Oh What a Day...

Yesterday was awesome! I spent the day painting Connor's room, and Tim finished fixing the door from our bedroom to the deck... the same project as the siding work that I showed in pics the other day. Late afternoon I decided to take a nice hot bath. I got some candles lit, drew my bath water, and climbed in. Tim brought me an unsolicited glass of wine. It made me feel so good! I stayed in there until my skin was all wrinkley, and it felt incredible! I got out and took my time getting ready. He got all fixed up looking good for our date. I tried to take a pic of us to put on here, but I couldn't get any of them to turn out good. Right before we left he had a card and a gift for me. He told me that he almost didn't give me the gift because it's not my main birthday gift, but my main one hadn't come in yet. He didn't want me to think that this was my "birthday gift." I was so excited that he was taking me on a date that I didn't care. I hadn't expected anything. And the fact that he had gone and gotten me a sweet card was even more touching. He wouldn't have had to buy me anything after all that. The gift was a pair of pink work gloves. I loved them! I've been wanting some bad. He apologized again for them being all he had for me on my birthday, and he told me that my other gift didn't come in time. Never in the past did I say a single word to him about not ever getting me anything for my birthday (and he doesn't read my blog), so it really caught me off guard that he was so apologetic. The date alone was more than he has ever done. I couldn't quite figure it out.

We went to P.F. Chang's and got our favorite foods... Seared Ahi Tuna for an appetizer and Kung Pao Shrimp for our main course. We then went back to Cabot to see a movie. We ended up deciding on Contraband with Mark Wahlberg. It was a really good movie... very action packed, which I LOVE!!! But the good guys were bad guys in it. That's the only thing I didn't like. I like for the good guys to be good guys. So when we got home we watched Person of Interest that we had DVR'd. That is our show! We never miss it, and if we have to be away when it originally airs, we DVR it. I could never get enough of it.

We finally made it to bed after 2am, so we slept in this morning (That's the beauty of setting your own schedule). After having our morning coffee and doing our morning internet rounds, I did a little school work and cleaned the house some. When the mail ran, Tim flipped out and wouldn't let me go check it. I'm always the one to get the mail because he's not real comfortable on our front stairs that go up to the mailbox. He wanted to get it, though. When he came back he had a huge mischievious grin on his face. He went in the other room for a second, then he came back, handed me an envelope, and said, "Here's your real birthday present." It was a gift certificate for a 90 minute hot stone massage. He was so proud of himself for getting it for me, which made it an even better present. I didn't expect anything, and I got my pink work gloves, a card, and a 90-minute hot stone massage. He had ordered it from a place in Little Rock, and they mailed the gift certificate. I've decided I will schedule it for shortly before ovulation next month so maybe it will help me relax and de-stress. I can't wait!

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Tonight I was working on my school work. Our assignment for today was on Freud's psychoanalytic theories, and the implications of fixation on a particular stage. It was very interesting, but I found the classroom discussion to be even more interesting. My professor asked if anybody had ever encountered someone with traumatic brain injury. She was discussing the personality change involved in it. I chimed in immediately. A year ago, my husband was a different person. A year ago, he would yell at the drop of a hat. He would throw things, have fits, and lie almost constantly. Today, though, he remains calm the majority of the time. He has rage every so often, but when he does it is not as intense. He still struggles with some things daily, and his bad days are BAD DAYS! But overall, he's a completely different person. He treats me differently, he responds differently to other people, and he seems to have a slightly different outlook on life. My professor asked if someone with TBI and a personality change due to it can ever overcome that and go back to their former personality. I get confused sometimes by what should be attributed to his PTSD, what is TBI, what is just his personality, and what is because of the loads of frustration from severe chronic pain and the inability to do things he once did. But it has me wondering, is his personality changing back to it's pre-crash self, or is he just finally accepting what has happened to him and the way it has changed his entire life?