Showered: Part II

Have I said how wonderful my husband is! Not only did he offer me a chance to see my extended family over Christmas, but he also has been bidding on the most beautiful vintage Bear recurve bow to give me as a "just because I love you" gift! He won the bidding, and I have a super gorgeous traditional bow on the way! I can't wait! I have always wanted to try my hand at traditional archery, but never had the resources to do so. Casey found out how much I wanted to learn how to shoot, and he just up and bought me a bow! He is soooo good to me, but that isnt even the icing on the cake!


Remember my last post said I went to bed feeling showered with gifts? Well, upon his arriving home Thursday the spring in Casey's step and the mischevious look on his face told me something was up. But, what could it be??? He kissed me as always and as we talked, we walked back to our room where he always removes his workboots. I chattered on about something that I can't recall now and walked past him acrossed the bedroom. After asking him a question and not getting a response, I turned around to look at him, wondering why he didnt answer. He was just standing there....and said, "Can I get a kiss?" Of course I was happy to oblige, and as I tippy-toed to kiss him (He is over 6 feet tall and I am quite a bit shorter)he stooped to bended knee and pulled out a pretty mahogany box. My eyes welled up immediately. Then, although we have been married for just a month shy of two years, he asked me to marry him! He opened the box, and inside was an engagement ring! Tears were streaming down my face as I told him I would marry him 100 times over again. True to his character, I expected him to reply with some smart alec remark like "only 100 times? So you wouldn't marry me 101 times?", but in this sweet moment he just smiled a small, soft smile, reminiscent of the mona lisa. He slipped the ring on my finger next to my wedding band. I couldnt stop hugging him, still with tears occasionally rolling off my cheeks. Although I had always wished for that romantic moment, since we are already married, I never expected him to propose. Having several children already when we met and married, we couldnt afford an engagement ring. In fact, it was well past our first anniversary before we could afford a wedding ring. When we married it was in a brief civil ceremony at the courthouse with only the two of us present. There had been no proposal, only the two of us talking about getting married, and then deciding on when to do so. We both have always wanted a real wedding, as neither of us have had all the pomp and circumstance. But our family has grown since we first met, and everyday life requires most of our resources just to make ends meet. So that dream has been put on hold for a while. Maybe someday we can celebrate our life together with friends and family. Until then, I will tenderly remember this day....the day my husband proposed.

Showered: Part I

Being a mom for so many years already, has taught me to not want for anything too much. Its not that I don't have wishes or wants, its that my children come first and most times that means I go without. I am certainly not whining about that. It actually becomes second nature. A parent wants to be sure their children are cared for and even go so far as to give them things that they, the parent, never had but always wanted as a kid. There is a kind of pleasure giving your child a gift. When a daughter is twirling round and round watching the billows of her new dress and scuffling about to hear the clop-clop of her pretty "tappity" shoes (as my 5-year-old calls them).....well, it just warms the heart! When a son tears off outside to play with his new remote control plane, and soon is hollering at the top of his lungs from the backyard, "MOM! DAD! You've gotta come see this!"......well, it just makes a parent happy in a swelling-with-excitement kind of way. And lets face it, while getting a new toaster or socket wrench set is great and can evoke some excitement, its not the same as the wide-eyed, enchanting kind of excitement that can only be seen in a child's beaming face. So, as I said, I have learned to HAPPILY go without. But yesterday was a very different day. Yesterday, I went to bed feeling as though I had been showered with gifts.


PART I
I have to first begin by saying that I am married to an unbelievably wonderful man. He has known for some time that every year my Christmas seems to be missing something. There is a bit of an overshadowing of sadness each year. I miss being at my grandparents home on Christmas day so much. Yesterday, while we talked on the phone over his lunch break, my wonderful husband said if I wanted to go this Christmas he would buy me a plane ticket! He didn't even mind if our own family Christmas was put off for a different day so that I could be at my Grandparents. I cried.....a lot. (I am crying again as I type this) "No baby, I am not going to do that", I explained, "Not being at my Grandparents does feel like there is something missing, but not being with my own family would feel just awful." He heard what I was saying, but wanted to be sure I understood that he was completely OK with me going. I was being given the freedom (guilt free) to be somewhere else on CHRISTMAS DAY! He explained that didn't feel like I was wrong or selfish and that he didn't even feel like the travel costs were a frivolous expense. In fact, he told me that he would work overtime to pay for the plane ticket! His loving gesture meant more to me than any monetary gift ever has or ever could. I am not accepting the gift. My place is with my own family. And while there is a little something missing from my Christmas day each year, if I was not with my husband and children, there would be something much bigger missing. But his desire for me to be happy, even above that of his own, has helped me fully understand that giving begins in the heart. And that no matter the gift being given, it truly is the thought that counts.

How do you like your eggs in the morning?

So this is my first post in my blogging history! I am not blogging to show off my literary or spelling skills. I blog like I speak....so hopefully it wont be too hard to follow. I plan to use this blog to post the goings-on of my little family (chuckle). Come back often to watch the kids grow! But first, I think I need to begin by explaining my blog name. I really wanted "Sunny Side Up"....but sadly it was taken, as well as every variation of that name. Then I thought...hmmm how about something like "How would you like your eggs today?" Kinda like a waitress would ask while taking your order. But before I settled with that, I wanted to look around a bit online for ideas for just the perfect eggy name. So my blog has been on hold for a couple of months while I searched for something catchy about eggs ( I will explain in a bit why I am so insistent on the whole egg thing in my blog name) In my quest for finding a cool blog "egg" name I ran across the really great Dean Martin song you are listening to as you read this, "How would you like your eggs in the morning?" That's it...that's the name I want! (did I say what a great song it is?) GEEZ.....IT'S ALSO TAKEN!!!!! Am I the last person on earth to get a blog??? All the cool names are gone! But then, while listening to my newly found Dean Martin song (its really a cool song isn't it....oh, I already said that didnt I), I heard the lyrics "Eggs can be almost bliss, as long as I get my kiss"....too long, but "Eggs can be almost bliss"?....hmmmm, still kinda long, but I like it! So there it is! Anyway, I really wanted something about eggs in my blog name because from day to day, my life is like eggs or the different ways eggs can be prepared. As Forest Gump might put it, "Life is like a carton of eggs." Oh, that's too cornball? Sorry! As I was saying, somedays my life is sunny-side-up, sometimes its scrambled, or FRIED, or even over-easy! Eggs can even be like relationships or parenting. One must exercise care when preparing them to get them to turn out just right, they must be handled carefully so they do not break, and one must be cautious in how they are kept so they do not spoil. So metaphorically, eggs are the perfect way to describe life....at least mine! Now,how do you like your eggs in the morning?