Today I become a husband-less wife.  For a full week.  Wednesday to Wednesday. That is sooooo long for me because I am spoiled and Brett  hardly ever has any business trips.  But this isn’t business.  He’s going rafting down the Colorado River.  It should be pretty fun, I’ll admit. However, it’s not something I could do for a full week.  3, maybe 4 days.  That’s it.  I have made sure the kids and I have plans to fill our days.  Today it’s swimming at a friend’s house (and tonight it’s sushi for me with a good friend!).  Tomorrow it’s movie day (and for me it’s kickball).  Friday is a pool day at the gym.  Saturday it’s pool day at my parents.  Do you see the trend? Sunday brings us no plans…as of yet.  Might be nice to have no plans.  On occasion I’ll let the kids be lazy and watch TV more than they should.  Have you checked out the Boomerang channel?  It’s filled with cartoon classics.  The good ones…Smurfs, Scooby Do, Flintstones, Johnny Quest- you get the idea! Uh, back to the original topic.

So not only will Brett be gone for a whole week, but he has no reception for a WHOLE WEEK.  This makes me nervous for a few reasons.  First, since we have met (9 1/2 years ago) I have not gone a full week without talking to him.  Even when I was in Europe for 3 weeks with my family and we had only been dating a few months.  Even then.  Secondly, and this has happened before, something could happen to Emma where I have to take her to the ER.  Once when he was golfing up north for a weekend I took her in for a huge seizure she had.  And he was away.  And couldn’t drive immediately home.  Makes me a little nervous.

Oh yeah, he’s not the only one leaving.  My parents will be at their cabin for a long weekend.  My mother-in-law and her sister and mom will be in California the entire time.  My sister-in-law and her kids are in another state. Even my neighbor is gone (and I’ve relied on him before when there was a snake in our back yard and Brett was gone).  Feeling a little isolated here.  Part of the reason why I have made many a  plan while he’s away.

Wish me luck!

tour and picture found here.

8 years ago today I married my best friend. I can tell you that the road we’ve taken has been unexpected and bumpy at times, but I couldn’t imagine traveling that road with anyone else. Every little thing we have gone through has made us stronger as a couple…and I’m so thankful for that! Brett is a wonderful husband and an amazing dad and it shows…to everyone.

Tonight we will celebrate at Fleming’s. There will be lots of food and wine involved. And of course, dessert! I’m looking forward to it!

I just noticed the other day that I don’t post much about Brett, my hubby. It’s not intentional. After all, this is a blog about raising a child with special needs. Of course I don’t want anyone to think I’m doing this alone. That couldn’t be farther from the truth! In fact, in all of this he is my biggest support, and I am his. However, when it comes to researching, school issues, doctor issues, etc., he defers to me. Not because he’s not interested. But because he knows that I will get all of our questions and concerns answered. And, not to put him down, and not to brag, but I will do it better then him. In the context of “we”, that is my strength. I believe that after you spend a week in the hospital next to your child, who almost died-by the way, it will either make you or break you. And fortunately for us, it made us so much stronger. I know for a fact that we can get through anything that gets in our way. Not saying our path will always be easy.

One of the strengths in our marriage is that we keep no secrets from each other. It makes life so much easier when there is nothing to hide. We are brutally honest with each other. And truth be told, sometimes he’s more brutal. But I think that’s because he’s a guy.

Brett’s a great father. A wonderful husband. And my bestest friend ever.

Just sayin’

I won’t say his age, but he’s getting up there.  In fact, the last digit of his age ends in nine.  And the first is the number between 2 and 4.  You do the math.

Anyway, this is not a post to joke about his age, although it is easy to do since I’m 7 years his junior.  No matter.  I have a wonderful husband.  The things I love about him are many.  He’s a wonderful dad.  He’s a caring and giving husband.  He puts up with my crap far more than most people would.  I’m still not sure why he does it.  He’s a devoted family man…he doesn’t like to go out during the week so he can spend time with the family (on the other hand, I’m the one who won’t miss a GNO!!).  He’s committed to his job, which is also a family business.  And that leads me to my next point, he loves ALL of his family.  We’re a very tight knit family.  At which point I’ll take the opportunity to thank his mom for raising such a wonderful man!  And all I want to do is wish him a wonderful birthday!!  I love you, Brett!

Do you think they’re related??

I’m so excited about this inaugural post, that I don’t know exactly what to say!  It’s exactly like a first impression…I can make it or break it right here and now.

I plan to make it.

I’m willing to bet that a good portion of the population has been to the beach before. Common beach activities?  Building sandcastles, looking for seashells, swimming, and jumping waves.  And that’s my segue, folks!

My family loves the beach. My husband spent his first 5 years living near the beach.  I have always had a never-ending fascination with the ocean (side note: I wanted to become a marine biologist who studied humpback whales, but changed my career choice when I realized I would have to leave my current land-locked state!) If you didn’t know better, you’d think my daughter was born and raised a beach bum.  And my son, well, he’s finally getting past the “icky” sand feeling, and enjoying getting completely soaked in the surf!

Let me continue to introduce ourselves.  I’m Jessica, wife to Brett and mom to Emma and Mason.  I’m an Arizona native, and don’t see myself leaving anytime soon.  I was a teacher for a short time until I got pregnant with Emma.  I met Brett through a mutual friend of ours.  It was my first year teaching…I was fresh out of college!  He was several years older with a career in the family business and his own house (his own house was so cool to me!).  Brett’s almost a native. He has always said that the only way we can live at the beach is if he can have a house right on the beach and not have to work.  So like I said, we’ll be staying here for a long time.  Emma expanded our family in 2004.  She is this adorable toe-headed-blue-eyed little girl.  We didn’t ever know something was really wrong with her until she had a flu-bug and we went to the ER for (what we thought was) fluids. That ER trip landed us in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) for a week.  I will delve into that topic in a post to come soon.  And Mr. Mason completed our family in 2006.  He is 3 and into all sorts of trouble. Whoever said that it should be called the “terrible 3′s” was right!  He’s a stinker and right now enjoys challenging our authority.  I think the key word here is challenging. That is my family in a nutshell (or seashell, ha!!).

I can’t wait to continue on my writing journey with you!  I’m probably going to leave you with some questions….like “what’s the point?”  I’ll get there…I promise! For now, feel free to comment if you like…I would love to hear what you have to say! (The other night, when I had all these blog ideas popping into my brain, I dreamt that I received 72 comments on my first post! <hint, hint>)