Blog Archives




 

  • Men and Mechanical Things
    By Cynthia Mills - Thursday May 5, 2011
    What is the deal with men and things that require jerking a cord to roar to life? I know I’m old fashioned in many ways but sometimes I simply don’t understand the attraction. Every time there is something extra to be done around the house, I opt for a quiet, non-mechanized way of doing it. My husband, on the other hand, reaches for the nearest motorized rattletrap that just might get the job done; sort of. My current bone of contention is the stinking leaf blower. Our beautiful back porch, just built by a fellow firefighter who is also one hell of a carpenter, has quickly become a place of solace for us. As busy as we are, we steal at least a few minutes here and there to simply rock in our chairs and enjoy the peace of...

  • Skilled in Everything
    By Cynthia Mills - Friday April 8, 2011
    I’ve always been in awe of the variety of skills found among a group of firefighters. There have been many times my husband has called upon our fire family to help us out with things that are beyond our skills, abilities, or time constraints.    Our current home is a “fixer-upper short sale” that we bought about five months ago. My husband’s friends have repaired or upgraded many things since then, including the air conditioner, the kitchen pipes, the laundry room plumbing, electrical outlets, and outdoor lighting. A Captain once came and helped my husband replace a broken glass door.  We’ve had another firefighter come look at the roof and give us an estimate for the future. Some of the guys helped move old...

  • Head Back to Work to Get Some Rest
    By Cynthia Mills - Thursday March 31, 2011
    Sometimes, vacation is more like work than being on shift ever is. It is Spring Break for our daughters, but due to insane gas prices and a serious lack of planning, we decided to stay put and enjoy things locally. I ordered some plants for the sunny yard of our new house and asked my husband to build me a fence to keep the dogs from fertilizing our garden. It sounded easy enough. Unfortunately Mother Nature didn’t get the family memo that clearly stated “Good Weather” would be in the forecast.    Day 1 of Spring Break: It was dreary, cold and soggy. I shifted between sitting indoors muttering like a lunatic about the crummy weather and baking to cheer myself up. My husband got by with eating baked goods and shopping...

  • Adapt and Overcome: Is It Really That Hard?
    By Cynthia Mills - Friday March 18, 2011
    Adapt and overcome. It is a simple, common-sense value. Sadly, it is also one area where my generation falls short of the mark. In fact, we so deeply undercut the mark that the generation coming up behind us couldn’t spot it with a telescope.   What if something a little worse than, “My stupid cable provider went down and I missed American Idol” happens? I don’t even get television, but I’ve heard my friends melt down over these exact words before. What if something major happened here? Would I be able to adapt to quickly changing circumstances and overcome whatever is dumped on me? Would my friends? Children? Being married to a firefighter, I’ve always known that if anything big happens, I’m on my...

  • So Many Lists
    By Cynthia Mills - Wednesday March 9, 2011
    Everyone has at least one list. For some it’s the List of Exes. For others, it’s a Bucket List. For a less glamorous style, it’s a simple List of Hopeful Accomplishments or the infamous To-Do List. For me, there is the “Things To Do for My Husband” list. I swear I diligently whittle away at it daily, but it seems that this list reproduces amazingly well when left alone on the kitchen counter overnight.   It’s pretty much a given though, that no matter how many tasks I’ve eliminated by noon, a quick phone call will force me to redouble my efforts for the afternoon. Once school gets out and I pick the kids up, all Husband Tasks are washed away in the flood of soccer practice, violin lessons, homework time, dinner...

  • Negative Nancy
    By Cynthia Mills - Thursday February 24, 2011
    Lately I’ve noticed a rash of negativity creeping into the lives of many people I know and love. I’m no sunshine and tulips kind of person whose perky attitude hovers above the “Annoying-as-Hell” level, but I do think that obsessing over negative things at work or in the world can siphon all joy out of simple pleasures too.   Take my daughter, for instance. She’s a middle child, so I’ll cut her some slack, but every day we have to make her step back and see things positively. Working on homework the other day, I glanced at her paper and said, “You’re doing a great job, but you might want to check over your spelling and handwriting before I look at your paper.” A simple, “Yes ma’am,” and a quick editing...

  • A Valentine's Cynic?
    By Cynthia Mills - Monday February 14, 2011
    What is Valentine’s Day for you?    For us, it meant reluctantly crawling out of bed a little late after a long night of fire scenes and sick kiddos. It meant making pink pancakes for the girls, while we, as a family, mocked love songs and our middle daughter made gagging sounds in the background. No cards. No flowers. No heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. We just don’t buy into this holiday.    I’m a bit too practical to want my husband to sink money into roses that will die soon or chocolates that I would have to hide from the children.  Nope. Thankfully my husband knows he can please me more by ditching the commercial frills approach, sinking the money into an apple tree I want, and helping me plant it. If...

  • She is the New Firefighter?
    By Cynthia Mills - Thursday February 3, 2011
    What is it about female firefighters that sets some firefighters’ wives, well…on fire? Okay, I’m not completely naïve; female firefighters equal competition. Some weeks it is hard enough to stomach the fact that your husband spends more hours bonding with other guys than he spends with you. Add a woman into the mix of firehouse camaraderie and many wives immediately see red. Every commonplace thing around the firehouse now becomes a jealousy-tipped spear aimed at your firefighter.   I never thought much about these brave ladies in the past because they were common at the larger departments where we’ve been. I admit that my husband is uniquely smart in that he chooses not to make juvenile comments to trigger...

  • The Other Woman
    By Cynthia Mills - Thursday January 20, 2011
    Although I’ve never suspected my husband of cheating on me, I think I know what a woman scorned must feel like. You see…my husband does have a mistress. I know where she lives. In fact, I have been to her house. I’ve partied with her and mourned losses with her. I’ve even met her family, shared meals with her and played with her children. My husband’s mistress is the fire service and every firefighter courts her endlessly.   The sad part of this situation is that many spouses end up jealously competing for attention when there is really nothing to compete with. Unfortunately competition leads to losses. While it seems like kids these days get trophies for everything from picking their noses to remembering to...

  • A Nagging Wife
    By Cynthia Mills - Thursday January 13, 2011
    A wise book once pointed out to me that it is better to live alone in a desolate place than to suffer a lifetime of complaints from a crabby wife. Wow! No need to soften the blow any because that’s not you, right? Nope. It wasn’t me either. At least I was pretty sure it wasn’t me.     Admittedly, my approaches have changed over the years in order to survive the on-again-off-again marriage cycle of shift work. When we were freshly married I actually tried to change all of my husband’s irritating habits.  For 24 hours I purged the house of his vices only to have my efforts crushed as soon as shift ended. Childishly, I resorted to nagging and scolding him on a daily basis and at full volume because I was determined...