All Fired Up!

I love my husband.  Let me just start with that.  I love him and appreciate him for the many talents he possesses. This story begins with a with a recipe for awesomeness...and potentially a little disaster.  A few weeks ago, winter finally showed itself to Chester, Virginia.  Cold weather set in and therefore so did thoughts of all things winterly and fun.  As I sat there and pondered images of snowmen and school cancellations, an idea was born.  What goes better with freezing temperatures than a cozy, romantic fire!... Flashing back to a couple of months ago (a period of time when random reality shows were EXTREMELY entertaining to me) I recall an episode of Ax Men.  For those unfamiliar with this combination of sheer testosterone and treacherous blades, I will say that it is worth checking out 1 episode...but please stop there...it's a bit repetitive...we wouldn't want you losing any brain cells or anything...I digress.  Anyway, a snowy forecast combined with a fading memory of lumbermen could only mean one thing....I want a fire and so Kevin now must go find some wood and chop it up for me so the family (or more specifically, me) can reap the benefits of a roaring February fire!

I propose the idea to Kevin, who states he would be happy to support the lumberjacks of the world by buying bundles of pre-cut wood at the grocery store.  What????  This is no good and definitely not satisfying to me.  I had already picked out proper wood chopping attire for him and was quite looking forward to a front row seat viewing this fantastic man-fest. He senses my disappointment and ultimately indulges me.  (He is great). 

As Kev gathers his few hefty tree logs, my fun thoughts turn to the more practical...Is the car ready to go and does it have enough gas to get to the hospital? How are my butterfly stitching skills these days?  Uh oh.  This is a bad idea...

He starts to chop. I flinch and let out a tiny girl scream. He chops again. "Carefuuuuuuul!" I yell.  Ok. He is now annoyed as he must not only chop,  but also hear gasps from the peanut gallery. Gaining control, I decide that documenting would be a nice alternative to supervising safety.   Below are pics of my darling husband being all the man I will ever need :)

Of course none of our endeavors would be complete without a little self injury...













It has now been weeks since this wood chopping escapade and I must tell you that many a fires were had using this seemingly endless pile of cedar wood.  Even when temps got up in the 60's, you could look at our home and see the smoke pouring from our chimney.  Thank you my wonderful husband!

Mom Interrupted

We are currently on a ride. A ride that seemingly has no end. Some may call it an emotional roller coaster, but really, it feels more like an emotional rocket ship. Going from zero to a thousand in a heartbeat, and back again. A while ago, we heard the words that many couples long to hear..."Congratulations! You're going to have a baby." This week, our tentative flickers of hope were extinguished, and in a instant, it all changed. Our precious little one left us and joined the angels above. For anyone who has not had the unfortunate destiny to experience a loss like this, let me tell you that there is no other way to explain it other than it just plain sucks. It hurts, it feels bad, and it just plain sucks. You try to lean towards your spouse, but no matter how hard he tries, he just cannot imagine what it feels like to physically carry this burden. He means well, but each time he asks if you are OK or if you need anything, you burst into tears. You want something. You want nothing. You have no idea what you want. You cry, you mourn, you grieve, you cry again. And just when you think you can put on a small smile, you use the restroom and are painfully reminded of the situation. You cry, you mourn, you grieve, you cry again. You breathe. You repeat. I have faith that this process will eventually lessen in intensity, both physically and emotionally. Life will eventually return to normal, or some variation there of. But for now, we mourn. We cry, we grieve, and we mourn. If you are reading this and had no prior knowledge of the situation, please tread lightly and do not take it personally that we didn't share this with you. This news was not shared with many. Writing is cathartic for me and is helpful in moving forward through this experience. Please send prayers and thoughts, rather than phone calls or visits. Talking about anything without tears is difficult. Talking about this without tears is impossible.