Tuesday Thoughts About...

...my anniversary!

Yep, today's the day. August 21st. We've had some good ones over the years. You might remember last year we celebrated during the eclipse (and here). Well, today we celebrate year 47 on this crazy journey called life.

I couldn't be happier! Here's why.

 This guy! I just love him!

He's my super man (I didn't realize until the photo above how often he poses like this)! No joke! He's everything to me. Ups and downs? Sure, everyone has them. But we're definitely "up" now!

A few months ago, I was really down. Yes, there was a lot going on in my life then. I was mourning the loss of my brother (still am---miss him so much) and the fact that my BFF was working so much that we couldn't have definite plans (I get it---she needs to do what she needs to do for her own mental health). I was just feeling like I wasn't important to anyone. That's a hard pill to swallow. There's nothing more demoralizing than feeling like no one really cares about you---even if it's all in your own head! Definitely a dark time for me.

Then, after a particularly sad week for me, I told Butch that I needed him to become my new BFF again. I needed someone I could count on. I guess I forgot that that person was him. He was all on board! We talked about the fact that he's been retired since 2010 and we're not really doing any of the things we thought we would when that time came. We instituted our Butch and Barb days---B&B days for short. I thought one day a week would be good, but Butch said "two." I was a little hesitant because I thought that might be too much--didn't want to overdo it.

Little did I know how much fun we'd have. Every week is some new adventure. We're really enjoying being together. We've been to Shiloh along the "trail of tears", Hendersonville to visit Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's graves, shopped and planted our flowers, we've hiked a new trail at the park, we've walked the battlefield in Franklin, viewed the Rolling Stones exhibit downtown (that's a huge deal for us locals to go downtown), ran errands together and shared many happy hours on the front porch. Even little things, like him asking me to ride along with him while he played golf (here). In the 20+ years we've belonged to Richland, I had never done that. It helped that he was only playing 9 holes. I don't think I could handle the heat for 4 hours (yeah, I'll say the heat). He bought me a fishing license, but we've been too busy or the weather hasn't cooperated for us to actually get on the water. You get the picture---we're spending a lot of time together. And it's working. My sadness, for the most part, has lifted.

We've been traveling a lot. A. Lot! We're having so much fun. And you know what, we're both happier. We put the focus back on our relationship and it has done wonders. I'm not going to act like everything is perfect with me---I'm still sad at times. But I'm definitely not sad on a daily basis!

Oh, and I did suggest we pull out our stamp collections which we put away when we had Sandy--and haven't looked at in 46 years! The plan was that we'd get back to it in retirement. Butch wasn't too keen on that. I just might be pushing my luck. I've also suggested cleaning out the garage. Definitely a "no go!"

Since we've started our B&B days, we're closer and that's a good feeling. We had just taken each other for granted for too long---such an easy thing to fall in to. But we had to make it happen. I'm glad we did. I almost feel like these two again! But with a lot more money!! LOL!

 Babes in 1971---19 and 20 years old respectively.

 Our first selfie! Stephanie and her friends were making fun of us!

 I really like this picture, but don't know what's up with my "man hand!"

 We celebrated at Jimmy Kelly's--our favorite steak place. They have real tablecloths!

And I got the lobster! That's where the more money comes in!

I'm lovin' our life and wouldn't trade him. Plus, he's losing bets to me pretty regularly! That's how I got the lobstah!