when it feels like the majority of people are losing their basic decency. 

Finished:

JQuinn's Colin's Bridgerton story - all that time wasted....( I think I only have the youngest two left to read? of this series) and the first Bevelstoke - this gal cut a little close to the clingy that I don't like. Still not bad.

Smith by Olivia Chase - totally skimmed this one. Didn't do much at all for me. 

Maybe Not - Colleen Hoover - way fast...I almost feel like I should've disliked the leads? but I didn't, so kudos to the author. I'll scope out a full length and see.