Lucky Thirteen

Today is my anniversary. Galen and I got married thirteen years ago today.

Thanks!
[Assuming you, the reader, have just mentally said, "Happy Anniversary!"]

Nothing big. We've had a lot going on the past several weeks and decided to keep things very low-key this year.
[Now assuming you've just asked, "What are you doing to celebrate?"]

I decided this morning it might be kind of fun (...for ME, at least. Mildly irritating to others.) to update my Facebook and Twitter status every couple of hours or so throughout the day with "Thirteen years ago today, at THIS time, I was..."
I can't wait for 5:45. At 5:45 on September 21, 1996, the ceremony was over, we were pronounced "husband and wife" and began our recessional down the aisle, our first walk as a married couple. I will never forget that walk together. The ceremony preceding was beautiful and wonderful, but I admit, parts of it all are a bit hazy. I think adrenaline and nerves surrounding a big event will do that to you. But the reason our recessional walk together is so vivid, is because it was that moment when a loud, bright realization hit me - hard - and these words went through my entire being like an electric shock to my soul:
"What the hell did we just DO?!? We just got MARRIED!!!"

I can almost hear you laughing, confusedly.
I can also almost hear you saying to yourself some variation of "Well, no duh, Blakely, 'you just got married'... it was your WEDDING DAY!"
Yes, I get that. I get the whole "wedding means getting married" thing, believe me.
But, you know, despite the weeks of planning for it, talking about it, thinking about it, praying about it, pre-marital counselling, eating, breathing, sleeping it... it was THAT moment, walking back down the aisle on Galen's arm... a minister just moments before finalizing our status before God, sealing us together in the most sacred of ways... that it just HIT me: I really, truly and sincerely MARRIED. We did it. For the rest of my life, no matter what God puts before us, Galen and I are... married. Wow...

Then the next thought that ran through my head was something along the lines of, "Is Galen INSANE?!?" Occasionally I still ask myself that question... poor guy.

That was a stunning realization, in the very truest sense of the words. I was joyful for it then, and I can tell you from every fiber of my being, I'm even more joyful for it all now. He was my best friend then and he most certainly still is now. I'm sometimes amazed that I can still make him laugh after 24/7/13yrs together. Can't he just predict everything I'm going to say, anymore? Doesn't he know me well enough to be bored by now? I now know what the old cliche means, "I love him more now than the day we got married." He's a good man. He's my gift, undeserved, and once upon a time, un-looked for. I not only love him, I like him, too.

Happy anniversary, Galen!

More Reece Humor

OK, OK, I do have to share this ONE story, before I log off for now...

Last Friday, I went to pick the kids up from school. As we were walking to the car, Reece pulled out a toy cell phone he'd snuck into his book bag, and started to "take a call."
He looked at the screen.
"It's my girlfriend," he sighed, slightly annoyed.
He flipped open the phone with mastery level flipping skills, to answer this pestering call from his imaginary girlfriend. The following is what I hear:
"Yeah, hi, babe. How are you?"
Pause.
"Mmm. OK."
Pause.
"Yeah. Love you, too. See you later."
Snap.
Call ended.
[sigh] "She just bugs me."

Now I've gotten pretty good, I think, at stifling laughter in certain occasions, to avoid angering, embarrassing or irritating my children.
But there are times... when it is nearly impossible... not to bust right out... in side-clutching hilarity.
This episode was most certainly one of those times.

Let's Do the Time Warp Again!

It HAS been a time warp. Just two postings after promising myself to keep this blog up on a more consistent basis, I am back after an unintentional hiatus. It was June five minutes ago, I swear. And now it's early September. I don't remember seeing the cosmic worm hole I obviously fell into, transporting me instantly two and a half months in the future. All I know is, I was in my kitchen in Ottawa on a beautiful June day, blogging away about Galen leaving his job in a matter of mere days... and NOW I'm sitting in my den in Lindsborg on a beautiful September afternoon, blogging about how all of those aforementioned plans went to pot.

Although, on second thought... I don't think I can get into the past two and half months in just a few paragraphs. It wouldn't be fair to a potential reader to REALLY get into what happened. I can give more Reader's Digest Condensed Versions, fer sher. Galen's job in Ottawa ended, not at the end of June, but the end of July. The administration kicked up a huge fuss over his announcement in June to take the lay-off and leave, and their reaction was to dangle a severance package over his head to bleed out one more month of work from him.
While all of this was going on, Galen interviewed here in Lindsborg. They loved him, he loved them, and a new job opportunity was born. To the end point - we loaded up the truck and we moved to The 'Borg. (You can sing that sentence to "The Beverly Hillbillies" if you want. We have.) And it's going okay. It's a whole new world of opportunity. Some day I might just spew forth on my continuous astonishment over Life's twists and turns. I never thought I'd live in a town this size. But it's a nice town. We've been impressed with everything. And we've been blessed. More details will emerge, I've no doubt, over the ensuing months of reflection and analysis. Just bear with me.

The individual Bunning updates I think I'll save for another blog. I have a small person here needing my attention, anyway.

To wrap up... watch out for Worm Holes.