Spending a day.....

Few people are as lucky as me. Few people have what I have, and even fewer can even grasp what makes up a good portion of my day.

What does my day entail? Much of it is dumb stuff. Pondering work issues, wondering about my sports teams, thinking about what I might eat next, over planning even the simplest of tasks or questioning why even the smartest people do dumb things (myself inlcuded).

There is one constant in my day that makes me always aware of how lucky I am at any given moment. It is the thinking of you portion. It dawned on me that over the more than 8,300 days we have been together (yup I still track it), a disproportionate amount of my time has been thinking about you.

Most of the thoughts are simple things. It would really puzzle to know how often I simply wonder "hmmm what is she doing right now". Just because it interests me and what you are doing, no matter how trivial, is always cool.

I think often about what I will do when I see you next. How will you look? Will you be smiling. What will you have to tell me. What do we have planned. I even sometimes think about what you will be wearing (you have few pairs of jeans I really enjoy right now).

I spend some time thinking about the next 20 years or so with you. How much fun we will have. How many laughs we will share. The hand holding. The kisses. The ..... (censored). Were will we be? What will our grandchildren be like? How will the girls be?

I think about what I can do to make you happy. It is my ultimate goal. Not happy to keep you from being angry happy. But in general happy. How can I make sure that you have a happy life. That you are never unhappy.

But mostly I spend time with so many of the glimpses of the past 22 years running through my head. Many times I cannot pinpoint the exact moment when an image comes into my head, but I know they are part of our history together. They always make me smile. They often make me laugh. Sometimes they make me..... ( censored ). They always make me happy.

So now you know how I spend my day. I dedicate a good portion of it to you. Why would I do anying else? It is why I am so lucky.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

A Coming of Age

This blog post is mostly targeted at our youngest daughter. Today she turns 18 years old. A sign she is now an adult. A grown up of sorts. A young lady. A young woman. As her parents we are so proud. So amazed at who she has become. So excited for what the future holds for her.

She starts her adult life with a strong head on her shoulders. A confident, yet cautious approach to life. She is certainly very intelligent. Her ability to grasp virtually anything in an instant baffles us every day. Her ability to reason through anything she confronts continually astonishes anyone who knows her for even the briefest of moments. Yet she approaches everything in kind of a "learn before I act" manner. Taking risks only when she has ultimately calculated the final outcome.

She is funny beyond her years. He ability to make jest of any situation is one her strongest assets. Her wit and charm keep anyone around her in stitches. Her ability to use "silly" fun to not only others, but even herself smile separate her from those around her. Her mature approach to finding the fun in life is beyond her age. The means by which she turns even a serious moment into a comfortable moment draw people in and makes them feel comfortable around her at any time.

She is beautiful. A sparkling smile. Dazzling eyes. She stands out in a crowd with little to no effort. Her humility towards her own beauty makes her even more striking. Dress her up and she dazzles. Dress her down and she still sparkles.

Her potential is boundless. As she heads off to college there is so much she can accomplish. She isn't one to rest on her laurels or past achievements. She seems to always look forward. She heads off to college with real goals she wants to tackle. She remains confident that everything she wants to do - she can do.

In short she gives us so much to be proud of, so much to brag about and so much to love. She makes it easy to be her parents. Easy to be around her and easy to know what a hole she will leave when she takes the next step of her life.

So why did I say this blog entry was "mostly" about our daughter? Simply put. After all of these years she remains the spitting image of her mother. Same girl different era. It is impossible to say your lives are exactly the same in terms of events and accomplishments. A comparison like that would be silly and fruitless. However, it is easy to recognize that you are so similar as people. Your humble, yet confident approach to life mirror each other. Your mannerism similarities are inescapable. Your with and charm are identical.

She is so lucky to have had her life under your wing. And even luckier for these past 3 years. She has grown into an amazing adult. One just like her mother. Who couldn't be in love with that?

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

The Lingering Kiss Theory

I know I mentioned this ahead of time, but here is my deeper thoughts on the "Lingering Kiss Theory".

First of all to answer your question, prior to you I had never had a lingering kiss. Why and how do I know? Because it is something that only a love like I have for you can produce. So using the transitive property (if A=B and B=C then C also = A) I know for sure that I never experienced real love before you, lingering kisses can only come from real love and thus I have never had one prior to you. Its simple math my love, I can't argue with real math and logic.

What is a "lingering kiss"? It is one of many kinds of kisses. There are the sexy kisses, the slow kisses, the sloppy kisses, grandma kisses, quick kisses, pecks on the cheek, french kisses (apparently many varieties exist, but the reading I did was kind of gross)...the list goes on. None, however, compare to the lingering kiss. It has some very special requirements.

It is the most intimate kiss. It must be slow and intoxicating. It must be relaxing and delicious. It can never be rushed. It must not be something you do without purpose.

For a meaningful kiss you have to pour your whole loving self into your partner, and with vulnerable surrender receive the loved one’s heart at the same time. The lingering kiss requires this. It is more physical way of expressing love than a physical act itself. It is an expression not an act. The kiss always results in some kind of loving glance or locking of the eyes. It has to because it is the kind of thing that you feel deep in you heart and soul.

How can this amazing event be accomplished? Only by truly being "in love" with someone. I think we may the only couple in the world who truly recognizes the difference between loving someone and being in love. While the wording seems to be subtle, the fact is that "being in love" is so much more powerful and meaningful. And I know that every day we are "in love". While we truly love each other, it is the being "in love" element that allows us to accomplish the amazing lingering kiss feat.

Lingering kisses cannot be planned. They happen at the oddest of moments. They come when you least expect them. They warm your heart. They almost always warrant a follow up hug or embrace. They come at the moments you most need them and at times when they have the greatest benefit.

We have shared so many lingering kisses. We could almost brag about them. Many people never truly experience them. We have them fairly regularly. We have them at moments that are unexpected. For example, recently I kissed you while you were laying on the couch and I was sitting on the floor next to you. We weren't doing anything special, just being together. Yet the intended quick kiss, turned into a lingering kiss. It was wonderful, unexpected, uplifting and warmed my heart. Exactly the feeling a lingering kiss will always produce. Not planned, not a staged situation, but rather just a random assertion of our love for each other.

I look forward to the next lingering kiss. I won't plan for it or force it. It will just happen. The best part is that I know it will come again and it will be amazing.

(side note, this does not preclude us from any of the other types of kissing while we wait for our next lingering kiss. Practice does make perfect)

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

A Nice Rivalry

It is rare when I get to use sports as something that I post in this blog. But as I had always dreamed I was lucky enough to marry a knowledgeable, savvy, sports fan. Add in her amazing ability to "talk smack" and well the relationship gets even stronger.

So that you are reminded that this post isn't about our respective teams and more about you, I'll remind you of this. One of the most attractive things about you is your ability to share things important to me with me. So we have the upcoming baseball season. We are both passionate about our teams. It gives us yet another thing to share with each other, even if creates an argument or two. It really gets good when I get to drop a few "you shouldn't even wear pants" comments during a given conversation. I love that we have that ability to communicate about so many different things and on so many different levels. Who knows maybe one day you actually care about the business I am in enough involve yourself in that as well. But we will save that for another time.

So now on to sports. Football season was easy. We share common interests there. Love our Badgers (for our family full of Badger girls!), both elated when we beat Ohio State, both cringed when the Horned Frogs pulled off the miracle in Pasadena. We both love the Bears and they took us for quite a ride this year. And while we argued over my love for Jay Cutler and your distaste for him, overall we were in sync all season. We both loathe the Packers and got to share the joys of despising their arrogance after the season ended in January.

We rooted on the Badgers in college basketball. Again a big victory over Ohio State and the introduction of the "trick TV watching" method that allows us to come back from big deficits so long as we aren't watching. You made my hospital stay entertaining with your cheering during March Madness for your Cinderella bracket.

That brings us to baseball season. One filled with high hopes for us both. My Brewers and your White Sox. Pundits are scattered over their opinions on both, but we both hold high hopes. It is going to cause some arguments and debates over the summer, but they will be the kind of thing we share together. I'll likely mention the 'pants" thing a few hundred times when you find little stat snippets and insights I wasn't expecting (I guess I should be expecting them by now). I'll smile when the Sox make you happy, you'll get mad when I sulk over a Brewer loss and we will both smile when our teams win. We will attend many games for both teams, with us squarely in Chicago come then pending Sox playoff run and me wishing I was able to attend more Brewer games during their September run.

For now I forgive you for turning my little girls against me on their Brewer fandom, but I had to know it was inevitable anyway. Plus I secretly love it when you all 3 have something fun to tease me about.

So if all goes well - a Sox vs Brewers World Series! We might actually need some of those separate rooms in the new place during those 2 weeks. But it will sure be a nice problem.

Thanks for sharing in all of my life my love. Not every husband is as lucky as I am and always have been. You just being you is as sexy as it ever was sweetie. I'll even refrain from dropping a "Go Brewers" in this post. But for you (and my curse withstanding as it is proven to not work in print) ---- "Go Sox!"

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.