Archive for May, 2013

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Last night, we became Grandparents.

It definitely wasn’t the way we’d have planned it.  It’s not our oldest, who has been married for a while now.  It was the youngest, who is still in high school.

She called and told me she was pregnant around the time we got back together.  I haven’t pretended to be happy about it, but it’s important that we be in the baby’s life regardless of the circumstances.

He was born last night in the same hospital his mother was born in, and they named him Carter.  My wife made a baby blanket and we sent it, but we didn’t go out there to western Kansas for the birth.

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Sunday, April 17, 2011

Today, Ceecee finally “got” one of her “12 Days” gifts from last Christmas.

It wasn’t given late, it was actually just given way early.  It was two tickets to the musical, “Chicago,” which is probably my wife’s favorite.  She loves the movie and the soundtrack, but had never seen it performed in the theater until today.

I bought the tickets last Christmas because there was no way I was going to take a chance on them selling out.  That’s happened to us before, and this one is too important to her to risk it.

We went to a matinée show this afternoon, then I bought stuff to make a seafood dinner not too much different from what we had for Valentine’s.  I figured it worked then, so don’t fix what’s not broken, right?  Life is too good right now!

Friday, April 15, 2011

 

Yesterday was an even more stressful day than usual for Ceecee at work.  They tend to get that way the closer to the end of the school year it gets.

I knew she needed something to pick her up and I came up with an idea as the day went on.  She’s a kid at heart, so I decided to let her get out of her “grown-up” responsibilities and just let her be a “kid” for a while.

During my free period on the afternoon, I ran over to the dollar store and picked up some sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and a coloring book and crayons.

After work, we went to this little hole in the wall place downtown that has the best greasy sandwiches in town (yes, we’re not supposed to be eating that stuff) and got orders to go.  then we walked to a nearby park where I gave her the things I bought and let her “play.”

The park is adjacent to the local Double A baseball team’s stadium and we saw that they were getting ready to have a game, so we walked over and bought tickets, purely on spontaneity.  It was a great afternoon and evening of fun, and it just came out of loving her and knowing her so well.  It was simple and inexpensive, but it made memories and reinforced my love and the idea that I will always be there for her.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Hard to believe I’m still at Macy’s.  This was a “summer job” that I took in July of last year while Ceecee and I were separated.

It wasn’t that I needed the money, it was that I needed to show her that I was committed to doing whatever it took to provide and be a leader in making sure she could be secure if we got back together.  It turned out to be a very important step, but I never planned on keeping it for this long.

Ceecee is looking to make a change in her employment, too.  She’s been working as a paraprofessional at the same school where I teach.

She works with the behavior disorder students and it’s a really tough job.  They are hiring a full-time library aide for next year and she has applied for it, so we’re hoping.  As much as she loves books and reading, it would be the ideal job for her.

 

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Took our bikes down the South Creek Trail today and enjoyed the nice weather in the early part of the day.  This is one of the places where we go to train and it’s a pretty ride and a great place to run.  We also brought a picnic in backpacks so we can eat in the park after our ride.

Later today and tonight, some severe weather is supposed to move in and my wife especially still gets quite scared when there is even a chance of tornadoes.  I know this, so I got us some movies and some foot cream and I’m going to set her up in comfort for some pampering tonight to help her relax and keep her mind off the weather.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Too much stress this week at work and now a hilarious twist.

We’re giving the MAP test this week, which is Missouri’s mandatory annual state testing.  That keeps everybody on edge, and the schedule is completely disrupted, which gets the students all out of kilter, so it’s a bad combination all the way around.

So today, I get called into the principal’s office.  This usually isn’t good and I don’t know what I did, so i’m running through possible scenarios in my mind as to what the nature of the offense could be.

Did something regarding my administering of the MAP test happen?  It has before and I don’t want a repeat of that, so I’ve been extra careful to cross all my t’s and dot all my i’s.

Could a parent have called with a complaint about something?  Did I neglect some part of my duties or fail to fulfill some expectation that I’m not aware of?

No, it turned out to be none of those.  In fact, I’m quite sure I wouldn’t have been able to come up with this one no matter how hard I tried.

I was called in for PDA.  That’s what we refer to in the student conduct section of the handbook as “Personal Display of Affection.”  That’s the student conduct section, not the teacher’s handbook.

You see, Ceecee and I work at the same junior high, and apparently it’s a problem that we are, to borrow a line from Elf, “In love and we don’t care who knows.”  Yes, I got busted for PDA with my wife at school.

Now, it’s not like we’re making out in the halls or the classroom.  We do hold hands when we walk and we sit close at faculty meetings and assemblies, but I’m pretty sure that’s the extent of it.

In all fairness to the principal, he seemed extremely uncomfortable with the whole conversation, as if he realized how silly it sounded, especially after he admitted that he sometimes gives his wife, who works in our district office, a kiss when she comes to have lunch with him.  I promised to be more “professional” in the future and it’s all good.

I can’t help wondering who reported us, though, or why?  An unhappy person, I suspect, who is not experiencing the kind of happiness we are.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Eight months.

I moved into the old loft with Ceecee to end our separation on August 2 of last year.  She has become so much more than my treasure.  She truly is my queen.

My love for her continues to grow, and my commitment to learn to be the best man I can be for her and for my Lord continues growing as well.  We’ve learned so much, come so far, and overcome so many challenges in these past eight months.

Things aren’t perfect, nor can they ever be, this side of heaven.  They are better than I could even have imagined, though.

I’ll never have an answer to the question of, “Could we have gotten here without going through the things that we did, but I would never go back to where we were, and forward is the only option for where we go now.