Complete Joy

It's interesting to see what can make your child happy.  For my daughter, it's books.  When I come home from the Goodwill book store with a book she's been wanting or even a book from a new series that looks interesting, her eyes light up and I get a hearty hug and a big thank you.

It's been a while since I've gotten a reaction like that from my son.  You see, he likes to program computers and build or fix electronics.  I don't really know much about those, and I certainly don't feel comfortable ordering something along those lines so I always leave that to hubby.  

Today I got a reaction from my son and it really made me happy to see him so happy.  I asked my son a few months back if there was an instrument he wanted to learn and he said violin.  There just so happens to be a local orchestra made up of homeschoolers, so a couple months back my son went to try out a violin as well as a couple other instruments (all stringed). 

Someone is just a little happy

After lots of contemplation about the commitment it would take for the next school year, he asked me to sign him up.  He's been begging me to get him the violin now even though classes don't start till late August or early September.  I've been pricing things online and found that the place recommended by the group leader had a "blemished" violin kit in my son's size for $39 less than than the kit I had been looking at.  The violin itself was a model one above the one I was looking at which means I got a better quality violin for $39 less than the one I was going to get. 

And the blemish?  In addition to the neck being lighter than the rest of the violin (see pic below), there are 2 small places (smaller than a pea each) on the back of the violin where the clear coat is missing.  Otherwise, it's perfect from what I can tell.

I actually like the color difference

Retrospect

Nothing like an anniversary to make you think back over the last few years and realize just how quickly time has gone.

Yes, folks... 16 years ago today I got hitched.  It's actually hard to believe that this was 16 years ago.

My husband and I met about a year before we got married which means I've known him for 17 years.  That means I've lived without him longer than I have lived with him (but only for a few more years).  It's hard to believe though because we've been through so much together.

We've experienced building a home (not for the faint of heart), Sept 11 (we were living outside of D.C. and I was working 20 miles from the Pentagon that morning and we had trouble reaching each other), the birth of our two children the first of which ended up with pneumonia and was rushed to the NICU in the wee hours of the morning (talk about traumatic for first time parents), the creation and closure of a business, a move that almost took us overseas but ended up resulting in us living like nomads for 8 months (3 of which were in a camper) and then moving 1,000 miles rather than across the globe, the sudden loss of a job which resulted in me going back to work while still homeschooling our kids, almost losing our homeowners insurance (and that possibility again), and the current layoffs at hubby's work that has resulted in reduced hours and a loss of insurance.

Although things haven't always been easy, I'm so glad I've gotten to take this journey with the man I have.  His ability to fix things (his nickname when I met him was MacGyver - and it fits him perfectly) is like no one else I know, his faith in me and my ability to do what needs to be done when he's not able to do it is refreshing, his ability and willingness to teach others how to do what he loves (programming and computer hardware stuff) is inspiring, and his willingness to try new things (he learned he enjoys cooking and he's good at it too) are just a few of the things I love about him.  And his sense of humor and ability to come up with metaphors has certainly made things interesting.  But I'd have it no other way.

I love you honey and I look forward to the next 17+ years!