Ayres Insanity

   Last night I was sitting in bed with Russ, I looked over at him and had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude for this man that completes me in every way. He is so good, so kind, and loves me far more that I probably deserve.    Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and this time of year tends to bring out the gratitude in all of us, and with the year we've had, a little dose of thankful is just what I've been needing.    I turned 40 in February. It was weird. So good in so many ways, but so scary in others. My amazing friends threw me a beautiful dinner party with some of my favorite people and gathered kind words from so many people that I love and had it framed. I got to stay 2 nights at a hotel downtown, the first night with Jennie, and the 2nd with Russ, I was truly spoiled. Everyone was so incredibly thoughtful, but the most meaningful gift of all was from Russ, he showed up at the hotel on the morning of my birthday clean shaven! He finally shaved that dreadful beard t

  Christmas came and went and it was lovely. Busy, but lovely nonetheless. Mom was here celebrating her 60th birthday and it was fun to have her. We saw the Forgotten Carols & Christmas lights, shopped, ate, and crammed as many things in as we could. By the end of it all I was exhausted, but isn't that always the case that time of year?   The new year has been full of change already and I was right not to hold my breath. After only a week of Russ being on day shift, the company decided to make their employees as miserable as possible, and take weekends away from almost everyone. Russ opted to go back to the graveyard shift for the sake of making it to church, he now has Wednesday & Thursday nights off, so he sits at home alone on his days off while everyone else is gone, then goes back to work when the rest of us are just starting our weekend, causing me to spend my weekend yelling at the kids to be quiet while dad sleeps. In case you can't tell, I'm not thrilled.