SO great!

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I got myself a pretty damn good husband. He has a way of pushing my buttons sometimes, but that kinda comes along with marriage ya know? (I am good at pushing his too). Just yesterday, I was thinking about how it seems like yesterday we were dating. And here we are almost 8 years later. When I knew I wanted to keep Ray around for the long haul, I never imagined he and I would become such great friends. Needless to say, we are in love - and I don't foresee that ever coming to an end. Love, romance, and all that "gush" is very important. A marriage won't survive without it. But also, two people in a marriage need to be good friends. Ray and I have a wonderful friendship. We listen to each other, lean on each other, support each other, talk about big issues, talk about things that don't matter, laugh together, laugh at each other, laugh at ourselves, etc. It doesn't matter where we are or what we are doing. We just enjoy being together.

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Lately, I have had a lot going on - particularly with my family. To sum it up, my dad is an idiot. My aunt is lonely. My uncle is a jerk. My grandmother died. My grandfather needs me. These people have worn me out over the last month or so. They drained me emotionally as I was trying to pack up everything we own, move, and get settled in our new place. Ray is who helped me through it all.

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As if we didn't have enough going on in our neck of the woods, I was devoting some of my time to support my family in Louisiana. When I should've been resting, I was either laying awake worrying or having bad dreams because I couldn't clear my head before I fell asleep. Not that my relatives couldn't have made it without me, but they were relying heavily on me for support. I did my best to be there for everyone - at all times. It wasn't easy, but I did it...again, with Ray's help.

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Finally, my grandmother died. Her suffering was over. It was a terrible thing because death isn't ever good. But it got to a point where those who loved her began to pray that she be taken. I don't think you can ever be fully prepared to deal with the death of a loved one. However, my family did a good job. They were sad, but they felt more at peace with it than anything. Even my Paw (her husband) was glad she was free of pain and suffering. But as you can imagine, he was so terribly sad - and still is. Talking to him on the phone every day was torturous to me. No matter if he was in good spirits or if he was in tears, I felt like a dagger was being twisted in my heart. I didn't feel an obligation to be with him. It was more like an indescribable desire. I didn't know how or when or any details at all...I just knew I wanted to be with him. So, I went to Ray. I told him I knew he didn't have much time off from work and that I realized we didn't really have money to drop on a last minute trip but that I needed to get to Louisiana to be with my Paw. Without hestitation, he said we would make it happen.

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I told Ray I would rather he go with me, but that it came down to it, I was willing to go to Louisiana by myself. I thought that would save us money and maybe keep us from being so inconvenienced. He told me he appreciated my gesture but that he wanted to go with me. He wanted to be there for me as I supported my family in dealing with their loss. That meant so much to me.

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After we made our plans, I began to feel a little nervous about an unexpected situations that could arise with my father. He listened to my concerns, helped ease my worries, and helped me think of possible solutions. He helped replace my worry with excitement. As a matter of fact, I began to feel like we were going on a fun vacation rather than an overdue visit to see my family.

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When I got a little on edge about being at a certain place at a certain time, Ray remained calm and helped me realize those things didn't really matter much - if at all.

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Our original plan was to stay at my mother-in-law's house. But my grandfather really wanted us to stay at his house with him. Ray (his mom and step dad also) was very understanding. Not only did he agree it was a good idea...he didn't say one word about staying in the house where my grandmother had died a week or so before. Personally, that thought might have normally creeped me out. I was just so wrapped up in things that I was okay with it.

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Since I was a little nervous about the trip and such, things upset me when they usually wouldn't have at all. For example, I checked Grayson's diaper before we got on the plane. He was dry. But after we boarded the plane, he was soaked. YIKES! He cannot stand being wet. I panicked. Ray, however, did not. I kept saying, "But the plane is FULL...and we are about to take off!!! What are we gonna do?!" He calmly said, "We will change him right here". At first, I thought, "What? Change him right here?" Then, it was like an instant calm came over me. I said, "Okay" and we changed Grayson right there on our laps. We did it very tastefully by the way. We did it discretely and very fast!

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Ray is always very involved with Grayson - caring for him, interacting with him, loving him, playing with him, etc...and this weekend was no exception. Everyone said something to me about how great of a dad he is. Again and again, I proudly smiled and said, "I know, he is". Because of Ray, I was able to visit with my aunt some one on one, dye Easter eggs (family tradition), clean the kitchen so my grandfather wouldn't have to do it, etc.

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Because we were only there two and a half days, time really flew by. We didn't get to visit as much as we wanted to. The day before we were going to leave, I found myself feeling very sad because I had not spent any time alone with my Paw. Ray told me to make it happen. That night, he listened for Grayson on the monitor while my Paw and I were outside in the barn going through some of my Granny's old stuff. Then, he cared for Grayson the next morning while my Paw and I went to IHOP for breakfast. Again, I couldn't have done what I wanted to do without Ray. He was wonderful.

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Our time with our family had come to an end. We had to tell them goodbye (took longer than we expected because it was so hard to do), rush to the airport, return our car rental, go through security, wait to board our plane, and fly home. The process wasn't real easy. We were exhausted from the trip and simply wanted to be home as fast as possible. Not long after the plane took off, Grayson pooped. I thought, "Grrrrrrreat." I started to say, "What else?" but decided that would not be a good idea. Again, I panicked. I didn't know if the plane had a changing table and if they did, how big was it? Those little bathrooms are usually no bigger than a porta potty. As soon he could, Ray took Grayson to the bathroom and changed his diaper. We didn't even have the usual conversation with each other were we joke that the other one can go change him. He just said, "We'll be back" and took him to the bathroom to get changed.

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The flight took longer than scheduled. We were so ready to get home, and I know Grayson was too. Before we got on the plane, I filled G's sippy cup to the top with water. He likes water a lot. I thought, "I'll fill it up cause I don't want to run out". Well, this particular time, he didn't want water. PERIOD. So, when the flight attendant came around taking orders, we requested apple juice (another one of Grayson's favorites). Problem: our one sippy cup was FULL of water. Gray enjoys drinking out of a regular cup like a big boy so we let him have a few sips that way. But after a while (because of how we were sitting and such), we all got sticky. I said, "We need to dump the water." Of course, this jerk was sitting on the aisle and we didn't even want to look at him, much less ask him to let one of us pass by. Besides, the flight attendant's cart was blocking the aisle!!! For a moment, I felt defeated and seriously considered pouring it all over the floor.

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That's when Super Dad picked up the sippy cup and chugged every drop of water in it. Grayson and I were amazed. I was sitting there kinda dumbfounded when Ray said, "Pour his apple juice in!"

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Then, when we were ready to land, no runway was available. And once we landed, no terminal was available. It wasn't fun. Grayson did pretty good on the flight - until the end. He was about as frustrated as Ray and I.

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Once we got off the plane, we had so much to do. We had to carry Gray, grab our carry on bags, pick up the stroller and car seat we checked at the gate. Then, we had to get to baggage claim. Despite all that chaos, we were so glad to be home! I was pushing G in the stroller, and Ray was walking ahead (towards the baggage claim). That's when some beeeeotch cut in front of me without looking her way, much less excusing herself. She probably could've cleared my path without a problem, but I chose to speed up some and run over her foot in her cute little strappy shoes with the wheel of the stroller without even looking her way or saying a word. Ray wasn't around to keep me in line. :) I love Ray so much. He's GREAT! And what can I say? It it weren't for Ray, I might be a lunatic. ;)

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