2:05 p.m. - April 10, 2006
St. Liz
If you�ve read my MySpace blog, a couple of weekends ago, it was a pretty sad time for me. I don�t really want to re-hash it, but la casa du Smed was fraught with arguments and petty bickering that put me into a big ol� funk.
Most of it really resulted in the fact that Liz and I were tired and stressed out, and the house was a mess because we were tired and stressed out, which caused us to be more stressed out.
But, things turned out well, as things always seem to. First, we made an effort to clean up our formal dining room (OK, Liz and Katie made an effort). Then, I took two days off and we got a big ol� honey do list done, topped with putting together the new bed for Katie. (The directions seemed easy, yet of course the illustrations were about as useful as if I had drawn them myself).
So I was being reflective this past weekend, and decided that I should pen something for my honey.
I was going to re-hash the story of when we met, but I realized that it was already done here, so go read that if you haven�t.
I wanted to talk about Liz, and what she means to me, after 11 � years of marriage and over 13 as a couple.
She�s my rock.
I can always count on her to be there for me, even when I�ve done stupid stuff.
She was there for me when we drew up plans to get out of the idiotic amount of credit card debt we found ourselves in after we were married for a year.
She was there for me when I went to night classes to get my MBA.
She was there for me when I took 10 weeks to go on a consulting job in Denver, which helped us buy our first house.
She was there for me when she worked the crazy-ass schedule at Schwab, and we were trying to have a baby the old-fashioned way.
She was there for me when I was the official scorer of the Indianapolis Ice, and spent a lot of weekends at hockey games.
She was and is there for me when I spend nights covering high school sports. (Now, she�s there for me because she knows I get paid for it�and that matters more now than it did).
She was there for me when I spent way too much money in Vegas. Did she kick my ass, verbally? Yeah, but she never threatened to leave or retaliate in any way.
She was there for me when we decided to move from the cushy suburb of Zionsville back to my hometown of C�ville.
And she�s still there for me.
She is there for me when I go on conferences, and am away for a week. I know the girls miss me, and she does, but she never complains, and I know she does a great job with the girls when I�m gone.
She is there for me when I buy too much music, or too many books.
She is there for me when I have to go buy cute clothes for the girls. Ok, I haven�t done that in a while, but Target�s only a half-hour away.
She�s there for me, and understands, when I have a need to write for this place.
She�s there for me when I make my mix CDs. She asks, �OK, who�s this for?� as she and the girls dance around the room.
Sometimes I feel so unworthy at times.
I am a man, and a Scorpio man, and at times I�ve been ruled by those two items in my persona. I�ve not been the perfect husband, but I�m not sure a perfect husband really exists.
But I think if there was a perfect wife, Liz would have to be right up there.
Yeah, I get mad at her. The last argument we had was over tornado warnings, for whatever reason.
And there�s this debate on when I�m mad, she assumes I�m mad at her, when it�s usually something silly like the fact I�m mad at the dishwasher, or something.
If you saw us together, you�d realize we are the embodiment of ying and yang. I�m the energetic one, and she�s the calm one. I�m footloose, it seems, and she�s careful. I�m outgoing and she�s reserved.
However, I can�t resist when she pulls out the pop culture references out of her hat. That�s normally my idiom, but when she sneaks on in there, I can�t help but fall on the ground.
She�s also great at compiling the inane quotes that fly around our house for our Christmas letter.
She loves me, with her heart and soul and sometimes I wonder if I am really worthy of that love, because nothing shakes that.
And I try to hold up my end of the bargain.
I was with her when I encouraged her to step up and apply for the night manager position at Schwab, because I knew she�d get it, and she did.
I was there with her the entire way during our fertility treatment, and then our adoption of Katie and Kristin.
I was her cheerleader and coach when she was agonizing over her job status, and her decision to quit working.
And I�m with her all the way now in raising our two wonderful daughters. Everyone says how polite Katie is for a four-year old. Of course, they don�t see Katie all the time like we do, but she�s polite and well mannered outside of the house, and that�s due a great deal to Liz and how she�s guided the kids since she�s been at home.
She�s worked very hard to accept this community and they have accepted her with all their heart and soul. She�s made a lot of contacts amongst the women who work at Wabash, and the wives of the faculty and staff.
She puts out the newsletter for her MOPS group.
She�s the incoming treasurer for the League of Women Voters. She monitors the local school board for them as well.
She was just asked to be on the board of the Youth Service Bureau.
She�s just amazing.
I couldn�t ask for more from a spouse, a soul mate, a partner.
I love her so much. I�m the luckiest man alive, I think.
She�s a saint, and an angel. Because if put up me 24-7, that�s what you are.
