Another circumnavigation of the Sun. Part Two. in The Big, Blue House, year one.

Don got a cake from the store. Chocolate with boston cream filling, and put little pre-made sugar letters and stars on it. He presented me with that, and two wrapped packages this morning. The paper was dark, metallic green. The bow on the big one was black, and the small one, purple. All of my favorite colors.

The bigger gift he said was a substitute, because the thing he’s making me isn’t going how he’d hoped. He said he has to buy more tools. I told him that’s fine, give it to me for Valentines’s Day/Lupercalia, or whenever. It really is the thought that counts.

The substitute gift is a magenta turkish candle lamp that I’ve wanted for a while, to hang in the dining room. It looks nice in the bay window.

The smaller one is nearly exact duplicate of a stuffed toy I lost when I was twelve. A little gray mouse, made in 1975-76. I carried that thing everywhere. Hence why it was lost. I buried it in the sand during recess in second grade, forgot about it, and had to beg the teacher to let me go and get it back.

So that was sweet.

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He continues to just generally be nice.

On the bright side I think I’ve figured out why. He talks a bit about wanting to work on the business, and I’ve told him repeatedly that we can’t share an Ebay account because we fight too much. When there are orders that have to go out, we have to be willing to help each other, or it all falls apart. If I’m too mad to send a note to a customer, or he’s too mad to meet the USPS guy, or a shirt or whatever doesn’t get made on time, that bad feedback is there forever.

I think he’s trying to prove to me that he can be trusted as a business partner.

In other words, the plan I instituted seems to be working. I have successfully managed to find the one button that can be pushed effectively. And fingers crossed, knock on wood he’s not having any serious health issues.

He’s going on two months without being mean to me. In the next week or two, I’ll start practicing with the heat press and the Silhouette. I’ll drag out the “practice” phase for at least two months. I won’t believe this is a permanent change until at least the six month mark, which would be March 30th.

His birthday is the 21st of March.

If he’s held it together that long, I’ll start listing things on Ebay after his birthday.

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I want to note here that, despite everything, he’s always been dependably pleasant on holidays, for some reason. I guess he holds them sacrosanct. He was at my college graduation, with the camcorder, (back before the ubiquitous cell phone), while my parents stayed home to watch some movie. He always bakes stuff for Thanksgiving and Yule.

When I worked, he cooked every day, and he’d bring me a plate at my desk, while I played WoW to unwind. (I’d burn up the frustration of dealing with customers in PVP. I’ve got a full set of season 8 conquest gear. The satisfaction of being a middle aged woman beating up what I presume were predominantly teenage guys.)

He’s always been good when it counted. Then he’ll snap at me and gaslight me over insignificant crap, like a blown light bulb.

I'll believe it when I see it, but let us hope this marks a permanent improvement.