Two Lives

I said I would elaborate on my "two lives". I really do feel like I have had two lives, the life I had when I was with my first husband, and the life I have now with Brad. *Sorry Bernie, I don't think I have any pictures of me with pink hair*

When I met my first husband, Jim, I was in my early 20's. I hadn't finished school and did not have a clue what I really wanted to do with my life. We dated for about a year and 1/2. What we really wanted to do was just move in together. My parents freaked out when we talked to them about it...so he and I discussed it and we decided to just go ahead and get married. We loved each other...so, it seemed like the thing to do. I was 24 and he was 22. We had a huge church wedding with all the bridesmaids and groomsmen and the boofy dress and cake and pictures and stuff. It was absolutely beautiful. The reception was very toned down....in the church fellowship hall, with punch and cake and cookies... no booze in my family!! (said in a gruff trying to be funny voice).

Should we have gotten married, in hindsight...no freaking way. Am I glad that we did, yes I am. I learned so much from that time in my life. He and I were such good friends. We had a blast together. We went to all kinds of movies, we read comic books, played video games, played card games, went thrift store shopping, cooked, watched t.v. shows together...we just enjoyed doing alot of the same things and doing those things together made them even more fun.

I was so outgoing when we met. I had a huge group of friends and was quite the clubbing, party woman. He was not a big socializer and so I became isolated from my friends and lost most of them. As a result, I became more dependant on him for my "fun".

It's easy to remember the bad things that happened in the marriage, but I really really try to think about good things. He was probably the most intelligent person I will ever know. He probably is up there in the genious level. I think that's why he had such a hard time figuring out what he wanted to do with himself. He had so many options available to him, he just couldn't pick one, so instead he did nothing.

We also had three amazing retrievers. I loved those dogs like they were my children. Chapal, Cayenne, and Cosmo...those of you who are familiar with comics should know the name Chapal. It was taken from Spawn. Cayenne is just what you think: pepper. Cosmo was from Seinfeld. One of the shows we watched religiously. I am not even going to go into detail about what happened to them. It upsets me way to much and is too depressing.

I was in nursing school when we met, during our 7 years together, I quit nursing school, went back to college and graduated with my BA in English. He also graduated with his degree in history. We were homeless for about two months the 4th year of our marriage. We had been renting a house and the landlord sold it out from under us without telling us...we had to move out and couldn't find a new place in time. I lived with my brother and he stayed with friends..it was really weird at the time and it was over Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday. We bought a house together and went to Florida on vacation with his family. I loved his family as much a my own. One of his sisters even lived with us for awhile. We were poor, but it was okay. We were living the lives of young people free to do whatever they wanted, no kids, going to school. It really was a lot of fun, even being poor.

As we got older our ideas of what we wanted out of life began to change. I wanted to teach school and was working very hard at getting my certification. He decided that he wanted to make more money and took a job that put him on the road most of the year. I think in a 6 month period I saw him 4 times. I wanted stability, a nice home, a family, a "real" job. He decided that wasn't important to him. One of the things I remember him saying was "how could anyone get any kind of satisfaction/gratification from teaching?" He wanted to be mobile, able to travel whenever the urge hit him. The idea of settling down in one place and having kids wasn't what he wanted anymore. He didn't like what I was becoming and I really didn't like what he was becoming either. We just didn't fit anymore...and because of all this and more, we ended up getting divorced. It was very sad, and emotionally difficult. There wasn't any fighting or cheating or any nastiness like that. It went very quickly.

I had lost my best friend, and the person who I had thought was going to be my partner forever... The things I had loved to do so much now became dull and painful for me. I quit watching television, I quit going to movies. I gave up my comic book reading, and sold my cards. I didn't go thrift shopping and wear funky clothes anymore, and I quit doing fun things with my hair. Maybe it was because of the divorce and the loss, but maybe part of it was because I was finally growing up.

*I will continue this....*

I was reading some of the other blogs I have in my list and they got me to thinking...the one that really got to me was Bernie. I think there were about 3 different posts that I hadn't read before that were all dealing with the past and just life in general. How we meet people randomly, how different things affect us long term..etc.

I feel like I have had two lives. The one before I met Brad and the one since. I'm going to answer the meme that several of my blogger buddies have done and then I may elaborate more on the "two lives" thingy.

TEN Random Things You May Not Know About Me:
1. I was married before Brad for 6 years.
2. I can play the french horn.
3. I was almost an RN. I had one semester of school left but dropped out to go back to college and get my English degree
4. My two younger brothers are identical twins.
5. I am a fount of useless trivia type knowledge.
6. I have played English Handbells since I was 9 years old
7. I was a goth type girl in college..but that was before everyone called it goth..most people just called us the weirdo/freaky people. When my first husband met me I had pink hair....
8. I have a large collection of comic books...from the early 90's. Mostly Marvel titles. My ex ripped off a lot of my rare comics when we divided our stuff up
9. I can not do math...of any kind. Seriously..I have to double check addition, and I couldn't tell time on a regular clock until I was around 16.
10. According to my friends here in Ohio, I have an awesome southern accent.

NINE Places I've Visited:
1. Merida, Mexico
2. Tampa, Florida
3. New York City
4. Gettysburg, PA
5. Mobile, AL
6. Reno, NV
7. Cancun
8. Washington, D.C.
9. Hot Springs, AR

EIGHT Ways to Win My Heart:
1. Really listen to me
2. Be open and honest
3. Bring me Flowers, yes that does work.
4. Laugh with me
5. Take pride in yourself, but don't be cocky
6. Love children
7. Surprise me sometimes
8. Educate yourself, and love God

SEVEN Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
1. Go to Greece
2. Publish something that I have written
3. Be a Grandma
4. Learn to snow ski
5. Be a good teacher
6. Learn to drive a stick..I know I know...
7. Teach my girls to be strong, intelligent, loving, successful women.

SIX Things I'm Afraid Of:
1. Something bad happening to my girls
2. How I will react when the first really close family member dies. I have been very lucky that the only close person I have lost in my life is my dad's mom. Unfortunately she and I lived across the country from each other and our relationship wasn't as close as it could have been.
3. Failure of any kind
4. Anthing that flies and has a stinger
5. Closed in spaces
6. Suffocation

FIVE Things I Don't Like:
1. Overly Loud people who try to be the center of attention
2. Strawberry ice cream or cake...UGH!!
3. Cleaning chemicals on my hands..it freaks me out
4. Most Country Music
5. Folding Laundry

FOUR Ways to Turn Me Off:
1. Be an ass in front of my family
2. Ignore my feelings
3. Lie
4. Be too dependent

THREE Things I Do Every Day:
1. Make my bed
2. Read
3. Wash my hands

TWO Things that Make Me Happy:
1. Laughing with my girls
2. The smell of Fall

ONE Thing On My Mind Right Now:
1. My upcoming visit home in two weeks. I want to have a good visit with my family but am a little aprehensive because the past few times with the family have been stressful for me...stupid anxiety...