nine
On July 2nd, we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. It was a rather quiet celebration because we’re dealing with some health issues with our beloved Jinx Puppy. Blogging about my wonderful husband and our life together took a bit of a backseat during my week off from work as we deal with Jinx and his health. But it’s been nine years since Shawn and I said our wedding vows (His totally trumped mine. I’ll get him back one day.) and it’s been nine years since Jinxy entered our lives (Best. Wedding. Gift. EVER!). We didn’t do much this year, it’s been a difficult year and we’re just not feeling all that celebratory. Plus, you know, Jinx. But I love this man with every fibre of my being. There is no end to the laughter that fills our lives, even in the most difficult of times – and believe me, the last couple of years the difficult has been piling up. What tears many others apart, seems to bond us closer together. I know that is one of the luckiest things I could ever hope for in life. We stand stronger together when the going gets tough and tries to take us out. We support each other and have each others’ backs. We don’t let all this foolish negative crap get in the way of our love and our love of each other. We laugh. We joke. We do the best we can with crappy situations and we hold each other…
eight
Oh, how time flies. Eight years married. Fourteen years of knowing each other. Ups and downs but always together and always stronger because of the other. I can do anything with this man by my side. I can survive traumatic events. I can find the courage to run (even if he just walks the dogs behind me.) I can laugh. I can cry. I can be myself every second of the day and never feel bad about that. We can survive job loss and strikes and more job loss. We can pick each other up when we’re down and make ourselves laugh at little things and at nothing. But we laugh. We laugh so often and so loud. We’re super sensitive and we both get rather down at times, but thankfully it doesn’t happen at the same time (too often) and we can both manage to coax a smile and laugh out of the other even then. Things don’t always seem to be easy for us and there’s always some new sort of crap that life tends to throw in our faces just as we think we are getting the hang of things, but we over come each and every crappy thing and stand stronger at the other end of it. It’s tiring though but we just hang out together in our home and close out the rest of the world for a while. We don’t always need to be out hanging with other people and socializing when we’re feeling…
tuesday night, a love story
Best Halloween costume purchases I think my husband has ever made. I will better collage the photos from Tuesday night and print out the photo and hang it in my home, I think. Isn’t this how everyone spends their Tuesday nights?
how you know you married right
Because I didn’t sleep the first part of this weekend, I of course slept until 10am today, totally throwing off my day. I had to whip up a stew for the crockpot and realized I was out of chicken breast! Oh no! So my wonderful husband zoomed off to the store to pick some up (by then I decided I wanted turkey breast, not chicken). After he’d be gone a while, I forgot I wanted to ask him to pick up Advil, too. For some reason my entire body hurts so much, my back is the worst, it feels like it’s burning. But then I realized he’d been gone too long, so he was probably on his way home. Also, he wouldn’t have gone to the store with the pharmacy in it. Then I realized I hadn’t turned my ringer back on, so I went over to the phone, turned on the ringer and went back to chopping up veggies for the stew. Less than a minute after I put my phone down, it rang. It was Shawn. He was calling about the quality of the turkey breast he was finding. I mentioned about how I was just deciding not to call him because I wanted Advil. He said he’d pick it up. I told him not to drive all over tarnation. Turns out because he accidentally turned the wrong way going to the closer store, he was at the farther store with the pharmacy in it. Sometimes we’re so…
lucky 7
On July 2 we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. I find it hard to believe that we’ve been married for this many years. We’ve been in each other’s lives for 13 years. Thirteen! (My lucky number!) We’re lucky because our wedding anniversary always falls on a holiday since Canada Day is the 1st. This year the Monday off was our anniversary and we spent the entire long weekend doing fun things and then spent the day out in the Old Port of Montreal as we normally do. This year, rather that eat at Pub St. Paul as per the norm, we mixed it up and went to The Keg in Old Montreal where I was delighted to discover they had a lobster fest going on. Mmmm. Lobster. We had gotten Keg gift certificates at Christmas and originally were going to use them for my birthday in January but we ended up not going (weather, I think) so lucky us! We even splurged and bought a bottle of wine, too! We decided to go see the Star Wars Identities exhibit at the Montreal Science Centre before going to dinner. I bought our tickets online (even though they charge $3 each in processing fees for ONLINE tickets. Geez.) and I would highly suggest if you want to go over the summer to buy your tickets online because the days sell out FAST. So we drove to the Old Port under ominous cloud coverage and of course as soon as we stepped out…
celebrating the man I love
When you have been together as long as my husband and I have, you’d think it would be easier to figure out what to get one another for their birthday. Alas, that isn’t always the case. This year I gave Shawn the chest cold I have been suffering from since last Thursday. Guess it takes a week to incubate, since I started it almost a week to the day Shawn started coughing. THE ROMANCE NEVER DIES, PEOPLE! Today the man I love more than anything (even vanilla cake with butter cream icing!) celebrates another year of life. This also means that in another week we’ll have known each other for 13 years. We’ve been married 6.5 of those. I wouldn’t trade a day of that time. Shawn has always been the one person who could make me feel safe and like I could handle anything. After years and years of anxiety and panic attacks, once Shawn was around full time, I honestly felt like I could take on the world. He’s always been the calm one, and I think that has rubbed off on me over time (who’da thunk it?) I am a spoiled brat. I know it. I admit it. I cherish the fact that my husband treats me like a Queen. I still feel guilty when he tells me to sit and relax and he’ll take care of things. He’s got long work days, too, but I let him spoil me rotten. He won’t have it any other…
a birthday letter to my husband
To the love of my life, Had you not walked into the store I was working in 12 years ago this month, I don’t know how my life would have turned out. I thought I would never be happy, even though I had everything around me that meant I should have been happy. Even with that rocky start to our friendship I knew I needed you in my life. When presented with the idea that I would never see you again I was sick to my stomach for almost 24 hours. I’m a gut feeling sort of girl, that reaction pretty much hit me over the head with – DUH! Don’t let him leave! Meeting you was the best thing that could have happened to me. You have saved me from so many things, mostly from myself. I now know what true happiness is and I can’t believe I could ever feel this way. We’re not big and loud about our love, we don’t buy shiny expensive things. I am possibly the most content just driving around in the car with you. Doesn’t matter where we are going, those are some of the best moments together. Especially when the sun is out, I don’t know why but I just get so filled with joy even as we just drive somewhere non-exciting like the grocery store. Being with you makes me unbelievably happy and calm. Even our grocery store trips are fun. We always find something to laugh uncontrollably about. That’s the thing about this…
luckiest girl in the world
This was going to be yesterday’s post but the fact that I make small children cry preempted the post. My husband spoils me. I am 100% aware of this. I can’t see to do anything to dissuade him from doing what he does so I have to accept it. This might not seem like a big deal but it is because I feel like I just don’t do enough back to deserve him! I am spoiled. I am also one of the worst morning people you’ll ever meet. I do not function in the morning, especially if I am woken up with the alarm clock. If I wake up naturally I’m better but not fantastic. So mornings before work are not fun. The alarm is set for 30 minutes before we have to leave. I spend about 10 of those in the bed in various attempts at getting up and dressed. In this time Shawn has dressed, gone downstairs, let the dogs out, started the coffee and has started feeding the dogs. By the time I stumble down the stairs to leave I’m about 5 minutes away from departure time. I’m just slow and uncoordinated in the morning. And cranky. I hate making my lunch. Hate it. I always think I should do it before bed but I’m tired and don’t remember until I’m about to crawl under the covers. I try to make it in the morning in my 7-5 minute window, but I normally just think “Ugh. Food.…
reason #123 why i love my husband
When he went to Harvey’s to pick up dinner, he asked them for only the tiny onion rings for my trio. I can’t eat onions, but I like to steal the teeny rings from shawn’s trio – so he asked for only the tiny ones to make me smile. He also folded all the clothes I tossed on the floor this morning from the armoir as I was trying to find my ONE brown t-shirt in a sea of black shirts in bad lighting. He really is too good to me. I need to be better to him.
five
This was five years ago today: The sun was shining, it was hot, but not too hot, but hot enough that I still worshiped whomever created air conditioning. We were surrounded by family and friends and there was so much love. Family and friends who traveled from far away places like Gaspe, North Bay, Toronto, Boston, Texas and California (not to mention the West Island and South Shore!). It was a brilliantly wonderful day. There were dogs, there were cupcakes, there was laughter. Shawn and I never thought we would get married. All it meant to us was a piece of paper and it could never fill our hearts with more than we already had. I’m not sure when that changed and why we suddenly found ourselves engaged and planning a wedding. We’re notorious for our hatred of weddings. But there we were. We wanted a wedding our way and made sure that it reflected us as much as it celebrated the union of two people. We weren’t going to get married if the act itself meant nothing to us. Today, I see the rings on my finger and sigh contentedly almost every time. If I have to take them off for any reason (hospital tests, surgery, etc) I feel naked. Empty. Alone. I know it’s just a symbol, but it’s a symbol that means something TO ME. My engagement ring is ME, it’s not bling or yellow gold and HUGE BIGASS LOOK AT ME DIAMOND. It’s simple and colourful.…
4 years ago today
We’re probably somewhere in New Brunswick right about now, but no matter where we are today is one of the most important days in my life. We’ve always had Canada Day. It’s always been “our” day. But July 2 officially became our day four years ago today. Four years ago you said this to me: Hey Pookie. Even though I’m writing this all cool and collected right now, I’m sure I’m going to get all emotional as soon as I look into your eyes. Don’t hold it against me if I get a little weepy. It’s funny, no matter how many people are in a room with us, no matter who they are, strangers, friends or family, I always feel like we’re alone together. Even right now, I can close my eyes, and it’s like there’s nobody else here but you and I. Even with my eyes perfectly shut, I can always seem to see you. No matter where you are, how far away, my heart always seems to find you. This second, this one particular moment, is something I’ll carry with me for the rest of our lives. But, when I remember it, it’s just going to be the two of us. That’s how you make me feel. Like everything else doesn’t matter. So tomorrow, and the next day, and every day after that, when I think of this day, it’s going to be this one moment. Just the two of us, looking into each other’s eyes, with the…
he loves me forever even when things get rough
If they don’t find out what’s wrong with me soon, I think I’m going to go on a rampage. Of course because of what’s been making me sick I don’t actually have the energy to rampage. I think I’ll just send Shawn on a rampage for me. But through it all, Shawn has been a constant at my side. I try very hard not to wake him up in the middle of the night with all my whimpering, blubbering and muffled screams while I double over in pain or throw up all night. Often he’ll get up and hover around in a worried manner. I try not to worry him, but hey, it happens. He’ll be with me on Tuesday when I go for my tests at the hospital. He’ll drive me home and then tuck me into bed so I can sleep off the drugs they’ll give me. He’s been awfully supportive and patient with this whole thing and that’s just one of the many, many reasons I love him with all my being. On Friday, to celebrate his good news, I thought I would run out to the store and pick up a gift. One he’s been lusting for since he heard about it. Of course it is sold out everywhere, so I went to apple.ca and bought it for him. In about two weeks (!!) Shawn will be the happy owner of an 8 Gig iPod Touch. He likes little trinkets like that. Heh. And his good…
anniversary canceled on account of rain
I cannot say that this has been a fantastic weekend. No one’s fault, really, it’s just a combination of things – lousy weather, weekend being rushed, Shawn having to work today and with him being sick this weekend. I feel so horrible for Shawn. You know something is wrong when he goes back up to the bedroom and comes down in his winter sleeping attire – flannel pants, a shirt and a big bulky sweater and all this on the 1st of July. His fever was so bad the he was sweating like crazy and yet, if you touched anywhere other than his head, he was freezing. Shawn doesn’t get sick often, but when he does, he goes full tilt. Thank goodness he is only working tonight, since he did not sleep at all last night and though he tried to nap today, it didn’t really work out for him. He’s off to work now, I shall miss him and worry about his health, but before he went I did manage to get one thing done for our anniversary (for which we are pretty much postponing things until next weekend – our traditional lunch at St Paul’s Pub? Next weekend.) Yep. I made cake. Yummy! And I love my husband very much (more than cake, even!) and I can’t believe two years have gone by. They have certainly been an eventful two years, and it seems that we can never really celebrate out marriage when we want to, no honeymoon…
friends
I am very lucky. At this point in my life I have some of the dearest and best friends ever. In the past year I have been extra lucky to have them in my life. Through thick and thin I know I can always count on my friends for a laugh, for a hug, for a supportive word. Sure, none of them live here anymore but these are the kinds of friendships that don’t fade due to the passage of time or no matter how many miles are between you. Jill, I’ve known the longest. She’s in California. Val (not pictured because I don’t have the right kind of shot with her from this year) the second longest. She’s in Ottawa. Monkey is in Toronto and Chelsea has since moved home to Vancouver. All these people I have known in real life and have always been there for me if I needed someone. I try to do the same, but I’m rather lame at that. So I would like you to know that I know how lucky I am. And how much I love my friends and how much I have needed them over the years and how much I appreciate them being there. There is much about my past and my childhood that makes me even more grateful for the friends I have now and appreciate them even more. I never thought I would end up with an honest and loving group of friends that I now have. You…
geeks in love
From email conversations that happened yesterday… Shawn: Zomg, 70V3 U Me: Um… isn’t 7 a T? Like 1337? Leet? So you Tove me? Shawn: Congratulations love, you out geeked a dude that tests video games for a living! We’re sappy and geeky. 😀