My Melting Moment

Greeting Card by Blue Mountain Arts, Published and Distributed by For Arts Sake

My husband and I recently celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary.  This day coincided with a 4-day work trip he had to go to so I tagged along with him.

We got to our hotel and started unpacking.  All of a sudden, hubby went, “Oh, no!  Damn!”

“What's wrong, baby?” I asked, startled.

“Oh, no!” he continued his lament.

“What?”

“I forgot your anniversary card at home!”

Oh, no. 

Now, I must tell you how important greeting cards are to us.  We prefer not to buy each other presents during our anniversaries and birthdays.  We make those occasions special by going out to dinner at a really nice restaurant and, you guessed it, give each other greeting cards with mushy, sentimental writing that we read out to each other.

I was, of course, disappointed that he forgot.  I fought the urge to pout and say “how could you?” and settled instead for “oh, that's okay.  Just give it to me when we get home.”

“I had it all ready!  I've written on it.  I left it on my desk.  I just forgot to pack it,” he said with repentant eyes.  After several, pretty obvious reminders to him that our anniversary was coming up, he was certain I wouldn't be happy that he still managed to forget a very important part of it.

I knew he had bought the card already so I wasn't that hurt he forgot to bring it.  After all, he had been very busy with work leading up to that trip.

“It's okay.  Don't worry about it,” I appeased him.

On the actual day of our anniversary, we did have a very special dinner and when we got back to our hotel, I gave him his card and he read it out loud while we cuddled.

“Thank you.  It's a very nice card,” he said, sounding morose again.  “I left your card at home,” he added with a pout, still feeling guilty about it.

I showed him I was okay with it.

Fast forward to one week after we got back home from that trip.

Hubby came home and said, “I have something for you.”  He pulled something out of his bag and handed me a greeting card.  “It's to make up for our anniversary.”

“But you already gave me an anniversary card.”

“Yeah, but it wasn't a very good card.  It wasn't as nice as the one you gave me.”

Oh, yes.  My husband can be quite competitive.  He always wants to give me something better than I've given him.

I took the card out of the envelope and it started with “Because I love you”.

Oh, my competitive and very, very sweet hubby.  After seven years of marriage, he still makes me melt.

It really is the little things that keep a relationship fresh and happy.

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My romance novel Will To Love is absolutely free to download. Click here to check it out now.

Will To Love by Miranda P. Charles

 

 

 

Grateful For My ‘Alone Time’

Even after seven years of marriage, my husband still gets very amused by the fact that I can last literally all day not talking to anyone.  You see, he's my opposite.  He loves talking while I love writing.  (If truth be told, he used to get annoyed with me for “not making more effort to talk to more people” but he sees the advantages of it now :-)).

It's true that I can simply shut myself in my office for nine hours straight (sometimes longer) and only come out for short bathroom breaks.  But to say that I don't talk to anyone all day during these times is strictly not true.  When I have these precious days, I spend at least two hours a day, sometimes more, connecting with people on Twitter and Facebook or on the email.  I relish that time of connection with those who have the same interests as I have – reading and writing.

There are times when I do crave to be with people more than anything, but as an introvert and a writer, I need to have my alone time and lots of it.  It's my time for rejuvenation and reflection but mainly my time for creativity.

It's really only when I started writing my first romance novel, Will To Love, that I've really celebrated my introversion and love of alone time.  Before that I felt guilty when I spend too much time by myself.  I'm glad I'm over that guilt.  I love writing and having time alone gives me the opportunity to express myself through my books.

Today, I'm in country New South Wales, Australia with my husband who is on a work-related trip.  I'm looking out our hotel window and I can see the sun shining and the ocean sparkling.  I'm inspired to stay here in our room to enjoy my thoughts and write amidst this backdrop.

So today, I want to give gratitude for my alone time.  I may think I don't get as much of it as I would like, but I'm thankful for whatever I do get.

What about you?  Do you love your alone time?  How much of it do you get and what do you prefer doing when you have time to yourself?