10 years of wedded bliss

I dug out one of my old journals from 2001 last night and read the entries from the days leading up to my wedding on August 4th. I smiled at my thoughts of excitement, anticipation and the worry that it would rain. We had an out door wedding with absolutely no plan B. Thank goodness Gerry, Marc's grandfather who had passed away earlier that year, was listening to my prayers. He turned up the heat, WAY up. It turned out to be the hottest day of the summer, a balmy 43 degrees. The humidex killed my curls but the girls at Rapunzel in Gananoque still did a wonderful job.

I remember Kir Royales shared with my girls, the photographer arriving early, the Minister not showing up at all and finally the vows over looking the water at the Glen House. The day flew by celebrating with family and friends, up until 4:30 am, drinking and dancing and then when the day came to an end, Marc lovingly removed 98 bobby pins from my hair.

My journal entry a year later was about celebrating our 1st anniversary at the same spot, eating melt in your mouth salmon and steak. We took a picture of us on the dock. In the exact same spot where we stood a year before. I had wrote that there was another couple getting married that day and that I felt sad knowing I would never do it again.

My last sentence in that entry was "I truly hope we are as happy 25 years from now as we are today". Well, I am happy to tell you there are 10 down, 15 to go. With all the love and life we've had in the past 10 I am truly optimistic for the next 15 and beyond.

And, years from now, with a thousand happy moments behind us and 2 hearts filled with lasting memories, when people ask how long we've been married I will tell them not long enough.

A Mothers love

Last night as I held my children close while we watched a movie I began thinking how quickly time was passing. They are growing up too fast and I wish I could push pause on them, just for a while, so that I could hold them close like that for a little longer.

I started wondering will they ever know how much I love them. Will they ever understand the depth of emotion and worry I have for them?

Then I thought, did my mom ever wonder that when we were little? Of course she did, she's a mom after all.

Well Mom, in case you are still wondering, the answer is yes, I do know how much.

xoxo

Going back in time

Recently, I was asked by a friend whether or not I would go back in time to re-live a moment, not to change what happened but to just be in a moment in time again. I didn't hesitate to respond, the only moments in life that I would love to revisit are:

1. The day I married the only man I've ever loved
2. The birth of my son
3. The birth of my daughter

Upon deeper reflection I remembered a hundred more memories that gave me much joy and happiness. When Marc proposed, buying our first home, when that pregnancy stick was finally positive, getting that job I wanted so badly, meeting a new friend, reconnecting with an old one, enjoying a hot cup of coffee outside on a quiet, warm morning, a walk in the woods on an autumn day, a compliment given by someone I long admired, finding a lipstick in the perfect shade. Such simple, mundane things to some but such wonderful memories for me.

A very wise man once said to me that you only get one kick at the can and as time passes you will wish you could go back to do things differently. Do it right the first time and you won't wish to do it all again.

No truer words were spoken but it is much easier said than done. However, today, I fully intend to add to the list of my moments in time that I wish to revisit. I am going to start writing them down. For when this time has passed and perhaps am wishing to have it back to do it "right", I can relive these moments and remind myself that I had it pretty good the first time.

A day without sunshine is like...night.

I really had no idea what to title this post so I went with these clever words. Funny eh?

A few nights ago at bedtime Aiden asked me what I thought heaven looked like. I wasn't sure how to respond so I went with the oldest trick in the book. Answer a question with a question.

What do you think it looks like? I asked

He thought that there would be a lot of clouds and everyone would have their own tv and you could watch as much as you wanted. And you never needed to sleep and you could play with your friends all the time, even at midnight.

I told him I liked his vision and I added that you could probably have candy for dinner every night and never get a cavity.

After a few minutes of silence he then told me he was a little worried that heaven wasn't like that at. He was scared that people just go to sleep and there was nothing except dreams in your head forever.

(....seriously, where does he get this stuff??)

I tried to explain to him that Heaven is a mysterious place and no one really knows what it's like. I told him that I believed why we don't know anything about it because all the angels are so busy having a good time up there watching tv and playing with their friends that they forget to come and tell us back on earth what it's like.

You know, I said, kind of like when you are watching tv or playing with your friends and I call you for dinner and you don't come because you are having way too much fun.

There was a very long silent moment after that and it seemed to stretch forever. So I started thinking this (and more) "OH MY GOD, what did I just say to traumatize him, why isn't he responding? I am SO screwing up my son...why don't I think carefully about my words before I speak to him about such a delicate topic? oh god, oh god...maybe I should have just dropped it, why did I have to add anything?? He's gonna need therapy for this. Should I say anything? Why isn't HE saying anything? What if I've upset him. How am I going to fix this?"

Mom?

Yes...(gulp)

If I come to dinner tomorrow when you call the first time can I have candy for dessert?

My thought process = Mom worry x 40 years
Aiden's thought process = Candy x almost 8 years.
Big difference.

What rhymes with funny?

Aiden got in trouble for swearing at school. He tells me it was a complete accident while he and his friends were playing a rhyming game. He had to find rhyming words for “chuck it”. I almost peed I laughed so hard. Parenting at its best.

So, being the kind of parents we are, Marc and I spent most of dinner telling him what other words he should be very careful with when it came to rhyming. Pluck, duck, gas, lit, fit….you get the idea. We thought making light of the situation would be better than punishing him for his mistake. Not so sure that was the wisest thing to do as dinner ended with these words.

“Mom, do I have to eat my plucking vegetables?”

Just breathe

The world is dark but surprisingly busy at 6:30 in the morning as I drive through downtown O-town to get to work. This morning was no different. Except for a bit of road rage from a middle age woman who had perfectly coiffed hair. She made it pretty clear that she was very important and her destination was far more important than anyone else.

And she was angry. I saw her middle finger go up and she was waving it around like it was a weapon.

I wonder if she had as good a day as I did. Probably not. I think anyone who starts the day with that much anger and frustration probably carried it with her for the entire day. She spent 100 times more energy on her commute this morning than I did on my daily run.

Poor her. I hope her drive home is better. For all our sakes.

Busy, busy bee

It has been a very long time since I checked in here. There has been a lot going in with me personally and the Plante Family in the past 9 months. I guess it’s too late to wish you a Happy Canada Day, Happy Halloween, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentines, or a Happy St. Patricks Day.

But…

I’m doing it anyway. Better late than never.

However, I can wish you a timely Happy First Day of Spring..

And, it’s snowing.

Yuck.