Sunday, June 15, 2008

the man i'm proud to call my husband

i met the most wonderful man in the world when i was very young - i was in high school. to hear him tell it, he had a crush on me, even back then. i, however, had a boyfriend.

fast forward about twelve years, and here we are. thanks to the beauty of myspace, we reconnected because we are both registered as alums with our high school. three months later, we were married by a judge in a court room. 28 days after that, he deployed to iraq.

i knew on our first date that he was the one for me. i wanted to stare into his eyes all night long. i never wanted to leave his side. we had a long distance relationship before - and after - our marriage. he drove from fort hood to fort worth almost every weekend for three months.

he has a daughter that is two weeks older than my daughter, and our girls are the very best of friends. i couldn't believe my luck. this wonderful man and this beautiful little girl completed my family. he has formed a very special bond with my daughter. she has never before told another man, other than her own father, that she loves him. and she very rarely says it to her own father. but she speaks it very freely with him, and he feels like she is his own.

he gives me not only everything i want, but he gives me everything i have ever needed in a relationship - and he doesn't even know it. i don't even have to speak it. he just knows. i've never known a love like this, and i am so grateful for him.

so, on this father's day - so many fathers are overseas fighting in a war that no longer makes sense to me. only now, one of those fathers is also my husband. please - while you are holding your children and kissing them goodnight, and they are telling you happy father's day - say a prayer for those fathers that are unable to wrap their own arms around their own children. and say a prayer for those children who have lost their dads in this war.

i love you, blake.

come home soon.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

stupid is as stupid does

so the other day i'm driving around the corner to pick up my daughter from daycare and i drive up on a car accident that has just taken place. one car is on its side and the other is in the grass on the opposite side of the street. i used to be a paramedic - so i figure i better stop and check it out - make sure no one is seriously injured before the real people show up. {now before this happens, i take off my name badge - i don't stop often, in fact hardly ever, and i don't want anyone to know my name or where they can find me later}.

so i'm across the street from this car on its side still when i notice that three other guys are trying to rock it so that its upright again. while the guy is still in it. there's traffic moving, so i yell "guys - you need to wait for the fire department to get here". this big burly dude yells back "I AM FIRE DEPARTMENT". oh shit. here we go.

so i literally run across the street. and i am not a fan of the physical activity. i go stand next to this guy and i say "which fire department do you work for". he stops and looks down at me and says "why?". i say "because a) i want to know which town to never get into a car accident in and b) i want to know which fire chief to call to have your licenses pulled when you break this poor guy's face. this vehicle is not leaking fuel, nor is it on fire - so the three of you need to back off and need to wait for the real emergency personnel to arrive - " why in the hell would anyone in their right mind want to turn a vehicle upright when someone is still in it?? especially someone who says he's with a fire department? cripes!

the other two guys were like "she's right, dude, we need to wait". the big burly dude? didn't have much of a choice...he certainly couldn't right that vehicle on his own.

and i? quietly disappeared when i heard sirens approaching.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

renewed purpose

i am drugged. sinuses are causing me great pain.



i have a new purpose in life.



is surfing websites looking for cute icons to put on your husbands myspace a purpose?



surely it is. i am destined for greatness.



case in point?



Photobucket

between that and pestering my sister in law about our next lunch date {someone has to keep me company while my husband is away}, my daytimer is pretty much full.

Friday, June 06, 2008

visit my 2005 blogs...

ok, for some of my long-time readers, you will recall when i went to d/fw airport to greet a group of soldiers returning from iraq on an r&r flight from kuwait city. there are pics on my blog - its in the 2005 archive.

you know what? i'm going back to greet again in a couple of months. only this time - i'll be greeting my husband.

:)

love you guys.

awards day

i, as a parent, have always hated awards day...i'm not a "soccer mom", i don't like crowds, and i don't socialize with parents. that's just not the way i roll. so going up to the school for awards day is just not my cup of tea. but i always go to support the kids and i love to see the way pete's face lights up when she sees me sitting in the bleachers.

my daughter just finished 4th grade. so this was my 5th awards ceremony. last year was the first time i had ever noticed a kid get left out. this teacher had called up all of her kids to give them some sort of award, except for this one little boy - and he was left sitting in his chair, all by himself. and it broke my heart.

pete has gone to the same school since first grade, and i have seen the same six or seven kids get their names called over and over and over again...but most teachers will make up silly little awards to make sure that each kid gets something, and that no kid gets left out. every other year, my daughter has gotten the art award. she's very creative, very artistic. they don't have an art class, but the teachers have always acknowledged that ability in her. this year? notsomuch. in fact, that little boy from last year was my daughter.

here's the thing. i'm very aware of my daughter's strengths and flaws. i'm not one of those moms who thinks their kid is perfect and should have had her name called ten times. academically, she's fairly average. she's decent. she's a good speller, she reads like a champ, she loves science but doesn't always get the best grades, she's fair at history, and, like her dad, she sucks {royally} at math.

but what she is extraordinary at is being a kid. at being a friend. you wanna go hang out on the playground? pete's your girl. wanna play nintendo ds and watch movies? call my kid. want somebody to fix you some muffin tops and glass of milk and sit on the front porch and watch the world go by? she's a champ at that. she's got the biggest heart and the best smile and the greatest personality. how could that go unrecognized? so what if your kid is good at math and can maintain a 100 in spelling? my kid wants to be your kid's friend even though your kid is a nerd :) and i love her more than anything. so the fact that she sat there through that whole ceremony with a smile on her face and congratulated all of those other kids ... i was really surprised that, like the other teachers, hers didn't just make something up. so i took her home early. and her teacher wouldn't even look me in the eye. you would think that, somewhere along the line, something would have happened - her teacher would be upset with me or something. nope...nothing like that. so that just makes the mystery even bigger. i just don't get it. she's just a kid!

oh, and by the way - you should probably rethink that outfit. i wouldn't even wear that to the mall. in 1994.