The Nursery (My Old Office) by Mr. G

Mr. G writing this evening. Oh, how times have changed.  One of my favorite rooms of our drafty home is my old office which will soon be the nursery for our little girl come July.  As of the weekend the walls were painted a grayish color and the ceiling painted pink.  White trim and white base boards.  New energy efficient windows will come in a week and a half replacing the old ones that really didn't keep out winter whatsoever.  (Pretty much welcomed the cold wind with open arms and let it gain entry into our home with a handshake.)  Curtains have been purchased from a store I had never step foot in before, Pottery Barn for Kids.

This room used to be my old office when I was a bachelor. A place where my computer was and I would sit and eat a frozen pizza and drink beer while playing video games. There were duck pictures on the wall if I remember correctly.  Or maybe a picture about hockey. Very neutral colors were on the walls and ceiling.  I fondly remember freezing cold winter nights in MN staying home on a Saturday night, looking out the drafty windows on my alley in the back. We have one of the only two stories on the block so I would look out and see the lights of my neighbors flicker down below.  The wind would howl and the snow would fly. It was comforting. There was a jazz program that would play on NPR on Saturday nights and I would listen to it on a clock radio that I had in the adjacent bathroom, the only one in the old house.  It was quiet, warm and relaxing. It was wonderful.

And now, all that has and will change some more. It's forming into a room made for a little girl. A beautiful little girl. A pink ceiling, curtains with pink stripes will soon go up. Gone are the neutral manly colors and my desk has been replaced with a changing table. There's a Pooh bear wearing a tutu that was a gift.  Never would I ever have dreamed that this room would look like this.  Never would I have ever have dreamed all these changes are coming. 

And you know what?  I can't wait!  As much as I will miss my old office, it's but a fleeting thought as the joy that is to come into my life of my little baby daughter who's room has a pink ceiling and a Pooh bear in a tutu.

I hope she likes jazz.  :)

With Love,

Mr G

Weekend up Nort'

Well, the summer has officially come to an end, actually awhile ago, and Autumn seems to be fighting off winter unsuccessfully here in the North.  Mrs G and I are headed up to the family cabin one last time this coming weekend with lows in the low 30's and highs barely hitting 40.  I love the cabin and love to spend time up there however during the Fall and Winter months the number of activities that can be done up there is very limited.  Sure, I can always go do work around there which I love to do however Mrs G can only read so many books and watch so many movies. (As seen in a recent post, we don't see many movies.)

Anyway, Mrs G has graciously agreed to head up there with me.  My folks and my brother's family will be there also.  We're hoping for decent weather however we're working on coming up with ideas for time indoors as it could be nasty.  We're thinking of board games, maybe some cooking etc.  Movies are another idea.

So, why did I write this post?  Basically to thank my lovely Wife for going up Nort' (as we say up here.)  I know it's not her favorite thing to do this time of year but I appreciate it!

Love,

Mr. G

Bombardment

One thing I have learned in our short time being married is not to bombard my wife with random information as soon as she gets up or as soon as she gets home.  To clarify, I'm up super early and usually scour my phone for news and current events while my wife likes to sleep.   And by news I mean I go to headlines, sports, entertainment and random Wikipedia pages just for S&G's.*

While I feel my wife and I share similar interests, it turns out that not everything I feel is interesting is going to matter at all to her.  For instance, I was reading about an island off of Sweden called Aland this morning.  While I find this fascinating, she and about 99.9% of the population outside of the people living on this stupid island would care.  My point is, as soon as she opens her eyes from hopefully I good night's slumber, not to be right in her face about the island of Aland.  (And maybe not mention it all actually.)  Also, if I read about something that is of similar interest that both of us would enjoy like, Kanye West's rant about Jimmy Kimmel, I should wait to bombard her with this info until later in the morning.  She, like everyone else in this world, needs time to wipe the sleep out of their eyes and wake up on their own without some idiot talking about God knows what.

I feel this goes upon her arrival home from work and what could be a nasty commute.  For instance, our neighbor pisses us both off.  She's a hoarder, a bitty, etc etc and won't stay out of our business.  Pretty much harmless for a 77 year old woman other than being annoying.  It's best not to bombard my beloved with a story about our neighbor complaining to me that the branches on our tree or overlapping her lot as soon as she walks in the door. (I will not cut those branches!!!!  Unless or course my wife tells me to.)  Again, people need time to come home decompress for awhile, let the frustration go from work and the commute.  If I bombard her with random stories it's just going to annoy her.  The same if she did it to me and I think this goes for everyone.

While thinking about this post, I was reminded of something I read long ago from the 50's called The Good Wife's Guide.  Please be clear, I am not in agreement with this article however there is a part that mentions not bombarding your husband (and in this case, your spouse)  with complaints from the day.  Once again, I don't agree with this post, however apparently I share a similar opinion yet maybe not so sexist.

(BTW, I don't think my wife would like the part about "Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.")

Love,

Mr. G

*Shits and Giggles

The Big Question

Now that Mrs. G and I are married we were just waiting for the BIG QUESTION to start banging on our door.  The big question is of course, when are we going to start having kids????  I even thought that someone in one of their speeches at the reception would bring it up.  Unfortunately, I was rather militant about this and even remember saying to Mrs. G (when she was Ms. S) prior to the wedding "I'm going to bepissed if someone brings that up.  It's none of their business!"

To be honest, I thought it would come from Mrs. G's mother for sure.  This will be her first grandchild while my parents already have 3 and since I'm the baby, I think they're more than fine waiting a bit.  Maybe it's a been there done that attitude.  For instance, I remember dropping my older brothers off at college and my folks being emotional.  When it was my turn, I got a hug and a smile and a "talk to ya later."  (Maybe they were happy to be childless for the first time in over 23 years.) Not that they wouldn't be excited for a new baby.  They'd be ecstatic.  Anyway, I got sidetracked.

Mrs. G's mother has not said much at all.  And if at all, more curiosity than anything.  Again, not that she wouldn't be excited but I haven't really heard boo.  My folks haven't said a word.  (Now I'm back on that topic.  Maybe that's a subject for my therapist if I had one.)  There's been a few inquiries from siblings but that's about it.

My biggest surprise is that my guy friends have inquired about it consistently.  Most of my friends have children and I think are excited.  Maybe the thinking is that we can hang out more if I have kids also.  (Don't get to see them much.)  I do have one friend who is single and is very picky about his ladies meaning he's always single.  He was the first to inquire and he has a few times since.  This is a friend of mine who I go and watch football with and drink beer.  Not family planning or future plans!  I saw a male former co worker of mine the other day who in passing asked me how I was.  I enthusiastically told him I got married and pointed to my ring.  (I've noticed my go to move is holding up my hand and pointing to my ring.)  He said to me right away "You need to start having kids right away, don't wait."

I guess my point of this whole post is that I am shocked by who is inquiring.  My thoughts were family members would be asking......nay, hounding us about having kids.  But the truth is, it's my guy friends who are interested.  Which is actually flattering and touching.  It's nice to see them encouraging etc.  Maybe it's because it's something we can share and talk about.  Or maybe, it gives us an excuse to get together on play dates and drink beer.  Either way, it's a good thing.

And to answer the big question........none ya bizness.

Mr. G

Ring Shopping

Believe it or not, shopping for a ring that not only will your bride where forever, there's the added stress of whether or not you picked the right style etc.  I have trouble picking out clothes in the morning so picking out a ring was a daunting task.

As it turns out, my engagement saga starts out with me going to purchase the ring.  I was fortunate enough to be gifted my Grandma's solitaire which was near perfect.  I took a long lunch from work to go pick out the ring.  Mrs. G and I had looked at rings before on several occasions and had basically decided on a style however when I saw her future ring I knew it was the one!  Two weeks later I was picking it up.  No one ever tells you that buying a ring is a nerve wracking ordeal.  I remember paying for it and my hands were shaking and I was sweating.  The lady handed me the bag and receipt and said "thanks and good luck."  I stood there perplexed with a dumb smile on my face.  I think I was only there for seconds and didn't say anything.  Very awkward.

I walked through the mall with my bag in hand very covertly nearing the exit still quite shaken and sweaty.  A whole range of emotions were going through my head.  Excitement, nerves, excitement for the future and also joy about how the beautiful the ring turned out.  (I still am quite proud of it to this day.)  I just knew I had to get out of the mall and back to my car and back to work!  All of a sudden I hear my name yelled!  Did I hear that correctly??  Someone's yelling my name.  It was my college roommate and good friend who was at Big Bowl waiting for his computer to be fixed.  He asked me "whatcha doing here?"  Well, I showed him the bag and took out the ring and said "you tell me."  His reply, "Sweating a bit, are ya?"

Now, that evening my family and my future bride's family were going to a social event.  Plus, I had to go pick up the future Mrs. G after work.  What to do with the ring????  I can't have it kicking around in the back seat.  Someone had told me to put it underneath the spare tire in the trunk.  Panicked, I did it.  Soooo, unbeknownst to my future bride, her engagement ring was underneath the spare.  Other than getting a flat tire, I figured it was a safe hiding spot. That evening a whole crew of people were in that car and we had to park it in a parking lot for the event.  It made me very nervous out there and I kept trying to look out to see if was safe.

That evening getting home it was pouring rain.  I didn't want to leave it in the car over night even though it was in a garage.  Getting home around 10 PM, I pulled the lame excuse, I'm not sure if I closed the garage door.  I zipped upstairs and put on my baggiest pair of shorts with big pockets and ran into the pouring rain.  She thought I was crazy but I wasn't going to leave it out there over night!  Came back in soaked and found a hiding spot for the ring until the big event.

Which is a post for another time......

Sincerely,

Mr. G

Red Letter Days

One of our most memorable and treasured wedding gifts came from a good friend of mine, Maggie; she presented the gift to me the morning of our wedding.  To say it was a special and very sweet moment for my friend and I would be an understatement, this gift was one that came from the heart and meant so very much to me.

Here is the story leading up to the opening of the gift and the gift itself.

On the morning of the wedding all of the incredible women in my wedding party joined me in a hotel suite to get ready for the big day, this included my maid and matron of honor, bridesmaids, personal attendants, sister in laws, flower girl, my mom, future sister in law and some other special guests that popped in.  There was a lot of hustle and bustle, to say the least.  We all enjoyed the morning, getting hair and makeup done, the gals that are already married sharing fun stories from their wedding day and maybe a few little tears of joy and nerves snuck in there.  I was having a blast, this was exactly what I imagined; all of the most important women in my life were surrounding me and I just sat back and enjoyed….not thinking or worrying about anything. 

That is, until I realized it was 10:30am and my florist hadn’t arrived to deliver my flowers nor had anyone heard from her.  Now I had the most incredible florist, she was my 7^th grade home economics teacher and I absolutely adored her and knew I had nothing to worry about.  I was always confident that she would show up but what I realized is that I had no contact information for her with me, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!  No home phone or cell phone and all I could think was, “what if she got lost?”  Most of my friends and family members called me one of the most organized brides ever; I tried to make sure I covered my entire basis as to make our day go as smoothly as I could.  So having forgot her contact info was sort of out of character for me, I was so confident in her I never worried or thought I’d need the number.  Long story short, she didn’t get lost, my flowers were incredible and I ultimately should not have worried.

In order for the gals to keep my mind off my little melt down Maggie suggested I open her gift to Andy and I.  GREAT IDEA:)

She presented me with a beautiful turquoise and silver box, I carefully opened the box and on top of the tissue paper was a poem.  Maggie suggested that I read the poem out loud.  As I began to read the poem titled “Red Letter Days”, the tears began to flow.  All of the love and happiness I felt just poured out of me as I read the following poem aloud.

Red Letter Days

Every now and then in life, each of us deserves a place of honor for a Red Letter Day.  Enclosed in this box is a place setting to help celebrate your special occasions.

It is my prayer that these dishes will make many appearances throughout the years.  They can be used to celebrate a milestone in your careers or to cheer one on who is facing a challenge.  They can be used to celebrate a birthday, to recognize a goal reached, or simply to say, “I love you.”

And of course, when the time comes, these dishes can be used to celebrate your children…when one of them earns an A, wins a race, or does a good deed, out they can come.

My hope is that these dishes will help you and Andy recognize and celebrate the good times ahead, both the large and the small moments and that these moments will be many over your years together.

In the box was a red bowl, red plate, red mug and red napkins; this gift is something that Andy and I will cherish for years to come.

Two nights ago the table was set with one typical place setting and one red place setting; I had received great news at work regarding a promotion.  My wonderful husband remembered the “Red Letter Days” and set my place with the red dishes.  It was so much fun to be eating off of this setting and to know how proud my husband was of my hard work and dedication at work. 

I don’t know where Maggie found this poem, maybe she wrote it or maybe she found it somewhere….but either way this gift was from her heart and something that I intend to pass along to other couples in the future. 

Maggie, thank you for always being the supportive wonderful friend every woman needs!  I hope our story continues for many many years….we could already write quite the amusing book:)  Love ya lady!

Here are some photos of me opening the gift on our wedding day, I forgot to take one of me using the dishes a couple of nights ago.

 

With love,
Mrs. G