This Guy's In Love With You!

In two weeks, my in-laws will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Yes, you read that right! FORTY years together. Pretty amazing, huh? Want to know the really amazing part? They are still head-over-heels in-love with each other, even after forty years. We were in the kitchen on Saturday, when Hubster's dad walked in, put his arms around his wife and said, "Girls, I hope you'll each be lucky enough to be this beautiful when you're 60 years old!" We all heartily agreed.

The three of us girls have been plotting their celebration for a few months. We thought about throwing them a huge shindig, or even inviting all the aunts, uncles and cousins and miscellaneous relatives to come PART-AY with us, but instead Hubster's parents wanted a small party with just their own kids and grandkids. Our small party filled up the whole house this weekend; to the point where there were usually three people trying to step into the same space at once.

On Saturday afternoon, we descended on visited a local park and brought ourselves a barbeque picnic dinner. My father-in-law is a professional when it comes to BBQ. After we ate, the adults polished off a scrumptious chocolate cake and the kids played on the playground. (For those of you wondering which category I fit into, the answers is ... both. I had my cake and played on the playground too!)

It was really special to be together as a family, even amid all the chaos of grandkids and strangers.
This little guy, wanted to hunt for some treasure this weekend, like his hero Indiana Jones. I wanted to make that happen so badly, but we left the GPS at home, and discovered that the park was way to full of people and way too big to comb over without some satellite navigational guidance.
Bridoodle had tons of fun watching her older cousins play. She was a champ, even though it was hot and muggy, with lots of insects buzzing around. This adorable hat was a gift from her aunt. It's reversible! The other side is just as cute, too!

Doesn't this picture just melt your heart? I could look at this picture all day! Makes me think that forty years, will be way too short, for me and Hubster. I'm so glad that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.

Mickey Dees Freebies

As an anniversary gift to me today, McDonald's is giving away free chicken sandwiches to anyone who purchases a medium or large drink! I must admit that they don't hold a candle to the original Chic-Fil-A sandwich but you know, you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. They're free until 7 pm today.

Hubster took me out to the golden arches for a romantic anniversary treat. We went through the drive-thru line and got ourselves hot fudge sundaes. Ain't we living the high life? Seriously though, after the week I've had dealing with insurance claims and the hassle of finding a reliable vehicle to replace our silver bullet, it was a welcome relief. I've cried myself to sleep over it all twice this week. So, as redneck as it sounds, I really was thrilled to be getting a $1 icecream with my dear Hubby. We joked around and teased each other. And the cares of the past few days seemed to slip away.

It really was sort of romantic.

Furniture Love

When I was a little girl, our living room sofas were a dark chocolate brown with velour stripes. Even then, when such things were fashionable, I knew they were ugly, but I didn't care. I loved those sofas like they were living breathing creatures. When I was sick, I wanted to sleep on the sofa. When I broke my arm, after chasing my sister around the trampoline as a mischievous nine year old, I slept on the long sofa for weeks. And in my mind, cuddling up against it was like getting a big hug.

When my parents sold the sofas (eight years after I broke my arm) at a family yard sale, I was devastated. I had always planned on taking them to college with me. I may have actually cried.

Time passed. I forgot about my sofas. The fancy couch in my parents' living room never had the same warmth. I didn't get attached to it. When I moved out, I found a free couch and gave it a nice home. Then Mr. Citystreams proposed to me, and we started planning our lives together.

The first piece of furniture that we bought, was a $50 yard-sale chair and ottoman (pictured here). We call it the big chair. I'm not sure how I've grown to love this chair so much. Perhaps it was the hours of shampooing and febreezing that I invested in order to get the yard-sale dog's smell out of it.

Or perhaps it was the joyful chore of moving all of our things into that tiny apartment and starting our married life together. Maybe it was a patient bonding that developed as we watched Lilly grow from a tiny whiny puppy to a fully house (and chair) trained dog. Or it could have been the long hours I spent nursing our newborn, while hogging the big chair as Hubster and I watched marathon upon marathon of Friends episodes.

Whatever the reason, I love curling up in the big chair. It feels like a warm hug. When Hubbsy was away at police academy, I often found myself snuggled up in the chair while we talked on the phone. Everything seems better when I sit in the big chair. Life feels warm and cozy. It's better than an anti-depressant!

Pink Bunny Goodness

Yesterday, we had lunch with the best in-laws ever and they brought Bri her baby Easter basket a little bit early. It had the cutest little stuffed white rabbit with "Baby's First Easter" embroidered across the tummy. So cute! And it also contained a box of Peeps and a case of miniature Cadbury eggs.

Since Bri is barely swallowing her mushy rice cereal, we had to put our foot down and tell her that she couldn't have the candy. She was speechless. But it's really in her best interest. She's too young for sweets right now.

After we had resolved that issue, the more serious issue arose of which parent would have to eat the candy for her. Hubster chased me around the house for fifteen minutes trying to steal it from me, but I was sneaky. I found the perfect hiding place while I was running away!

I might save one Peep for him.

Mwah ha ha ha!

Police Scanner

Teenage and college-aged girls tend to dream about weddings and husbands. They try on different roles like playing dress-up in their minds. What would it be like to be a pastor's wife? Just imagine your life in a fishbowl where you had to be nice to the staring people. What would it be like to be a rancher's wife? Hmm... the horses would be fun but calf nuts gross me out. What would it be like to be a missionary couple? I'd have to bring a suitcase of Q-tips and I wonder if I'd be able to find Hershey's bars in the outdoor market. Anyway, you get the picture. I had a very active imagination and in boring lecture classes, I often daydreamed about possible future scenarios. Not once, and I mean NOT ONCE, did I ever imagine being a cop's wife. Somehow, I glossed over that possible profession, probably because my subconscious knew that I was not cut out to be a Mrs. PoliceOfficer at that time. Even now, when I think about it, I wonder how I became a cop's wife.

It's not that I'm not tough enough. I'm a teacher at a fairly inner-city high school. I had a student in third period last year who actually robbed a fast food place at gunpoint. And at the last football game, much to my Hubby's shock, I single handedly stopped a huge stampede of kids that were running to witness a fight. I'm tough, I tell you. They walked in an orderly fashion to the fight because of me. Hey, fights are interesting. What can I say? Anyway, I am tough. I can be downright scary. Just ask my seventh period class.

And it's not that I'm afraid for his life. Although, I am a little bit sometimes. But he's a crack shot. I think he can give the bad guys a run for their money. He's going to be the best cop this state's ever seen, no doubt. And I am very impressed with the way he's been/being trained. I feel safe whenever he's around.

So what's the problem? Well, there are two. First- I hate guns. I know that it's different when it's used for law enforcement. But that also means that our kids will grow up around guns which scares me. Heaven help us if we have boys! I want to be able to feel good about letting them play with plastic guns and army men without having to worry about whether or not they're going to find Daddy's real gun and try it out on each other. Yes, I know this is a hypothetical way-down-the-road scenario. But it still scares me. Plus I have this silly theory that if we never have guns then we'll never get in a situation where we need to use a gun. I know it doesn't make any sense but that's just my silly non-logic.

The second problem is the one that I didn't see right off the bat. It sort of blindsided me. I don't think it really has so much to do with the Hubster being a police officer as it does with him absolutely loving his job. What I mean is this- his job consumes him. In the bathroom there are guns and ammo magazines and Cops magazines. Every night on TV we're watching a marathon of Cops or Swat or DallasPD or if none of the reality police shows are on then CSI will do. And that's great! I love that he loves his job. I really do. I've seen him in the opposite situation (an awful, horrible, no-good, very bad job) and it was downright depressing. However, I feel a little bit like he has a mistress. Not an actual real life woman that I could find and beat the snot out of. (Did I mention that I'm tough? Don't mess with my man, honey!) But a mistress that occupies all of his thoughts and can call him away at a moment's notice during important things like birthdays and Christmas. It's hard to fight her too because a big part of me is thrilled that he's so happy. I guess, selfishly, I just wanted to make him happy all by myself. That's terrible, isn't it?

Anyway, all of these observations have made me realize that I need to turn this issue over to the Lord. It seems like I've been finding lots of issues to bring Him lately. That's why I'm choosing this verse for Memory Verse Monday.

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22

My Wonderful Husband

Sometimes I catch myself being overly critical of my dear Hubby. Okay, I made that sound really nice. If I'm being honest it would read more like "Lately I've become a grumpy-pain-in-the-butt to live with." And so, I wanted to take this opportunity to openly praise my fabulous husband who has put up with nine months of me whining and getting huge.

Top Ten Wonderful Things My Husband Has Done While I've Been Pregnant:
1. Back in December when we moved into this house and we were trying to get pregnant (but had no results yet) he wouldn't let me lift anything remotely heavy. He got a whole bunch of guys to help us move and told everyone not to let me lift anything. I just pointed and made cookies.
2. About a month ago, a few days after I'd been pretty weepy over how much weight I've gained, he came home from work with a bouquet of beautiful pink flowers and a card that said he'd love me forever. (This was huge because my husband is one of those men who can't see the value of flowers. He totally did it because he knows how much they mean to me.)
3. For the last 3 months he's bundled up in our refrigerated house. He sleeps with extra blankets every night so that I'll be comfortable. Even now he's watching TV in the long pajama pants that he wore on Christmas Eve last year. I can't remember him actually seriously complaining about the A/C being too cold or the bill being too high. He has joked around about it. But he's been completely understanding all summer.
4. Ever since we found out that I was indeed pregnant, if I want or need anything he'll jump up and get it for me. He's constantly bringing me more water to drink or a snack. When we're out at the grocery store he walks at my super slow pace without me having to remind him.
5. Last weekend when I went through my nesting phase and I had an insane to-do list for him, my fabulous hubby was right beside me every step of the way. He helped me knock out the overwhelming task of getting the dog's room turned into a guest room. It was pretty amazing how much we accomplished.
6. He's pampered me with pedicures (at a nail salon) and back massages. And bubble baths. And he comes around to my side of the car and opens the door and helps hoist me out every time we go anywhere. When I'm sitting down (whether it's on our couch or in a booth at a restaurant) he'll come over and offer me his arm so that he can pull me up.
7. All week he's kept the house in ready-for-company condition. When he leaves the dishes are done, the bed's made, and the living room looks fabulous.
8. In general for the last three years he's done ALL of the laundry every week. He does a better job at it than me too!
9. He gave Lilly (our dog) a haircut this week after work. I don't think either one of us appreciated our groomer enough before. She works hard for that money!!
And last but not least:
10. He's gone above and beyond in the patience category. I've been more than a little grumpy with the unending contractions over the past two weeks. And he's been calm and understanding. He doesn't argue with me when I start criticizing stupid petty things (like the fact that our waiter didn't smile at us even once today). He makes me laugh when I feel blue. And he holds my hand when I tell him I'm scared. And he prays for me to have a quick, smooth and painless delivery every night before bed. He's absolutely wonderful!

Beautiful Rain

I'm sitting with my laptop next to my kitchen window watching the rain come pouring down. The window is open by about 2 inches and the smell is just heavenly. Our dog is pacing around the house growling at the thunder but I love watching the water fall from the sky. It's refreshing. When I was younger I used to hate rainy days. It wasn't so much that I wanted to be outside. It was more that I craved the sunlight and felt moody whenever rain darkened the sky. I always tried to nap through rainstorms if possible.
I suppose I've become a grown up now because I see rain as free water for our front yard (which is very brown from the drought we've had all summer). My pregnancy this summer shifted our priorities a lot. I decided not to worry about watering the yard and instead my goal (according to my husband) has been to refrigerate the house. (Yes, honey, I turned the A/C off before I opened the windows.)
This seems like a perfect opportunity to bring in some spiritual parallel or something super wise but this evening I've got nothing extra to add. I'm content to just admire God's handywork.