Hi. My name is Stephanie and I'm a recovering caffeine addict. I've been clean for 8 days, but it has made me so tired that I've been going to bed before 10 every night and have not had the strength or energy to open my laptop and post this blog that I wrote one week ago. I am sorry. I have been told it can only get better... With that being said, please enjoy my post that I wrote about LAST weekend.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most of you probably know that Caleb and I are opposites in alot of ways.
He's nice, I have a bad temper;
While Caleb enjoyed his friends during our wedding...
I yelled at my mom.... not my finest moment. Sorry mom!
He is a Razorback fan, I'm an Aggie;
He is easy-going; I'm up-tight; He is super messy, I'm a clean-freak; I like fruit, he likes chocolate; He likes bright colors, I prefer darks;
He has no inhibitions; I have... well... I guess we are kind of similar in this way... But I like to believe I have a few more than him...
He went as "God's Gift to Women" one Halloween...
This was before my time...
Dressed as oompa loompas
Do not even ask.
Most of the time our opposite personalities compliment each other well. This weekend, however, we found that our opposite-ness (is that a word?) gave us headaches and some good laughs. First, our church had a chili cook-off for everyone who was part of the Living Christmas Tree in December. There was a competition for chili and for desserts. Being the over-achiever that I am (and wanting to get rid of some of the clutter from leftover Christmas ingredients in my pantry) I made chili, cornbread, a cake and a pie. It was awesome. It took me all day Saturday. Somebody remind me the next time I make this much food that I am unable to actually transport it all. We had a minor chili incident in the car going up a hill... Don't worry, the chili was spared. My toms and my foot, not so much.
The chili competition was fierce, so my All-American 5 Critter Chili with accompanying jalapeno cornbread in a cast iron skillet didn't stand a chance. My Red Berry Cake, on the other hand, actually won! It was awesome.
Now... something you may or may not know about me is that I am incapable of saying no. If you ask me to do something, even if I am completely busy or stressed or otherwise occupied, I will say yes. I just can't refuse. I don't like saying no to people. Caleb does not have this problem, not in the least. This is why we make a good pair. Unfortunately, I was unsupervised when asked if we would help the guest guitar player sell CDs at his table at the chili cook-off, after the first Sunday service AND after the second Sunday service. Caleb was not pleased. He was not pleased one bit. But I have to say, we are expert CD sellers. We sold out and took orders for additional sales! I will also take this moment to make a pitch for Rodrigo Rodriguez's music. He is awesome. He plays classical guitar and has beautiful arrangements of hymns. If you are looking for some super zen spiritual music, he is your man.
Also, if you are looking for us to do something for you, be sure to ask me and not Caleb. You are pretty much guaranteed to get a yes... especially if you corner me and Caleb is not around!
Luckily, Caleb forgave me for my giant commitment to sales this weekend. But he also got even with me on Sunday afternoon. I should also mention that I'm attempting to detox from caffeine and sugar as of last Thursday so I've been meaner than a hornet lately (sorry Caleb!) To keep myself busy and try to avoid binge drinking the Mt. Dews in my garage and eating the raw cookie dough in my freezer, I spent most of the afternoon on Sunday cleaning - I did laundry, dishes, straightened the living room and dining room, sorted papers, all sorts of good stuff. The problem with this was as I was cleaning, I realized all the things I'd asked Caleb to do over the last few days had not been done.
Another difference between me and him - I make to-do lists and expect them to be done immediately and to the best of your ability. He is far more relaxed and gets to projects when he gets to them and sometimes leaves projects half done. This infuriates me. So you can imagine how my decaffinated self started to boil over when I started finding his unfinished tasks while he was at Starbucks (my favorite caffeine source ever!) with a friend. And then I found the microwave.
I told him he was lucky he wasn't home when I found it or I probably would have punched him in the throat. I HATE a dirty microwave. I warm everything with a papertowel or a lid, and, heaven forbid, if anything spills, I wipe it up immediately. I opened the microwave last night and found that he had not used a paper towel when heating his chili for lunch. It.Was.EVERYWHERE. We are talking every surface, especially the top. What happened from there may or may not have happened - I'll let you use your imagination. I may have slammed the microwave, thrown a few pillows around, yelled at my dogs and stormed around in circles for a few minutes thinking of a suitable punishment for this crime. Then I took a deep breath and I could hear my mom telling me that all of my ideas were vindictive and that I should act like an adult - so I did what I gauged any reasonable adult would do. I took a giant sticky note and made a TO-DO list for Caleb when he got home. I posted it on the counter. To be fair, I only included things that I had specifically asked to be done and really needed to be done that evening - I gave myself a pat on the back for being mature and generous about the situation :)
When he got home, he found the note and acted indignant at some of the items. I'm not sure what is worse, exploding chili all over the microwave or doing so and acting like you had no idea it happened and that it couldn't possibly have been you when you were THE ONLY person to heat up chili in the last 2 weeks. How is that possible? It was EVERYWHERE!!!! I really should have taken a picture...
Once we both ate dinner and chilled out watching the Golden Globes, Caleb got going on his list. I could hear him checking off items and then he told me he even added a few to his list. I was ecstatic! What could he be adding? Was he going to clean his closet so it didn't look like a bomb went off and the debris landed in our bedroom? (I had a picture but removed it to protect your eyes... you're welcome.)
Was he going to straighten his desk so it didn't look like a tornado swept through? (Again, I do have photographic proof... I told Caleb I'm using them as blackmail so he'll keep things clean. I told you I was meaner than him!)
Maybe he was going to vacuum? Dust? I was so happy that I did not even go look at the list. We enjoyed the Golden Globes in peace and had a lovely evening full of laughs.Turns out the last laugh was on me. I went to throw the to-do list in the the trash before I went to bed and this is what I found.
I could only shake my head and wish that some day I will chill out enough from my phobia of dirty microwaves and learn to love life as much as Caleb. Although we drive each other absolutely nuts sometimes, I think we are a perfect match and balance each other out in every way. As we celebrated our third anniversary this week, we were both amazed at how far we have come - not just in moving away, going to school and getting jobs, but we have really learned what it means to come together as one.
It doesn't mean we are great at it and that we don't learn something new everyday, but to think about what we were like back in our first apartment in College Station is just crazy. He is learning that chores are a team sport and I'm learning that sometimes its important just to relax and have a good laugh. One thing I think we both agree on is that together, we are definitely awesome, we are living like there is no tomorrow, and maybe someday we will get the chance to dance like nobody's watching.
Until then, with love,
The Osbornes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most of you probably know that Caleb and I are opposites in alot of ways.
He's nice, I have a bad temper;
He is a Razorback fan, I'm an Aggie;
He is easy-going; I'm up-tight; He is super messy, I'm a clean-freak; I like fruit, he likes chocolate; He likes bright colors, I prefer darks;
He has no inhibitions; I have... well... I guess we are kind of similar in this way... But I like to believe I have a few more than him...
Most of the time our opposite personalities compliment each other well. This weekend, however, we found that our opposite-ness (is that a word?) gave us headaches and some good laughs. First, our church had a chili cook-off for everyone who was part of the Living Christmas Tree in December. There was a competition for chili and for desserts. Being the over-achiever that I am (and wanting to get rid of some of the clutter from leftover Christmas ingredients in my pantry) I made chili, cornbread, a cake and a pie. It was awesome. It took me all day Saturday. Somebody remind me the next time I make this much food that I am unable to actually transport it all. We had a minor chili incident in the car going up a hill... Don't worry, the chili was spared. My toms and my foot, not so much.
The chili competition was fierce, so my All-American 5 Critter Chili with accompanying jalapeno cornbread in a cast iron skillet didn't stand a chance. My Red Berry Cake, on the other hand, actually won! It was awesome.
Now... something you may or may not know about me is that I am incapable of saying no. If you ask me to do something, even if I am completely busy or stressed or otherwise occupied, I will say yes. I just can't refuse. I don't like saying no to people. Caleb does not have this problem, not in the least. This is why we make a good pair. Unfortunately, I was unsupervised when asked if we would help the guest guitar player sell CDs at his table at the chili cook-off, after the first Sunday service AND after the second Sunday service. Caleb was not pleased. He was not pleased one bit. But I have to say, we are expert CD sellers. We sold out and took orders for additional sales! I will also take this moment to make a pitch for Rodrigo Rodriguez's music. He is awesome. He plays classical guitar and has beautiful arrangements of hymns. If you are looking for some super zen spiritual music, he is your man.
Also, if you are looking for us to do something for you, be sure to ask me and not Caleb. You are pretty much guaranteed to get a yes... especially if you corner me and Caleb is not around!
Luckily, Caleb forgave me for my giant commitment to sales this weekend. But he also got even with me on Sunday afternoon. I should also mention that I'm attempting to detox from caffeine and sugar as of last Thursday so I've been meaner than a hornet lately (sorry Caleb!) To keep myself busy and try to avoid binge drinking the Mt. Dews in my garage and eating the raw cookie dough in my freezer, I spent most of the afternoon on Sunday cleaning - I did laundry, dishes, straightened the living room and dining room, sorted papers, all sorts of good stuff. The problem with this was as I was cleaning, I realized all the things I'd asked Caleb to do over the last few days had not been done.
Another difference between me and him - I make to-do lists and expect them to be done immediately and to the best of your ability. He is far more relaxed and gets to projects when he gets to them and sometimes leaves projects half done. This infuriates me. So you can imagine how my decaffinated self started to boil over when I started finding his unfinished tasks while he was at Starbucks (my favorite caffeine source ever!) with a friend. And then I found the microwave.
I told him he was lucky he wasn't home when I found it or I probably would have punched him in the throat. I HATE a dirty microwave. I warm everything with a papertowel or a lid, and, heaven forbid, if anything spills, I wipe it up immediately. I opened the microwave last night and found that he had not used a paper towel when heating his chili for lunch. It.Was.EVERYWHERE. We are talking every surface, especially the top. What happened from there may or may not have happened - I'll let you use your imagination. I may have slammed the microwave, thrown a few pillows around, yelled at my dogs and stormed around in circles for a few minutes thinking of a suitable punishment for this crime. Then I took a deep breath and I could hear my mom telling me that all of my ideas were vindictive and that I should act like an adult - so I did what I gauged any reasonable adult would do. I took a giant sticky note and made a TO-DO list for Caleb when he got home. I posted it on the counter. To be fair, I only included things that I had specifically asked to be done and really needed to be done that evening - I gave myself a pat on the back for being mature and generous about the situation :)
When he got home, he found the note and acted indignant at some of the items. I'm not sure what is worse, exploding chili all over the microwave or doing so and acting like you had no idea it happened and that it couldn't possibly have been you when you were THE ONLY person to heat up chili in the last 2 weeks. How is that possible? It was EVERYWHERE!!!! I really should have taken a picture...
Once we both ate dinner and chilled out watching the Golden Globes, Caleb got going on his list. I could hear him checking off items and then he told me he even added a few to his list. I was ecstatic! What could he be adding? Was he going to clean his closet so it didn't look like a bomb went off and the debris landed in our bedroom? (I had a picture but removed it to protect your eyes... you're welcome.)
Maybe he was going to vacuum? Dust? I was so happy that I did not even go look at the list. We enjoyed the Golden Globes in peace and had a lovely evening full of laughs.Turns out the last laugh was on me. I went to throw the to-do list in the the trash before I went to bed and this is what I found.
I could only shake my head and wish that some day I will chill out enough from my phobia of dirty microwaves and learn to love life as much as Caleb. Although we drive each other absolutely nuts sometimes, I think we are a perfect match and balance each other out in every way. As we celebrated our third anniversary this week, we were both amazed at how far we have come - not just in moving away, going to school and getting jobs, but we have really learned what it means to come together as one.
It doesn't mean we are great at it and that we don't learn something new everyday, but to think about what we were like back in our first apartment in College Station is just crazy. He is learning that chores are a team sport and I'm learning that sometimes its important just to relax and have a good laugh. One thing I think we both agree on is that together, we are definitely awesome, we are living like there is no tomorrow, and maybe someday we will get the chance to dance like nobody's watching.
Until then, with love,
The Osbornes
I enjoyed this. I so enjoy Caleb and the fact that he balances you out. I am sure you do the same for him. Once a frustrated person at dad's work who had experienced some of his tougher traits asked me how I could live with him and I told him he has been the love of my life since I was 19, there isn't anything I don't love about him. The guy just walked away shaking his head. I think that is the way God works, God gives us the person we need--dirty microwaves, radical caffeine withdrawal and all.
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom