Moving on with the Dirt

For years, I've lived by the old adage, "Don't ask, don't tell." If you don't want to know the answer to something, simply don't ask the question. And if you want to know the answer to something specific, you have to ask the specific question. I'm a sucker for details. I'm also a sucker for skirting around details. Or at least I used to be. I could dodge the semantics of a question all day long if you asked that question in the wrong way. I think it all came down to the public, personal, private life situation, and how I tried to keep my private life my own, even from those whom I should have been sharing my private life with. Sometimes I just wanted things that were mine , and sometimes I still feel that way. So now, if you were to ask me if I still dodge questions, I guess the answer would be yes. I got my hair colored, and when I mentioned that I was going to have my hair done, several people asked me what color I was changing to. I cryptically...

Maybe it's my bipolar brain, but I don't think some people are built for monogamy. I think they can go along in life for years on end faking it, but they're doing just that - faking it. Monogamy is hard. It's been a topic of great discussion lately with my therapist. And maybe I should keep it with my therapist, but as you know from reading this blog, I am brutally open and honest about my life. I keep plugging away at it, because I love what I've made out of my life. I love my family, and I respect my husband and the lives that we've created for ourselves. And so that brings us to our conversation on cheating. I tried to bring up the conversation with Nick of what he considered cheating, just because I wanted an honest, open dialogue on it, to get his opinion on it. I'm sure our views on cheating differ. My views on cheating are pretty simple. If you're having an emotional relationship with someone, with or without any sexual touching, that's cheati...

 Most people know I'm not a big fan of fireworks. Scratch that. I hate fireworks. I've gotten better at tolerating them over the years, but I can't handle being near them. If I'm inside while they're going off, I'm okay. I can handle the panic. Why do I have such a hatred of fireworks? Because of this: This was the fireworks explosion down on Bayfront in 1988. I was almost 11 at the time. I remember the explosions going off, my mom grasping on to my wrist as I tried to flee, the horrible noise, the people screaming. Talking to a friend about a year ago, he described it to the time he was in a war zone. He said it was only fair that I have PTSD from this experience. Like I said, I've gotten better around small fireworks. However, I went out for a walk tonight (I'm writing this about a week before it'll post). People were setting off small fireworks in the driveway. No big deal. They were small. I waved and kept walking. I got farther away, and they se...

 I dropped out of my Positive Psychology class. After a few weeks of not working on it and watching deadlines pass me by, I figured it was best to drop it for now and maybe pick up on it later. What's the point of paying for something that you're not working on? Heck, I can't even get a blog out on time! Sister's week was a hoot, as usual. I tell people how many sisters I have, and they're always in awe. People who come from a family of six siblings think they have a big family. When they hear about all of my siblings, they practically choke. Counting all my half- and step-siblings, there's 14 of us. Here's a picture of those of us that get together for sister's week: Every year I try to get a photo of us three youngest. I was pretty pleased with this year's snapshot: When I came home that Friday, I was disgusted by the way the house smelled. I wondered to myself, "Does our house always smell this way? Have I gone nose-blind?" (Enter Febree...