Husband of the Year

(Yes, the Holiday Gift Guide is still active! Go here to win!)

Around Halloween, I was having a really, really bad week. Parent-teacher conferences went great and the teachers had nothing but glowing reports on all the children. Cole is making wonderful, rapid progress and has SURPASSED all his IEP goals! We will have to re-write his IEP a full FOUR months before it is due!

Why is this bad? Based on reports from a private evaluation and more observations, we can confidently say he has mild CAS. He is also sensory-seeking, not sensory avoiding like George. I knew this and knew it was coming but it was still a punch in the gut to hear.

Then... I was nervous about George's upcoming IEP and the transition to kindergarden information it would contain. Spoiler: it went great!

Then.... the SAME week that all this was going on, another uncle of mine had surgery for cancer.

THEN... a baby in our extended family had a giant mass removed from her chest. (The mass turned out ot be benign and she recovered faster than anyone expected!)

Really, God? REALLY?! Why don't I just lay here and You keep punching me, okay?

Needless to say, I was a little stressed and alot upset. THEN... at the end of the week, Adam and I were brushing our teeth and he said, "Honey, you know that business trip I was supposed to take the weekend of the fifteenth? It was all a lie."

My heart sank and, for a split second, I thought, "He's having an affair."

(Please note that this thinking is completely insane on my part. Completely. Like I said, bad week and my anxiety was already through the roof!)

Adam confessed to me that he had been planning a long weekend away since August. He knew I had been having a bad year and that November is always an emotionally hard month. He was just going to surprise me by taking me to the airport but decided (very wisely!) that he should clue me in, seeing as I needed something to look forward to, what with more ill relatives and all.

After shrieking something like, "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THIS!!!" and "EVERYONE KNEW BUT ME?!" (Yes, they did- from my mother to my sister to my in-laws, several close friends including one I hadn't seen in ages! they all knew!) I hugged him and kissed him and made him tell me where we were going- so I could pack the proper clothes, you see.

We were going to Denver!

I was stoked and looking forward to seeing mountains- and, as I soon found out, a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. I told Adam that ten days notice was the perfect amount of time for a surprise. I had enough time to get the house and children ready and mentally prepare to leave them but not too much. It was still a surprise trip but not one I learned about at the airport (which would have REALLY bugged me and not in a good way! Besides, I want to pack my own clothes!)

My parents came to watch the kids and we were off for three fun filled days where we saw this....

Do you know what this is, dear friends? This is a MOUNTAIN. I hear-tell mountains are NOT FLAT and this is true. In fact, the whole area where we stayed was  NOT FLAT. For someone who is not an outdoors person but misses land forms with a deep ache in her soul, I was happyhappyhappy. We spent alot of time driving around, looking at the mountains, eating at local restaurants and doing a whole lotta nuttin.

For our ten year anniversary, we went to Washington, DC and stayed at a B and B. While that was perfect then, we got up early and were out of the bed and breakfast by nine am. This was fine, because in DC we wanted to DO STUFF and SEE ALL THE THINGS. In Denver, we wanted to a) sleep b)do nothing c) sleep. Oh, and be together. But, mostly, I wanted to sleep. This time, we stayed in a hotel which was perfect for staying in bed until nine am.

(It randomly turns out that Adam is an early riser. Around 6:30 Denver time, 7:30 to us, he would get up, shower and go get breakfast. Not that this was bad, as I would sleep, but we he would get back, he would try and social. Bleh!)

We drove up a mountain and went to Buffalo Bill's grave site because, why not, we were there. We also went to Idaho Springs which is just a neat town. I think it was an old mining town but now has cute restaurants and nice stores that are good for wandering around in. I even went into a Christmas store that had two adorable Holy Family statues and a cute vintage Santa. I could have spent alot of money there, and almost did, but Adam dragged me away. (Okay, I got one Christmas plaque.)

Adam wanted to go to the Coors plant, so we did. The only other scheduled thing we did was have dinner AND brunch with an old friend, C. C and I were friends in Korea and she and her sister are some of the few people I have known longer than I have known Adam. In fact, I remember telling C and her sister about meeting Adam and they were all floored since I was not they type of person to randomly meet and talk to guys! Adam finds it amusing how much alike we are- we like the same clothes and jewelry and we even randomly wore our hair in the same way. When we talked, it was like no time had passed.

This trip was just what we needed to relax and reconnect. Yeah, we came home to a broken garbage disposal and a tree down on our fence, but the kids (spoiled!) fine, the house is standing and we're getting ready to tackle the coming busy week- the someone's fifth birthday, my sister in town, the final count down to the NICU Thanksgiving.