New Lease, Same Life

I had an interesting conversation recently with Mr. Perfect-for-me. I asked him if he thought that we argued often. I’m not sure why this question popped into my head or why I let it slip out of my mouth, but once it was out, there was no taking it back. The specific details of the conversation don’t matter. However, I learned just how different our ideas were about what an “argument” looks like. It made me wonder about how others define “argument” and how they feel about arguing. When you Google “argument,” the definition you receive seems straightforward. However, differing life experiences can alter each person’s perspective of the same interaction. This results in us having very differing views on whether the interaction was a positive or negative one. I wonder how often this happens to other people. Not just in romantic relationships, but also in families, friendships, workplace relationships, and even when we are interacting with strangers. It is incredibly interesting to me ...

Family can be defined so many ways. When you Google it, you get a wide range of definitions that are inclusive of that fact that way families look has changed over the years. Here are some of them: a group of one or more parents and their children living together as a unit. all the descendants of a common ancestor. a group of people united in criminal activity. a group of related things. a group of curves or surfaces obtained by varying the value of a constant in the equation generating them. designed to be suitable for children as well as adults In my life, family has always been a complicated thing. There were the people I was related to by blood. The people I was related to by marriage. The people I am related to by law. The people I choose to have in my life. In the last few years, my family has changed significantly, and for the better. Today is National Step Family Day. Although my son doesn't officially have any step parents, he is lucky to have 2 wonderful people in his lif...

 Another month has flown by. This time it was a bit of a rollercoaster for me. I have had some things going on in my life that have had me frazzled. When frazzled, I tend to unravel a bit and sometimes I unravel a lot. Life had been lobbing lemons at me for awhile now. That isn’t news to anyone that knows me well. Sometimes instead of lobbing them, they load them into a pitching machine and aim it directly at my head. Last month, a particularly juicy lemon was sent speeding my way. I tried to catch it. I tried to block it. I tried getting out of the way. Unfortunately, it hit me square in the head and I have spent the last couple weeks reeling. Mr. Perfect-for-me has been amazing through it all. He listens to me talk (almost non-stop) as I process everything. And more importantly, when I’m overwhelmed with emotions and can’t talk, he just holds me while I hurt. He doesn’t give me advice unless I ask for it. He doesn’t make useless suggestions like “just stop worrying.” He is patien...