by Joey | Aug 15, 2013 | Throwback
**UPDATE: for now, I get to keep my gall bladder. Yay!**
I’ll have more of an update as I get results in.
It could be as late as the end of next week.
Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts & prayers.
I can’t believe I hesitated so much over introducing a kitten into our home. Campbell fits right in. He and Bailey are BFFs. And the two of them just make my heart swell. I know, if you follow me on Instagram, there’s a huge chance you all are whispering out the sides of your mouth crazy cat lady. And I’m ok with that. You have no idea how much I have to refrain myself from posting every. single. adorable. photo. I take of them. I do really try. For every picture I post, there are about 100 others that I refrain from posting!!
When J and I were living separately (if you’re new, he moved to BC 5 months before I was able to follow), I said a hundred times a day there was no way I’d have survived that without Bailey & George. Bailey made me feel safe. And some days, on the days I felt like all I wanted to do was stay in bed and cry (again, if you’re new–our living separately may have sent me into a sad state….), she gave me a reason to get out of bed. There was no ignoring that cute little nose on the edge of the bed begging to go out. It’s a little thing, but it helped.
Today, I’m feeling especially grateful. For my friends. For my family. For my darling husband who works his ass off (even if it IS a job he loves so much he’d do it for free!). And I’m thankful for these little fluffballs. If you haven’t noticed, I’m sick a lot. I wish it weren’t true, but it is what it is. And nothing makes a sick Joey feel more comfortable than these two little snugglebutts. The very first picture in the collage? That was yesterday morning when I couldn’t pull myself out of bed. They just know. And they’re happy to just sit.
by Joey | Aug 1, 2013 | Throwback
Lately, I’ve been struggling not to fall victim to this.
Do you do this? Because oh, my goodness. It’s entirely too easy sometimes.
I often find myself making excuses for why I do things a certain way.
Or why my life is the way it is.
Let me be clear.
I feel like I am the luckiest person.
My husband supports me 100% (literally and figuratively)
I get to do exactly what I want every day.
And for some reason, I feel like I have to excuse that.
That it’s not enough for some people.
Things I am not:
- A high powered career woman who makes bookoos of money
- Particularly talented in any one thing
- Particularly smart. I don’t mean that I am dumb; I’m just not very smart. I ask a lot of questions.
Things I am:
- A devoted writer. Whether I like it or not, I show up every day.
- A dedicated wife. Shocker: I actually enjoy being a housewife. And I take that job very seriously.
- A fantastic listener. I am, without a doubt, the person my friends run to with a problem. They know that I won’t judge. They know that I’ll be honest. They know that I’ll do my best to give them the most realistic advice I can. And I’m actually very good at this.
- Good enough.
That last one might have you raising your eyebrows. Good enough for what, you might be wondering. Just that. I am good enough. My life is good enough. It’s funny to me. I can tell all of my friends when they are flailing that all that matters is being happy. Not to worry about what anyone else thinks. And yet, here I am: a hypocrite.
I hate the question: what do you do? I got asked that a lot this summer between attending so many weddings and visiting with family we haven’t seen in a while. Why am I so embarrassed to answer that question?
What do I do?
What’s my title?
Well, if I had to answer that, I guess I’m a writer and a housewife.
And I’m the absolute happiest I’ve ever been in my life.
For the first time ever, my days are filled doing things I’m actually really good at. My days are filled doing things that fulfill me. And maybe that makes you judge me. Maybe you think the fact that I am truly happy doing the laundry, sweeping the floors, making meals and managing my household is stupid. Or maybe you’re thinking “uh, I do that too and manage to hold a real job.” To which I’d reply, that’s awesome. I did that too, once upon a time. And I hated every minute of it. It just wasn’t me. I think I’m just built differently.
I am lucky.
I have been granted the opportunity to focus 100% on my writing career.
I do not take that for granted.
And there is nothing wrong with it.
I never actually addressed this part of my life when we moved. I wanted to. I wanted to scream from the rooftops. But I didn’t. Because I was afraid of being judged. I was afraid that people would think I’m lazy or stupid. I know I mentioned more than once that I was getting to focus on my writing career, but I kept telling myself I had to wait until I was published to say that I was also a housewife so I could feel validated in what I do.
I am not published. Yet.
But I am a writer.
And I’m a housewife.
And you know what?
That’s enough for me.
by Joey | Jul 29, 2013 | Throwback
Nope.
We’re not pregnant.
BUT
After a lot of begging consideration,
we introduced a new little member to the Hodges Household this weekend!
J, of course, named him.
Campbell
What? You don’t name your pets after your current job?
You must not be a football family. Haha.
He’s made himself right at home!
He’s already so brave with Miss Bailey, which is exactly what I wanted!
Welcome, sweet Campbell.
We’re so happy to have you!
linked with: fundaymonday, weekendshenanigans, MMG
by Joey | Jul 26, 2013 | beauty, Loves, Real Life
1. I painted my nails. Duh. Wet & Wild Megalast: I need a refreshmint with Sinful Colors: Nail Junkie (appropriate, I think ;)) My hands have been super dry lately, so please excuse the grossness of them. Any recommendations?
2. If how I feel when I take sudafed is any indication of what it’d be like to be a meth-head, I have no idea how anyone could choose it as their drug of choice. Whenever I have sinus pressure it’s always the dreaded debate: feel sick and have an annoying sinus headache all day or feel whacked out and like my heart will blow out of my chest.
3. [this one is a rant–you can skip it if you’d like] I took Bailey to the vet yesterday. I wanted to get established with a vet in the area (like a responsible pet owner), and I also wanted to be sure she was completely up to date on all over her shots, etc just in case we introduce another little furbaby into our home. I made an appointment for 10:30 for her shots and to get her nails clipped. It should have been a 20 minute appointment, max. I had gone in the day before sans dog to fill out all the paperwork, etc because I knew I didn’t want to attempt that with a squirming 70lb dog on a leash (this just in: Bailey is very poorly behaved in public for me). I got there (10 mins early, mind you), and they had no record that I was in before. None of the paperwork had be put into the computer and they had no recollection of me being there (even though one of the girls was who I’d spoken with the day before…). Strike one. Then I sat or rather, tackle Bailey to the ground any time a person or pet walks in or by. For 40 minutes. Nothing. Strike 2. So I got up and walked towards the door. I just happened to call out “we’re leaving,” when I got to the door–you know, just as a courtesy. The dog is already loaded in the car when the receptionist runs out after me “would you like me to see if someone could see you now?” Uhm. Are you serious? I sat there for 40 minutes while you gossiped with the other receptionist about the other employees of the clinic. You didn’t think to see if someone could see me THEN? No thank you. I’m out. Strike 3.
4. The three dollar and fifty cent vanilla bean candle from walmart is making my life so happy right now. It makes our house smells so warm and inviting. I’m kind of in love.
credit
5. Lost & Profound. By Summer Felix. This book almost scared me. There were way too many situations that had me nodding my head going omg this is me. Now, I might have felt that way because part of the story chronicles a woman’s pursuit of the publishing world. But whether you’re in to publishing and writing or not, there were several scenes in this book that had me laughing out loud. The main character, Rebecca, finds herself in her thirties, divorced with two kids. She really thought she’d have her life somewhat figured out at this point. Her mom is her biggest cheerleader hounding her to publish something under her own name instead of just ghost writing, but she’s more focused on navigating the control freak pre-school director and a certain man. I’m a huge fan of the structure of this book: you follow her story through a series of journal entires that span a year. You find yourself feeling what Rebecca’s feeling. And you’re there rooting her on! This was the first book I’ve read by Summer Felix, and I certainly look forward to reading more from her. Five stars!
linked with: h54f, fridaybookclub, thenailfiles
by Joey | Jul 23, 2013 | Throwback
I realize that not everyone is a cat person. But I am one. And so is my husband. I know it’s even rarer for a man and wife to be equally into cats, but in this house we are. As I type this, I’m realizing how strange we sound. Bare with me.
We find cat videos hilarious. And we’ll generally laugh out loud at any cat humor. Once, we were watching a video of a cat sticking his head under a running
faucet repetitively, and we were laughing so hard we couldn’t catch our breath. We immediately showed it to our friends who sat there without a single reaction through the entire video. When it ended, they looked at each other and said
“cat people.”
We’ve had a rough lot of it in the feline department in the last year or so. I had a tearful
goodbye to my sweet kitty last summer, and then we lost
George in April. For the first time in our marriage, our house is cat-free. As much as I love cats, I always said once George passed, we’d be done. But I think we’re considering adopting another little kitty.
Going back and reading those posts about George and Webster make me a little hesitant because I know the kind of pain saying goodbye to a pet causes, but part of us both is ready to introduce another little kitty friend in this house. Especially for Bailey’s sake.
Plus cats just kind of make me laugh out loud.
They do the weirdest things!
I guess time will tell if another little buddy will make it’s home here!
And I’m the crazy person who just wrote a whole post about cats.
I need help.
