Saturday, April 18, 2009

Happy Anniversary, DH

Today is a special day. This time seventeen years ago, I walked down the isle of a church dressed in a long, flowing white dress. I didn't take my eyes off of his the entire walk down the isle. The love I saw then is the same love I see when I look into his eyes today. It was a beautiful spring day, sunny and hot (especially in a long sleeved dress!). The church was simply decorated; it was Easter weekend so we used the Easter lilies with a few bows strategically placed throughout. The ceremony was simple. We are, after all, pretty simple people.

We even held off leaving for our honeymoon (a week at the beach) until Monday. After all, DH's mother had Easter dinner and everyone was expected to be there. Nevermindthefact that you just got married yesterday. So we went to church Easter Sunday, then to the family lunch. Then bright and early Monday morning, set off for our first trip as a married couple.

There have been many trips to the beach since. There have been many happy days since. There have been many more lunches at DH's mothers since. We have shared with our girls our love for the beach, family time, and dinner at Mawmaw's (including last Sunday!).

Seventeen years encompasses a vast amount of territory. Three moves. At least seven new vehicles. Two campers. Three dogs. Three cats. A son who decided to join the Army and spent a year in Iraq. Thank God he is now safely home and living in our playroom. Nine job changes. Two births. Four churches. Three meals DH asked me to please not make again.

Here's hoping for another seventeen happy years. Happy Anniversary, DH. I remember all the details of our special day like it was only yesterday. I'd say "yes" all over again! Thank you for making me happy.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

I Love Donna

Donna has been in our life for the past seven years...and I love her. She shows up every Monday morning like clockwork while OC, YC and I are getting ready for school. DH has already left for work and The Dude is either getting ready to leave for work or in the bed. She is as much a part of our family as the dogs or the cats. The girls love Donna almost as much as I do. Yes, Donna shows up every Monday morning, and when Donna leaves, I have a clean house.

I was a SAHM while YC and OC were at home; I quit my job when YC was six months old. And I stayed home with the girls until YC started pre-K. Then I signed my first contract and have been teaching ever since. But one of the negotiating points of my going back to work was getting someone to clean our house. I don't want to be gone all week and then spend all weekend cleaning the house. And Dear, Sweet Donna has been worth every penny we have paid for her.

No matter how many times we refigure or recalculate the budget, Donna is always right under the mortgage payment. I will miss groceries but I won't miss Donna. Call me spoiled, call it my way of stimulating the economy.

Case in point, we are on Spring Break this week. We went camping in the Castle that is our new camper. The dogs and The Dude stayed home. The dogs are going through a "mourning stage" with Midnight - they are doing crazy things they rarely ever do. This week, they decided to open the pantry with their nose and take out (1) peanut butter, (2) Crisco, and (3) Bisquick. Thankfully, the only one of the three they got opened was the Bisquick. They ate the whole box under the kitchen table. I have never ever been so thankful for tile floors. But I also had to do something I haven't done in forever...I had to mop my own floor. I have the biggest kitchen in the history of the world; gourmet cooks would kill for a kitchen this big. I just call it a lot of wasted space. But it is only Thursday and Donna won't be back until Monday and I couldn't leave Bisquick under my kitchen table for four more days. So I spent the morning cleaning up Bisquick and appreciating Donna.

And when I finished mopping my floor, I realized we don't pay Donna nearly enough money for what she does!