Jared

I blog almost exclusively about Micah and occassionally mention one of his parents in passing.  I don't think any of you really mind this and since I'm the editor of this little ditty, it wouldn't matter anyway. 

So, I take this moment to sing a simple praise of my husband, Jared.  I met him when a mere babe of 16 years old and he has vexed and thrilled me ever since.  This whole marriage thing really is work, but he makes it all worth it. 

Not every husband out there is reflective, calm, steady, intelligent and compassionate.  Mine is.  And he's also very handy.  This is the trait without which we would have been multiple times bereft. 

Most recently, Jared installed toilets in our home.  Two of the three toilets were running water constantly -- one so badly that we just turned off the water to it.  After replacing the "guts" in one, it ran only a little less than all of the time.  And, after a year of living here, finally, finally we replaced them.  Which is to say, Jared single-handedly maneuvered old toilets out and new toilets in with proper hooking up of the necessary things.  Well, that's not really true.  I helped him lift one of them into the house from the front stoop.  You're welcome, Dear! 

Fast forward to last month's water bill.  It went from $38 (average) to $19!!!  And that was during the holidays with gobs of people here!  Woot!  So, with our monthly savings and the refund our county gives for low water usage toilets, we'll be essentially profitable with these bad boys before the end of the year. 

I love this guy!

This may be my favorite photo of Jared.  And not just because Micah is in it and tenderly reaching for his daddy, but because it reminds me of the first time that Jared held Micah in his arms like a baby, just a week or two before this.  What you also can't tell by looking at this photo is that everyday for about 3 weeks, Jared let me hold Micah the one time each day that he was allowed to be held because I needed it so very badly.  And I did.  God, how I needed to hold him!  And Jared knew that and gave me that.  Every day.  And I'll always be grateful to him for that beautiful gift.