Thirteen

• 13 years ago we met and talked until the sun rose the following morning. We quickly fell in love, got married, moved to a teeny tiny house on the 134 fwy in Los Angeles
• 12 years ago, we brought home a sweet little labrador puppy who we named Sandy who became my study partner while I was going to school and Mr. Man was working in Human Resources.
• 11 years ago, Mr. Man moved into Information Technology and we solidified our nerdiness by attending the X-files convention.
• 10 years ago, Mr. Man applied for Graduate School to UCI's MBA program at the very last minute. He got in and we moved into a darling duplex by the beach.
• 9 years ago, we were both knee deep in school and I met the Ya Ya's. We were also busy trying to be recruited by different employers. Those "wining and dining" dinners were an essential part to living within our lean budget. We decided to add another dog and Skoopix joined the family.
• 8 years ago, we both graduated from college, got fancy jobs and bought a house.
• 7 years ago, we spent the year working and enjoying our lives as "young professionals" Mr. Man joined the Entertainment group at work and thus began his glamorous "LA Life in the Biz"
• 6 years ago, Mr. Man's dad was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). After years of patiently & silently wishing & hoping, Mr. Man got his wish and we started the adoption process.
• 5 years ago, we joyfully welcomed Mr. Boy into our life. Wendy sits in awe as she watches Mr. Man turn into Mr. Greatest-Father-On-The-Planet. Wendy decides after much contemplation and heartache to leave the fancy firm and opens her own "little accounting practice".
• 4 years ago, we decided to adopt again and put in our papers. We spend more time in LA to help care for Mr. Man's ailing father.
• 3 years ago, we lost Mr. Man's father to ALS. We spent a lot of time with birthparents who had chosen us. Wendy does not believe this baby will arrive in our home, while Mr. Man keeps telling her to "Have a little faith...". Wendy has an idea for a stroller import company and Eurostroller is born. Besides parenting, it is the funnest project we ever did together. Meanwhile, the baby arrives several weeks prior to her due date and Wendy is instantly smitten by this tiny little girl, calls her AK, and buys 3000 pairs of baby girl shoes. She cannot believe she ever doubted the destiny of her daughter. AK arrives home on our 10th wedding Anniversary and contracts a dangerous virus 6 weeks into her life. At the same time Mr. Boy is diagnosed and struggles with severe asthma. It was a hard year.
• 2 years ago, everyone is moderately healthy by midyear, Mr. Boy responds well to preventative asthma treatment and AK's faces new medical challenges that are manageable. Wendy decides to take the "little accounting practice" a little farther, make it a little bit bigger and closes Eurostroller. Mr. Man decides he is the caucasian version of Kobe Bryant and spends his spare time playing and watching basketball. He is still living a fabulous LA life.
• 1 year ago, the family endured a year of Wendy's medical treatment for a medical oddity that was thought to be cancerous off and on 4 times during the year. Mr. Man sits by her side at the hospital reminding her to keep breathing as she recovers from major surgery. She contracts a lung infection in the hospital that takes 3 more months to heal from. The kids grow and thrive and Mr. Boy has his best year at school yet. We start talking of moving so we can join Mr. Man in his fabulous LA life.

At present... we put off moving for a few months, enrolled Mr. Boy in private school for Kindegarten, and AK is starting preschool. This relationship that we call marriage has had a lot of ups and downs over the last 13 years and endured some fabulous and dark times. However, it is a work in progress. There is a renewed commitment to be a team and there is a shift to try and remember not just to be a fabulous family, but a fabulous couple too. It's a hard balancing act to do, even harder to do it well. Mr. Man surprises Wendy with a no-kids weekend and she provides him with a coupon book for 13 consecutive weeks of preplanned dates.

*Format totally stolen from another blog.... but it is sheer genius *