A Little Recognition

So I suck bad at gift giving. I'm not big on Valentine's Day, and I usually end up doing something last-minute for Birthdays and Christmas and Father's/ Mother's Day. It's not that I don't think about it beforehand and know that it's coming, I just don't seem to get an brilliant ideas until I have no time in which to execute them- let's just say I think better under pressure...

Last Friday, Doug turned 34. We went out to eat and saw a movie with my parents (his idea) which was really fun. Did I buy him a card? No. Did I make him a cake? No. Did I get him a present? No... How lame am I?! I didn't even make the waiters sing Happy Birthday to him! I really did have good ideas of what to do (at the last minute, of course) and then all the kids were sick and he stayed home to help which shot both of my plans all to heck! I may still use them, though, so I won't divulge them now.

SO, in honor of Valentine's Day and my Husband's birthday, which really got lost in the shuffle of family life, I am going to tell you all what kind of guy I am married to:

1. Nearly every morning, he wakes up at 3:45am to get ready for work and walk (regardless of weather) to the MAX station and catch the train, ride it 45min to downtown, and walk (or run) to the bus station to catch the bus going up The Hill to work, so that he can work a full day (sometimes more) and still be home in time for the kids to wake up from naps and help me with dinner and baths and relieve his pregnant, tired, and sick wife, and to spend precious time with his kids. I really could stop there and I think you'd have a pretty good idea of who he is, but I'll keep going.

2. Sometimes he does the same thing on Saturday mornings to make up for time that he took off from work during the week to help with sick kids, sick Mommy, or other projects that can't get done during other times; or to work a little overtime to keep up on the workload.

3. He details my car when the rest of us are all napping, so we have something nice to drive around in.

4. Even after his long days at work, he pitches in and does dishes, baths, laundry (even folding), and scrubbing bathrooms when I haven't been able to get to them in a while.

5. He secretly gave up his portion of his Christmas present from my parents last year to buy me some new Stainless Steel kitchen pans.

6. He goes "Red Ross" (skip to 3:25 on the Youtube movie) on anyone who's dishing me extra flack. (Every girl, no matter how independent, wants a defender).

7. When the kids were sick this last week with the "throw-ups," he devotedly cleaned up all of it to save his pregnant wife from dealing with the dry-heaves from the smell. He sat patiently and sweetly with Evie for days while she was so sick and only wanted her Daddy, and got up repeatedly at night with Sterling while he was sick and closed our bedroom door so I could get some sleep.

8. For several years he has made the long commute to work downtown, received A's in his college courses, and, while we managed apartments, helped me keep up on the long list of yardcare and maintenance requests; all in an effort to make a better life for his family.

9. He keeps particularly good treats from work and brings them home for me and the kids to enjoy. How he has the will-power, I'll never know!

10. Doug's not afraid of anyone or anything! I always knew he was stubborn with an innate sense of justice, but I never knew how truly either crazy or courageous he is until we managed apartments. It didn't seem to matter how skinny he was or how big they were, he still called them to book- Big, BEEFY men! Maybe crazy... Either way, I love that he so valiant and will stick up for what's right!

11. Trials have periodically come into our marriage that neither one of us could have anticipated, but he is ever-willing to overcome seemingly unconquerable obstacles and do whatever is in his power to keep a happy and loving home and marriage. A willing heart and hands can work any miracle, simple or great.

Now for some random facts:

• Doug was a DJ for several years and has quite a large (and now outdated, but still good) CD collection. He loves music of all kinds!
• He grew up on the shady side of town and "talked the talk," so one time when he was hooked up on a blind date and they finally met after talking on the phone, she said (almost disappointedly), "I thought you were black...!" He can still bust out some pretty funny stuff if you ask him too- he does a good "Raheem," too (if you know what I mean)!
• He has no problem with me reading anything I want to him- as long as I read it. When we were first married, I was reading all the Georgette Heyer books for the first time and laughing out loud, so he made me read one to him.... and then we read all the good ones together. He calls them my Scarlet Womens books, but secretly loves them too.
• If you want to know anything about house paint, Doug's your man. He sold paint for several years, and painted during the summer- he can "cut-in" around ceilings and floorboards without a guard like no other!
• And if you want to see any ostentatious dance moves: again- Doug's your man! He has a few he made up that are fun to watch (and nearly impossible to catch him doing) and he likes to dance on pedestals at dance clubs and with the Belly Dancer at the Marakesh. Oh! And he gets tips, too! "Ev'body in the club gettin' tips!"
• Um. Serious road rage issues. Only occassionally, but he's not afraid to slam on his brakes to startle tailgaters (and his wife- I swear we're going to get shot in the back of the head one of these days). One time (in early, early marriage), he chased a guy who cut him off down the freeway doing 90 just to cut him off and give him the bird out the window. ;) He got a pretty good wakeup call from his wife (who was seething) and I've never seen him do anything like that again (at least while I'm in the car).
• Doug has had a mullet and a perm (not at the same time, thankfully- poor kid). He broke out of the mullet and clunky glasses in high school and became the major hottie with big blue eyes, super-high cheek bones, and rosy cheeks who picked me up at Institute Class. ;)
• Some things Doug came to our marriage with: a collection of hundreds of comics, a microscope kit with slides, an Erector set, a snowboard, half dozen Disney movies, blueprints he made himself, and a basketball jersey from high school that says "P. Newton."
• He dated Miss Salem (at the time) and literally dozens of Jenny's (in fact, how I'm not a Jenny, I can't figure out).
• He used to skip school with his friend and go down to the bowling alley to work on their Hook Shots- he plays a mean game with enough warm-up time!

Do you get the picture now? Pretty diverse and unique and I couldn't live without him--- road rage, and all!

Happy Birthday and Valentine's Day from your bah-humbug wife!