Love Really IS a Battlefield

Yesterday, we finally left the house for "lunch" at 6:00. It was no longer lunch, but at least it was food. I was so hungry. Mike had it in his mind that he wanted some Okie fries from Anna Bananas over on the Island. We got on the bike and drove all the way over to the Island for supper. Mike got ribs and I got a turkey and Swiss sandwich with green beans. The green beans were delicious, fried in bacon grease and onions (the only thing I like bacon grease touching is green beans). The sandwich was okay. Just a sandwich. It had turkey and Swiss, of course, but it also had bacon, tomato and avocado. I ate half the cheese, the three inch piece of bacon, the two slices of tomato, the tiny sliver of avocado and most of the turkey. Oh, and every crumb of the green beans. I left the bread and the rest of the cheese and turkey. I was full anyway.
Over our meal, Mike kept talking about his weekend and how much fun he had and I was getting more and more, I don't even know the word to describe it. Agitated? Irritated? Aggravated? Pissed? I don't know. All I know was I was getting more unhappy by the second. Finally I let it blurt out. I knew it wasn't going to go away by ignoring it and going on with life, which is my normal way of dealing with unpleasant things. It was one of those things that would fester if left alone.
"I wanted to go and you didn't even ask me!"
He knew I was mad, and I even think he knew why I was mad. But when I blurted that out, he looked taken back. He asked me why I didn't say so and I told him it was because I thought he didn't want me to go. I wasn't about to invite myself along when I wasn't wanted. But after arguing back and forth in a low voice, my voice got to a raised whisper right there in Anna Bananas and he finally admitted he was wrong not to invite me and told me he was sorry. Okay, as long as we see eye to eye, now. He didn't even say it all condescending like he usually does..."sorr-eey". He said it sincerely. He either meant it, or he's getting better at lying. And he's never been very good at lying, so I choose to believe he meant it.
Off we went for a little ride. It was still hot outside, even that late in the day. He asked me where I wanted to go and I said "for a ride" and he thought I said "take a right" so he turned right and we ended up at Shangri-La. Well, unless you are rich or play golf, or both, there's not a whole lot to do down that direction except turn around and come back because it's a dead end road. (Or, unless you work there, which we don't)
As we were driving around, I got to thinking about how mad I can be at Mike then he does or says one nice thing to me and all the rest is forgotten. I kind of felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Except for that whole hooker thing. Yes, I totally stole that line from She's All That, but the principle remains.

• Vivian: You're late!
• Edward: You're stunning!
• Vivian: You're forgiven!

Yes, that's me. A total sucker for my man.

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One of the Aunts called me Saturday morning and asked me to pick blackberries for her. The blackberry dance is on the 10th and she can't get around anymore to pick the berries. Enter Stacie: Niece Who Can't Say No. Just kidding, I didn't mind at all. Since my water faucet outside broke, I wasn't able to water them this year. You can tell, too. They didn't do so well and I picked all I could today and I didn't even get a whole gallon. It'll be enough for what she needs them for, but I had big plans for those big berries this year. Oh, well, maybe next year.

I was not happy with Mike about that water thing, he told me he'd fix it when it first broke. Back when we were still getting rain and I wasn't too worried about it. I kept telling him he needed to fix it before the rained stopped so I could continue to water the berries and the grapes when the rain did stop. Well, the rain stopped and the water hook up never got fixed. The grapes died a couple weeks ago. A crying shame, too because there were tons of grapes this year. Loads. Oodles. They all dried up, shriveled right on the vine. No water. The blackberries, being a little more hardy, were pickable, just not very many of them were. I got about 3/4 of a gallon this morning and in a couple days I should be able to pick another 3/4 gallon or so. Then that'll be it for the berries. Nothing compared to last years crop. Last year the berries were huge, this year they are noticeably smaller. Like regular wild blackberry size.

Mike told me we have running water inside, I should have carried the water to them. Yeah. I can hardly carry two gallons of milk at the same time without doing some kind of twist and hurting my back again. How could I water them like that? It took me 30 minutes or more to water them with the hose. Like I said, oh, well, maybe next year. If Mike doesn't fix it, I'll ask somebody else to do it.

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I'm off. I need to go take a shower to wash all this Repel off my neck and face. It keeps the mosquitoes off, that's for sure. But it really does stink.

I almost forgot to mention how at one point, I thought I was going to have to yell at Mike to come help me. I was hoping he would be able to hear me over the a/c. But, I finally got free of that briar. It had me by the back and by the hair and I couldn't get free. I had my garden hoe with me but it seemed every time I would push the briar limb away it would only snag me deeper. Like a fish hook that's stuck in your finger and instead of pulling it back out the way it went in, pushing it through the other side. After about a minute that seemed like five, I finally got free of it. I was crouched down on the ground, even, when I finally got free. I stood up and smashed that briar limb down flat with my garden hoe, then to make sure it was down flat, I stepped on it and walked up and down it to be on the safe side. I didn't want that thing popping back up in my face or something. I'm sure I looked like quite the character out there on the edge of the yard. Stuck in sticker bushes. Stupid blackberries.