Hockey Skates Don't Have Toe-Picks?!

Anyone who reads this blog, or even pays mild attention to us and our story, knows that Mark and I have an obsession with traditions and our own personal to-do list… a Relationship Bucket List, if you will.

Last night, we finally crossed off an item on our to-do list that has been listed for one heck of a long time! Skating together! Mark is an avid hockey fan, (I am just a regular hockey fan, but hey, I may be avid one day…) and he spent many a memorable time playing roller hockey with his friends at a local St. Charles park ground in his younger years.

Even before we started dating, way back in our email-messaging and telephone-chatting days, we had talked about how we wanted to put on a pair of hockey skates and take to the asphalt together.

We had intended to do this a long time ago, but six months into our relationship I fell on a patch of nasty winter ice and broke myself all over the place. After surgery, brutal physical therapy, and many months worth of learning to walk again, it was very obvious that “Play Hockey Together” was going to have to wait.

Though we still haven’t technically played hockey together, we were both pretty freaking stoked when he decided enough time had passed since I’ve had too much difficulty with swelling and leg cramps to give the skates a try.

So, two whole years after my surgery, he went to the closet and got the pair of skates with extra ankle support that he had bought me awhile back, and we piled the backseat of the car high with hockey gear. It was after dark, which made it a bit romantic, and there was a nip in the air – it being January and all. Finding the perfect spot to park, we then sprawled out all the hockey gear into the empty parking spot next to us. Mark kept laughing, telling me I was too cute as he watched me put on pads and more pads and skates and gloves and then I asked the stupid question of, “What happens if I fall?” “That, Honey, it what the pads are for, but if you start to fall stick your butt out.” LOL, “Okay, so what if I fall on my face!?” Unfortunately, he had no good answer for that one.

We both laugh as I try to stand up out of the car and my feet wheel right out from underneath me. To keep from falling, I grab for the door and sit back down. Give it another try. On my third try, I make it to the standing position. Then I start to skate, slowly, away from the car. Fortunately, he doesn’t laugh. He totally gets that I’m nervous as all get out about my bad leg. So I’m the only one making fun of myself at this point, thinking I look absolutely ridiculous.

So, after about twenty feet, I try to stop. “Mark! How do I stop!? There’s no toe-pick!!!” He starts laughing hysterically at me. See, I’ve skated before… but I ICE SKATE. I haven’t been on any type of roller blade since I was 8 years old and we moved to Missouri the Land of Hills from Illinois the Land of Flat Land! And even then, the roller blades had little rubber stoppers on them. Ice skating, though, I know and am good at. Before I broke myself, I’d spend hours out on the ice. Anyways, we both start laughing over my toe-pick remark and he teaches me how to stop myself by turning. I’m not great at it, but I will be :)

The goal of last night was to get me up on skates, used to balancing myself again. We spent about twenty minutes just skating together up and down the parking lot. Every once in awhile he’d flick away a twig or a rock with his hockey stick because I’m often oblivious to little things like that and he was pretty sure I’d hit one, forget to stick my butt out, and fall on the only part of my body not padded… my face.

My leg and foot was sore, but still I was a bit sad when he said “Okay, that’s enough. One more lap and we’re going home.” I was having fun. I haven’t been able to do a lot recreationally since I had fallen and it felt pretty great to be moving so fast with the wind in my face. I knew he was right, though, and pushing it would be a bad idea (especially since we didn’t know what the “morning after” would bring and what kind of skating “hang over” my leg would experience) so I opted not to argue him about it. The good thing, though, is that we know I can do it; which means, lots of skating in the future!!

At any rate, I’m a little bit less cripple than I was before :) Hopefully a future surgery to remove all the super fun gadgets that now make up my ankle and leg will get me completely cripless (Yeah, I know that’s not a word.) but at least I don’t have a limp!

So we packed up the car and headed home. He put the hockey gear away, and I started on our traditional bedtime hot chocolate. Oh, by the way, my surprise this week was a set of two matching mugs for our hot chocolate… so cute, tall espresso colored mugs with “hot cocoa” written in a pretty beige font – one for him and one for me, so we match :) When he handed them to me he said “Because it’s ‘Our Thing’!” My captain is so freaking adorable; I just can’t get enough of him!

Three Day Crisis Averted!

I’ve got such a cute boyfriend.

Mid-morning Saturday, as I am standing in the front yard watching one of my girls climb a tree, my cell phone rings. I reach into the pocket of my favorite Fort Myers Beach hoody and read “Captain” across the screen of my phone. Yay :) Upon my answering, Mark informs me that he has left retirement party numero uno and has just driven past the site of our first date. Therefore, he is thinking of me and missing me and he is coming to see me. I am one happy 24/3 nanny-lady! A surprise visit was not on our weekend schedule and we weren't completely separated for three whole days after all! We run a few errands with the girls, and then the two of us have a lovely little lunch while the kids play in the other room. After a few hours he has to leave for retirement party numero dos and the girlies and I are off to get my lovely vehicle a new set of tires. Sad face. Kisses, hugs, “I already miss you”s… and we are back to square one until Sunday night.

Or should I say Monday morning. Mark tried desperately to wait up for me on Sunday night, but his sleep got the best of him around 11:30 and I didn’t walk through the front door until after midnight. Bosses flight delayed. Bummer, but whatchya gonna do ‘bout it. So, I put the groceries in the fridge/freezer/cabinet, brush my teeth, trip over a jumble of our shoes in the dark, and slide into bed. He’s sort of awake because his breathing changed and he snuggled into me, but we were both way too exhausted to acknowledge my arrival home in any elaborate fashion. (I later felt very guilty about my exhaustion when I wake up and realize I had received a text from my mom shortly after 1 a.m. stating “Just wanting to make sure you got home safely. Love you!!!” Oops. Needless to say, I called Mama as soon as Mark’s SUV pulled out of the driveway.)

Monday morning felt like jet lag. We both lay there, not moving, talking softly to each other like there was someone else in the house we didn’t want to wake. Then, as we concluded our little mini separation with survival and a great sense of relief, life gets back to normal… eggs, oatmeal, lunch packed, snack packed, lunch box love letter zipped into top compartment, briefcase, and he’s out the door. Alone again with four hours until I have to be at work. So I go to the grocery store (we are out of dish soap), I cook, and I clean – somewhat – and I chat on the phone with Mama and my best cousin forever Jen the BCF.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention the surprises I got last week. Two cook books (in love with cook books!) and a long cream wool sweater handmade in Ireland. SO can not WAIT to wear it for St. Patrick’s Day this year! Not only is my boyfriend cute, but he spoils me too!

Separation Anxiety

So here’s the deal, sometimes I flop like a fish in my sleep. Long ago, Mark discovered that if he puts his arm around me I will settle down and stop flopping. I usually don’t wake up when I begin to flop, but last night I was a bit restless and so when Mark snuggled his arm around me and tugged me in closer I was already half-awake. I laid there for awhile, in and out of sleep, listening to him breath. I love the way his breath sounds when he’s asleep… so relaxed.

I believe the cause for the lack of my own relaxation was in due part to the fact that we will be spending the next entire three days apart. (I’d say this would have caused a lack of relaxation in Mark as well, but nothing keeps that man from his sleep, haha!) We haven’t been apart that long since June of 2010 (Yes, I know it is ridiculous that I literally know the exact date we were last separated for any significant matter of time… I’m that crazy). Though we will survive, and we both have plenty of lovely things to keep us busy these next few days… I am on 24/3 nanny duty while my bosses gallivant gleefully in the Dominican Republic and he has a slew of retirement and graduation parties that I would have otherwise attended… our short separation was clearly on both of our minds last night as it was mentioned by us both on more than one occasion. It did not, however, interrupt our Thursday evening traditions – workouts, dinner, an episode of Highlander, good conversation on the couch, and our usual evening conclusions of hot chocolate and whatever novel we are currently reading together. (Swiss Family Robinson)

It seems that right when I decided to fall back asleep the joyful beep of the alarm goes off. Is it 3:30 a.m. already? Really? Well… crap. I go to turn off the alarm, but my handsome captain pauses me with hugs and kisses and we playfully argue over whether or not he is going to go start and load my car with all my stuff for me. His dire need for sleep allows me to easily win this one, and as he lays back down I turn off the alarm and, after more kisses and gushy love talk (which, by the way, I found absolutely eye-rolling before I met him) I slide off my side of the bed and in less than ten minutes am driving down I-170.

They say that absence only makes the heart grow fonder. :)

Wow, this is a super late post...

Procrastination. It won’t surprise me if that word is found at least once in most of our blogs. We are really good at it.

Lots has been happening, hence why lots has not been posted. The holiday season is busy busy busy. Alas, with the beginnings of a new year, life is slowing down (for the moment… ask me again next week), and I’ll take a few moments now to bring ya up to speed on everything that has been happening. I’ll try to condense the list and put it all in chronological order, but I make no promises unless I can keep them…

1. The Muppets Movie is great. Especially when you get in for free; at least almost, because we brought in canned food. We got two free tickets for a future show, so I see a date night in our near future ;)

2. We took our annual trip to the Our Lady of the Snows Shrine to view the Christmas lights with Mark’s mom and brother. A friend came with us this year :) Afterwards, we enjoyed a yummy meal at Cracker Barrel. It really is a fantastic restaurant; I’ve never had a bad experience at any of the many I’ve dined at. Mark and I brought home two bottles of Stewart’s Diet Root Beer, which we fervently enjoyed later the next day. Mmmm, pop!

3. In mid-December I got an email from Mark asking me to please come home after work instead of going to the family compound as I had already scheduled. He had a surprise for me. :) So, home I went. We got all dressy and he took me to The Touhill for a Christmas concert. We spent the night listening to both the choir and the orchestra… just beautiful! A definite way to get into the Christmas spirit.

4. We went to our first ever Ugly Sweater Christmas Party. Had a good time, and loved seeing my bestie and meeting her new sweetie. At the party, we played the game headbands. Mark was a mustache… which we laughed over because I hate facial hair… and I, of course, was an angel… which wasn’t that funny because I am one… ;)

5. We decided to send out Christmas cards this year. My mom drove out to our house, and the five of us (my aunt and cousin came along) spent a little while taking pictures at Souix Passage Park. Afterwards, we got pizza from Canollis and visited. Mark read the Dinasour Numbers book about a million times, per Ellie’s request.

6. Mark and I hosted our first ever Butler-Stewart-Fetters family Christmas party at our house. It went rather perfectly and was a fantastic reason to clean our house! Nana, Mom, and Daddy saved the day by helping me immensely in the kitchen and all family seemed to enjoy talking and laughing and getting to know each other a little more. Mark noted that he was especially appreciative of me not freaking out on him over his mistake in thinking we had a punch bowl – we ended up having to use the giant orange “Happy Halloween” bowl we use to pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters. LOL!

7. I took two days off of work prior to my longer vacation over the holiday week, and we went house hunting… for another rental. Note to anyone selling your house – You should not smoke. If I pull up to your house, and I see through your window that you have a lit cigarette in your mouth, I will be viewing your home merely to be polite. Your chances of us buying it have already been lost. As soon as we walk out, I will turn to Mark and simply say “not happening”. I will not spend another four months painting and repainting over the smoke scum that you have allowed to pollute your house. That is all.

8. Though for a few days there it looked like Christmas was a stress bomb just waiting to go off… our holiday actually turned out really pleasant and stress-free. Christmas Eve Mass was pretty great for a few reasons:

a) We got there super early and were able to sit close to the altar – which I always prefer.

b) The altar boy had a difficult time with the candles. First he lit them, then he defused them out, then he couldn’t get the middle candle out so he tried to blow it. He was too short so the candle flickered on. Eventually, a taller altar boy appeared and blew out the candle. Then, when the priest walked by and discovered that the candles were not lit, he relit the candles that the altar boys had worked so hard to defuse. Everyone was laughing. It was freaking funny.

c) By the end of the Mass, the priest was falling asleep in his chair. His head kept bobbing up and down until finally he awoke and realized he still had to close the Mass. Mark and I couldn’t help entertaining ourselves over it.

d) They announced we were going to sing my favorite Christmas song. SCORE! Then they announced we were going to sing it in Latin. DANG NABBIT! And then we sung it again in English. SCORE!

e) I looked good in my new dress. lol

Christmas day was spent with our entire family at three different locations that really were not located that close to each other. (I thought this was going to be the stress bomb exploded – you try making two different families, made up of several smaller families, happy all at once while trying to make sure YOU have a good Christmas at the same time… it can be a real AHHHHHH kind of experience! One I am still not so quite used to and fear I will eventually become an expert in.) It was busy, but all of it was fun, and none of it was chaotic. I didn’t feel one bit of anxiety all day. We simply enjoyed everyone and everywhere we had to go. Oh, and Mark and I got each other some pretty awesome stuff for Christmas: among other things, his big gift was tickets to a Blues-Blackhawks hockey game, and my big gift was tickets to the Casting Crowns concert. We are always thinking alike ;)

9. Since we’ve started dating, Mark has been threatening (in a kind of cute, teasing way) to grow a beard or a goatee (yuck!) and after Christmas he decided not to shave. He kept calling 2012 “The Year of the Beard”. I was not liking it. The five o’clock shadow I don’t mind too much. In fact, in a rugged way I sometimes like it on him… but a full blown beard? No thanks! The Year of the Beard fortunately ended around 2 a.m. the morning of New Year’s Day, when Mark finally shaved before we went to bed. So The Year of the Beard only last two hours. A great start to a new year!

9. Mark got a runny nose.

10. Mark also go a flu shot. I did not. So, don’t kiss your boyfriend when he has a runny nose. You’ll end up with more than a runny nose. I was sicker than a dog with the flu for seven days.

That pretty much concludes this post. Mark and I spent the last several days of 2011 and the first few days of 2012 at home, for the most part, soaking up some quality time – watching movies and football, eating turkey chili and lemon chicken pot pies, sleeping in and taking naps. It was rather wonderful.