Twenty-Nine Things

On this day, twenty-nine years ago, my mother-in-law was in labor with her first child. Being in that phase of life where all your friends are having kids (welcome to the world Macy & Silas!), I can only imagine what was going through her mind. All the months of preparation. The nervousness of my father-in-law. That little boy that popped out was raised and shaped and formed to be my husband. I love him. So, in addition to other celebrations (we started early last night with a homemade lemon pie by E. during our Tuesday Night Group), I thought I would name twenty-nine things that are pretty special about him.

1. His diligence to housework (and serving me)
2. With one look and not even a word said, the ability to make me laugh until my stomach hurts
3. If I'm ever trash-talking someone in the privacy of our home (i.e. venting), he'll listen, and then defend them (frustrating at the time, but so many other people would just jump on that train, ya know?)
4. He always dances with me at weddings, and enjoys it
5. His stubbornness, and his ability to admit when he's wrong
6. He challenges me
7. His passion about work, even though it's (boring-to-me) computer/mathematical/engineering/meshing stuff
8. He loves our animal-children almost as much as me (:
9. When we are dressing fancier, he'll make an effort (without me saying anything) to match me and even change outfits to do so
10. He pushes me and tells me I can do something when I feel defeated (and he's always right)
11. His adventurous spirit
12. No joke, his fried eggs are the best, hands down
13. A lot of people might call him reserved, but in our relationship he's not afraid to tell me when something is bothering him
14. He plays tennis with me on the hottest summer days
15. My husband talks in a very specific baby voice, and after months of dating and initial resistance, got me to do the same
16. His massages are better than a licensed masseuse
17. He trusts me
18. He makes wise financial decisions
19. He bought our house, knowing I would love it, even though I had never stepped foot in it
20. Pajamas, in his mind, are known as "jams"
21. He likes to try new things, and you know, put himself out there
22. He calls me out (usually hate it at the time)
23. He respects his parents
24. He loves my mom and brother
25. His dream is to be a stay at home dad (big dream there, buddy!)
26. He gives me a kiss every day that he leaves for work before me, and on the mornings that I leave before him and forget to give him a kiss, he texts me later to tell me how off his day feels
27. There is always a song playing in his head that he's drumming to. Always.
28. He's the best vacuumer this side of .... he's just the best vacuumer (couldn't think of the ending to that phrase
29. He cleans up the dog poop in the backyard by throwing them in neighboring overgrown bushes. So don't ever walk through said bushes.

Happy birthday, babe! I love you!

Valentine's Day: The Archives

This day had been fast approaching for weeks now. On Superbowl Sunday our Bible Study Group decided that the holiday was too important and our normal Tuesday gathering should be a moved to a different day so those couples could celebrate. All I could think was Really?!

I don't know why (or when) I have become this sort-of holiday grump. Having similar feelings this past Christmas, I guess I am just "over" holidays right now. Lately I have become more aware of what values I have placed on worldly things and how that stuff doesn't really matter and what matters is love and relationships and how I decide to honor a God that saves me every day of my life.

Not to say the feeling behind holidays like Christmas and Valentine's Day aren't important, because they are. I just all of a sudden get kind of sick to my stomach thinking about the money people spend on such events and then the vain need to tell everyone (on Facebook) what their loved one did for them this year.

This year we had plans of maybe using a Groupon that we purchased a while ago for a local restaurant (which is where we actually spent V-Day at last year). As it turned out, my patients were to be my Valentine for a short four hour work day, so we nixed the idea of dinner (maybe next week instead?) and invited friends over for a game night. Is it strange that we are comfortable spending a "Lover's Holiday" with people other than just one another? I don't think so. I think it's the best way to spend the day! So, tonight we played a game of dominoes, snacked on grapes and peanut-buttery chocolatey cookies, and laughed until our heads fell off (Radiohead reference; yes, honey, that is my V-Day gift to you).

After everyone left, we were lounging in the living room when I looked up at our fireplace mantle and saw a book between the candle and the clock. All of a sudden I remembered: I used to care about this holiday very much.

Years ago I spent hours upon hours writing (what my friends would later call it) "cryptic" notes on a typewriter to be sent in the mail from an "Anonymous" person. The year before I think I cut out small paper hearts and wrote nice things and mailed them along in hopes that my friends would know how much I care for them. And while I was living in Tampa, I woke up one morning to make a special breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, strawberries, and OJ (all of this accomplished while I was still in my hippie phase, long before my current domesticity phase) along with hand-written cards and long stem roses for my favorite boys. In essence, a lot of time was spent on a holiday that I now swear up and down I don't care for.

The book on the mantle? Something I created for J., my then best friend. That year after I made the book, I took photographs of it and sent an e-mail to my closest friends (the USF duo and A., K. & M.) for opinions. Tonight we leafed through the book together, and well, it was sort-of fun! February 2008 marked the beginning of my new cleansed self -- it was the year that I asked Christ to be my Savior. I have never looked back, but it is interesting to take a look back. (:

A lot of the writings in this book I made for J. are Tagore poems (read him if you haven't!), scripture, personal anecdotes, poems and snippets of short stories that I loved. I had mailed J. a copy of Fahrenheit 451 (another favorite writer of mine) with a small key stuck inside it weeks before Valentine's Day. It was, of course, the key to my heart, ahhhh-dun-dun. Other than writings, there are earlier sketches my be, Polaroids, and photograph collages. I also left clues throughout the book for a special gift for J. to find, kind of like a scavenger hunt. (It was a bonsai tree that is now dead, which shouldn't be any reflection of our relationship but maybe a foreshadowing of my feelings toward this day? Ha.) (Is it any more obvious how completely in love I was with him already? Jeez.)

It took me a while to find the photos of said book, but I thought it would be fun to upload and share with you all, as a tribute to my former self -- and maybe to rekindle some of that extra joy I had in this holiday.










And just for good measure, my old roommate and good friend, M., on Valentine's Day in 2006:


See the stack of pancakes behind him? (:



How do you feel about this holiday? Did you celebrate?

thermals & surprises

After visiting Ketan for the weekend in Virginia Beach, I'll be heading over to Richmond to see my cousin. We are planning on skiing early Monday morning, which should be ... interesting. I have never been skiing, ever. Not water, not snow, not nothin'. You can save me your horror stories, as all of our friends have told me all of the ups and mostly the downs (literally) of skiing, what to do and what not to do (no worries, I plan on watching some Youtube videos before hitting the sack tonight), and all the stuff in between. Lucky for me, my cousin is a great and patient teacher, so like all of the other things he has taught me (quad rollerskating at age 3, multiplication of double digits at age 6, how to remove Barbie heads at age 8), I expect him to do it well.

That being said, I was in immediate need of thermal underwear (or long johns, as I grew up calling them..but who am I? Just a Floridian!). Jonathan and I refused to pay the $20/piece of under garments from the various ski shops, so I headed to our great Wal-Mart and made the purchase. Naturally there weren't any thermals available in the womens department... My husband came home to me sporting my awesome new threads, but imagine there being this huge amount of space for manhood that I don't have. I caught Jonathan making sideways glances not once, but twice! I look plain silly, and I am very thankful for the bib that will cover me up. This hasn't stopped me from wearing the outfit while doing taxes or catching up with Ashley..no, no. I will proudly wear this outfit until you are peeling it off of me!

Since I don't go to Wal-Mart often, I like to cover all of my bases while I'm there. Valentine's Day is around the corner so I got to looking at cards, hating most of them, and then making my way over to the "Love" section, which is completely unrelated to Valentine's Day. I found a few cards that I absolutely loved, and decided to go ahead and buy them. My plan was to leave them around the house for Jonathan to find while I'm away until Tuesday. I stupidly left the receipt from Wal-Mart on our bed, so when he got home from work he saw the purchases, and not knowing why I would buy so many cards, came into "his office" (that I have been slowly but surely taking over in the last 48-hours) to ask me. Not a fast thinker, and knowing he would keep asking me about the card purchase, I gave in and told him...and this weekend he's taking the cards back. I let him look at all of them in order of my least favorite to favorite (even though all of them were pretty good). I'll share with you my favorite --

FRONT:
{two spoons, looking at one another} "I love spooning with you!"

INSIDE:
{two spoons, wrapped around one another} "But not as much as I love forking you!"


BAHAHA. Okay, a little inappropriate but it made us both giggle.

(Spooning is really one of our favorite things to do!)

duvet covers

Do any of you have duvet covers for your bed? We do, and I have to say I was quite proud to be changing all of our linens (inspired by Miriam's post and my realization that we probably don't do it often enough) last Friday afternoon before my husband came home. We finally got around to washing them (and other clothes) today, and just about thirty minutes ago Jonathan dropped off a huge load of laundry from his arms to our bed and said, "fold these," before running out of the room back into "his office," which is really the mudroom. Twenty minutes later, between chatting on Facebook, reading NPR articles, and contemplating eating some of the Harry & David shortbread cookies Ketan left us for Christmas, I figured I might as well fold the stuff. Made my way through the sheets and pillowcases, leaving the duvet cover for last. What I discovered was a huge lump of something in the far corner of the cover. I promptly ran into "his office" and began beating him with said-duvet cover-turned weapon while chanting, "homey don't play dat!" I don't really think he got the joke, since he grew up under a rock, but I was thoroughly satisfied while beating him semi-conscious. ...Yes, I let him give me a few joyous beatings of his own before we finally unearthed the lump -- two damp white tees that needed to be tossed back into the dryer.