Friday, November 14, 2008

Surprises for Peter

My hubby is such a special guy. In addition to all the reasons that I love him unconditionally, he is just super special. I realize this all the more when I read the posts in some of my message boards. For example, a recent post included the story of a woman who is on pelvic rest (i.e. no sex, etc.). Her husband is quite frustrated that she can't engage in the marital activities he enjoys and has been giving her hell about it. Meanwhile, in our household, I've put myself on pelvic rest. After we crossed the 6 week threshhold, I decided then that it was just too much of a mental strain. The what ifs of sex and possibly causing my cervix to open or anything else were too much. I talked to Peter, told him how I was feeling, how scared the entire idea of sex was to me, and you know what he said? "That's fine. Don't worry." And, instead of ever saying anything to the contrary, he holds, cuddles, and kisses, and regardless of how worked up he gets, never says anything to the effect of I can't wait to get it on again or why are we stopping??? I'm sure there are plenty of guys like him out there and I feel lucky to have him. In addition, he makes dinner when I work late, cleans the bathrooms because I hate it, and never moans about getting up super early to take the trash out because we lounged around and forgot the night before. He does laundry, irons if needed, and never complains that I toss my dirty laundry on the floor next to the hamper (okay, he complains a bit, but in jest, and always picks up the dirty clothes and puts them in the correct bin). All in all, he's wonderful, and this doesn't even begin with all of the other reasons he's my soulmate and I love him.

It's hard to give him gifts or surprises because he doesn't want a lot. He rarely says "Ooh, I want that" or "I want to go do that". He's always focused on me and what I might want to do or have. He gives and gives, and it's hard sometimes to figure out what to give him back.

His birthday was in August (my little Leo!) and I figured out the perfect gift, even though it would take a while to get back (it actually just arrived today). In our bookcase of kids books sat a book, it's cover gone from a lot of love, protected only by a cardboard "cover". It's a book called Flip by Wesley Dennis. This edition is from 1969. Peter and his little brother, Robert, grew up with this book as a favorite read- and it showed. The pages were all torn and tapes, yellowed with age. The spine was only a fragment since the cover had vanished years before. They had taken good care of the book (no crayon marks or things like that) but simply because of how read it was, it was in serious disrepair. I find a bindery in Oregan that specialized in repairing old children's books when there wasn't a lot left of the spine. I sent it off in August and it just arrived today! It's about 3 months after his birthday, but the book is beautiful. They put a black library binding on it, embossed with the title, author, and a little horse in gold. They couldnt really do much with the pages, since it's just a bindery, but they were able to repair the spine enough to rebind it. It's really awesome. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees it! He and Robert loved this book so much. I think it will bring fond memories for him and for years to come in our family.

His second surprise is a bit different and he'll be totally caught off guard. Peter enjoys a group called "Point of Grace". I think they are okay. It's a 4 part, women's harmony group that sings contemporary Christian music. This is more up his alley than mine (I'm much more of a celtic music sort of girl). He has several of their CDs and plays them from time to time. He has mentioned several songs that he really enjoys. Well... I was listening to the radio a few weeks ago, and they are coming in concert. Normally, I wouldnt even think of buying tickets. Peter has very sensitive hearing and the idea of a concert isn't usually appealing to him. He likes small venues, where there isnt a huge sound system, or sitting as far from stage and speakers as possible. For example, we went to the Philadelphia Symphony a few years ago and had to go to the very last row. It was still loud, but he could deal with it. (I'd be down front and center, but then again I'll probably be deaf by the time I'm 65 because of the loud music I've grown up with!) Anyway, before I ramble on... PoG is appearing at a church near Allentown. I figured this couldnt be that much louder than our church, so I bought tickets! They were quite inexpensive, and even better, he has no idea what we are doing! He just knows I have a "surprise" for him. I think I might blindfold him for the drive, LOL.

I really cant wait to see the look on his face when he sees the book, and I hope he enjoys the concert!

No comments: