What I learned about my Husband today

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After almost 19 years of marriage, I love my husband mow more than ever. I never would have foreseen the journey we have taken to get where we are. I also have absolutely no foreshadowing of what's to come. But, today, after all this time, I learned something about my husband.

 If you know him at all, you know he is a man of few words. What he says carries weight because he doesn't just idly chat. He's got a wicked sense of humor, but you have to know him a long time to see it. He doesn't talk on the phone. At all. He hates it. He never answers it and it was well after we were married that he would even care to figure out how to dial long distance. When calling from places like Hong Kong, Japan, or the UAE it involved a lot of numbers and a lot of patience.

My sister Robin and I used to have a running joke about my dear hubby. Our joke was about our family cell phone plan. We had 700 minutes and we would laugh that my Mom (who's on our plan) would use well over half of them, I would use about a quarter of them and Justin would use 3 minutes. In at least 5 phone calls. We laughed about it all the time, but it was true more times than it wasn't.

Getting him to call home even while on deployment was difficult. While stationed in Guam he spent many many months in Japan. They had a system set up where you could call home for free for 15 minutes per day. I got a phone call once a month, maybe. In the days before e-mail sometimes that was hard for me. I actually had one wife tell me "Your husband must not love you as much as he should. Certainly not as much as my husband loves me." To which I had to bite back saying something really, really not nice and move on. She wasn't joking. Rude, huh? He loved me, he just didn't love the phone.

This morning his work phone stayed home due to a late alarm and a rush for the door. It had been charging all night and just didn't make the transition to the uniform before he left. Just after his departure, it started ringing. And ringing. And ringing. Between 5:30 am and about 9 it must have gone off 10 times. At one point I answered it and told the person on the other line it had left at home. They guy tells me he works in the same office and offers to have Justin contact me about the phone. He did call from work. I mentioned his phone had been going off a lot to which he replied, "Yep. That's a typical morning for me."

What? He talks on the phone for work? A lot?  A really lot from the sounds of the vibrating phone on the counter. Today I learned he is fully proficient in the use of his cell phone. He's a good manager and he's a busy guy at work. He works hard and does things that he doesn't enjoy so that others around him can have a better working environment and be more efficient. So go ahead, give him a call. He might even answer. Just don't expect a long conversation.

17 and Counting

We have been married 17 years today. Sometimes that seems like a really long time and sometimes I wonder how it slipped past me so fast. In honor of our anniversary, here's a list of 17 things I love about my husband, the best husband in the world for me.

1. He's cute. He has dimples when he smiles and I love his freckles.

2. He's his own person. He's not easily swayed by anyone, likes to figure things out for himself and then sticks to what he believes.

3. He's a great dad. He dearly loves his kids and shows me what true love really is.

4. He's funny. He makes me laugh more than anyone I know.

5. He's creative. He can think of ways around just about anything.

6. He's handy. If he doesn't know how to fix something, he looks it up and always does a great job.

7. He's a dreamer. He likes to think of new and different ways to do things, for things to look, for life to be. He has vision I have never had.

8. He's picky about what he eats. I think it's so funny when he discovers a new food he likes that he had previously decided he hated for no good reason, like trying it.

9. He's a financial master. He doesn't believe in debt, so we don't have any. He's great at planning for our future and because of him, the kids might even be able to go to college some day.

10. He's good at his job. When the 4 am phone calls come, he doesn't yell. He just takes care of things. He pulls people together for a common purpose and that makes him a good leader.

11. He's an adventurer. We often leave the house with no place in mind and have a great adventure, like getting locked in the forest. We have been amazing places exploring together.

12. He's patient. I am not. It's a good balance.

13. He has the best laugh. I love listening to it, it warms my heart.

14. He's quiet. I know some people don't list that as a good thing, but I do. He doesn't speak before he thinks and what he says, he means. If he makes a statement, there's a reason behind it.

15. He loves to make faces when I take pictures. He encourages me to develop my talent, but not on him.

16. He still thinks I am sexy. I love that he still turns his head when I walk by and tells me he thinks I am gorgeous, even when I don't feel it.

17. His family is his everything. He would rather be with a couple of crazy kids and their crazy mom than anywhere else on earth. That is one of my all time favorite things about him.

Happy Anniversary. Here's to another 17, or 70.

I miss my Hubby

"Men who know little are great talkers while men who know much say little." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

I have long maintained I married the smartest man I know. He is truly the reason for our brilliant children. If he can't fix it, re-purpose it, or work it out, it can't be done. That's not to say we have always made wise decisions as a married couple, but we have always gotten through it all together.

He's not much of a talker though. We split a cell phone plan with Mom and when the bill comes (on months he's home) his share is about 7 minutes used and I always know that's been under duress and has something to do with work. He doesn't talk much in person either, but he's very funny in a sly kind of way and gets your attention when he does speak. He's become much more affectionate in the past few years and in silence will often reach for my hand or touch my shoulder as he walks past me.

I am missing my husband this week. It's always this time in deployment when I am more than ready for him to come home. I need his strength, silent or not, I need his presence back at home. I need his reassurance, his kindness and his help. I just need him home... Most people are really sad at the beginning of a deployment, and I admit to having a bad day or two. For the most part though, the end kills me. I can't stand the waiting when I know the date is near. I just want it to be over already, I want him home.

I just want you all to know (not like I have tons of readers here) that I really think married the perfect man for me. He's my other half, and I really miss him this week. Are we there yet?