How I Met My Husband

Jumping on the bandwagon, following Jen and Shannon's leads...

1. Where/how did you meet?

I'd gone to Hawaii to visit a friend living there who was moving back home. She'd known Mr. LT for a while when she'd lived in Honolulu (she'd subsequently moved to Maui). The day I flew into Hawaii, Mr. LT happened to call her, because the Coast Guard boat he was stationed on was doing exercises off the coast of Maui, he had the night off, and he thought she might want to come hang out with him and his friends in Lahaina. She told him I was coming to town, and that we'd see them at Moose McGuillicuddy's later that night. So I met him the first night I was in Hawaii.

2. How long have you known each other?

Fifteen years, 7 months, 16 days.

3. How long after you met did you start dating?

Pretty much immediately.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged?

3 months. Kind of. By this time, we'd already started making wedding plans for a January, 1993 wedding, but the rest of the world thought we were crazy, and we had decided to postpone the January wedding and wait a while. But then, well, honestly, I got knocked up with Burger, and we hated being apart, and it just seemed right to get married after all. So we'll say three months.

5. How long was your engagement?

6 weeks.

6. How long have you been married?

15 years, 2 months, and something like 24 days.

7. What is your anniversary?

November 21, 1992

8. How many people came to your wedding reception?

About 40.

9. What kind of cake did you serve?

White cake with cream cheese and raspberry filling.

10. Where was your wedding?

We were married in the house where I grew up.

11. What did you serve for the meal?

We had all sorts of finger foods - a cocktail reception. I just remember fabulous beef tenderlion slices and stuffed endives. The rest is a blur, although I know my mom and I spent a considerable amount of time and energy figuring out what we wanted the caterer to do.

12. How many people were in your bridal party?

None, formally. My friends Bernadette, Lisa, and Erin were there and I felt like they were my bridal party.

13. Are you still friends with them all?

Bernadette and Lisa are still amazingly precious to me. Erin I talk to once or twice a year, and she's very special to me too. I do thank her for introducing me to Mr. LT (she was the friend in Hawaii).

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony?

Mr. LT does not cry. There might have been a small tear at the corner of his eye, but I am sure he would say there'd been something caught in his eye.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day?

Just walking to where Mr. LT was standing waiting for me. My mom walked me down the "aisle", and I just remember it all feeling magical.

16. Any funny moments?

um.... I forgot about shoes and Berna and I lied to a guy in a shoe store (I think this was actually the day before the wedding, but it's fuzzy) and told him that my dog ate my shoes (which was actually entirely possible, because my dog at the time, as wonderful as she was, ate way too much of my stuff) and he took pity on me and had a pair dyed super quickly. Also, when Berna and I went to get my wedding cake, they'd put these crazy column pedestals between the levels when I'd specifically wanted the tiers resting on one another. They'd also "touched up" the ivory basket weave frosting with white frosting for some unknown reason. I freaked out and made them fix it. I guess those aren't really funny, but that's all I've got.

17. Any big disasters?

Big? No. We were supposed to use my parents' wedding rings for our rings, but one of the rings couldn't be found, so Mr. LT ended up spending our wedding day (or was it the day before? Sigh) searching for rings. Good thing we had an evening ceremony.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon?

We drove from coast to coast - I'm from the east coast, we moved to the west coast (Alameda, California). We never had a "real" honeymoon.

19. How long were you gone?

Once we left, we stayed gone.

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change?

The saddest thing about my wedding day is that Mr. LT didn't have anyone there for him - his parents and friends couldn't make it east. If I could do it again, I'd have found a way to get them there for the wedding. We did have a second reception at his parents' house in California once we made it west, but it would have been better had he had someone at the actual wedding itself.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on?

The right side. But we do switch off every couple years.

22. What size is your bed?

King size. We're both big spread-out sleepers and would kill one another in anything smaller.

23. Greatest strength as a couple?

We are in this together, and forever. We both want to be here.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple?

Jen says that she and Mr. liw(asai) are the most stubborn people, but we might have them beat. We're both stubborn, pig-headed, and quick to anger. Sigh.

25. Who literally pays the bills?

I do.

26. What is your song?

"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton

27. What did you dance your first dance to?

"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton

28. Describe your wedding dress.

Ivory. Long sleeves. Cocktail length.

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding?

I have no idea. I know there were roses. I forgot about flowers (hey, I had six weeks to plan this thing. I know I forgot stuff.), so my mom ended up going out on our wedding day to Behnke's Nursery and getting a couple lovely arrangements and a gorgeous bouquet. I love Behnke's and wish they were nation-wide.

30. Are your wedding bands engraved?

No.

Ringing Phones and Other Things

Our listing agreement with our realtor here in California expired yesterday, and weve had ten phone calls from other realtors so far today, with all of them wanting us to relist with them. The first guy was a huge jerk, woke me up before 8 am (7:17, to be exact) and then was rude when I told him I didn't appreciate the phone ringing before 8 am. I wish I hadn't been sound asleep when he called so I could remember his quote. Unfortunately, he doesn't answer the phone number that shows on caller ID, or we'd have had another conversation by now. Hell hath no fury than a woman woken up early on a day she could have slept in.

So... what are we doing about the house situation? Well, right now (hysterical laughter in background) we're just waiting. We cancelled the contract on the house we'd wanted in Bend because we felt like we were doing a disservice to the owners by keeping them hanging on - we know how much that sucks. I know they were disappointed, as we are, but there wasn't more we could do. We'll have a mad dash to figure out things if this place does close, but we can always move in with Mr. LT's mom for a little while while we sort things out, if necessary. We'll cross that road when/if we come to it.

In the meantime, poor Zippy is sick again - she'd been sick-ish all last week and last night her fever was 103 or so - some Motrin and a cool, wet washcloth on her head made things better. The fever came back again this morning, so we gave her more Motrin and it came right back down. She was still zipping around the place like she's fine, and grandma wanted her, and she had to see grandma, so Mr. LT and I drove her over there and then went and had a nice breakfast together, just the two of us. Yay!

Today is Columbus Day, so we will hear nothing about the house today. Patience. I guess.

Zen and the art of annoyance

Things have been sorta stinky lately. On top of the house mishaps, Zippy, Burger, and I seem to be catching every little bug out there these days. Burger missed an entire week of school because she was sick, and the Zipster and I have both been whining, "I don't feel good" all week long (except I'm gracious enough to whine in my head, unlike Zip who feels the need to restate her current level of health every two and a half minutes. We get it. Really.)

Mr. LT has somehow avoided all of the muck. He's generally much more stoic than the rest of us anyway (something about testosterone), and would ignore most illnesses anyway. When he goes down with something, you know it's bad. But usually he'll just power his way through a cold. I admire that capability, except in cases where it makes me look like a wuss.

Frankly, I'm tired right now. Tired of the daily good news-bad news game with the house. Tired of the germs that seem to be picking on us. Tired of not knowing where I'll be living in a week. Tired of Burger whining that she HAS TO finish her freshman year of high school here now that she's started. Tired of Zippy telling me she needs jelly beans right now or she'll die or something. I guess the bright spot here is that I'm only irritated with 2/3 of the other people who share my home instead of being three for three.

Why am I so cool with Mr. LT? Well, right now Mr. LT (who, like me, has a quick temper) is being cool as a cucumber. We're both oddly Zen (should Zen be capitalized? I think so.) about our housing situation at the moment, but I do fear that we're both just a nudge away from screaming at the closest realtor we see.

We're just trying to breathe. Ommm.

The Man

Not to make anyone sick or anything, but I have to mention how much I love my guy. He just called from the road - they've already been through Sedona this morning and had stopped in Prescott for breakfast. As I mentioned before, his mom was going to watch the girls tonight, but he'd now like them to be here, as he's missing his Zippy and Burger fix.

Maybe it's wrong that we don't get to spend enough time alone with just the two of us, but it can't possibly be wrong that we both adore hanging out with our kids.