double digits

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of meeting my husband (well, within 2 days of) and our 4th year of marriage.

Seriously.

I can't think of many things I have done for 10 years in a row, especially cheerfully and willingly.

(I have mastered waaaaaaaaay more than 10 years of eating too many cheese sandwiches and ditto on many years of not balancing my checkbook)

But 10 years of loving the same man really feels pretty easy after it is all said and done. I think, in fact, it is weirdly getting easier.  

I pay homage to how a midwestern girl and a english boy have melded their lives together and created a new one. And also created a new person too.

I remember saying that I had never met anyone like M before and it still holds true.

He is an original. A mensch. A hard worker. An energy ball. A warm heart. A cool temper. A generous soul. And now proving to be a supreme dad.

I still feel like the cat who got the cream.

happiness is ...

• crawling into bed at 9:30 with your husband, each with your books
• silky PJ bottoms
• open windows with cool breeze
• big tumblers of water on hand
• bonus scan of wee boy who is measuring 100% average/normal
• wireless connection
• 1/2 way through Orange Fiction prize winner
• 2 new amazon birth books on deck
• leisure
• all we need is the warm puppy

nine (and three)

Celebrating nine years of togetherness today. Nine feels like a hefty number. Longer than grade school. Nearly a decade. Past any 7 year itches and headed into double digits.

And we are also celebrating three years of being married to each other too. (Near to the day we met too!)

Hard to believe it has only been that long. And that it has been that long. We reviewed the places we have lived and the jobs and phases each of us has been through. And my move to the UK and how seamlessly the rest worked out. A lovely walk through the memory.

Who knew that fateful Happy Hour for LW's birthday at Sequioa in 2000 would change the very course of my life. And the cheeky English boy whose original claim to fame was that he insulted my sister's hair would worm his way into my very soul and enrich it in ways I never dreamed.

So yes, today we celebrate. And I celebrate my very own version of personal happiness.

And love.

Four years

I just looked at the calendar. Four years ago to the DAY I arrived in the UK.

I remember with painful clarity my harrowed plea at the immigration desk at Heathrow.
My whole life was ahead of me. The new life I chose.

And since then, I've worked for that life.

New career doing something I am compelled to do, which feels so right.
Marriage to the man I love and was compelled to never give up on, which feels so right.

I count my blessings today and give myself a bit of a pat on the back. I know how hard it was to get here. And I also know how easy it was too.

And today, Mark & I have the Big Flip charts out ... plotting our course and dreaming and conjuring up what's next.

Anything still seems possible.

La Dolce Vita

I am up waaaaaay too early.

And I am awfully excited by my life just now.

Let me count the ways. Warning, I include capital letters to convey enthusiasm.

1. Picking up keys for our NEWLY PURCHASED KICK ASS FLAT in Glasgow tomorrow. Yes. And I am going to be a homeowner. This is a whole entry on its own.
2. Creating in-between project with Hanna in MADISON!! Yes. Another home. Where my 40 year old self can revisit my 19 year old self. And Tom n Miri. And hopefully G and LW and Mom and Dad.
3. Divine intervention and GENEROUS BROTHER Mike helping me out with flights. Yes. And we all need help and I am grateful in receiving.
4. Gratifying CLIENTS continue to come who I love and am enriched in working with. Yes. And I am contributing financially doing something I love.
5. New tenants to our beloved Edinburgh flat are a FANTASTIC American girl from MN and her English beau, making this transition so much easier knowing our wee home will be loved. Yes. And an unexpected harmonic convergence.

Yes I am pretty much gratitude soaked and in awe of the beauty and relief of now.