I'm a Pretty Lucky Gal

Its funny how it is far more acceptable to talk about how much one's husband annoys them or does irritating things than it is to say that one's husband is a good man or a good father.  I have done my share of griping over the years but I just have to say that I married a really nice guy and I think I love him more now than I did almost 13 years ago when we got married.  

Occasionally someone will say to me that I do way too much for him.  Maybe to some people it looks that way, but he does so much for us too.  Things that maybe don't always get mentioned in the day to day small talk of "what did you do last night" type conversations.  There are many things I have learned to appreciate about him over the years.  

Teaching Joey to operate the garden tiller

Helping Natalie reel in a fish

He's a very patient teacher.  I knew this when he spent hours with me in our little boat teaching me fishing techniques while we were dating.  He has never lost patience with me or the kids when teaching one of us anything, like letting Joey help till the garden or letting the kids take turns driving the boat, even when they turn us around in crazy loops all over the lake.

Building with Joey

He's very handy.  I don't think I could calculate the thousands of dollars we have saved over the years by him doing almost all of our mechanical repairs.  This is not just oil changes on the car either.  I couldn't help but admire the way he just jumped in and tore apart our sewer system last week when the pump went out.  This was a nasty job, but he did it.  Took all the pipes apart pulled the pump up, got new parts and put it all back together.  This was in the evenings after long days at work and it was not a pretty job to do.  But he did it and he never complained.  And he saved us about $500.

Turning the sharp corners under on th roof of the rabbit hutch so the kids don't get hurt

He is always busy.  This man doesn't sit down until the days work is done.  He is always doing something.  Sometimes I have a hard time determining exactly what he's doing out in that garage of his, but if I ask, he'll show me an actual project that he did, like hanging shelves or making something for one of the kids.  This summer, he spent an entire weekend in the steamy 90 degree heat building a hutch for the rabbits that the kids were dying to get.

He is very tidy.  Since we live in a small house, this means a lot.  He likes things to be orderly just as much as   I do.  Occasionally I find socks lying at the end of the couch where he stretches out at the day's end and have to hunt for the tv remote in the morning, but not often.  He is our chief vacuum operator, and does a way better job at it than I do.

In return for all that he does for our family, yes I make his coffee (almost) every morning, bake his favorite treats and try to have things in order at home when I get there before him.

Does this mean that we have never had a fight?  No.  We have had our share of hard times and growing pains as our relationship has developed over this past 15 years.  What I am saying is that we both do the work to keep our friendship and our marriage going.  And so, maybe I do a few extra things for him.  He does a few extra things for me too, like tilling that garden that he couldn't care less about.  I'm quite certain that nobody ever got divorced because after a decade of marriage, their spouse appreciated them too much.