Happy (almost) Birthday, Erin!

Well here we are on the edge of Valentine's Day 2010 -- and Erin's birthday.  There's plenty of evidence within these pages that I'm not always the most stellar husband to Erin, although I (mostly) try.  Despite my efforts, occasionally Erin rolls over in the morning and mutters (audibly), "Oh great.  You're still here."

Despite all of our joking, it is true that I do manage to drop the ball sometimes.  The problem is that Erin does such a great job of keeping our lives in order that I sometimes think to myself, "She obviously has it all together.  Why does she need my confirmation?"  In other words, I forget that despite her strong willed "I ain't no Disney princess" exterior, she still has insecurities and needs me to tell her how great a job she's doing (if for no other reason than I want her to KEEP doing such a great job so that I never have to change a diaper or make my own lunch.)

So with all that, I just want to tell Erin how great a job she does as both a mother and wife.  I could never have imagined when we got married almost eight years ago how great she would be with our kids.  She truly does everything possible for them, including telling them when it would be in their best interest to ignore what their father tells them.  We have a beautiful family, and I'm amazed on a daily basis at how much our kids learn from their mom.

And let's be honest -- as good a job as Erin does at keeping the kids in check, she does an even better job dealing with me.  I know I'm not always the easiest person to live with.  In addition to being generally obnoxious and hard to deal with, my 34 year old body is in the shape of a 94 year old body; pieces are locking up or falling off all the time.  I can't get out of a chair without groaning, and my right arm can predict thunderstorms.  So Erin not only gets to deal with kid issues, she also gets to deal with someone who's elderly and grouchy before his time.  Despite this, she always puts the rest of us before herself, and she genuinely attempts to keep everyone happy.

So we're headed off for a date night this weekend.  We're leaving the kids with the grandparents, and we plan to party until the sun comes up (assuming it decides to come up at around 9pm).  I wouldn't want to spend the evening, or the rest of my life, with anyone else.  I love you, hon, even if I don't tell you often enough.