13

My wife and I celebrate 13 years of marriage today. It has not been easy (mostly on her)...there have been a lot of ups and downs. The good news is that we have made it work despite all of our differences. God can do that.

I shopped last minute for her for a couple of reasons. The first was I had no idea what to get her. She has forbidden me to spend a great deal of money (we are trying to dig ourselves out of some debt) so I have to be creative. It is hard to buy music, videos, and clothes since she has very specific tastes and they can change on a whim.

The second was a matter of timing. Yesterday was slow at work so I left half an hour early to find her some things at Family Christian Bookstore. I was blessed in that they were having a sale on lots of things I was looking at. Only the main gift was not on sale.

After I made my purchases I headed home. My wife had not made it back from running errands yet, so I put the gifts in my office closet and started to feed the dogs. Before I could even get their food out, she was home. She asked me to do a small laundry list of things while she prepped dinner. When we were both done, we enjoyed broiled salmon and sides (noodles and lima beans). Once that was done and the dogs were fed, I went in to my office to type the small stack of receipts into AceMoney and set up a couple of bill pays. While I was in the office, my wife came in with a bag and a card.

"Open it!"

"Honey, I have not even wrapped yours yet or signed the card..."

"Okay,I will give you a few minutes." Then she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

I sign the card and realize I have nothing to wrap the gifts in. I let her know and she gives me that look that lets me know the wrapping is not important. She is just happy that I remembered.

She opens her gifts, making faces as she does so. "You don't like them, do you?" I ask.

"Oh, no, I am very happy with them. Thank you! Now, open yours."

I open my card and it is very touching. I ponder it a moment and stand it up on my desk. I look in to the gift bag and laugh. She has given me the same t-shirt I gave her, only in a different color. That is why she made the funny face.

I then see that there are two CD's in the bag, both from Kutless. One is "Strong Tower", a praise and worship CD and the other is a CD/DVD of the band live. Cool. I then realize that I got her a CD as well, Mat Kearney. Again with the funny look on her face. Okay, one t-shirt each, I get her one CD, she gets me two. However, I get her a Willow Tree figurine to add to her collection. She almost cried. I did good.

After a quick walk with Little Man, we watched "24" and then surf the web from bed until we both were too tired to stay awake any longer. I know it sounds boring, but we have vacation coming up in a couple of weeks and I we will enjoy ourselves then...we need it!