Help a girl out!

A guest post of sorts...coming from brandy. She's good peeps and I can't imagine what she and her dude are going through. Please include her in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks all!
(Thanks to brookem for posting this first.)

My name is brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.
He’s a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He’s the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He’s the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He’s a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He’s made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He’s listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He’s recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He’s the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I’m overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren’t sure what’s happening. He’ll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what’s going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as ‘brandy’s hot awesome dude’). If you don’t pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scrapped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven’t seen it, Google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I’m throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn’t a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It’s just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven’t already?Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

You know what I hate?

I hate when you get your feelings hurt and compound it by being an irrational, emotional fucking girl. So now I can't tell how much is his fault and how much is my fault for taking it to a-whole-nother level.
I feel like I need to make a list of shit he did wrong and then a list of ways I didn't quite handle it correctly (or like a fucking adult) to sort it out. But really? That's too much work.
SO...let's just blame him, shall we?

Monthly check-in

I just...I don't have anything to say! Feels like my little piece of the internet is on its way out, which makes me simultaneously sad and relieved. There's pressure to say something that is remotely interesting...and I got nothin. Well. Nothing that I feel like sharing, I suppose. I know! What happened to the days when oversharing was a daily occurrence?! Sad, isn't it.
I'm motherfucking sick and it sucks, especially with this large paper hanging over my head. Nothing makes you want to buckle down and write like a sinus headache.
I still like the boy, for anyone who's interested. "Like" and "am frustrated by" are synonymous of course. But it's going. We'll see.
Still reading The Book Thief because the internet is the devil and will not leave me alone.
Just watched Away We Go today and am head over heels for that movie. Don't you just love when you realize you're smiling in the middle of a movie? I was like that for 90% of this film. And it's so pretty.
Ummm. Yep. That's all, folks. I'll just be over here waiting for the NyQuil to kick in. Jealous?

Out of my element

In case you're looking to do a bit of procrastinating while waiting for Thanksgiving...here's a fun personality quiz. Of course, I have two different elements dominating my personality because I'm nothing if not complex. Or slightly bi-polar.
My results for your entertainment. Pretty spot on.

WOOD ARCHETYPE: The Pioneer.............................. 9

FIRE ARCHETYPE: The Wizard.................................... 11

EARTH ARCHETYPE: The Peacemaker......................... 13

METAL ARCHETYPE: The Alchemist.............................. 4

WATER ARCHETYPE: The Philosopher......................... 13



Earth
Keys To Understanding Earth:
• wants to be involved and needed
• likes to be in charge but not in the limelight
• agreeable and accommodating: wants to be all things to all people
• seeks harmony and togetherness
• insists upon loyalty, security, and predictability

Typical Problems:
• worry, obsession, and self-doubt
• meddling and overprotective
• overextended and inert
• lethargy, unruly appetites, water retention, muscle tenderness
• unrealistic expectations and disappointment

A Friendly Reminder: The power of Earth comes from the capacity to link, nurture, and sustain. Earth types need to balance their devotion to relationship with solitude and self-expression, developing self-reliance as well as building community.


Water
Keys To Understanding Water:
• articulate, clever, and introspective
• self-contained and self-sufficient
• penetrating, critical, and scrutinizing
• seeks knowledge and understanding
• likes to remain hidden, enigmatic, and anonymous

Typical Problems:
• emotionally inaccessible and undemonstrative
• isolation and loneliness
• tactless, unforgiving, and suspicious
• hardening of the arteries, deterioration of teeth and gums
• backache, chilliness, loss of libido

A Friendly Reminder: The power of Water comes from the capacity to conceive, concentrate, and conserve. Water types need to offset their toughness, bluntness, and detachment with tenderness, sensitivity, and openness, risking softness and contact, exposure and attachment.

File under "Things that guys think are funny...but in fact really fucking are not."

Just four days after my 30th birthday - the (28 year old) boy pulled back while kissing me, looked deep into my eyes, smiled, and said...

"You're a cougar now."

"Like dirty...wit a 'thir'..."

Lots to do in the next 12 hours...so of course here I am.
Sometime in the 16 days since last I wrote, I turned 30. It's still a little strange to see that number. I've been too damn busy to put any real thought into it. I had to talk a friend in from the ledge today who is facing the switch tomorrow, but there really isn't anything to say. No, your life doesn't look like you thought it would at 30, but good news! No one's does. Unfortunately, as women we face a brand new set of pressures, especially those of us who want to become moms. It's ugly and real and you can either face it while working on becoming the best version of yourself...or you can sit on your couch in your pjs, stuffing your face with birthday cake, and talking to your cat.
Oh. Just me?
As I mentioned, I've been busy and tomorrow sees the end of the flurry of immediate deadlines I've faced lately. So tonight you can find me doing the above, avoiding this effing paper, and administering my first facial peel.

Conversations I still need to have...

I have no business being on here with the amount I have to do this week.
SO. Instead of procrastination-writing, I will share a post from Stephanie Klein. She lives in Austin and I wish we would just bump into each already and become instant friends. Or at least that she wouldn't think I was crazy when I blurted that out to her...because I totally would. "OMG you're Stephanie Klein and you are an awesome writer and I have curly hair too, see? and your kids are freaking adorable and how's Phil feeling these days and can we please go get cocktails and no I'm not following you to your car, that's not what's happening at all."
Yeah. I think it would be kinda like that.