WHAAA???

I occasionally check a blog that has a lot of interesting articles about married life, but today's post just about floored me!

The topic was raising our boys to be men and our women to be women. Which I'm okay with to a point, but people will be people, and that is an inevitable fact. Creating gender roles is not a good way for dealing with life.

Anyway, the post linked to an "insightful" (insightful? Good grief, do these people just get together and pat each other on the back for their ideas all the time?) post from the leader of a religious organization that shall, for the purposes of this post, remain anonymous.

The insight given in the post?

...This reminded me of a rule I want us to adopt for our blog. No smiley faces allowed! Real men do not use smiley faces on e-mails! This is fine for the ladies, but not the men. Real men communicate humor effectively without having to use a smiley face and real men can discern the presence of genuine humor without seeing a smiley face. So let our blog be free from all wimp-like communication!

Excuse me while I check my gender again and make sure I have landed in the *right* role...

:-)

;-)

:-P

:-D

Valentine's Week Report

Valentine's Day fell inconveniently prior to payday this year, but since it was our first V-Day after getting married, we weren't about to let it slide. Instead, we created something that could become a tradition: a Valentine's Week. Instead of choosing one day to look forward to and risk spending a ton of money (because everything is expensive for Valentine's Day), we gave each other a whole week of surprises and fun!

On Monday, I officially commenced my Valentine's Week blogging at my personal blog with a collection of rememberies, quotes, and love-related stuff.

On Tuesday, Pete was resigned to going home, watching a movie, and spending a normal evening. He didn't know I had spent some time compiling love quotes, romantic pictures, and short passages from Song of Solomon to combine into a 10-card evening for him. We stopped for pizza and a bit of sparkling blush on our way home, and had a very special night as I gave him the cards throughout the evening.

Wednesday, I had scheduled emails with a love quote or poem to arrive for him every half-hour during the day, culminating in a love letter at the end of the day. His email for noon? Two of my packages arrived for him: a little stuffed llama from an old memory, and the Mansfield Park soundtrack from a new memory! (We had just watched the movie on Saturday, and Pete had really enjoyed the soundtrack.) On Wednesday evening, we went out for Japanese together, joining two apologetic couples who were out with their rather noisy young children at a table for eight.

By Thursday, I was running a bit short on ideas, but Pete was just getting started. When we went grocery shopping on Thursday evening, he disappeared on the pretense of hitting the restroom. I didn't suspect a thing, though I wondered a bit if he was okay, because he was sure taking his time in there! When we got to the car after we finished shopping, Pete had me open the back to find three bouquets of spray roses waiting for me. The sneak! I quickly moved them out of the way to put in the passenger back so we could load the groceries, and then went to the front seat to start the car, since I was driving. There was another bouquet of flowers on the driver's seat--"Kelly, you ditz! You meant to put those in the back--oh wow..." It was a NEW bouquet of fragrant, long-stemmed red roses. Extravagant!

Friday was our planned date night for Valentine's Week. I knew we were going out, and it was going to be late, but Pete didn't tell me until we were almost to the Metro Station that he was taking me to see the Disney Ice Princesses production at the MCI Center in D.C. I was thrilled! I had decided not to watch the Olympic ice skating this year (Michelle Kwan's withdrawal was QUITE a bummer), so Pete had found a way for me to see ice skating anyway! On our way to the MCI center, I presented Pete with his last two gifts, a little stuffed walrus (from another old memory) and the soundtrack to the new Pride and Prejudice, which we listened to on the way.

Pete promised one more surprise as we arrived at the last minute, and as we raced to our seats, I found my eyes growing wider and wider as we approached the front. Three rows back, two rows back... *gulp* "You bought us seats in the FRONT row?" It was an incredibly fun experience! I can be such a little kid sometimes: I didn't stop smiling the whole night! My guy is so wonderful!

Saturday evening brought the end of our Valentine's week. Pete surprised me with chocolate-dipped strawberries that he'd dipped himself, and I had a little fun with roses and candles after our crockpot dinner of corned beef and cabbage... (*chuckle* We were celebrating a bit early for St. Patrick's Day?)

We have enjoyed so much of our relationship in the comfort of our friendship, but Valentine's Week let us go a bit beyond friendship to the more daring, romantic end of things. All in all, it was a very special week, and one that we'll both probably treasure for a long time. It gave us both an opportunity to invest in each other, and learn more about what makes the other feel loved.

Date Remembery #2

Our first Valentine's Day remembery, about the evils of not obtaining full disclosure, can be found here.

Do enjoy!

Saturday Fun

Pete and I finally did something I have always dreamed of doing...

We went ice skating on Saturday, in the snow at the outdoor rink at the sculpture garden in Washington DC. It was about as romantic as I'd always dreamed! We skated with a few friends, and generally enjoyed our time together, with a rather interesting finish to the evening on our way home over the treacherous roads.

Have I mentioned that people in Northern Virginia have no concept of how to drive in snow?

Well, that particular factor was the cause of my first, reportedly inevitable, minor car accident. We are thanking God that no one was hurt and that the damage was minimal.

Email Fun

I was going back through some old emails yesterday, and found a few priceless exchanges from when Pete and I first met. It's always fun to find after the fact how completely attractive someone was--you just didn't know it...

>>> Kelly Langner 06/02/04 01:17PM >>>
You have an AIM handle?


>>> Peter Sauer 06/02/04 01:19PM >>>
I was in the process of writing you the same thing. Copycat :p

I'm "Wasserzapfen".

Don't ask.
If you do, don't expect a serious reply.
If you do, be prepared to roll your eyes and groan.
Sort of like a sick walrus does when he has a bad stomach ache...

Toodles,
?ete


>>> Kelly Langner 06/02/04 01:24PM >>>
copycat, huh?


>>> Peter Sauer 06/02/04 01:26PM >>>
Well, it sounded better than copy-Striped Zambian Whooping Yak...


>>> Kelly Langner 06/02/04 01:27PM >>>
Uh, right.

Have you ever thought of writing a children's book about strange creatures?


>>> Peter Sauer 06/02/04 01:29PM >>>
I have, it's a shadow-author piece called, 'It Takes a Village', under the pen-name Hillary Clinton. Strange creatures, sister, veeeerrrry strange.


>>> Kelly Langner 06/02/04 01:39PM >>>
WHAA???


>>> Peter Sauer 06/02/04 04:43PM >>>
"I've run rings 'round you logically!"

Seriously, I don't know what I'm saying, so don't waste your valuable time trying to figure it out yourself!!!

Toodles,
?ete


>>> Kelly Langner 06/02/04 04:44PM >>>
If there had been more than one email with the WHAA??? in it, it would have been valuable time.

Do I *look* like I've been trying to figure it out?


>>> Peter Sauer 06/02/04 04:50PM >>>
Well, that's 2 e-mails with "WHAA???" in it, so we're gettin' there ;)

Incidentally, I can't see you, so I don't know what you look like. Except you've got brown hair, I DO know that.


>>> Kelly Langner 06/02/04 04:53PM >>>
VERY perceptive.


>>> Peter Sauer 06/02/04 04:59PM >>>
No no, I'm a Baptist by upbringing...


>>> Kelly Langner 06/02/04 05:00PM >>>
Now I *know* I missed something...

What does that have to do with the price of rotten tomatoes to throw at very little dorks who get sore Kellys very dizzy?


>>> Peter Sauer 06/02/04 05:05PM >>>
Pragmatism never works like it's supposed to...

What time tomorrow does the hoopla begin? Why is the sky blue? What is the sound of one hand striking another? Come to think of it, what is the sound of one cane swatting Peter's pate? Let's stop whilst I'm ahead. Or not too far behind. Or at least not too far back...

Date Remembery #1

I decided that for my own reference (because I'm forgetful) and for general recognition of how romantic Pete can be, I should post some of my favorite dates.

For my first date remembery shall be the date that I remember as being our first evening when we were truly "together" for the first time.

For Christmas in 2004, before Pete and I became a couple, I had given myself a four-day stay in a bed and breakfast in Tappahannock, Virginia (actually, Pete had paid for about half of my stay as his Christmas present to me). My plan was to get away, just me and God, and refresh my tired soul with another foray into Scripture, as I had done the year before.

God, it seemed, had other plans.

Instead of sending me into Scripture, God started quizzing me about my feelings. He had been running a theme over Christmas about acknowledging Him in all my ways, and He seemed rather insistent at this point about the "all" part. "All" included emotions, He reminded me.

So I was suddenly faced with the prospect of continuing to stuff the growing feelings in my heart for Pete and lie to a God who knew what was going on anyway, or being honest with God and actually facing the feelings that I was pretty sure at that point were beyond friendship.

I'm sure you can guess how that dilemma played out. After two days of trying to avoid the issue, I was out of ideas on avoiding God. So we talked about it. I was terrified. I couldn't believe what I was thinking. I mean, I knew Pete was in love with me, but when a guy is faced with the actual prospect of marriage...

Then I called Pete. "Um, Pete, what if God isn't telling me to get as far away from you as possible?"

"I don't understand what you're saying."

"Um, I think I'm falling in love with you..."

And we talked about it. Until 4:00 in the morning we talked about it. Did he ever want it. He told me that on his way home for Christmas, he had told God he wanted to marry me.

*soft laugh* We must have solved the problems of the world that night, we talked so long. We covered our dreams about the future, things we had only thought about each other, how many children we wanted, and what we hoped our relationship could be. We talked about procedure, and our families, and what God wanted for us. A good part of the conversation consisted of "I can't believe this is happening..." I told Pete that I had worn my blue dress for him the night of the Christmas banquet, and he finally told me what he'd thought--I was breathtaking.

We were miles apart, but I had never felt so close to someone in my whole life. I knew that whatever came, we'd be in it together. At the end of the conversation, for the first time in my life, I heard a man who loved me tell me I was loved as I went to sleep.

It was the nicest, safest feeling in the world.