Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Til There Was You

Today we celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary.

In total, John and I have been together for 11 years. For those of you who don't know, we used to work together, back when I did laboratory research. I will never forget the shameless flirting, the secret glances, etc. Everyone that worked there was young and fun. There were happy hours, parties, etc., at least once a week. That's pretty much how things got started for me and John: at a drunken New Year's party. While it doesn't sound romantic, it was. We shared a New Year's kiss. John said, "You know, this changes everything." And it did. We tried to keep things light and all that, but it was all for naught. We were inseparable and the rest is history.

I was thinking about our time together and I can honestly say the bond between us is stronger now than it was back then. And that bond has gotten its strongest because of everything we have been through in the past year. The one good thing that has come from all the pain is that we are unbreakable and we can get through anything as long as we're together.

Amor vicit omnis. It's Latin for 'love conquers all." That's what is inscribed on our wedding bands. We had already been through a lot by the time we got married and now, 9 years later, we are stronger and happier than ever. And while I don't know where our path will lead us, I do know I will be there with my best friend, my partner, and my love.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Everyday

I can't believe I used to blog everyday. I used to write a lot about nothing. Maybe that's why no one reads this ;)

Things here have been good. The year anniversary came and we had a nice, family day. We took a ride out to Lake Linganore and drove around there for a while. We had never really been out that way. It felt like we were hours away from the craziness of where we live, but it was really only about 45 minutes north of here. On the way home, we picked up a hydrangea bush to plant in the memory of our lost baby. I wanted to plant something that would bloom at this time of year and hydrangea seemed to really feel right. I had a lot of hydrangea in our wedding flowers and in my bouquet and I love the color. It made me feel a little better to plant that and look at it each day since.

A week after the anniversary we headed out of town for a much-needed vacation. We went to Duck, NC with 5 other families. We rented a house with a million rooms and there were about 20 of us there. We were a little apprehensive about how it would go with all those people in one place. But we had an absolute blast. Everyone got along, all the kids and all the adults! We weren't in each other's pocket the entire time as everyone kind of did their own thing throughout the day and we all congregated at lunch and dinner time. It was a really great time. We were all a little depressed when we left. Keller was silent for at least the first hour of the drive home.

August flew by in a blur and before we knew it, it was time for Keller to start kindergarten. He is still at the same school (Goddard School) and not in public school kindergarten. Montgomery County has a cut off that kids need to be 5 by September 1st. You can test the kids early if their birthday falls between then and October 31st, I think. We decided not to test Keller. While academically, he'd be fine, we didn't feel he was really mature enough and ready for school. Everyone we spoke to said that giving him that extra year would be better for him in so many ways. So we did. And it just so happens that Goddard has an accredited kindergarten program so he'll receive everything and more of kindergarten this year. Then next year, if we feel he's ready, we can start him in 1st grade. Or he'll do kindergarten again. Whatever works for him.

I had a hard time dealing with him starting kindergarten. He is such a big boy now. He's his own person and does his own thing. I cannot believe my baby is turning 5 in a week. Time really does fly by and no matter what you do, it keeps on ticking. I've really tried to enjoy life more and really be present in the moment. So much this past year I wasn't present, I was phoning it in and just couldn't deal with things. But I finally feel present in my own life again. I can only thank Keller and John for that since they're the reason I need to be present. I don't have forever with them and I need to get my time in with them while I can. Wow, this post certainly became much more serious than I intended.

Anyway, thanks to those that still read this blog. I'll try to post more often!