I’m not doing Friday’s Feast this week because the questions didn’t inspire anything in me. Anyway, I have something else I’d rather write about.

This weekend – technically Saturday – is my 12th anniversary. Our 12th anniversary. Fuzzy’s and mine. We’re celebrating tomorrow by playing hooky and going to the Zoo. Not the usual idea of a romantic day, perhaps, but romance is in the details: holding hands as we walk, the fact that he still flirts with me, flowers when we go grocery shopping, rearranging my office furniture after a twelve-hour work-day…the list goes on.

Anyway, we want to see the tigers.
We both like tigers.
Especially Fuzzy.

As for presents – I told him not to go crazy this year, that all I wanted was flowers, and I even enlisted my mother so that he’d get something simple and not a fussy bouquet, but I saw the debit card payments and he spent more on flowers than I spent on his gift, though I have to say, his is way cooler. He almost never reads my blog, but if I tell you what I bought, it’ll be the one time he DOES read it without me saying, “Hey, go read what I wrote.”

12 years. It seems like nothing, and forever. Some days I love the whole marriage thing. Others, I still wish we had separate apartments with a communicating door. As I get closer to 40 (a little over three years), I’m becoming more torn about the whole breeding thing. I mean, there’s a part of me that whispers about having a child, and then there’s a part of me that whispers back about how I can’t even share an OFFICE with the man I’m married to, and I don’t even particularly LIKE children, but then the first part whispers back AGAIN that it’s different when it’s your own.

But back to the romance.
Romance is way more fun.

After 12 years of having to specify brands on the grocery list because he still has no clue what brands we buy of certain things, and having to always be the one who puts the toilet paper on the roller and walks the two feet from the counter to the recycling bag with HIS empty soda cans, and remembers to call HIS mother, and is in charge of all bill paying and letter writing, the obvious question, half in jest, is “are you renewing the contract for another year?”

But how could I not? How could I not be totally in love with this man who let me take the leap into freelancing even though it cut our income by a third, because he couldn’t stand to see me come home from BigFinancialCompany in tears, who tells me I’m smart and talented, even when I feel like it’s a struggle to write a single sentence, who comes with me to CSz every weekend because he’s that supportive, and who gave up his bonus last year so I could have a new laptop?

Okay, he doesn’t buy me jewelry, but if there’s something I want, he just smiles and says, “if you think we can afford it, get it,” and when we were in Spring, TX, a few weeks ago, he held up a beach towel so I could change clothes in the parking lot without flashing everyone, and he buys Ruffles because I like them, even though he prefers Pringles.

Changing your preferred brand of potato chip is real love.

And after twelve years – I should know.

My friend Elana is doing the Walk for Hunger to help support Project Bread. She’s asking for sponsors, so go visit her walk site, and give her some money!

Thirteen Things about MissMeliss 13 Songs Almost Always Stuck in My Head “Let Me Entertain You” – Robbie Williams – Heard it for the first time at a skating show, and it’s stuck in my brain ever since. It’s snarky and energizing. I like those features in a song. “Downtown” – Petula Clark – It’s retro enough to be funky, but it’s flirty and fun as well. Also, it sits perfectly in my range. “How Strong Do you Think I Am?” – Alexz Johnson – I like the imagery of the lyrics in this tune from the show Instant Star: “Am I a rock, or a rose, or a fist, or the breath at the end of a kiss?” “Stars and the Moon” – Jason Robert Brown – It’s no secret that JRB is my favorite composer of the modern era. This was my introduction to his music. I like that he tells stories in his tunes. “Lovers Concerto” – The Toys – This song is silly and fun, and always makes me smile. Plus, it’s based on Bach’s Minuet in G. “You’re So Vain” – Carly Simon – I learned this in the front seat of my Mom’s old Duster when I was too small to understand the lyrics, other than the line. “I had some dreams – they were clouds in my coffee.” That lyric still sticks out for me. “Joy to the World” – Three Dog Night – I think I first encountered this on the show ZOOM when I was a kid. It’s kicky and fun, and totally carefree. “Video Killed the Radio Star” – The Buggles – Another silly song. We use this in the show-opening mix at CSz, and I now associate it with the official start of an evening there – even though it comes on about half an hour before door. “Perfect Fingers” – Tami Greer – From the soundtrack of the movie Better than Chocolate. It’s folksy and bluesy, and completely seductive, but sweet, too. “Defying Gravity” – from the musical Wicked – It just speaks to me. “Unwritten” – Natasha Bedingfield – Anyone who’s ever stared at a blank page – literal or figurative – should understand why this song resonates with me. “A Little Bit in Love” – from the musical Wonderful Town – That Bernstein, he knew from music. This song is just so lyrical and happy – it makes me wish for a twirly skirt and a sunny day. “Bitch” – Meredith Brooks – Three days out of the month this is my anthem. The rest of the time, it’s…one of many.

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