Superman

His melancholy head tilt is deceptive, he's actually
looking at a kitty on the floor and making scritchy noises
on the couch to get her to jump up beside him

He's gone from weighing 240 pounds to 160.

He's gone from not exercising to being a runner.

He's gone from never seeing a dentist in his life to having a dental routine that includes an electric toothbrush, flossing, mouthwash and twice-yearly dentist visits.

He's gone from daily back pain and daily giant ibuprofen pills to daily back-strengthening exercises, and maintenance chiropractor visits a couple of times a year.

He's gone from never seeing a doctor to having yearly checkups and taking daily vitamins/supplements (not to mention impressing the doctor with his weight loss and the improvement in his back:  "I tell people to lose weight and exercise, but they never actually DO it").

He's gone from being a fan of exploitation and horror movies to being the webmaster of his own popular genre website.

He's gone from saying he doesn't know how to write to having his reviews sought out by movie companies and quoted on DVD boxes/ads.

He's inspiring.  He takes care of himself in a way that his parents never did, he created a website that is respected in the industry, he works hard every day to be a healthy, creative person, in addition to working hard every day at a stressful, unrewarding full time job.

He's my sweetie, and on October 1 we will have been married ten years.  I can honestly say that he is more handsome, healthier and cooler now that he was then.  And I love him even more.

Waiting

Rainy afternoon

For Greg to get off work, so we can drive home in our little orange and be cozy inside our home, making dinner together and watching tv and petting kitties and sharing those little moments that make up our lives.

I really like that we can carpool together now.  He drives our little orange to his office, then I drive to mine, and I go back and get him in the afternoon.  Sometimes he ends up having to stay late, and I'll sit in our car reading my Kindle.  I have to admit, I like those moments.  Greg always feels terrible when I end up waiting for him, but it's kind of relaxing to know that I can't do anything but hang out and read.  I can't clean the kitchen, or return emails, or hang up clothes, or sort through all those handwritten family letters that belonged to my late uncle, or scrub the shower, or any of the other zillion things that are constantly banging around in the back of my head.  I like it.

Our Little Orange

Well, it was sure nice not to have any car payments, and to have two cars that were paid off.  But then Greg's Matrix had to have the transmission replaced, so...

Anyway, now we have a new car payment, but we LOVE our new little car.  It's a 2013 Prius C, which is the smallest Prius.  We average around 60 miles per gallon each day on our commute.  We took lil' orange up to Georgia on our road trip to visit Mom, and got around 45 miles per gallon.  Plus, it connects to our iPhones with bluetooth, and being able to use the car to make/receive a phone call or listen to music we stream from an app is the coolest thing ever.

Why orange?  We picked it out online and the color was called Habanero, which looked red.  Then we saw it, and it's not red.  I was kind of appalled, but Greg loved it immediately, and it really grew on me.  It's certainly easy to spot in a parking lot!

Looking Backward, Looking Forward

The weekend before last Greg and I went to GA to visit Mom.

She seems to be doing really well, overall.  She gets tired easily, but we still went and had lunch at IHOP one day, and Red Lobster another.  She seems to be doing pretty well in the assisted living place, although the food there has gotten markedly worse in the past few months.  This was my third visit, and the first where I thought the food wasn't good at all, ever.

Mom really, really didn't want us to complain about it on her behalf, and she's hoping it gets better when they finish some building renovations they're in the middle of.  I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it, but I suppose it's possible.  My sister keeps taking her things like grapes and bananas and snacks and ice cream, so whenever the food is really terrible Mom just comes back to her apartment and eats.

It was wonderful to give Mom hugs, and to tell her that I love her, and to find little things to do for her around her apartment, and to just hang out with her reading the paper or watching tv.

It's always so hard to leave.  I'm hoping I can work it out to go for another quick visit before Greg and I both go back for Christmas.

Last weekend I had to work on Sunday, because I do a payroll report that has to be turned in on the first.  Regardless of what day of the week the first is, or if it's on a holiday weekend.  I didn't stay the whole day, so it wasn't too bad, I guess.

The days are counting down for our trip to New Orleans.  I am getting into listing mode:  I have lists of things to pack, restaurants to go to, sights to see.  We just started watching Treme, and so far we like it a lot.  It's a typically well-made HBO series, but it is actually filmed in New Orleans, and focuses quite a lot on music.

Sometimes I think the looking forward in anticipation part is the best part.  :)