Our Love Story part 2...

Also referred to as "You're Getting Married When?"

We left our young heroine as she was freaking out about meeting the Future Hubby and his girls the next weekend. So, I swallowed my panic and took the plunge. (I knew my friend would hunt me down and hurt me, literally, if I left her hanging.) His girls were absolutely adorable. The oldest was 8 and SOOO grown up. The youngest was 5 and had such big blue eyes....you just wanted to pinch her cheeks. The girls fell in love with my bundle of joy immediately.

We were inseperable from that night on. Either I was at his house or he was at mine. I said the big L word first. It was about a month or so into our relationship and it just slipped out. He said nothing. He still said nothing. Finally, I asked him if he heard me. He said yes, but he just wasn't sure, he'd been through so much already, this was a bit sudden. Instead of being the grown up mature woman that I am now, I cried. Yep, started bawling. Part of it was that I didn't intend to say it. Part of it was that I knew what he said was true. Part of it was, I don't know, things just didn't happen the way I had dreamed about.

Things continued the way they had for a couple more weeks. Things were good, but it seemed like the L word just hung between us like an unseen barrier. It was out there and I couldn't draw it back. One day, I was at work and it was a hectic day. Things weren't going right and I was a bit frazzled. He called me, the way he usually does, but I told him that things were crazy and I'd see him when I got off work. He said ok and hung up. A minute later the phone rings again and it's him. In my mind I was a bit put out with him. Didn't he hear me say that I was busy? He says I know I just hung up but I wanted to tell you that I love you. Time stood still. My heart stopped. My mouth hit the floor. He said I know you're busy, but I just thought you needed to hear that. I stammered something, not sure what exactly, and hung up the phone. It was incredible! He actually loved me!

Very shortly after that (less than 2 months into our relationship) I quit my job. He gave up the lease on his apartment and he moved in with me until our new house was ready. My friends (not the one who introduced us) thought I had lost my mind. His family was ready to commit him. Luckily, my family knew me well enough to know that when I make up my mind, that's it. I've thought everything through. When I say he's the one, he's the one.

Our new house was about 100 miles away from friends and family. This was big for me. I had never lived away from my family, but this felt so right. Again his family is ready to have him committed.

A month later, Thanksgiving weekend, he asks me to marry him. (Remember that I just met him 2 1/2 months earlier.) I said yes. He said ok, we'll go Monday and do it. I said wait a minute. Monday? He says yes, I don't want to wait another minute. My head was spinning. This wasn't going according to plan. (I'm a very plan oriented girl. You have to have a plan. The plan can change, but there still must be a plan.) I told him that I wanted a "real" wedding. My mom has had all of her girls get married at her house except me. I wanted to get married at her house. I wanted the dress and the flowers and the angels singing, the whole she-bang.

Remember that my friend wanted to wear red at the wedding? Remember she had suggested Christmas? Remember that I said Christmas was a bit rushed? Well, we actually considered Christmas. The only reason that we waited was that his girls were going to be with their mom at Christmas. We chose the first Saturday after the first of the year that he would have his girls. We were determined that they were going to be there too. In my mind, I wasn't just marrying him, I was marrying them too.

His family was ready to kidnap him and do an intervention. Looking back now, I can understand their point of view. What were we thinking? We got married barely 5 months after we met. We were living together after only 2 weeks, despite what the hubby said at the time. (His reasoning was that since we both still had our own houses, even though we didn't sleep in them regularly, we weren't living together.) I'd like to say that we just got lucky. Reality was that we were determined that this was going to work. We worked like the Dickens to keep everything together and all that hard work has paid off. We are more in love today than we were 12 years ago. He is my best friend, my soul mate, the love of my life.... I could go on and on forever and never be able to put the feelings into proper words.

Oh, and my friend, she didn't wear red. We chose blue instead. ;o)

Our Love Story

It's a cold, blustery day today, and while we got quite a bit done yesterday, today has turned into a "sit in front of the computer" day. I did get our taxes done and filed this morning. I also paid the light bill online and updated my Etsy page. I let the horses out, but haven't checked to see if we've gotten eggs yet. The dogs have come and gone. I washed a load of clothes and am fixing to load the dishwasher. But, I said this was a love story, so forget the chores Cinderella and remember the ball. ;o)

This story begins about 12 years ago. I was a single mom who was alone, but secure in her loneliness. Basically, I had decided that men were too much trouble and I had a little bundle of joy to focus on. My friend, who was happily married, wasn't so convinced. She had tried to set me up with a few different male friends, but nothing had clicked. She had even tried to introduce me to my future hubby, but things didn't work out as planned. (He didn't know about the trap, and hadn't shown up as planned, anticipated, expected.) He still kicks himself for not coming that night. Instead I met a jerk, which just further turned me off men and dating, much less relationships.

Lots of months went by. Many things happened in that time, both for me and for him, but those are stories for another time. One day I'm sitting at my friend's house, as I usually did, and she decides one more time to give the Cupid gig a try. She digs out the photos of a company Christmas party to show me how cute Future Hubby was. Actually, that plan rather backfired, because a "bit" of alcohol had been consumed and he wasn't his most attractive at the time. What she didn't tell me was that her husband and Future Hubby were hunting at that very moment, and despite all her denials later, a trap had been laid for the both of us.

We're innocently watching TV or gossiping, or whatever the chosen activity was at the time, when the phone rings. It was her husband and he wanted to know if I was still at their house. When she informed him that I was, he told her to keep me there at all costs, that Future Hubby was coming to meet me. I bolted. She literally had to restrain me to keep me from going out the door. All the protests in the world about not liking men, not having time for a relationship, he's a drunk for Heaven's Sake, fell on deaf ears. So, there I sat, like a condemned woman awaiting her sentence. (Ok that's a bit melodramatic, but I really didn't want to meet anyone new.)

Finally the wait was over. Guess what? He was rather cute and charming and not a drunk at all. We all played cards, laughed, and joked. Things were going good and then my friend gets me rip roaring drunk. Oops. She said later that she figured that he might as well see us in action from the beginning to make sure that he could cope. At the end of the night, I was convinced that I had messed up big time and he'd never want to see me again. I gave him a peck on the cheek (I think... that parts a bit fuzzy) and told him not to be a stranger, or something equally dumb.

The next day, I slept the hangover off. I didn't see my friend again until the day after that, which happened to be Labor Day. She was determined that he was perfect for me, and tried calling him to invite him over, so that we both could see that she was right. He never answered the phone. Told you that I messed up big time, or at least so I thought. ;o)

She, not to be deterred by a little thing like him not answering the phone, proceeds to plan our wedding. She's picking out the colors that she wants to wear (red) which to her means that we get married Christmas Day. I told her that Christmas was a bit rushed, could we possibly wait until Valentine's Day? I was joking, but her husband didn't think so. He told Future Hubby to watch out because we had plans for him. Future Hubby still jokes about his only involvement in our wedding was showing up when he was told.

As it turned out, he did finally answer the phone, but it was a day or two later. She invited him to come over the following weekend. He asks her if he could bring his kids because he'd really like for them to meet me. Gulp! Meet the kids? What if I was wrong and he wasn't so charming? I know he'd met my little one, but she wouldn't have remembered one way or the other. Finally after much foot tapping on her part, I agreed to meet him and his kids at her house the next weekend.

Tune in tomorrow for Part Two of Our Love Story...or You're Getting Married When?

Living My Grandmother's Life

This thought has been occuring to me over and over. It's amazing how closely my life resembles my grandmother's. There are some major differences too, but even the man I married is very close to my grandfather. This isn't a bad thing, not at all! They were amazing people, the down-to-earth type who would give you the shirt off their back.

She loved my grandfather fiercely, and they clung to each other through good times and bad. I always said that I wanted a marriage like that. My sister said they didn't make them that way any more, but I think I got lucky and found just one more guy like Pops. His life was his wife, and even on his death bed, he sent my aunt to buy Granny flowers on their anniversary. He said he hadn't missed a year, and wasn't going to let a little thing like cancer change that.

My grandparents didn't have or want a lot of money. Their basic needs were covered, with a luxury every now and then. They raised a huge garden (probably 2 to 3 acres at any given time) plus they raised cows, hogs, and chickens. They were professionals at "making do". And she was the only person I knew who could have 6-8 people show up at dinner time, add a few things to the table, and everyone walk away thinking it was the best meal they ever had.

Most of what I learned about relationships, hospitality, patience, and simple living I learned from her. I think I like living Granny's life. ;o)

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

It's another cold morning. Not cold as in snow on the ground, or beautiful images of winter's wonder, but cold as in my joints ache...Why is it so darned cold? Weird me, one hand is freezing, the other is fine. And I guess it's one more sign that I'm getting old...my feet are always cold. I need multiple climate controls just for my body. ;o)

I should crawl back in bed, but I have so many thoughts racing in my head here lately, I thought that I'd try to make sense of them all.

The first is that I feel so blessed. I would say that it's the New Year or the holidays that brings on these thoughts, but I know that's not right. I lie awake at night sometimes thinking how very lucky I was to find the man sleeping next to me. I'm almost afraid to voice it, afraid it will break the spell and he'll disappear, but every morning I wake and there he is. I think I'll live the feeling for now and worry about tomorrow when it gets here.

He bought me the very best gift this year for Christmas. Sometimes for holidays, I wish that he would just pay attention to what I ask for through out the year instead of asking for a list and then buying only the things on the list. It's kinda like shopping for myself and him wrapping the gifts. I'm not really complaining, I know it could be worse, just expressing a desire. Sometimes I wonder if I expect too much from him, expecting him to know my inner most wants and desires. More the desire that he knows my inner wishes, than the actual physical thing he bought. (Does that make sense?) And then, he goes and does something wonderful!

This year he bought me one of those metal fire ring thingys. You know the kind with grate and looks like a big bowl on legs? It wasn't on the list. With money being the way it has been, I would never have asked for such an expensive gift. I wouldn't want to hurt him by making him think he couldn't provide for me. But, there under the tree was one of my heart's desires. When I opened it, he said "I know it wasn't on your list. But, every time we walk past them, I notice that your eyes stray right to them." Is he not the best, most observant sweetie ever? :o)

I was reading a blog post the other day about happiness and how sometimes TV and glossy magazines can undermine our simple lives and happiness. In a way, I agree, but I also feel that if you're basically happy with your lifestyle, it doesn't matter what temptation you're presented with. I love my little house with the big goofy dog, who has such an adoring look that you can't help but feel worshipped. I love my crazy children who leave creative messes for me to clean up. Other people have asked "You're going to LET them do that?" And my response is "Yes, as a matter of fact I am!"

Perfect example....the 11 year old wanted to have her friend over for New Year's Eve. We had decided to pass on the neighborhood party, and she was feeling a bit left out since the 13 year old was going to the party with some friends of ours. She asked her friend over to spend the night and bring the new year in with a creative bang. She had attended a gingerbread making party a couple of years ago, and thought that would be fun. We (me, my daughter and her friend) stopped at a dollar store on the way back to buy stuff for their party. I told the girls to buy anything that they found interesting for the house. My daughter leaned over to her friend and said "I bet you never heard that before, huh?" I wanted to stop and hug her right there in the store. I have officially earned the cool mom status!

I watch the home improvement show, and I hear about people chasing happiness one dollar at a time. If I were given the chance today to trade my life for all the money in the world, "I'd say nahhh, no thanks. I'm good."

I've just noticed that the big goofy dog snores just like the hubs. I guess that's part of the reason I like him sleeping in my room. It sounds like the hubby is still at home tucked away in bed. Funny, the comforting sounds you get used to hearing. We only let the "outside" dogs in when it's really cold outside. Ok, really cold by Texas standards. ;o) Lucky, the big goofy dog, seems to understand that this is the only time he's allowed in. He won't push past you to sneak in, and on cold days he stands at the door with this look, as if he's asking to be allowed in. He also seems to know that he's only allowed in our room when the hubs is gone, otherwise he's content to sleep in his usual spot, right outside our door. I would let him in all of the time, but the hubs thinks he's too much to walk around in our little house. He is a BIG dog!

Well, I do think that I will head to back to bed now. The kids are going to their adopted grandparents' house to finish Christmas, and I'm off on a creative mission. I need to figure out how to bind the youngest's quilt. Any excuse to go to Joann Fabrics. ;o) I'll post about the quilt and what I've learned about making it later. I also think I'll dig back through some of my old photos I've taken and post some of them also.