the front seat of the plumbing truck

 is this the more adult, less scandalous version of the backseat of the car?

either way, it's one of my favorite places to be. 

smashed to the edge of the seat among old  boxes of pipe fittings, wrenches and nails. the smell of rust. of robert's blue collar made real. 

and it's not steamy, or hot. and chick-fil-a at noon, with moms and children and men on their lunch break swarming around us, is not quite makeout mountain.

but the sunshine was beating down on the dashboard and robert's arm was around me and i had a gut full of combo #1. and i declare, it was quite romantic in its own little way.

camping with an eagle scout, on his birthday

 

i married an eagle scout.

i'm reminded of this every time we take an evening walk and he points out the constellations. when he tries to teach me the cardinal directions, only to grow frustrated when i insist that north is always the direction right in front of me. he's thoughtful, considerate and most of all, prepared.

when we first went camping, the packing took days. he thought of every last detail, down to a funky light that hung from the tent and cast a pretty glow. he brought pots and pans for boiling pasta, a tarp in case it rained, and a lantern that stayed in the box the entire time.

so for his birthday, i surprised him. when he picked me up at work for our "dinner date" i showed him my car. i rose with the sun on friday morning and packed everything we would need for an impromptu camping trip at the local park. with the floorboards sighing with morning, i got his clothes and toiletries together and packed a bazillion blankets to shield us from north carolina's weekend cold front. i told him to bring pablo.

and together, we set up camp in less than half an hour. and i zipped us three up inside and held them both close as rain bounced off the tent. we talked and ate lunchables deep into the morning.

happy birthday, babe. you're the best, scouts honor.

a little humor for this weepy thursday

because i was feeling a bit weepy this morning (do you ever get that way? just weepy...i teared up over a song about trailer parks and shotguns this morning...), and because work is getting tremendous and the days are getting shorter and i need my sunshine more than ever,

i thought i'd share with you something that never fails to make me laugh.

robert is a hobbyist, and is always looking for something new to dabble in. 2010 was the year of home brewing, with concoctions bubbling away in our basement for months.

he decided to name his brew "pablale" a mixture of our dog, pablo, and ale.

and his friend kevin made this label. that is pablo riding a motorcycle. enjoy!

p.s. thank you all for your sweet, sweet messages of encouragement on my presentation yesterday. i may or may not have totally bombed it. maybe the fluency fairy got lost? she certainly visited the girl who went before me, with the killer powerpoint and over-the-top professionalism. better luck next time, right?

on love and comfort, by robert

In nine days I'll be happily married for three years. In that time I can say that Courtney and I have learned a lot about each other. Being married to and living with someone you are compatible with is an amazing thing. You have a special place where the outside world doesn't know. You also have routines that seem to make everything stable. In a relationship, stability is comfort that we sometimes overlook. 

As my relationship with Courtney has progressed, we have found our little routines in the world that seem to bring us back together. As with most people by the end of the day you find yourself sprawled out in a comfortable spot releasing that day's worries and passing the time before bed time. For me and Courtney, we started a tradition that we didn't even realize we were doing. We would both be tromping around the house doing our end of the day routines and we would end up in this one spot. It was a place that only we knew. A safe place - calm and quiet.  It was a everyday spot that became a refuge from our worries and cares. It was where we left everything else behind. It was just us. This place is called "the nook." Its about two feet to left of my spot (which I have not named yet.) 

I love my wife very much but I think I love her even just a little bit more when she is in that spot.