Tales of the Ordinary Days

5 year anniversary dinner A day of milestones; Garrett and my 5th anniversary and more importantly, our baby pup was 10 months old today. Along with day three in Boise, much to celebrate. We started the morning with a 5:30 am wake-up call (I like to hit the snooze button at least twice while Garrett lies wide awake upon initial alarm). The pup followed my lead without a peep coming from his crate until second snooze. After I remembered it was our anniversary, we had a solid five minute debate on how many years we have been married. I finally proved without doubt by finding the "5 Year" stamp on my TimeHop app photos via iPad (never more than an arm length away from our bed). Other than a full day of work in our new digs, with great views and lots of natural sunlight pouring into our office, the extent of our adventuring centered around a dog walk and searching for a restaurant to eat dinner. Zeke and I ventured out into the crispness of the winter morning air....

Stuff. Tonight was date night. A very nice reprieve. And as always, there's a lot of stuff going on. Dogs to walk. Kids to raise. Employees to lead. Buildings to build. Flowers to water. Stuff. Lots of stuff. There are trainers by day and long-time friends by morning. New friends sprinkled throughout. Runs in the morning. Gym dates when we can work them in. And work to get done. All the time. Kids with stuff. Kids getting older. Parents getting older. Places to see. Pictures not yet taken. Full calendars, but yards and animals that still need tending. With many invitations for stuff full of other things and other people, tonight stayed true to us with Thursday night date night. Margaritas. Chips. Smiles. Sneezes. World problem solving and just plain trying to figure out our collective seven kids. Texts from the road and the football field. School updates and planned events for the weekend. Time never stands still. Constant movement. Work together. Every Wednesd...

I have a confession to make. But before the confession, I need to preface the setting of my declaration. Tonight was date night. With date night, typically comes margaritas. And with our Thursday night margaritas, we are almost always at our favorite hang out, Roja. And at our favorite hang out, we typically run into people we know. Tonight was no exception. Walking out of Roja, we ran into Ben's previous girlfriend's mother. It was nice to see her, as she and I broke bread on many occasions over our children's three year courtship. She commented on the positive feedback she heard on Ben's Senior Studies presentation. And then she noted a comment from her daughter on omission of Ben's family in support of his very important presentation. I had no rebuttal or excuses. There was no doubt I wasn't there. And with no good reason. I went on to explain that Ben didn't want me there. He and I discussed and decided it best that I not go as I would be to...

Not the best picture, but thank-you to the 22 year-old young man kind enough to snap it (obviously I was worried about someone taking my drinks!) Four years. Seriously. Can you believe it? Four years ago today, Garrett and I went on our first date. Sounds like a typical night out. But not really. I flew to Denver. The few who knew I was making the flight were taken aback. With my last date being twenty-three years earlier, I now get their consternation. As this little story makes me smile, I think it is appropriate for me to share. So, yes, Garrett and my first date entailed me getting on a plane and flying to Denver that Saturday night, November 7, 2009. We met a few weeks previously at a conference. Garrett was the presenter. I was an attendee. We communicated by phone and e-mail over the course of those weeks. And then he asked me out. I initially laughed it off with the 550 mile distance between our respective homes. After three days of reflection, I accepted the invitat...

My boyfriend's back and we caused a lot of trouble...hey la, hey la, my boyfriend's back. We celebrated his birthday a day late. Mr. Brucker turned the big 4-8 on Wednesday. Our schedules did not allow us to be together on the actual date, so we celebrated last night instead. Garrett did remind me that he flew in on my actual birthday. Although not as worthy with the 24 hour delay, I made it up to him. We had a lot of fun. After a delayed flight, we were able to snag a couple of over-sized Roja margaritas with our favorite Mexican fare downtown. We enjoyed a windshield sunset on our drive out West and then closed out the night with a patio Corona for gift opening. Welcome to Omaha, my handsome boyfriend. And BTW...Ben says we need to get married because he doesn't like me to refer to a "boyfriend" in front of his friends ;)

Old Market libations   8:30 a.m.: Slept in (check)   8:45 a.m.: Cup of coffee from Keurig while checking a kazillion e-mails (check)   9:45 a.m.: Decision made on workout schedule. Garrett to run and a bike ride for me (check) 10:00 a.m.: Air in bike tires, water bottle prepared, sun screen slathered on face (check) 10:15 a.m.: I begin a glorious 22.29 mile ride. I met two friends riding on the trail. Weather is spectacular and I surpass my average MPH and time from previous ride (check) 11:40 a.m.: Back from the ride. Catch up with Stefano and Garrett. Hot shower (check) 12:10 p.m.: Lunch of cereal with fresh fruit. Make a list for the day. Realize that Ben didn't actually spend the night; just his car. More e-mails and reading (check) 1:00 p.m.: Plant shopping at Lowe's with Garrett. He gets a medal for his valiant participation in my flower choosing. Four pots, thirty-eight plants, one bottle of release fertilizer, one bag of grass seed, and one ...