Monday, November 26, 2007

Happy Late Birthday

My husband just turned a whopping 28. He is such a big boy now. He also just got an awesome job working for a huge hospital in Seattle. I am so proud of all that he has accomplished and for the changes he has made for our family.

We met close to 8 years ago at work. I was a temp, sitting at his desk because he was out with "scarlet fever". Everyone in the office knew this was a complete lie. No one gets scarlet fever anymore. I figured this would be my new desk when this moron returned and was promptly fired for his lame ass excuse. I was unhappily married at the time and had just moved to Oregon for my husbands job. Sitting at my desk, I noticed a few things about the person. He had a Star Wars picture on his computer (I instantly felt a connection) and some silly pictures of people I assumed to be his friends. He had written a few comments on the pictures that were pretty amusing. He also had the best desk chair in the office (SCORE for me when I took his desk over). Amazingly, when he returned a week later, I was moved to another desk so he could take his desk back. I was so confused when he wasn't fired. He walked in late, and that is when I first met Jay. In walked this very tall guy that seemed to trip over his own feet. He just seemed so awkward to me. But we said hello, and then I got to watch him in action. He immediately logged in to messenger and got to chatting with friends. He talked to everyone in the office, and was very friendly. Being 1 of 4 guys in the office, and the youngest, he was like the office pet. Everyone liked him but didn't take him too seriously. But he knew his job. His clients loved him and so did his sales reps, which is why he was kept on staff.

We became friends quickly. I bitched about married life, he talked about partying and his friends. For his 21st birthday, a bunch of us went out and we all ended up back at his apartment, watching Star Trek Deep Space 9 and South Park. We talked forever about my marriage and some girls that he liked. I tried giving him advice, but I also told him I wasn't that up on dating, and look where my skills had gotten me. My 24th birthday arrived, and him and another friend took me to lunch at Whosong and Larry's. They told them it was my birthday, and I told them his birthday had just passed, so they gave us inverted sundays to eat without utensils. We ended up a mess, and got into a whip cream and chocolate sauce fight. When we returned late to work, we looked like dirty idiots. But didn't care since we had also drank a few drinks with our lunch. He left for Disneyworld for the holidays while I was forced to think about my unhappy union. I decided a few days after my birthday I was too young to stay this unhappy and that I needed to get out before I ended up hating him. I had to stay in our apartment, but he moved into the guest room. I worked days and he worked evenings, so we really didn't see much of each other, and we took turns leaving on weekends. Mason really didn't notice much of a difference.

When Jay came home, he brought me a Mickey Mouse picture holder. I told him I had ended my marriage. We celebrated my singleness by getting tattoos. I got a sun on my back, he got a Samurai symbol on his neck. I left for the Tri Cities to see Melissa for New Year's. He partied hard with his friends. On January 6th, he hosted a going away party for his best friend, McLean. I made jell-o shots. After eating about 2 trays of jell-o shots myself and a few too many games of drunk driver, Jay and I ended up in the bathroom. Kissing. And even in my completely intoxicated state, I knew I had found the person I would be with forever. Put a fork in me, I was done. We spent the night together. The next morning, there was no awkwardness between us. I left for home, and couldn't wait to see him again on Monday.

Monday came, and we shared secret smiles all day. I drove him home from work, and we made out in the parking lot. But I had to get home so my ex could get to work. I spent Wednesday night at his house, and that started our Wednesday tradition. My ex didn't work Wednesday nights, so I would end up at Jay's, making us dinner, watching Star Trek Deep Space Nine and South Park. Every Wednesday. Our friendship didn't change. We still hung out at work like nothing had happened, and could hang out without jumping each others bones. We (mostly him)came to the conclusion that we needed to stay friends and not get into a relationship. I agreed, mostly because I needed his friendship. We became "friends with benefits", and even though I knew I loved him, I kept it to myself. We dated other people, but still hung out on Wednesday's religiously. He helped me and Mason move into our apartment, then we started having our Wednesday's there. Mason went to his Dad's Wednesday's, Thursday's, and every other weekend. I helped Jay move into his apartment on 21st a few months later. That was the best apartment. It was above a coffee house, and right by Lucy's, a great restaurant. It always smelled like garlic and coffee, and we constantly had the munchies. There were tons of bars and restaurants around there, which made it possible to have a burger and fries at 2 in the morning. Since every other week, I had 5 days without Mason, I partied it up downtown with him. We took a vacation to Magic Mountain with our friend Paul and had an awesome time.

Jay had been let go a few months earlier, and had started working downtown. I had to move in with my friend when I started having "female" issues that ended up in surgery. He got a girlfriend, and I had a boyfriend. We started hanging out less, due to the fact the people we were dating knew of our "relationship" and it cause a little tension. We still emailed a lot, and talked on the phone. His girlfriend left for college back east, and their relationship ended. My boyfriend moved back to California. Our "relationship" was back on. He went to California for a business trip and I flew down to meet him. He met a girl while he was there, and let's just say there was tension between us. I had had enough.

No matter how much I loved him, I just felt it was time to give up. Not our friendship, but the benefits. He had told me the girl he met in California was coming up to visit. We celebrated his 22 and my 25th birthday's by getting tongue studs and eating at the Olive Garden. More like sipping soup since we couldn't chew anything. I told him to not call me while she was here. He understood, and I knew he felt bad. It was her idea, he said, but he was letting her come. I shut down, I think. A few weeks later, he told me she wasn't coming. That he had called it off because of me. I felt relieved but couldn't get passed how I was good enough to sleep with but not enough to date. I started talking to a yuppy type guy who was very nice, and wanted to be in a relationship. We went to coffee daily, and talked at work quite often. We went to dinner at fancy restaurants, and had cocktails at bars. I knew things with him would be easy. He was older, and ready to settle down. And I was who he was interested in. I was honest with Jay about us. He got mad at me and told me the guy was bad news. I was pissed. How dare he tell me not to date someone. But I still didn't tell him I loved him, and he didn't give me a good enough reason to stop dating this guy. But Jay and I spent New Year's together anyway, while my "boyfriend" hung out with his friends.

On January 3rd, we had the mother of all fights on the phone. He told me we needed to talk, and I told him to fuck off. I said he was just jealous, and he insisted that wasn't it. He asked me to stop seeing that guy, and I refused. This was a Wednesday. It was the first Wednesday in close to a year we had not spent together by choice. The next day, I was very busy and didn't check my cell phone until close to 11:00. There was a message from Jay. He said I needed to call him right away. For Jay, 11:00 is not late at all, so I gave him a call, hoping we could work out our friendship. I called him and he said he missed me, and I told him I missed him. We talked for awhile, and I knew he wanted to get off the phone even less than me. I asked him if he wanted me to come over, and he said yes.

So I was there by 12:30, and it was very dark in his room when I walked in. I was very nervous for some reason. I just knew whatever happened in this room tonight would make us or break us. He was my best friend, and the person I knew in my heart I should be with. But he had yet to show any signs of thinking the same. I said hello, he said hello, and then he told me he loved me. I almost fainted. I immediately said I loved him, too.

And that, my friends, is how it all started. It took him 2 days short of a year to realize something I had known for that long. We have been together ever since. I'm not saying we haven't had our issues, because we have. There have been times when both of us have said things we regretted, and times when we were ready to throw in the towel. But both of us know this is forever. We are still friends, best friends. We still tell each other everything. We still play with each other like little kids. I still get excited when he comes home. He still misses me and calls me from work every day. We are committed. Not just to each other, but to making our lives together important. To making our kids a part of something we were lucky enough to find.

We have 3 anniversaries. Our sexaversary, which is January 6, our loveversary, which is January 4th, and our wedding anniversary, which is May 14. We merged the January anniversaries and "celebrate" them on January 5 and call them our sexaversary, because we had that both nights.

So to my husband, I wish you the happiest of years. Thank you for 7 1/2 of the happiest of years of my life. You are simply awesome. And if there is one thing I thank God for every night, it is for you and what you have brought into my life.

11 comments:

Jill said...

Awww! Theres nothing better than being in love with your best friend. Great story.

M-M-M-Mishy said...

Any guy with the balls to call in sick to work with scarlet fever is obviously a cool dude.

I'm totally girl-ing out on this story. Awww...

Yoda said...

Awwww ...

What an awesome post! I love the fact that you have sexaversaries too :-)

May you have many many more!

Kelly said...

What a great love story!

Anonymous said...

HAHAHAHA--I so remember his scarlet fever! I too was surprised they bought it!

Guilty Secret said...

Aw that was so lovely! Thanks for sharing a great story... I'm all smiles now :)

captain corky said...

Very nice! I'm glad you are happy and found the guy of your dreams. My wife and I were friends first (and worked together) and I think that works out good.

minijonb said...

oh wow... what an amazing story!

and he works for a big hospital in Seattle... is it the one in Gray's Anatomy? =:-)

Princess in Galoshes said...

I love that story! :-) Thanks for making me smile. I married my best friend, too. It makes the rough patches so much more bearable knowing my friend's there going through it with me.

Crystal said...

awesome story.

makes me want to have some sexaversary time.

Anonymous said...

Now THAT'S some creative editing of the past.