yuck.

During nap time I started another blog entry about what happened last night to DH but it was very wordy and, well, I just couldn't get in the groove. So I'm posting to say that when he and I chatted this morning, I thought he'd been in court all morning but evidently he'd been at the health clinic getting his blood drawn for possible exposure to Hepatitis (A, B, C, D, or..!?!??!), HIV, and who knows what all else. This, after he jumped in as a cover officer on a fight. He had no idea how it had escalated from the original stop, but evidently two of the three officers already on the scene did NOT have the upper hand and quite possibly would have gotten the crap beat out of them if he had not arrived. I guess that's why they call them cover officers.

At least DH is not the one with five staples in his head from the incident. Sigh. I've been in "good supporting wife" mode all day and haven't processed it all. However, it's 5:20 pm and I'm not totally sure what's for dinner so I guess "good supporting wife" mode has been turned off. ha ha.

"You're hot!"

Let's be honest. I think my husband is pretty darn attractive. I definitely don't think he has mass audience appeal (not going to win any Mr. America contests) but duh, it was a mix of personality and those cute legs that convinced me to say "yes" when he popped the question.

He was on duty the other night walking down the street doing something-or-other when he walked by two young-ish females. As he passed them he noticed that their conversation stopped. Then yelling after him....

girl: "You're hot!"
DH: "No, I'm not!"
girl: "yes, you're hot!"
DH: "No, I'm not!"
girl: "Yes you are!"
DH: "Hey, watch it, I'm married and have two kids!"
girl: "I have two kids too!"
DH: "I'm a good Christian boy!"
girl: "So are we! What are you trying to say?"

... end of story.

Weirdos.

Academy Advice

Certain nights of the week are slower than other for DH. This last week on one of their slow nights, the officers got to trading academy stories. DH shared a few of the star stories with me, and I realized one of them might come in handy as advice for those of you with significant others in academy.

I believe most academies at some point pepper spray you and make you do all sorts of stuff to make you wish you'd never signed on to be a cop. But there you are, running yourself ragged (to simulate chasing a suspect) and getting pepper sprayed in the face (to simulate spraying yourself after you are so disoriented you miss your suspect). Then you are desperately trying to wash the pepper spray off, or do anything to get any kind of relief from the burning, crazy pepper feeling. Just remember ~ water travels and along with it travels the pepper spray!!

Based on someone's first hand knowledge shared on this "academy stories" night, I recommend that as the partner of someone who is pepper sprayed, you take a few days to resist being intimate with said partner. Your, um, "parts" will thank you.

Please forgive me...

... I must have been really grouchy yesterday!

Last night as I ruminated over yesterday's post here, there were some convicting things that came up for me. Thankfully, hubs and I had the opportunity to hang out together for a while after the kids went to bed. It was definitely needed. We were together and I could have easily brought up the junk that was weighing on my mind from yesterday's post, but I didn't. I will be the first to admit that I avoid conflict like the plague, but somehow last night I just knew that bringing up all that junk was not the right time or place.

Instead, I chose to be grateful.

As we were talking, I thanked hubs for recording one of my favorite shows this week, which he did without being asked or reminded. I didn't even remember to record it, and when I got home halfway through the show, I got to watch it in it's entirety because he'd recorded it! IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS, PEOPLE. I felt so loved!

At one point I also thanked him for doing all the dishes one night (a rare occurrence). I was even more impressed that he washed them ALL. When it comes to these domestic things, he has typical male tunnel vision: if it's not in the sink, I don't wash it. (I have no idea how this tunnel vision does not seem to invade his cop-ly duties!) Well... we live in a small apartment with an equally small kitchen so when you have to do dishes they are all over the place! Hubs got every last dish except for one spoon. Go, hubs! I mentioned how much I appreciated him washing the dishes, but even more so now that I cannot really lean over the sink with my belly; I have to turn sideways to reach the water and wash so it's super uncomfortable. Of course he was clueless about this. Hello?!?! Are you kidding me?? That alone made me realize that when I'm stewing about something SO TOTALLY OBVIOUS he probably is SO TOTALLY CLUELESS.

I should cut him some slack.

(But he should still wash his own dishes.)

So today, I'm grateful that in the past week my husband washed the dishes, recorded a favorite show, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the kitchen floors, and cooked dinner one night. Oh, and he let me buy a fun piece of jewelry, too, even as he was grumbling out the side of his mouth about how pointless jewelry all is.

Busy, Cranky Day

I'm feeling a few of those "things" that I automatically assume irritate me as a wife of a lawman today. Maybe it's a universal "I'm married" problem, but it sure doesn't feel like it. I think it's also exacerbated by this giant basketball I'm carrying around under my shirt. (I don't think I've mentioned it, but I am 36 weeks pregnant with our third child. ) Poor husband. And poor you, if you're reading this, because it's going to be a big long complaining downer. Click over to one of those other blogs on the sidebar if you're not up for this today!

Today was our niece's 1st birthday party. I use the term "niece" loosely because actually it's my husband's cousin's daughter, and in fact, the mom of the birthday girl is not even his real cousin... her mom and my husband's mom are the true cousins. Somehow everyone in that family gets either the term "cousin" or "niece" depending on their age, no matter what their true relation. Anyway, I digress. Today was her first birthday party, a big shebang at a fancy restaurant and probably about 40 or 50 people. But hubs got invited to hitch along to a local shooting range for free this morning, and considering "free" is better than "rip off" (which is what it normally costs to go to non-departmental sponsored range time), he went. Hubs does very few things just for himself and for his enjoyment, so I was all for it. I figured he could come a half hour late to the party and no one would even notice, plus he'd get in his man-cave-shooting time, and everyone would be all happy.

Except for me.

I forgot about that part. First there was the getting ready part. It was a bit of a "fancy" event so I actually showered this morning, curled my hair and put on make up. I fed and dressed everyone. I packed a lunch for my daughter (she has food allergies and I didn't know if she'd be able to eat at the restaurant since we'd never been there before). I ran errands. I got to the party on time.

All by myself.

I knew this was the way it was going to be in advance, and as the spouses of individuals in law enforcement this is what we become accustomed to ~ doing it all, by ourselves, while our friends and family look on with varying levels of pity, disdain, and complete cluelessness. While I was going through the motions I was actually really proud of myself. I left plenty of time for everything to get done. I didn't get mad and yell at the kids because we were running late. I wrote a list in the morning so I could remember everything, and I actually remembered everything. Yay me.

But then there was the 40 minute drive home from the party where I stewed about the day's events.

It didn't help that hubs ended up being 1.5 hours late to the party instead of just half an hour late. (In all fairness he would have only been 1 hour late had he not gotten lost due to a closed off ramp.) That kind of irked me. As I was driving home, I realized that I wanted some recognition. For being 36 weeks pregnant I had on a cute outfit, with cute shoes and makeup and cute hair instead of some frumpy nastiness which is what I've mostly been wearing lately. I planned the gift for MY HUSBAND'S niece (this is when I get to call her just *his*, not *ours* ha ha). I brought the gift. I got the card. I dressed the kids. I got them there. I made small talk with all the in-laws and out-laws. I did it all by myself and all I wanted was for hubs to say something, like "You looked cute today." I'm all about honesty, but at this point I'm ready to say shove it and can you please lie to me and tell me I look cute even if you think I don't?? Or "thank you"?

Then we got home.

A few days ago I mentioned that there was some sweeping that needed to be done outside. This is part of my job that I get paid to do. With the big basketball on my belly, it's too difficult for me to sweep and supervise both the 2- and 4-year olds, so I asked the hubs to watch the kids so I could do this. Of course I did NOT ask this during his work week, I'm not that dumb. Instead he said he would do the sweeping! Score! So, guess what, it's two days later, I know this MUST be done, and he hasn't done it... but he's going back to work tonight and we all know that means that there will be nothing but sleeping, complaining, and working being done for the next four days. In some ways I think hubs really made a mistake in marrying me because I am not the naggy wife type that asks and asks and asks. (His mom is the naggy type, but I'm thinking he's an adult now so he should get over that "be reminded to death" thing.) You said you'd do it, and you didn't. Thanks. So during nap time the 4-year-old and I went out and did the sweeping. Not fun but not totally horrible. He's old enough to actually be helpful now. And the best part? On the way back to the house he said "I love hanging out with you."

That was all worth it, and my husband missed out on it because I did the job instead.

Then I remember he is a good guy and he hands his paycheck over to me without any squabbling whatsoever, every month. Thanks, honey.

Cop humor (kind of?)

Thanks to A Police Wife, I just ordered my husband's Father's Day present. My husband is not really into gift giving, but I am so when I find something that I can't resist, well, I buy it. I think this is a pretty cool idea, but of course is more like a gag gift. ha. See the back up socks here!

Bombs, bombs, bombs

There's an opening on the bomb team, and I think DH would be great for it. Obviously I know very little about bombs so who am I to judge, but... based on his personality and logical thinking skills, I think it would be a great fit. The down side is that there is a six week training class in another state he would have to attend. Considering we would most likely have three kids under the age of 5 at our house at that point, I think DH is extremely hesitant to even apply. Yes, of course it wouldn't be my first choice for a six week stint alone but I would really like to see him using his brain in this way and furthering himself. Not just career-wise, but gee, if I could do it I totally would!! I'll keep you posted.

One benefit

Today I'm so thankful for my husband's job. In these "difficult economic times" I'm thankful anyway, but last night especially so. My husband (DH) had already headed off to work and everyone had been asleep for at least an hour when my daughter (DD) woke up very very sick. I did all the yucky cleaning related to these sorts of "sick" incidents, then called my DH since DD was begging for Daddy. (This is quite unusual, so I figured he'd be quite pleased.) They just happened to be overscheduled last night so he came home right away and hung out with the girl while I went back to bed. I guess she slept for maybe two hours while DH did the nasty laundry and then she was back awake from 1 to 4 am. Yuck! With my graveyard-working husband on the job, I was blissfully unaware and slept like a baby. They even went for a drive and he bought her Jack In The Box french fries in the middle of the night. What a dad!

Thanks, husband!