Me And Him

My mother called today to wish me a happy anniversary. "What were you doing at this time exactly nine years ago?" she asked.

Well, let's see. It's 10am, so that means the mall was just opening. The wedding was at 1pm, so by now I was at the mall trying to find some shoes to go with my wedding dress. And some jewelry to go with my wedding dress. And some little gifts for my flower girls. If you think that is last minute, my husband wasn't even going to leave to get his hair cut for another 2 hours! He showed up about 10 minutes before the ceremony began.

It was a pretty thrown together wedding. But that's what happens when you're the last of all your friends to get married and they've all moved away and your husband is on his second marriage and wants to make the whole thing as low-key as possible and your mother just isn't the fussing-over-wedding-details type and you have a pretty limited budget for your wedding and you didn't even get engaged (officially at least) until a couple of weeks before the the big day, and you aren't the type of girl who has been planning every last detail of her wedding since she was five--a lot can go wrong.

I should have had a rehearsal (then I would have realized that there was no one to start the music when I began walking down the aisle, that the flower girls had no idea how to throw petals and walk at the same time, that my mother and I could not fit side by side down the aisle because it was too narrow, you know, those types of little details). I should have spent the bulk of my money on a photographer instead of cheaping out and asking a relative to do the pictures. I should have researched honeymoon spots more. I should have hired some kids to serve at the reception. I should have bought my shoes, jewelry, and flower girl gifts weeks before. I should have gone to a salon to get my hair done professionally. I should have gotten to my reception early to take formal pictures (which I have NONE of). I should have requested samples of my flower arrangements to see how they'd look. I should have stopped being so emotional so I could smile normally in my pictures. I should have practiced my "You may now kiss the bride" kiss. I should have invited more people to the ceremony. I should have gotten married in June!

But the cake was delicious. And the reception hall looked great. And the food was good. And we made it through the wedding and reception without any MAJOR disasters. And except for the fact that I threw up that whole night and was sure I had given all my guests food poisoning (nope, it was just me), I guess everything worked out fine.

Most notably, I got to marry the most wonderful, fantastic, caring, hard-working, funny, smart, creative, sweet, generous, ingenious, amazing man ever. He is the best father I could imagine. He makes me laugh every single day, sometimes until I fall on the floor, gasping for breath, tears streaming down my face. He gets up with the kids in the night and gets their breakfast in the morning because he knows how much I love to sleep. He brings me flowers on special occasions even though he thinks flowers are dumb. He has great taste in shoes. He always gives me the last bite of his dessert. He gave up the big closet to me when we moved to this house even though he has 3x the clothes. He is an excellent driver. He works incredibly hard to provide for our family. He cries at movies. He can fix anything. He tries really hard to make sure I'm always happy. And you know what? It works. I am happy. Terribly, hopelessly, wonderfully happy.

Thanks for the best nine years of my life, Sweetie. Here's to 90 more. (Wait....)

Crazy Eight

Once upon a time, a girl got a job at a restaurant. Despite years of serving experience, she was forced to do the lowly job of bussing tables for a time. The one bright spot in her dreary job was the funny assistant manager. He didn't check her tables at the end of the day to make sure they were wiped clean enough. He didn't pull the chairs out to see if she had missed a crumb. He turned the music on really loud once all the customers were gone for the night, and he challenged the employees to 1980's sitcom and movie quote quizzes.

Soon the man was promoted to manager. He never let it go to his head. He continued to be fun, lenient, and easy to get along with. He made everyone laugh. He had a nice butt. He was great. But he was taken.

After a couple of years, the girl completed her university studies, all except her student teaching. She decided to go abroad and fill that requirement in Fiji. She packed up her things and scoured the phone book for a cheap place to store her stuff while she was gone. She hit on one place; it was several miles outside of town, but it was cheaper than all the rest. She stowed her things, and off she went to the South Pacific.

Four months later, the girl returned. She drove down to the storage unit to pick up her things. She loaded them in the car. Just as she was driving out of the storage place, another car was driving in. She thought she recognized the small, gold Montero as that of her former manager. She slowed down and peered out the window to see. The Montero slowed and a head popped out, looking back at her. It was the manager. So the two got out of their cars to talk. His former relationship was over. He was single. And he just happened to be going out disco skating that night with a couple of other former employees from the restaurant (who, incidentally, he had never hung out with before or since). He asked the girl to accompany him. She agreed.

That night, the girl got to witness her former boss shaking his groove thing in tight brown bell-bottoms with a silky v-neck shirt, buttoned low. It was hot. He was a good skater. She was impressed.

That night they talked at his house long into the night. The next day he called her and they hung out again. They kept on hanging out for several years until, finally, they decided to hang out forever. They took the requisite cheesy pictures, smiling at each other and kissing. And then, eight years ago today, they gathered their closest family into their 108-year old Victorian house's sunny front room, exchanged $20 rings from the silver kiosk at the mall, and vowed to love each other forever.

So far so good. Happy eight years, Sweetie.