I never was one for school. I mean, I did well in high school, until I kind of figured that a B is nearly as good as an A and I wouldn’t have to work nearly as hard, and then in the classes I liked the A was easy. College was nice for a while, but I lost interest and quit after a couple of years to go be a web developer in Atlanta. James is working full time, and taking 3 classes a semester towards his Computer Science degree. Most of the time, I think of this in terms of how it affect ME! Because you know, I’m the center of the universe! Well, maybe not really, but I need to be sure to leave early enough to pick up both kids on Thursdays because James leaves at 3:30 to go to his two Thursday classes. Mondays he has one class in the evening, so I put both kids to bed myself, and he doesn’t get home until late, often after I’m in bed, if not asleep.

I seriously don’t think I could do what he does. I’m just not that dedicated. To some things, yes, I’m dedicated. I’m dedicated to watching Gilmore Girls, and when our Tivo was out the second week of the new season I made such a stink and woe-is-me faces, that James managed to hunt up a copy for me. I’m very dedicated to my woe-is-me face(s). I’m very dedicated to my sheets. I love nice clean sheets, and when I slip into fresh sheets at night I am just in heaven. When our cats manage to sleep on the sheets instead of on the bedspread, sometimes they track little microscopic pieces of litter in with them and then out comes my woe-is-me face again. James went to a local community college and got his associates degree before transferring to the university. I admire the ability to see what he wants for himself, and get to it. Too much of the time it’s easier to stay in your rut of day in day out and not bother to upset it, especially if it means others have to sacrifice for your sake. I find that my problem a lot. My excuses for not working out usually have to do with not wanting to stick James with the kids alone during that time, as well as wanting to see them myself. Making yourself a priority is always hard, but James saw the value in what he wanted and he’s going after it.

And now, he deals with full time work, part-time classes with which comes lack of sleep, homework EVERY NIGHT, when I know he’d rather be watching Gilmore Girls with ME. OK, maybe not Gilmore Girls, but I’m sure he’d much rather veg out watching tv and playing World of Warcraft.

So now, our life was inconvenienced, but eventually it turned into the new norm. Me picking up the kids when I needed to, us making sure our time together does count, staying up late to talk about what Ethan made at school, or how Jocelyn likes to hide behind the chair in her room, him going to work and then leaving for class EVERY WEEK even though if it were me, I’d leave work like I was GOING to go to class and then come home and watch Gilmore Girls or maybe sleep in the nice clean sheets, or just generally sluff off class because I would just be too tired/fed up/(enter reason here)… And if he keeps at it, it seems like it’s forever now, but he will get there, and have his bachelor’s degree and all the hard work will be worth it.

What I really don’t get, is how he does all this without making the woe-is-me face. Granted, his isn’t nearly as good as mine, but he never gives it a workout like I do. He is patient, hard-working, a good daddy, and a wonderful husband. Sometimes I can’t beleive that I was lucky enough to be attracted to him, and then lucky enough to marry him. Little did I know what a great deal I was getting. He even remembers to make the bed most of the time so he doesnt’ have to see the woe-is-me-there’s-bits-of-gross-litter-on-my-sheets face.

My husband amazes me.