August 1 was our 14th wedding anniversary. Hubby was able to take the day off from work, and it was lovely!
Monday night, he brought me two potted miniature rose bushes. They look beautiful on the dining room table – I can see them from where I sit now.
That morning, the children woke us with breakfast in bed, complete with fresh brewed coffee.
Later, we dropped the children at my parents house over the hill, where they could spend the evening playing with my 4 youngest sibs (ages 8-13). Big families certainly have their advantages.
Hubby and I (with the baby in tow) hotfooted it out of there. We started with a drink at a coffee shop. Mine was cold, his was hot. As usual, his was better. One of these days I’ll learn to order whatever he does.
Then we headed for our favorite date locale: a book store. We started out at Half-Price Books, where we found a copy of St. Augustine’s City of God. I hang my head in shame to admit that we didn’t already own a copy. We also picked up 4 Calvin & Hobbes books for the children – just $1 apiece. These are very nearly consumables at our house.
Then we split an ice cream from the shop next door, which had marble slabs and claimed to serve the best ice cream in the county. It was good, but we weren’t convinced.
Next we moved on to Border’s Books. Here we browsed with little intention of buying. This is where you add books to your wish list and go home to shop online. But a little heavy hinting on Hubby’s part as he oh-so-conveniently excused himself to the men’s room made it easy for me to buy him a gift: a clearance copy of The Complete Mustang, in memory of last year’s anniversary when he surprised me by renting an ’05 Mustang convertible for an entire week!
For dinner, we shared a gi-normous burrito from a local chain.
For dessert, we sampled the wares at another marble-slab ice cream shop. We had Chocolate Swiss with fresh walnuts folded in. mmmm. Better – quite impressive, in fact, but still not the best in the county.
We made the traditional obligatory trip to WalMart. What is a trip to town without WalMart? I nursed the baby in the parking lot while we discussed books and ice cream.
On our way out of town, we hurried to the third marble slab ice cream chain shop – the best. I ordered a large french vanilla to split, but in my haste I made a grave error. Pecan pralines stirred into buttery rich, ultra creamy, not too sweet french vanilla ice cream are a bad idea. We ended up spitting them out like so many watermelon seeds. Now I’ll have to go back and try again without the pralines. tsk, tsk.
Tonight, the girls are cooking for us again. At their own request, Hubby and I will have a special candlelit dinner for two. The children have already eaten grilled cheese sandwiches and cheetohs, and the dishes are done. When Hubby gets home (any minute!) we will enjoy a kid-cooked dinner of Bacon Chicken, fresh sliced tomatos, pumpernickel toast and mixed veggies sauteed in bacon drippings with a touch of onion and garlic.
I could really get into this anniversary thing.

Witness: the sign I made for hubby to wear to work this morning

My Hunney is 33 today. He is in Georgia with our oldest daughter at the Vision Forum Father and Daughter Retreat, so the rest of us will miss him for his birthday this year. But of course we will be thinking of him.

Here are a few (oh so few) of the things I love about him.

1. He loves the Lord.
2. He loves his children.
3. He’s a nice dad. His children are thrilled to see him at the end of the day.
4. He likes other people’s children.
5. He is nice to his mom (of course he loves her!).
6. He is aware of his faults, and constantly battles them.
7. He is left-handed, which makes it very convenient to sit next to him at a crowded table.
8. He has beautiful brown eyes.
9. He has big manly shoulders and back.
10. He has great taste.
11. He doesn’t have soft, foolish hands (a longstanding joke between my sisters: a suitable candidate for marriage must not have “soft foolish hands,” i.e. hands that look like they have never worked on a car or held a hammer, etc.).
12. He tells our daughters and me that we are beautiful – all the time.
13. He is willing to drive himself – he has worked multiple jobs and many long hours over the years.
14. He is equally willing to forgo the money that comes from such extra jobs, when he knows his presence at home is more important.
15. He likes to snuggle.
16. He notes and remembers details about my likes and dislikes.
17. He is generous.
18. He buys me flowers for no special occasion.
19. He calls me from work every day.
20. He has a talent for putting people at ease.
21. He can laugh at himself for being in a bad mood.
22. He is humble enough to say sorry first.
23. He built us a house. With his hands, not with a phone call to a contractor.
24. He has had enough near-death experiences to fill up the rest of this list.
25. He changes diapers. Even dirty ones. And he doesn’t believe he’s a hero for doing so.
26. He doesn’t grumble about stopping at the grocery store on the way home at the end of a long day.
27. He only flirts with me – and he does that a lot.
28. He buys me chocolate.
29. He is ready, willing and able to learn a new skill when the need or opportunity presents itself.
30. He doesn’t whine when he’s sick or injured.
31. He cares about how my day went.
32. He can wrap his arm around my pregnant waist, gaze deep into my eyes, and say “You’re pretty cute for a fat chick” without ever making me doubting that it’s a compliment.
33. He loves me even when I’m pregnant and hormonal.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ?For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.? This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Eph. 5:25-33

I just love this quote from Girl Talk:

“On her golden wedding anniversary, my grandmother revealed the secret of her long and happy marriage. ‘On my wedding day, I decided to choose ten of my husband’s faults which, for the sake of our marriage, I would overlook,’ she explained. A guest asked her to name some of the faults. ‘To tell the truth,’ she replied, ‘I never did get around to listing them. But whenever my husband did something that made me hopping mad, I would say to myself, ‘Lucky for him that’s one of the ten.’” Roderick McFarlane, in Reader’s Digest, December, 1992.

As the apple among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.

Song of Solomon 2:3

Maybe you can’t tell from reading my blog, but I think most people who know me in real life would agree: I am not a wordy person.
I’m not painfully shy or reluctant to enter conversation. I’m just used to sharing the airwaves with more than the average number of family members, so I really don’t talk a lot.
I like to think that I’m a better listener than a talker, but I’m afraid my short-term memory (or more accurately, my lack thereof) may affect my ability as a listener too. Does it really count as listening if it’s going in one ear and out the other? What matters: how much you retain, or how much you care? Obviously, I hope and believe it’s the latter, but try convincing someone who actually has a short-term memory.
On the upside, my friends can confide in me without worrying that I’ll blab their secrets about, because we all know that amnesia will strike within 2 hours. I’m like Dory on Finding Nemo.
But…ummm…what were we talking about?
Talking.
I’m afraid I don’t praise my husband aloud nearly enough. I’m afraid that he doesn’t even suspect what a wonderful guy he is, because making moon eyes and buying him pork rinds (which he claims he actually doesn’t like, even though he used to eat them a lot) just don’t communicate my respect and admiration fully. I guess this is where words can speak louder than actions.
I need to start telling him how much I respect him for, well, his memory.
His ability to think outside the box.
His critical thinking: thanks to him, I can no longer listen to rock music, blissfully oblivious of the lyrics.
His determination when he faces a daunting project; he pushes himself to the limit, knowing that if God puts a task before him then he *is* capable of doing it.
His willingness to teach me, an insufferable know-it-all desparately in need of his instruction.
He complements me perfectly (and compliments me very nicely, I might add).
I am so thankful for him every day, and I fail so often to tell him!

Lord, thank you for my husband. Thank you for creating me to be a
helper to a man who loves you and selflessly serves those in his care.
Help me to build him up daily!