Saturday, January 31, 2009

A shout out to my man.

Hoooo boy am I a happy mama these days! I mean, I am just in this blissful, if slightly exhausted, fog of love all the time. I love my kids, I love my husband, I don't love my messy house, but whatever, I would rather play with the aforementioned kids than clean it. I basically adore my life.

Zach and I are really trying to pay attention to everything and we are both just so damn grateful for all we have. And most especially for each other. As "Juno" said, "He is the cheese to my macaroni." Neither of us believe in "the one, " there are too many people in the world for there to be only one person you are compatible with, but that's actually what makes it more special to us, not less. We both know that, should we want, we would have other choices, but neither of us can imagine life without the other. We have been together for about 12 years (married for almost 8). We are not exactly sure of our anniversary date because, at the time, we thought we were just hooking up. Had we known this would last, we might have paid closer attention, but it is sometime around this time of year (end of January) that we first started seeing each other (read: snogging every chance we got.) Man, did we get lucky!

Here is a little info about gorgeous woodworker guy. He is funny as hell. He is extremely affectionate, which is something I can't live without. He is an amazing father. He thinks I'm beautiful all the time, but sometimes he stops dead in his tracks and makes a big deal of it on days when I think "Seriously? Dude, I have baby food stuck in my hair and I'm not entirely sure when my last shower was." Maybe he just knows I need to hear it on those days, but he gives a convincing performance of believing his own words.

I get migraines, really bad ones, and he is the best nurse. He brings me cold wash cloths, runs out in the dead of night for my shots and one time, when I was lying on the bathroom floor because I had just been sick (oh, the bathroom floor is so nice and cool) and I thought I might pass out from the pain, he sensed something was wrong, got up and just laid down next to me on the tile, arms around me and went back to sleep. Something about that simple gesture, 10 years into our life together, made me fall deeper into love with him.

He even saved my kidney once, when we were in the bush in New Zealand, but that's a long story.

He is really fun to travel with. I have to make all the arrangements, but he is up for anything. He doesn't really care where we go, as long as he gets to see something interesting. A few years ago, we were LITERALLY on the last leg of a trip to St. John, the ferry ride from St. Thomas, and he looks at me over the kids' heads and asks "So where exactly are we going?" I almost fell overboard laughing. Not really one for the particulars, that boy. And he loves to travel with my mom. The two of them are peas in a pod. He was the only one allowed to drive when we travelled around Ireland with her and Polly, and when we all went to Kazakhstan to adopt Grace, they decided the best way to beat the monotony of an adoption trip was VODKA! Preferably served in the scooped out carcass of a watermelon (add lemons, juice and the watermelon meat back in and of course, ice.) I thought I was back in high school. We go places with them all the time and Zach's easy nature is one of the reasons it works.

When the kids are sick he gets right in there. One time I was holding Gracie and she started to throw up. Zach cupped his hands into a little bowl and caught the vomit. I said "Honey, you could have let her throw up on the floor, " and he said "No, I wanted her to have something to throw up in." It was really, if disgustingly, sweet. Often I will wake up to an empty bed, and it's because he laid down to give the kids a good-night snuggle and never got up. He loves co-sleeping as much as I do, and if he had his way, I think we would have a 1 bedroom house with a HUGE master bedroom.

He is a beautiful guitar player, really amazing. And the instruments he makes (that's his job) are beloved by all who try them. Our house is filled with gorgeous pieces he makes, from the dining room table we eat all our meals at, to the bed side tables which holds my endless pile of books-to-be-read.

He is a good athlete, a lover of dogs and horses and other creatures. He loves politics and history and being aware of what is going on globally. He has a great head for names.

Mostly, I love the way he loves me and the kids. It is total and complete love. And any guy who grabs the soft little bulge that is the lower part of my belly and says "THAT is SO sexy!" is not someone I am kicking out of bed any time soon.

Happy anniversary baby. We may not know exactly when it is, but we do know exactly what we have.

4 comments:

Lori said...

I love this. And I love that he graduated to gorgeous woodworker guy from cute woodworker guy. Good for him!

Maybe he can give John some pointers. I will say, however, that as a Marine, a job requirement is to have some pretty short hair. Not a great look for John. And, I have tactfully tried to tell him that for about 14 years. FINALLY...he has grown it out a bit, still within regulation, and looks great. Why did he, after all these years, FINALLY try it? "You said you'd like it."

Well...there's hope after all.

Congrats to you both!!

Ivy Lee said...

This is the sweetest post. It really made me think of the things I appreciate about my man too, like letting me off the hook yesterday to go to the spa and have dinner with a girlfriend.

Congrats to you both, and by the way, I think Noah is the bomb. How totally adorable, not that your other kids aren't but there is just something about cute babies.

Ivy

Anonymous said...

I'm visiting your blog on Rachel's recommendation. I love this post! As a single person who is a bit apprehensive about marriage, I always love seeing examples of couples who are still in love after many years. Thanks for this!

MAD said...

How you write and what you say is who you are and why you are so loved.

Zach deserves a chronicler such as you.

You 2 are joys to the world.