Infinately patient

Josh found out Friday that he had been promoted to his next rank of Technical Sergeant, or Tech Sergeant as everyone calls it. Originally when the results had come out of who got promoted Josh wasn't on the list, so we figured he'd be trying again for it next year. But he found out Friday that he had made it, and will be officially promoted sometime in August or September. I am very proud of him and excited. To celebrate we went to check out a beverage warehouse we'd heard about. Yes, you read correctly. We went to a beverage warehouse to celebrate. We discovered a little piece of heaven. This warehouse had tons of beer for sale by the case, and the prices were definitely the cheapest we've seen. It also had a large selection of wine and mixers. It was hard to not get carried away, although the store provides flatbed carts to make it possible for you to get carried away. After loading up the car, and looking like a pair of alcoholics, we decided to go celebrate Josh's promotion by having dinner. We found a little Greek restaurant that had a beautiful outdoor beer garden. Our table was right under the trees, and we had a very picturesque few of a "typical" German street. Great people watching. Our waiter brought over two shot glasses full of something clear with our menus. Josh and I tentatively raised our glasses and took a small sip. It was a shot of black licorice alcohol. So... free shot while you order? I don't like black licorice so I gave my shot to Josh and told him I would drive home. I can think of a list of people off the top of my head who would be excited to go to this place simply for the free shot. The food was amazing, the atmosphere was laid back, and it was beautiful sitting outdoors. However. It is challenging to order Greek food off of a menu that is only in German, and to order said food from a Greek waiter who speaks only German. Like a lot of situations, I ordered just figuring that I would be surprised by whatever arrived in front of me.

Saturday we drove to Ramstein, the other Air Force base, to do some shopping because they have a lot more available to them than we do. We met up with Josh's friends again. They wanted to go to a roller derby, so we went along with them. I've never seen roller derby before. However... it was interesting to watch. The girls held up to my expectations in their costumes. Everyone had on bright colors, crazy tights, glitter, ripped tops, lots of make-up. That part was fun to see. It's also fun to see a girl in bright green fishnet tights elbow another girl in the sternum. The place where we were watching this match was in a gym where they had just taped off the borders of the ring. I had expected more of an actual ring... it would be interesting to see how differently they skate in a real ring. But. It was a fun afternoon, and something I can check off my list to say that I've done.

Sunday Josh agreed to get one our spare rooms cleaned out. This room has his computer desk in it and a bunch of wardrobes for storage in it, so we've been referring to it as an "office." But the office has been buried under stuff since before I got here. I arrived to find the room full of boxes, and piles of stuff that had been unpacked but not put away (which isn't surprising because Josh's stuff arrived about 5 days before I did). I've wanted to clean up the room and get things situated, but I haven't been able to because everything in the room is Josh's. He's the one who needs to sort through it. I've wanted that room clean from the moment I stepped foot in the house. On Sunday Josh started to work on it. This is where I realized how much of a pack rat my husband is. I finally told him that we were not going to keep the factory box that the blu-ray player came in for the next time we move because we will have movers moving us. Movers who have boxes... and bubble wrap. We're not going to hang onto a box for three years. Not gunna do it. We also played a lot of the game of "This? What is this? Why do you have it? When did you last use it? Did you know that you had it?" I also discovered a stash of playing cards. To anyone who reads this: Please do NOT send us any playing cards. We have enough playing cards to last us until the end of time. A gallon ziplock bag FULL of playing cards. And poker chips! If poker chips were real money we could retire right now and live off of Josh's poker chips. As much as I love Josh, he is lazy. Well, lazy to a point. When it comes to his job, Josh works harder than any person I know. If it is a hobby or something Josh loves to do, he will work hard. But when it comes to something like cleaning, he wants to find the quickest, easiest, most painless way to get it done. Or find a way to not do it at all. Our house has multiple doors that were taken off the hinges by the people before us. The doors that were taken off open up our living room/kitchen/hallway. I agree that they shouldn't be there. However... the doors that were taken off were just leaning against the wall in the laundry room, the hallway, and the office. I wanted the doors out of sight. I also wanted them in a place where they were not going to take up valuable storage space, which is what they were doing in the laundry room. I asked Josh if we could take them downstairs to the garage to store while we're here. He said he didn't want to because that would mean that he'd have to haul all the doors back up the stairs when we move. Yes. Yes you will. And your point is...? So Josh didn't want to move the doors because it was something he would have to move again in the future, so he was content to leave them where they were. I was not content with this. So I, being at least 50 pounds lighter and significantly weaker than Josh, decided that I would carry the doors down two flights of stairs to our garage because I wanted them out of the house. I got one door as far as our door to the stairwell before I realized that this was not going to work. There is an alcove right by our door where the stairs curve upwards. I figured in this area would be a great place to store our doors (since there was already a collection of random things stored there to begin with). Hauling four doors just outside of our door was much easier than hauling them downstairs. Stubbornness prevailed. By the end of the afternoon our office was cleared out and for the first time since arriving I could see the floor. There is still a stack of things to be sorted through (such an endless process), however I'm happy with what we got done.

I was reminded in this process that I am a complete control freak, and that I am blessed with a husband who is infinitely patient. You would have to be to be married to me. I am sure I tested the boundaries of his patience many times throughout the day. At the end of the day I hugged him and said "I love you. I'm lucky you're patient" to which Josh responded "You're welcome."