Happy 12 years

This Sunday, D and I will celebrate 12 years of married bliss, or whatever it is we've been doing for a dozen years.

We will be celebrating very similarly to how we did 2 years ago....sitting at home with yet another newborn and wondering when life will ever get "normal" again.

D and I have had our share of ups and downs, as has any married couple. The first six months of married life sucked. We, more or less, couldn't stand each other. Since we didn't cohabitate before marriage, I had to adjust to how much time D really did spend on the computer (23.5 hours per day). And D had to adjust to the fact that I wasn't his momma and wasn't going to do everything for him. Once we got our cats, and I started a Master's program, life got much better. We had distractions.

When I think back to that time, life seemed so simple, and it likely was. I spent time and energy trying to make our house into a home. It is funny to look at the blank slate that was our life in 1997-1999. Slowly life got more colorful and interesting (as did our house). We took many, many fun vacations. In our current dining room, I have prints from every place we visited prior to having kids: the Grand Canyon, Italy, Greece, Iceland, Savannah, GA., Toronto, Niagara Falls, Assateague Island.

Probably the next hardest time for us was in 2004, the year N was born. We both flipped the fuck out over having a baby. He didn't know what to do with a baby, and I didn't know what to do with a man who didn't know what to do with a baby. Plus, N had torticollis, so I had to do physical therapy on her. And get used to not being gainfully employed anymore. In the fall of that year, I had my nervous breakdown, and a month later D's dad died suddenly of a massive heart attack. We were both reeling for quite a while.

I guess life has settled down since then, although it seems like every year there has been some challenge or "life-altering event." D had emergency gallbladder surgery in 2006, my dad was diagnosed with melanoma in 2007, G was born in 2007, and then had tubes put in his ears in 2008. My dad had his colon removed earlier this year. Oh, yeah, and little Mr. Unexpected showed up 3 weeks ago.

In 12 years, we've had 2 houses, numerous refinances, a Corvette, a Contour, a Tribute, a Maxima and a Sienna. We've had 2 nieces and 2 nephews. We've replaced the washer and dryer that we got right after we married.

So lots of changes in 12 years. The best change has been creating our family....our 3 (wow) beautiful children. And 2 stupid cats (they get acknowledgment just for having been around so long).

My feelings about D have changed over the years too, but thankfully they are stronger, more loyal, more loving than they've ever been. When I get frustrated with him, I always think about the saying, Are you better off with him or without him?, and I know, without a doubt, that my life is tremendously better with D in my life.

Happy Anniversary, D. Wanna go for another year?