Yes, Brandy...there really is a Dona

Okay, Brandy - put the whip away. I'm blogging!!! I'm blogging!! I really did blog the day after I got back from Texas, but it went into to cyber never-never land and I used this as an excuse to point my middle finger at the computer and not sit down to blog again.
To catch up - spent 8 days in San Antonio with daugher, son-in-law, and 2 grandkids. (Can't wait till those kids can come visit on their own and leave their parents behind!) The kids were a blast (and I have more Cj stories for book fodder, by the way) and their parents were a pain in the ass. How did I ever raise such a preppy, "perfect" mother?? She can't possibly be mine. Returned from TX with a respitory infection and was on antibiotics, steroids, etc. for a week. Felt like hatcheted shit (Darrel says this is much worse then hammered shit) for 2 weeks, but am over it finally. Unforunately, the exhaustion from the trip (ever try to sleep when a 3-1/2 year old is bouncing off the walls because Nana is sleeping in his room??) and the infection kicked my fibromyalgia and CFIDS into full throttle and I'm in the midst of a full blown "episode" and I've been dealing with all that goes along with that since my return. But, this too shall pass.
Have done lots of babysitting for Darrel's youngest daughter's 3 kids (1, 2 and 7 years old) since I got back, so I'm pretty much on kid burn out at the moment. (I've discovered the ONLY good thing about having 9 grandkids is people saying, "You don't look old enough." The rest of it sucks, unless they live far away where you can go visit and then escape.)
Of course, the worst part of my life since my return is that a week after I returned from Texas I had to put my best friend and companion of 15 years to sleep. Poor old Digger was finally in such bad shape that I knew I had to finally let him rest. I know in my heart it was the right thing for him, but it was definitely not what I wanted. I had that dog longer than I"ve ever kept a husband!!! (And I liked him a lot more than most of them, too.) It's been almost a month, but I still can't stand pulling into the driveway and knowing he won't be there to greet me.
Worked at sister's bar until closing last night, so I'm fairly non-human and very incoherent this a.m., so you all must pretend I'm not here while you are reading this. (Which, in every important sense of the word, I'm not.) Had many "stupid drunk Okie" moment at the bar last night, but the one I know Brandy will enjoy the most is the guy stumbling OUT of Carol's kitchen and when we asked him what the hell he was doing in there, he said, "Looking for the bathroom." Needless to say, we sent Carol's boyfriend, Dave in to check the sinks, fryolater, and any open pots and pans for foreign objects (liquid and/or solid) before we went back in there.
Brandy forgot the most important part of our conclusions about men. Yes, they are all assholes. However, the key to happiness is just finding one that's an asshole in a way you can live with. Let's face it - we can be assholes, too (ours, of course, is totally warranted and justifiable, though) so I guess if you can find someone who can live with your faults (believe it or not there are men out there who will love you FOR your faults, not in spite of them) and you can make it through most days without his faults making you want to kill him or yourself, you're better off than most.
Of course, as Brandy mentioned in my "bio" Darrel is my fourth husband. This either makes me the world's WORST person to get advice from, or an expert. But, to quote Lydia's daughter, "I have never loved anyone this way before." Yes, he can be a REAL asshole at times. But even then, I think of him as MY asshole. (Doesn't everyone need two assholes??) Anyway, I've done the independent, all on my own thing many times in my life and for the first time in my life, I can't remember life before this man and can't imagine life without him. We've been together 11 years and most days it seems like it's only been 11 days. It's gone WAY too fast and I found him WAY too late in life! (Not that I would have given him the time of day when I was younger - he's a nice guy and I never liked nice guys!)
I've come to believe the most important thing in a long term relationship is having the same goals. Wanting the same kind of life. Darrel and I are polar opposites in almost every way you can imagine. But, we both want the same things from life and want to live the same kind of life. (Our life would bore anyone else to tears, but it works for us.) And, of course, sometime in the future when I get on here and rant about how I'm going to kill the idiot you can all remind me of this sappy blog.
Okay, I've done my blogging for today. This week. This month. NO! NO! I promise to blog more faithfully. And I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading all the rest of the blogs. I'm living vicariously through Mishy right now, dreaming about a trip to China.