The Dog: June 7th, 2011

Ashley's emotions have been all over the place like Kherington's food will be one day. She has cried over this and she has cried over that, hell she's even cried over nothing! So how would she react if something devastating were to happen, something that she is supposed to cry about? I don't know and hopefully I will never find out, but this night I came very, very, close to Ashley having the biggest breakdown of her life, and in the end it probably would have cost me a lot of money.

Ashley and I were on the way to my softball games on this lovely Tuesday afternoon. I was driving down Lynnhaven Parkway when all of a sudden I had to lock up my brakes while going 45 mph because a little black dog ran out into the street. I didn't hit the dog, but it got me thinking. What if I did? Do you know the repercussions I would have to face from this hormonal pregnant fiance of mine? Well let me tell you exactly what would have happened had I hit and killed this dog.

The truck would have come to a stop and I would have jumped out of the car to try and help this poor dog. Meanwhile, Ashley would have remained sitting in the car with her hands covering her eyes and doing her best impression of Dorothy's "There's no place like home." scene from The Wizard of Oz. Now to make a long story short, the dog went to heaven, because that's where all dogs go (duh) and after I do whatever I have to do about the dog (not important) I get back in the truck. After I get in the truck Ashley would still have her hands covering her face and she would have a huge puddle of tears in her lap. I would try to talk to her but she wouldn't say a word to me. So instead of going to my games I would take her home since she needs some comforting. When we get home she would go straight upstairs and lay in bed with her face in the pillow as if she was 16 again and just got dumped. Now remember, she doesn't know this dog, she couldn't even tell you the breed, but she is so sad that he or she is now gone from this world. So sad in fact that it is now affecting her life. She would lay in bed for days, she would miss work, and she still wouldn't be speaking to me, because in her eyes I am now the "Doggy Killer." Because she is acting the way she is, and not talking to me, she would start to make me feel guilty about hitting this dog. I would have to find someway for me to make her happy again and forget about the dog we don't even know the name of. And the only way I know how to do that is to get her another puppy. Now how this works I don't know. Because it's not like I created a brand new puppy using the ashes of the old one, and I'm not resurrecting the dog in any way. Whether we have a new puppy or not, that dog is still dead, but not in the eyes of this hormonal train wreck I call my fiance.

But what really happened? I stopped in time, the dog ran out of the street without getting hit, Ashley saw the kids that were chasing the dog, and proceeded to yell out the window at them, "If you don't run after him, he won't run from you! Dumb kids!"

Tip #22: Travel everywhere using a segway. Your not going to hurt any animals with that, only your reputation.

And this is when I started to think about the what ifs on my journey to, destination... dad.

The Budget: March 30th, 2011

As I stated before, I stress about money more than I should because most of the time it is completely unnecessary. My dad taught me a lot when it comes to saving money and only buying what you can afford. So a lot of the times I feel like I am broke but that is because I put more than I should have into my savings account and I just act as if it is not there so I stress when I only have $50 to spend for one week.

Of course everyone knows that a baby is not a cheap adventure in life. It is expensive and it is long, but before Ashley and I decided to try for a baby I played with the numbers and came to the conclusion that we could afford one. Then of course a month later my hours at work get cut and I start to freak out as if she is going to pop the TBD baby out within the week and I immediately have to by him/her a car. I mean I got nine months to prepare for this, right?

I decided to make some sacrifices that I knew I was going to have too make. I cancelled my monthly subscription to my satellite radio service, cancelled HBO/Cinemax, and stopped my monthly donation to the local gym. I almost thought about cancelling my XBOX Live membership, but noticed how I only almost thought about it. We also sold Ashley's two door pick-up truck and bought her a four door truck and are currently in the process of trying to sell my two door sports car for a four door sedan. All of this in only three months, whats next?

Tip #13: Make sure you have a plan already in place when it comes to money.

And this is when I had to sacrifice my first class seat for coach on my journey to, destination... dad.