Hold on, let me do the math to make sure I am getting the numbers right…
17 years ago today, my best girl and I stood on an alter in front of most of the people we know and pledged our love for each other and said “I do” and got married.
That’s right, folks. Today is our wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary to my brilliant, beautiful, amaze amaze amaze bride Jen. I love you, sweetie. I love you a little more each day, and after 17 years that’s a whole ton of love!
18 years ago today I got down on one knee and asked the love of my life if she would marry me.
Even after all this time, I am still shocked that she said yes. I mean, I knew she was going to say yes. We had talked about it quite a bit before the moment actually came. It’s just that I had lived 37 years being solidly convinced that I was never going to find anyone and I was going to be alone forever and then suddenly here I was popping the question and getting a “yes” in return. It was fucking amazing.
I don’t think we’re doing anything special to celebrate our 18th proposalversary. I’m planning on making hamburgers for dinner, which is always cool. I do tend to set off the smoke alarms when I cook burgers in the kitchen though. Cross your fingers for no issues.
Tomorrow evening we’re going to see a Star Wars movie because my childhood obsession still burns brightly and I cannot function in a world where a Star Wars movie is in the theaters and I have not seen it. Here’s to The Mandalorian and Grogu. I have remained utterly free of spoilers and reviews thus far. I just have to stay that way for about another 31 hours. Cross your fingers for no spoilers.
Yesterday I tried to use a post here to alter space and time so that my film photos would get developed, scanned, and uploaded to The Dark Room’s site. It didn’t really work. If it had the pics would have been available immediately. Instead, I got the notification overnight. It was after 1:00am, which means someone in California was putting in a late night. Your hard work is appreciated. I won’t be able to share anything until I get them downloaded, run through Apple Photos, then uploaded to Flickr. Suffice to say, my new camera works.
In closing, allow me to stand in front of the universe of the interwebs and once again declare my love for my bride, Jen. I would propose to her again in a heartbeat. I love her like crazy. Our actual wedding anniversary is a little more than a week away. Another chance to shout my love from the virtual rooftops.
Love you, sweetie.
What are your two favorite things to wear?
Daily writing prompt
Not a lot of substance with today’s question. It’s an easy answer but it won’t generate much discussion from me. I’ll see what I can do though.
They are asking for my top two, but to give a full response I need to up that to my top three. Jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. That’s it. Weekend/telecommuting attire at it’s finest. As casual as casual gets without wearing shorts. That’s me, Mr Casual Man.
I don’t mind dressing fancier, I just don’t like doing the work. I’ll wear a suit when I have to, but ties are a pain in the ass and I hate them. Once they are on and tied I deal, but getting them on frustrates me and sort of ruins my mood. Having said that, I don’t mind tuxedos, but only because I generally look damn good in them. Well, I did look good in them. I haven’t worn one since the weight loss surgery so I cannot say for sure, but it used to be true that the tux look was a good look for me.
The wedding invite says to dress fancy casual. I’m wearing a suit… without a tie. A scandal!
Also… I’m wearing… sneakers.
Blasphemy!!!
The reason we’ve traveled up to Bar Harbor, ME is to go to a wedding. The wedding is late this afternoon. Right now it’s 8:40am and I’ve been up for three hours. Jen and Bellana are still asleep. I showered, had my morning vitamins, had my breakfast protein bars, and have watched a couple of Doctor Who episodes (new series, season eight, episodes nine and 10, and 11 is running as I type this).
We’re more or less shit out of luck for touristy things today. It’s raining out. Lots of rain. Serious rain. No Acadia National Park sight seeing today. No wandering around downtown today. I’m not sure what we’re going to do, apart from getting ready for the wedding and all that fun. It’s going to be a good time tonight, but until then it might be a little on the extra low-key side.
weather be damned, it’s going to be a good day.
3.5 hours left in the work day. I started lunch late today so I am still on break. Just throwing out a lunch time post while I still can.
My wife’s friend and former co-worker is getting married this weekend and we, along with my step daughter, are going. The wedding is in Bar Harbor, ME, which is about five hours from home. That means we’re going for the weekend. We took tomorrow (Friday) and Monday off for the drive there and back, and then we’re spending Saturday sight seeing and going to the wedding on Sunday.
One thing on Saturday’s agenda is Acadia National Park. Expect lots of photos. My mirrorless camera is going on the trip, and so are both film cameras. One is loaded with color film right now, the other with black and white. Variety, right?
I am super looking forward to this little get away. Jen and I visited Bar Harbor once many years ago and it was beautiful and I have always wanted to go back. Now we’re finally going.
Three hours and 28 minutes to go until I can sign out of work. That’s 208 minutes. That’s 12,480 seconds. So close, yet so far. I still need to pack tonight, including charging camera batteries and grabbing some extra film. I can’t wait, gentle readers. I can’t wait.
14 years ago today, Jen and I said, “I do.”
There have been countless wonderfully happy days since then, but that day still stands out as the happiest. I love her more today than ever before.
Happy anniversary, Jennifer my love.
I’ve written about this before, but when it comes to weight loss and the after effects of weight loss surgery, my wedding ring sort of acts as a canary in a coalmine.
The day after the wedding, while at our first honeymoon stop at a bed and breakfast in Woodstock, VT, my wedding ring fell off in the shower. I had lost a little weight since the ring fitting and my hands were soapy and pow, the ring fell to the shower floor.
For the first few months of our marriage, I would take off the ring before getting into the shower, or doing anything that involved soap and a drain. After a few months I grew into it a little and no longer needed to take it off.
By the time we get to January 2022, when I couldn’t stand the weight and the yo-yo dieting and the fluctuations and the lack of energy and the back pain and the leg pain and the general misery that my weight caused me, I really couldn’t take the ring off anymore. It wasn’t painful, but it was pretty well stuck in place.
Now, post surgery and about a hundred pounds later, it’s been slipping lately. Only when I am washing up or showering or doing something that gets me all soapy and stuff. It hasn’t fallen off yet, but it’s been close.
Close enough that when I took a shower yesterday morning, I took it off. That’s the first time since the summer of 2009. I didn’t take it off today, but only because I was in a bit of a rush and forgot to. When lunch started I went upstairs and shaved. I took it off for that. I’m reaching the point where the idea of my ring falling into a sink or shower drain is becoming real. That’s a bad thing, of course, but from a weight loss perspective it’s a good thing. It’s weird, but true.
I don’t want to resize my wedding ring. I’ll probably put a piece of tape around the back side of it to tighten it. That will work for a while at least.
Okay, kids. Lunch break and story time is over now. Get back to work.
13 years ago today Jen and I tied the knot. I say it all the time but it was by far the best thing I’ve ever done.
I love her more today than any day prior. She’s my dream come true. It’s that simple. I waited a long, long time to find her and then suddenly there she was and all was right with the world.
I love you so much Jen. Happy 13th anniversary, and here’s to many, many more.
Inside the Red Head's Head 